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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 2016)
Polk County News Polk County Itemizer-Observer • April 27, 2016 11A Pull weeds as soon as they pop up Unsightly and seemingly uncontrollable, weeds have a way of taking over the gar- den in the time it takes to put the hoe away. Keeping weeds under control takes time and pa- tience, but the effort is worth it, said Chip Bubl, horticulturist with Oregon State University Extension Service. Plants – especially vegetables – have a hard time thriving in the compa- ny of unwelcome neighbors that compete for water, light and nutrients. Some also harbor pests or diseases. “Weed seedlings are vul- nerable to hoeing, hand pulling or rototilling,” he said. “Mature weeds are more difficult to remove. Since weeds often emerge before vegetable seedlings, they’ll suppress the growth of your vegetable seeds. The time you spend weeding in the two to three weeks after you plant seeds will be time very well spent. Weed early and often.” If you keep weeds at a minimum, your vegetables, annuals and perennials have a better chance of flourishing. Here are a few guidelines from Bubl on how to control these stub- born plants: Organic mulches such as leaves, hay and grass clip- pings keep weeds under control and improve soil as they break down. Apply a layer of organic mulch two to four inches deep to your vegetable garden. Avoid the leaves of black walnut trees (Juglans nigra) or tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissi- ma), which can inhibit growth of plants and seeds. Don’t use grass or lawn clip- pings if the lawn was mowed when weeds were in seed. Plastic sheeting may also be used to control weeds. Black plastic reduces light and prevents weed growth. You will need drip irrigation and appropriate fertilizer in place before you lay the plastic. Make slits in the plastic, and if weeds appear in the planting slits, imme- diately remove them. Sprinklers water a large area, but encourage weed growth. Drip irrigation de- K YM P OKORNY Your Garden livers water only where you want it and will slow the amount of weeds in the gar- den. Rototillers are useful tools for incorporating or- ganic matter and control- ling persistent winter weeds before planting. If you space your rows wide enough, rototillers can be used between rows for weed control as your crops grow. One caution: If you ro- totill perennial weeds like quackgrass, morning glory and Canada thistle, you likely will increase the number of individual weeds because new plants will grow from broken roots left in the soil. But persistent pulling of these “weed frag- ments” will weaken their hold on the garden. Rototillers can damage roots or stems if used close to plants. In addition, too much tilling may damage the structural qualities of the soil. Never till soil when it is wet or you’ll end up with cloddy, compacted soil. Hand pulling works well in small gardens and raised beds. Pull when the soil is damp, but not wet. Try to get to annual weeds before they go to seed or you’ll get a whole new crop. When you pull perennial weeds, you won’t get all of the root system. However, if you persistently remove new weedy shoots, you prevent the plant from storing car- bohydrates and may, even- tually, kill the perennial plant and win the war. This process is called carbohy- drate starvation and must be done with passion al- most every day to be suc- cessful. But people really can control morning glory and other perennial weeds by this level of commit- ment. Hoes are a traditional and effective way to weed. Sev- A RLENE K OVASH Columnist been sitting with husband Skid, who is now in a mem- ory care home in Wood- burn. Dorothy McBeth is also not able to get out as much as she used to, al- though the group has added many new women as they retire and are able to come. The club has been meeting weekly since at least 1927, and are happy to see the continuation through the years. The club also has a surprising number of regu- Continued from page 10A — WEDNESDAY, MAY 4 • Scrabble with Betty — 1 p.m., Independence Public Li- brary, 175 Monmouth St., Independence. Scrabble games first Wednesday of every month. Free; refreshments and prizes available. 503-551-7687 or 503-838-1811. • Willamette Valley Food Assistance Program Food Bank — 1:30 to 6:30 p.m., 888 Monmouth Cutoff Road, Building E, Dallas. Weekly distribution for eligible community members. 503-831-5634. • Yarning for Others — 3 to 5 p.m., St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 1486 SW Levens St., Dallas. Knitters and crocheters gather to make clothing and accessories for those in need on the first Wednesday of every month. 503-689-7222. • Brew and BS: The Old Testament — 7 p.m., St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 1486 SW Levens St., Dallas. A lecture series on the Old Testament. Bring brew of choice — coffee, tea, chai, beer, wine, cider. 435-503-4304. Furniture Upholstery All types: for homes, offices, equip- ment. Also, repairs, RV cushions, slipcovers, High Quality since 1966 Stephen Winters Sewing 503-838-4999 or 503-375-9266 Emmy Joseph 440 E. St • Independence, OR 97351 www.winterssewing.com PHOTO FROM ICLIPART Hoes are a traditional and effective way to weed. Several styles are available. A scuffle hoe is better for large areas. eral styles are available. A scuffle hoe is better for larg- er areas. The hula, or action hoe is a lightweight scuffle hoe. Pushing and pulling it just under the soil surface eliminates newly emerging weeds. It is less effective against well-established weeds. The lightweight War- ren hoe has a heart-shaped blade and is useful for culti- vating between plants. Small hand cultivators are good for weeding small areas and between closely spaced plants. Another handy tool is the dandelion digger (also known as a weeder, cultivator or as- paragus knife). It is a 10- to 14-inch metal rod with a two-pronged blade and works well for digging long taproots. Hori Hori knives are a popular choice for any sort of hand weeding. Crop rotation can reduce