Home
Living
B
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
The Observer & Baker City Herald
WENDY
SCHMIDT
Linda Gassenheimer/TNS
Late summer salad
supper.
BETWEEN THE ROWS
The benefi ts
of community
gardens
C
ommunity gardens can
be fun. Recently I got to
visit one with my niece in
Edmonds, Washington. She has her
own section, and her garden buddy
has another section.
The community garden is in a
suburb of Seattle. The garden con-
sists of between 15 and 20 raised
beds, each about 3 or 4 feet wide by
20 feet long or so.
Individuals take care of and plant
whatever they wish to plant. Sev-
eral were planted with at least half
fl owers — sunfl owers, diff erent vari-
eties, nasturtiums and other edible
fl owers, various types of cucumbers,
summer squash, and tomatoes. There
were even some pole beans climbing
an arrangement of tall poles tied
together as a teepee. One garden fea-
tured pumpkins for Halloween, and
an artichoke, and a bay laurel bush
and other herb and spices.
It would be nice to have commu-
nity gardens in La Grande and Baker
City. There are several vacant lots
around that would look nicer with
gardens growing on them.
Several of the raised beds in
Edmonds were being grown for the
community to come and help them-
selves and harvest what they need
with produce which could be picked
whenever things got mature enough
to harvest and as the need arose for
supplemental fresh food for their
tables.
Each gardener/renter/ farmer
could plant/weed/harvest their
own space and be responsible for
watering. Netting was often a plot
feature designed to keep out deer
and rabbits.
Having community gardens
enabled those living in apartments
to have a garden when gardening
was never possible for them before.
It also beautifi ed the vacant lots and
created friendships between people
with the same interests. Not to men-
tion the food and mood-elevations
from fl owers.
I’m not sure whether that Seattle
suburb furnished the water, whether
rent was charged, or how the raised
beds got built, but it seems like a
great public project for an organiza-
tion wanting to do community ser-
vice. There’s a whole winter ahead
to plan the garden for anyone inter-
ested in spearheading a worthwhile
thing like growing healthy food.
█
VEG OUT
This veggie salad
supper is perfect
for late sutmmer
By LINDA GASSENHEIMER • Tribune News Service
W
hen I see the markets filled with summer vegetables, I can’t wait to make them into
a salad. To turn this salad into a vegetarian salad supper, I added some black beans,
edamame and avocado. You can add your own combination of vegetables, using this
recipe as a guide for the amounts needed. I use fresh oregano to add extra flavor to bought oil and
vinegar dressing.
Corn kernels from corn on the cob
are used for the salad. Just husk the
corn and stand the cob on end in a bowl.
Using a sharp knife, cut downward as
close to the base as possible. Continue
cutting the kernels all around the cob.
Edamame can be bought either
already shelled in the refrigerated case,
frozen shelled or frozen in pods. To
use the frozen ones in pods, microwave
them for 1 to 2 minutes and squeeze the
beans out of the pods.
Helpful Hints
• You can use any fresh herbs such as
basil, cilantro and/or parsley instead of
oregano.
• To help ripen an avocado, remove
the stem and place it in a paper bag in a
warm spot.
• You can use frozen corn kernels
instead of fresh ones from the cob.
Wendy Schmidt is a longtime gardener who has
been a Master Gardener since 1997. She lives in
La Grande.
Countdown
• Cut off the corn kernels and micro-
wave them.
• Prepare remaining ingredients.
• Assemble salad.
Shopping List
To buy: 2 ears corn on the cob, 1
avocado, 1 bunch fresh oregano, 1 bag
washed, ready-to-eat lettuce, 1 container
cherry tomatoes, 1 container edamame,
1 can reduced-salt black beans, 1 con-
tainer croutons and 1 bottle reduced-fat
oil and vinegar dressing.
LATE SUMMER SALAD
SUPPER
Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer
2 cups corn kernels from 2 ears corn on the cob
1/4 cup reduced-fat oil and vinegar dressing
1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves
4 cups lettuce
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 cup edamame
1 cup reduced-salt black beans, drained
1 medium avocado, skin removed
and cut into 1-inch cubes.
1 cup croutons
Husk the corn on the cob and cut off the
kernels. Add them to a microwave-safe bowl and
microwave on high 1 minute. Measure dressing
into a small bowl and add half the oregano leaves.
Save the remaining leaves for a garnish. Divide the
lettuce between 2 dinner plates. Add the corn ker-
nels, cherry tomatoes, edamame, black beans and
avocado. Mix them into the salad. Spoon the dress-
ing over the salads. Add the croutons and sprinkle
the salad with the remaining oregano leaves.
Yield 2 servings.
