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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 27, 2015)
Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, May 27, 2015 GROW Local knowledge U M AT I L L A To Pendleton Long Creek Fox 19 GRANT Dayville To Bend 26 John 395 26 John Day Canyon City Izee MALHEUR Seneca R. 2,007 ft. To Baker City 395 2,549 ft. 2,000 7 . CROOK 10 miles HARNEY 4,666 ft. 4,386 ft. 4,062 ft. 4,429 ft. 4,695 ft. 4,101 ft. 3,539 ft. 3,754 ft. 3,083 ft. 2,871 ft. 3,000 Day R River Day Mount Vernon Grant Co. towns by elevation 4,000 Sumpter hn Bates Prairie City To Burns 5,000 feet BAKER Granite M. F 402 WHEELER a y R. o Kimberly Joh n 395 Monument 19 UNION F N. k. Dale Ritter S. F k . Jo hn D ay 3,194 ft. 2,917 ft. 2,348 ft. 1,828 ft. 1,000 .) Co x ak er Fo Ize e s k te Ba ee ty G OURMET & GADGET S The Biggest Little Kitchen Store in Eastern Oregon 340 N Broadway Ave., Burns 541-573-1725 Open Mon - Sat 10am - 5pm Su m pt er Lo (B ng Cr Ci ty ie air y Da Ci Pr Mo Ca ny on le hn Da Jo Ri tte t V r er no n un ille yv Da m Mo m Ki en rly t Sea level nu The Eagle/Cheryl Hoefler Where’s the onion patch? Local legend says when there’s no snow on the onion patch on Strawberry Mountain, it’s safe to start planting outdoors. Forget about the calen- dar or Farmer’s Almanac. Some folks in Grant County have their own methods, handed down through the years, for gauging when it’s safe to start planting outdoors. Staff at the Grant Coun- W\ RI¿FH RI 2UHJRQ 6WDWH University Extension shared adages they’ve re- ceived from a few loca- tions in the area: Long Creek • When you can stand out in the middle of town and not see any snow on the mountains surrounding the Long Creek Valley. • When the big tree behind the motel in town starts sprouting leaves. Prairie City • When there’s no snow on the onion patch – rough- ly an M-shaped area – on Strawberry Mountain. MORROW 207 OREGON J k. Blue Mountain Eagle heck out the elevations of Grant County communities for a gauge of garden potential — from melon and corn coun- try in Kimberly to frost cloth- required territory in Seneca and Granite. be %\&KHU\O+RHÀHU Elevation matters C D No snow on onion patch? It’s safe to plant Area in detail Se ne ca Gr an ite A10 Source: Blue Mountain Eagle research FACEBOOKERS: Become an Eagle fan today! Go to: facebook.com/ MyEagleNews BRING on the (mason) BEES! Species fills needed role as pollinators By Kym Pokorny OSU Extension Service acebook Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group CORVALLIS – Even as the gardening season is young, ma- son bees come out for their short but productive foray into the blooms of your backyard. These solitary native bees – most commonly the blue orchard mason bee (Osmia lignaria) – get busy before honeybees and set to work on HDUO\ÀRZHULQJSODQWVOLNHIRU sythia, pieris and especially fruit trees. ³0DVRQ EHHV ¿OO D VSRW LQ the season when other pollina- tors are not out,” said Brooke Edmunds, a horticulturist with Oregon State University’s Ex- tension Service. “They’re re- ally important for fruit trees, especially in cool, wet areas.” As honeybees continue to struggle for survival, mason bees take on a bigger role in the backyard garden, according to Edmunds. Both serious and ca- sual gardeners welcome these earnest pollinators to get better yields of fruits, vegetables and ÀRZHUV Mason bees are smaller than honeybees, have a bluish hue DQGDUHRIWHQPLVWDNHQIRUÀLHV Rarely do you have to worry Make sure your car is ready for any Spring or Summer road trips! Bring it in for a tune up by our formal auto specialists! about being stung because these unaggressive bees live alone and have no hive to protect. 8QOLNHKRQH\EHHVWKDWÀ\XS WRPLOHVWR¿QGWKHLUSUHIHUUHG food, mason bees don’t go much farther than 300 feet. They move in a zigzag pattern, which makes WKHP HVSHFLDOO\ HI¿FLHQW SROOL nators for small spaces, accord- ing to Edmunds. The single-minded bees live to bring nectar and pollen back to the nest for their larvae that hatch from eggs laid between walls made of mud – another material the female bees must haul back to the nest. Leaving patches of mud close to nesting areas in trees or other wood will help attract them, Edmunds said. You can also encourage mason bees by creating a gar- den that includes plants that bloom during their excursions in spring. Consider plants such DVFUDEDSSOHVUHGEXGÀRZHULQJ currant, elderberry, huckleberry, Oregon grape and lupine. Even the often-dreaded dandelion is a great source of food. If you want to introduce the bees rather than wait for them to arrive in the garden, she rec- ommends purchasing a nesting house, which contains straws ¿OOHGZLWKFRFRRQVWKDWKDWFKLQ spring. They’re available online or at garden centers. Alternately, you can drill holes into a solid piece of un- treated wood. Make the holes ¿YHVL[WHHQWKV RI DQ LQFK LQ diameter, six inches deep and three-fourths of an inch apart. Insert paper straws with cocoons inside the holes. Whatever you end up using, hang houses or containers under eaves or other protected areas where they’ll be protected from wind, rain and sun. May is National Electrical Safety Month. Safety Tips: • Maintain at least 10 feet of clearance around power lines when using pruners, ladders, harvesters, dump trucks, and other tools and equipment. • Assume all overhead lines are energized and potentially dangerous, including service drops that run from utility poles to buildings. • Clearly mark boundaries to keep workers and equipment a safe distance from overhead power lines. • Call 811 before you dig, disc, till, or move dirt in anyway. Any underground utilities will be marked so you can work safely. • Beware that contact with overhead power lines can kill. Don’t Risk it! Contact your local OTEC district office for basic safety tips and to set up electrical safety training that we offer. • Baker County 541-523-3626 • Grant County 541-575-0161 • Harney County 541-573-2666 • Union County 541-963-3155