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!
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Polk County Telephone Directory!
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www.polk.eagledirectories.com
New to the area? Number change?
Call us to update!
503-623-2373
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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)