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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 2007)
Page 6 the INDEPENDENT, February 15, 2007 Can You Dig It? By Schann Nelson OSU Master Gardener frame, order seeds, plant trees and shrubs, clean and oil tools, fertilize the lawn, then…when it’s time to stay warm and dry…you can read: Oregon Small Farm News , a brand new FREE online newsletter from OSU is available at http:smallfarms.oregonstate.edu. They describe their focus as “organ- ic/biological and conventional farming systems” and emphasize three areas – Small Acreage Stewardship, Commercial Small Farms, and Community Food Systems. Country Living , the FREE monthly OSU Extension Newsletter, is always interest- ing and educational. Just in case you aren’t getting enough garden stuff in the mail, go to www.seed catalog.com Or go to events: Yard, Garden and Patio Show, February 23 – 25 at the Oregon Convention Cen- ter. Get the schedule and print a coupon for $2 off the admission price of $11, at www.ygpshow.com. Wholesale Plant Sale, February 24, 10 – 3 at Sauvie Island Elementary School. Highest quality, locally grown nursery stock available at this once a year event. Oregon Families & their Forestlands, April 27 – 28 A symposium exploring the is- sues affecting family owned forestland. Spring is in the air; days are getting longer, plants and insects are starting to wake up. Filberts are blooming now; I’ve even seen a couple of crocus. The tips of the daffodils are emerging and so are some of the less-well-liked denizens of the yard and garden. To discourage large populations of yellow jackets, take down yellow jacket traps and empty them before putting them back. I used four placed around the edges of the yard last year, and will add a couple more. The big females that survived the winter will soon start flying around, looking for sum- mer homes to raise their brood. Like slugs, the more of these you eliminate now, the fewer you’ll have in high summer. While wandering about one of the big box stores, I found small 12-space plastic starter trays w/lids for under $3, and simply couldn’t resist. It’s so easy to talk (or in my case write) about getting flowers started indoors in January. As usual, it’s harder than it sounds. I followed the directions and planted three trays: one with two kinds of zinnias, one with sweet peas, and the final one with broccoli and cauliflower. I put them on top of the water heater in an effort to keep them in the warm and the dark as directed. I checked them every day and brought them out after they started sprouting. So far, I have poor germination, and damping off. I think I added too much water and/or should have left the covers off for a day or two. I also don’t have any control over the temperature so they were probably too hot on top of the water heater and then too cold close to the windows. AND it got cloudy and dark outside, just as they needed sunlight. At least the fiber pots are easy to replace. I’m promising myself to plant again next week. As of today I have one sweet pea ready to put into a big- ger pot, three zinnias (only one of which will likely live). The brasica’s fared better though I need to use better seed planting technique to be sure the seed is covered with the appropriate amount of soil. Since this was nice fresh seed and a cool weather crop, I had to heartlessly thin by pinching off the tops of all but two broc’s in a jiffy-pot. One of the things I love about gardening is the diversity of opinion about any lit- tle thing. For example, this month’s issue of Country Living contains a recommen- dation for using water polymer crystals. I’ve used these in hanging baskets and I thought they were helpful. Then I read “The Truth About Garden Remedies” in Gar- dening How-To . According to the article, while hydrogels absorb enormous quanti- ties of water (as anyone knows who is at all familiar with today’s disposable dia- pers), the water may not be available to plants. The cool thing is the apparently unending supply of scientists to study this sort of obscure stuff. Though Garden How-To does not cite articles, they are apparent- ly reviewing literature. They conclude that the gels generally are NOT helpful in re- ducing watering frequency, that plant growth was about the same with and without hydrogels, and that the gels reduced the time to wilting by a paltry 12%. Hydrogels did provide some benefit for drought sensitive plants in the landscape. All you can do is continue experimenting. I will attest that I watered my hanging baskets