weed problems. Plant fast- germinating, spreading veg- etables (such as squash, cu- cumbers or melons) where noncompetitive crops (such as carrots and onions) grew the year before. Keeping part of the garden in a sum- mer cover crop can help re- duce weed problems for the next season. Closely spaced vegetables shade the soil and suppress weeds. Remember, however, that weeding must be done by hand when plants are near to each other. In addi- tion, crops spaced too close may compete for sunlight. The end result is reduced crop growth no different than from weed competi- tion. So thin corn, carrots and beets, and experiment with tighter vegetable spac- ing for your other vegetable crops. Cover crops grown on an- nual beds in the winter can smother much winter weed growth. The cover crop can be a winter-hardy grain, a legume or a combination of the two. PEDEE NEWS The Pedee Women’s Club spent the last Wednesday wrapping up the work on the top of the next raffle quilt benefitting their sol- dier fund. Now all that needs to be done is to get it quilted, which member Pat Yancey will be doing for us on her long-arm quilting machine. New neighbor Na- talie Willwert joined the group to work on it, as well as to learn to “tie” a quilt for a child at risk. Natalie and her family live in Aaron Bur- bank’s old house. The club is still making lap quilts that go to the veterans’ home in Medford and to women vet- erans in Lebanon. — The club misses Juan- deane Skidmore, who has COMMUNITY CALENDAR lar members from outside of Pedee: Dallas, Mon- mouth, Wren, Albany, and even the Portland area. — Suzanne Burbank is now working at the Corvallis Wilco store, which means she drives 20 minutes to work rather than an hour and 20 minutes. It will be life changing for her, adding two hours of time to most days. She has been working at Wilco for almost 25 years now. On Sunday, the Bur- banks had a family gather- ing to celebrate both Dave and Derek’s birthdays. Derek is 25 now and Dave is getting older, too. (Do men care if people know how old they are?) — Solution on Page 5A Visit our website, www.polkio.com for local news, sports and community events. This last weekend Diane Telfer and I taught quilting and sewing classes at the Mid-Valley Quilt Guild’s “quilt college” at the Polk County Fairgrounds in Rickreall. I taught a fun way to make nine-patch blocks from scraps and a class on appliqué. Diane taught her class to make reversible aprons from fat quarters (a quilting term meaning a quarter of a yard of fabric cut into four squares of a quarter-yard each). The quilt college is held every other year for two days and is a great way to learn new techniques at a good price, as guild members volunteer their time to teach the classes. Look for it in 2018. Serving Polk County 16yrs LAST DAYS! Advertise in the 2016-2017 Polk County Telephone Directory! Reserve by May 26 Visit online at www.polk.eagledirectories.com New to the area? Number change? Call us to update! 503-623-2373 Polk County Telephone Directory Eagle Directories 147 SE Court St., Dallas www.polkio.com SECTION 001113 ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS Polk County requests sealed Bids from qualified Contractors for the Community Behavioral Health Building located at 1310 East Main Street, Monmouth, Oregon. Sealed Bid Responses will be received by the Polk County Administrator at the Polk County Commissioner’s Office, Polk County Courthouse, 850 Main Street, Dallas, Oregon 97338, until 2:00 p.m. on the 18th day of May, 2016. Bid Responses received after this time will not be ac- cepted. Bids will be immediately publicly opened and read aloud in the Commissioner’s Confer- ence Room, first floor, Polk County Courthouse. Bids submitted must be in a 9” x 12” Manilla envelope, plainly marked “Bid Proposal for Community Behavioral Health Building: 2:00 p.m.” It is the Bidder’s responsibility to ensure that your Bid Package arrives at the correct location prior to the stated closing deadline. A Pre-Bid Conference is scheduled for April 27, 2016, at 10:00 a.m., 1310 East Main Street, Monmouth, Oregon. Attendance is recommended but is not mandatory in order to submit a bid proposal. Prime Bidders may obtain a complete set of electronic PDF Bidding and Contract Documents from AC + Co Architecture | Community located at 363 State Street, Salem, Oregon, ph. 503.581.4114. Other interested parties or Prime Bidders may purchase documents or portions thereof upon application and payment for the cost of printing to Salem Printing and Blueprint, 475 Ferry Street SE, Salem, Oregon, 97301, ph. 503.363.6097. Small, minority and women-owned businesses are encouraged to submit proposals or sub- bids for the work on the project. Submit proposals for the work on forms furnished by the Architect, acknowledge receipt of all Addenda. Formal pre-qualification is not required, nor desired, but Bidder must be a licensed Contrac- tor under ORS 671.530. A Bid Bond or Certified Check executed in favor of Polk County in an amount not less than ten percent (10%) of the total basic bid sum will be required, which will be forfeited as fixed and liquidated damage should the Bidder neglect or refuse to enter into a contract and provide suit- able Bond for the faithful performance of the work in the event the contract is awarded to said Bidder. Bid Proposals may be rejected for not complying with all prescribed public bidding proce- dures and requirements, or for good cause upon finding that it is in the public interest to do so. Attention is called to all provisions of the Oregon Revised Statutes – Chapters 279A, 279B, 279C and Polk County Public Contracting Rules. The Polk County Board of Commissioners is the local Public Contract Review Board for Polk County. No Proposal will be considered without a statement by the Bidder as a part of their proposal whether Bidder is a “Resident Bidder”, as defined in ORS 279A.120(1). By the Order Of: Matt Hawkins, Administrative Services Director Publication & Date: Daily Journal of Commerce, April 22, 2016 Itemizer Observer, April 27, 2016 (April 27, 2016)