Per serving: 486 calories (34% from fat), 18.1 g
fat (2.1 g saturated, 8.2 g monounsaturated), 2 mg
cholesterol, 22.1 g protein, 67.7 g carbohydrates,
22.8 g fi ber, 248 mg sodium.
The stirring story of the WWI Spruce Squadron
By JENNIE HAGEN
For EO Media Group
I never met my grandfa-
ther. He died from injuries
sustained while working in
the woods we now know as
the Tillamook State Forest.
He was a hard-working
man, one with strength of
character, and one who
loved his family. He never
intended to stay in Oregon
but had hoped to return to
his home of Boulder, Col-
orado, after the war. His
family headstone now
rests with other relatives.
But his military headstone
lies in the same cemetery,
in a seldom visited area.
It simply reads: “John L
McDonald, Oregon, PVT
103 Spruce Sq, World War
I, March 10 1897, Oct 7
1948.”
As World War I raged
in the European theater, a
striking problem arose for
the Allies. There weren’t
enough spruce trees to meet
the demand for the growing
number of aircraft that
needed to be rapidly built.
The solution? The Pacifi c
Northwest in the United
States. Oregon and Wash-
ington forests were ripe
with the kind of timber that
was desperately needed to
continue the aerial assault
on the Germans. And so,
the Spruce Squadron was
born.
The Allied nations were
attempting to produce
enough aircraft to keep
the skies occupied over
the front lines in France.
The lumber industry in
the United States had been
supplying the Allies with
spruce timber, especially
important to the construc-
tion of wing spars and other
aircraft parts. But as 1917
led into 1918, the logging
industry was losing men
to the draft. These labor
shortages caused the fl ow
of aircraft spruce to nearly
disappear.
It was then that the
Army formed the Spruce
Production Division (SPD)
with the goal of increasing
the fl ow of airplane wood;
the Army would provide
men to work in the forests
and mills. The production
of timber for aircraft and
ship building increased as
spruce, fi r and cedar were
logged.
These Army men
worked with the civilians
in the forests and mills
and received the same
Carla Stenberg/Contributed Photo
The gravestone for John. L. McDonald, who served in the Spruce
Squadron during World War I.
wages (minus their mili-
tary pay). They additionally
built and worked in a spe-
cial wood production plant
at Vancouver. They were
able to supply the type of
wood needed for the air-
plane manufacturers, as
most mills in the US were
not setup for that type of
production.
Roads and railroads
were built wherever they
were needed to reach the
spruce stands along the
Pacifi c coast.The SPD men
learned to operate the rail-
roads, they learned to drive
log trucks, and they learned
how to cut the timber so
desperately needed in
Europe.
The Army enforced min-
imum requirements for
work hours, lodging and
food. The government con-
tractors hired to oversee
the work were regularly
inspected by Army staff .
There were labor issues and
those who spoke out against
the government were
removed from the lumber
work force. Many soldiers
built their own barracks,
others lived in tent cities.
A great number of the
soldier workforce wanted
to go “over there” and take
part in the fi ghting, but their
labor was needed in Oregon
and Washington.
By November 1918,
approximately 28,000 sol-
diers were working with
about 100,000 civilians.
Of these, about 18,000 sol-
diers were engaged in log-
ging, construction, and
mill work. Another 4,000
worked at the lumber mill
in Vancouver. And 4,000
more soldiers were perma-
nently assigned to the Van-
couver Barracks, their job
was to help with supply,
HQ operations, etc., and as
an armed force designed to
maintain peace in the vol-
atile labor environment of
the logging industry. Some
were also sent to fi ght forest
fi res.
The Spruce soldiers
experienced isolation prob-
lems as many of the small
camps were far from towns
with little to no commu-
nication from the outside
world. Smaller camps were
frequently moved as log-
ging and construction was
completed or new projects
areas were started. Many
were not able to receive
mail from home as they had
no address. The soldiers
at the Vancouver Barracks
were more fortunate as they
had a physical address to
receive mail. And many
chose to stay after the war
eff ort had ended.
My grandfather never
went back to Colorado.
Instead, he chose to stay
in the area he now called
home. There were still
many good jobs in the for-
ests he grew to know so
well. He settled in Tilla-
mook and continued to
work in the woods, as he’d
become a supervisor of a
timber crew and was known
as an excellent and fair
boss.
He broke a lot of hearts
that day in October 1948.
My father stayed in Tilla-
mook and raised his family
there, too. And now you
know the rest of my story.
Want to learn more?
Most of the informa-
tion regarding the Spruce
Squadron is taken from
“The U.S. Army Spruce
Squadrons in the First
World War,” written by Bob
Swanson. Bob has devoted
years to compiling infor-
mation and research about
the Spruce Squadron, and
his website, www.swan-
songrp.com has a tremen-
dous amount of information
regarding the SPD.
See, Squadron/Page B2