every day, but never thought about putting hydrogel in the ground…though I’ve scared myself silly getting a handful of hydrogel in the garden by surprise. The only other thing in the garden with that texture is a slug. Have you ever tried to get that nasty slime OFF! Winter can be hard on a gardener’s spirit. Fortunately, a wealth of books, magazines and symposia are available for win- ter contemplation and planning. If you have the opportunity to C HURCH OF J ESUS C HRIST landscape, it is well worth your investment in both time and dol- OF L ATTER D AY S AINTS lars to put some time into design, before planting. Lots of folks Jeff Cheney, Branch President have spent lots of time getting plants to exhibit certain desired 1350 E. Knott Street, Vernonia qualities such as disease resistance, tasty fruit, interesting shape, 503 429-7151 etc. There are lists for plants adapted to almost any condition Sacrament Meeting, Sunday 10 a.m. and/or climate. Research is a great way to increase your chances Sunday School & Primary 11:20 a.m. of successfully creating a desired effect in a beautiful garden…in- Relief Society, Priesthood and Young Women, Sunday 12:10 p.m. stead of an addition to the compost pile. Gardening is experiential and direct. Everybody has their own S EVENTH D AY A DVENTIST way, and while many are glad to share their secrets in story, oth- ers are driven to hours of tedious research, conducting scientific John Aitken II, Pastor, 396-1856 studies that advance knowledge and the capabilities of industry. 2nd Ave. and Nehalem St., Vernonia Oregon has a larger agricultural economy than many realize, 503 429-8301 Morning Worship, 9:15 a.m. especially if they see only the Portland Metro area. Just released Bible Study 10:30 a.m. statistics reveal that “the value of agricultural production in Ore- gon has reached an all-time high of $4.3 billion…and produces V ERNONIA C OMMUNITY C HURCH more than 220 different agricultural commodities.” This is mostly in addition to forest products such as logs and timber. The Agri- Grant Williams, Pastor 957 State Avenue, Vernonia culture Quarterly winter issue has a review of the past two years 503 429-6790 from every division (Animal Health & Identification, Commodity In- Sunday Breakfast 9:00 a.m. spection, Pesticides, Measurement, etc. for a total of nine divi- Morning Worship 9:45 a.m. sions). The actions and policies of the departments of agriculture *B.L.A.S.T. w/Nursery 10:00 a.m. and forestry affect us more directly than some, perhaps, though *Bible Learning and Scripture Training I’m not sure about that. Educating ourselves is always a good Wednesday Prayer Meeting 7:00 p.m. idea. Stuff to do: bait for slugs, finish pruning fruit trees, set up a cold Box Elder bugs will soon begin emerging from hibernation. The harmless, .3-.5” bug is mostly gray to black with bright red crossed marks on their wings/back. The ‘V’ on their backs is a bright red contrast to the dark body. Members of the order Hemiptera , the box elder bug, leptcoris trivitatus feeds on the big maples in our climate and does little dam- age. However, adults like to congregate and rest on light-col- ored south- and west-facing walls, sometimes in large num- bers. This can be a nuisance, especially if they find a way in- side. A vacuum cleaner will quickly reduce the population. Church Directory S T . M ARY ' S C ATHOLIC C HURCH A SSEMBLY OF G OD Rev. Luan Tran, Administrator 960 Missouri Avenue, Vernonia 503 429-8841 Mass Schedule Sunday 12:00 Noon Religious Education Sunday 10:30 a.m. Wayne and Maureene Marr 662 Jefferson Ave., Vernonia, 503 429-0373 Sunday School 9:45 a.m. Morning Worship 11:00 a.m V ERNONIA F OURSQUARE C HURCH Carl Pense, Pastor 850 Madison Avenue, Vernonia 503 429-1103 Sunday Worship Service: 10:30 a.m. Children’s Sunday School F IRST B APTIST C HURCH 359 “A” Street, Vernonia 503 429-5190 Sunday School 9:45 a.m. Sunday Worship Service 11:00 a.m. Wednesday Prayer Meeting 7:00 p.m. S T . A UGUSTINE (C ANTERBURY ) E PISCOPAL C HURCH 375 North St. (Vernonia Grange Hall) Vernonia, 503 705-2173 Please call for service schedule. N EHALEM V ALLEY B IBLE C HURCH Gary Taylor, Pastor Grant & North Streets, Vernonia 503 429-5378 Sunday School 10:00 a.m. Morning Worship 11:00 a.m. Nursery available Wednesday Service 7:00 p.m. V ERNONIA C HRISTIAN C HURCH Sam Hough, Evangelist 410 North Street, Vernonia 503 429-6522 Sunday School 9:45 a.m. Morning Worship 11:00 a.m. Every Wednesday: Ladies' Bible Study 9:30 a.m. Ladies’ Worship 10:00 a.m. Children’s Choir 3:00 p.m. Family Bible Study 7:00 p.m.