The INDEPENDENT, April 16, 2009
Help available for first time gardeners
The faltering economy,
combined with interest in
healthy food choices has led to
an increase in calls to Oregon
State University Extension
Service county offices with
questions about growing food
in home gardens – and more
calls are expected as spring
approaches.
One of the most compelling
phone calls came in late fall of
last year, according to Gail Lan-
gellotto, statewide coordinator
of the Master Gardeners pro-
gram.
“It was a difficult time, as gas
prices and subsequently the
cost of food surpassed the
means of many people,” she
said.“The man on the phone
asked, ‘What can I grow that
will produce food for my family
right now?’”
The worried caller’s options
for starting a garden late in the
fall were limited. But Langellot-
to had an answer: A container
garden would be easiest, she
told him, and leafy greens
could survive the winter if the
containers were placed in the
sun, out of the wind, and
wrapped with plastic to keep
the soil warm.
People who want to start
gardening are concerned not
only about the price of food, but
growing fresh produce that they
know is safe. Many also want
to know what grows well in their
area and how to participate in
community gardens, according
to reports from county Exten-
sion staff members.
Gardening seminars also
have seen increasing numbers.
A Benton County lecture in Jan-
uary on planning a garden in
the Willamette Valley drew a
standing-room-only crowd of
220. The number of names on
a waiting list to rent plots in the
Portland area’s 30 community
gardens has grown to 1,000,
according to Extension’s Clack-
amas County horticulturist We-
ston Miller, and landowners are
offering to donate land for more
community gardens
Gardening help is available
at most county Extension of-
fices from home horticulture ex-
perts and Master Gardeners,
who are trained to answer
questions. More than 3,500
Master Gardeners are active in
28 of Oregon’s 36 counties as
volunteers and last year donat-
ed more than 173,000 hours to
helping home gardeners.
“When the Master Gardener
program began in 1976, its fo-
cus was on diagnosing plant
problems and offering solu-
tions,” Langellotto said. “While
still a major focus, Master Gar-
dener volunteers also provide
educational programs on topics
such as pest management,
composting and sustainable
landscaping, as well as getting
a garden started.”
OSU Extension’s, “Growing
Your Own,” a practical guide to
gardening for first-time garden-
ers, is available online at
http://extension.oregonstate.ed
u/catalog/html/grow/grow/.
Copies of a printed version are
available at county Extension
offices.
Most Extension offices offer
gardening classes on a variety
of topics. Check with the OSU
Extension Service in Washing-
ton County, 18640 NW Walker
Rd., No. 1400, Beaverton, OR
97006-8927, 503-821-1150,
http://extension.oregonstate.ed
u/washington/ for more infor-
mation. In Columbia County,
contact OSU Columbia County
Extension, 505 N. Columbia
River Hwy, St. Helens, at 503-
397-3462, or http://extension.
oregonstate.edu/columbia/
Saved by a life jacket? Marine Board wants you
If you’ve ever been boating
and unexpectedly wound up in
the water with your life jacket
on, then the Marine Board
wants to hear your story.
“For the last few years we’ve
focused our life jacket cam-
paign on some amazing sur-
vivor stories,” says Ashley
Massey, Public Information Of-
ficer for the Marine Board.
“We’ve highlighted a variety of
survivors, including an angler
whose boat capsized near the
Columbia River bar, an OSP
Trooper whose boat capsized
on the Santiam River, a duck
hunter whose motor malfunc-
tioned and fell overboard, and a
boater floating the McKenzie
River when his pontoon boat
came apart. In all of those cas-
es, the boaters would have like-
ly drowned if they hadn’t been
wearing their life jackets,”
Massey warns. “None of them
expected to get wet.”
The Marine Board has been
educating the public about
wearing life jackets for years,
and for the last six years, has
produced public service an-
nouncements for television and
radio and produced print ads
with the survivors’ stories.
“It’s important to create a
message that people can iden-
tify with. By using real-life sto-
ries, boating situations hit a lit-
tle closer to home,” Massey
says. Although adults are not
required to wear a life jacket,
only to have one “readily ac-
cessible,” often there isn’t time
in an emergency to put one on.
“We’re interested this year in
hearing from boaters who’ve
had a close call on a lake or
reservoir in a motorized boat,
and survived because they
wore a life jacket,” says
Massey. One story will be se-
lected and the survivor will be
highlighted in television and ra-
dio spots.
To share your story, contact
Ashley Massey at 503-378-
2623 or Ashley.massey@state.
or.us.
More stocked
trout coming
One more trout stocking is
scheduled for Vernonia Lake,
to take place the week of April
27, with Oregon Department of
Fish & Wildlife set to stock
2,500 trout in the lake.
✮ Gasoline Alley Auto Wrecking ✮
503-429-7581
Most parts under warranty
Open Tuesday-Saturday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Closed Sunday and Monday
54372 Nehalem Hwy South, Vernonia, OR 97064
6 miles south of town on Hwy 47
Buying unwanted vehicles with clear title
Page 15
Power of the People
Power of the People by Marc Farmer, General Manager of
West Oregon Electric will be back on May 7.
Fairboard gets needed tractor
It has been a long time com-
ing and a much needed pur-
chase, but the Columbia Coun-
ty Fairboard finally raised
enough money to purchase a
new tractor. A tractor is a con-
stant need at the Event Com-
plex and has been a goal of the
Fairboard for several years.
“We have over 70 acres here”,
said Event Complex Manager
Ronda Courtney, “there is al-
ways the need for a tractor. We
have been practically duct tap-
ing our old tractor together for
the past few years and just
praying it would hang in there
until we could get a new one.”
The Fairboard attended the
Northwest Ag Show in January
to take a look at what was
available and make some con-
tacts with dealerships. After
sending out requests for
quotes, the Fairboard reviewed
quotes from eight dealers on 11
tractors. “We really wanted to
buy locally if at all possible but
it also had to make sense to us
financially,” said Ronda Court-
ney, manager of the Event
Complex.
The Fairboard chose to pur-
chase a lightly used Kubota
5040HD with a new loader and
set of pallet forks. Sunset
Equipment, the local Kubota
dealership, found a rental trac-
tor that was for sale from a
southern Oregon dealership
that was going out of business,
allowing the Fairboard to save
a couple thousand dollars off
the price of buying new.
Funding for the tractor has
come from several sources
over the past five years, ac-
cording to Fairboard President
Evelyn Hudson. “We combined
the proceeds from the last two
years of the Columbia County
Oktoberfest, a large donation
from the Lowell McGregor
Group and a portion of the pro-
ceeds from the Means Nursery
plant sale at last year’s Fair, to
make the purchase. We finally
had enough,” said Hudson.
Picture courtesy of Fair-
board.
Previously known as Bits & PCs
…
lace look!
p
e
Sam le new
o
a wh
W
Colo e make
r Cop
ies
aga s
r new t!
Und n e agemen
ma
•Computer Servicing
• Upgrades & Repairs
• Office Supplies
• Media Transfers
• Ink and Toner Refills
503.429.TECH
COMPUTER &
INTERNET SERVICES
• New & Used Computers in stock
• Cell Phone Service & Accessories
• IPOD accessories
• Internet Services
• Notary Services
866 Bridge Street, Vernonia