Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (July 16, 2009)
Page 6 The INDEPENDENT, July 16, 2009 Tuality farmers market, Thursdays Can You Dig It? By Schann Nelson OSU Master Gardener July! All of the sudden there’s garden every- where! Everything is alive, there are more aspects of green than can possibly be enumerated and identi- fied. All one can do is breath deeply in wonder and gratitude. I’m espe- cially grateful for the fresh green growth on both of my azaleas and the tiny myrtle. I have beds full of 4-inch corn (Earlivee- 71 days), 4-inch bush beans (lost the packet), and (Gotta love this spanglicided description) 4-inch “Horto Semi-Bush Stringless Horticultural Bean” (63 days). Turns out, this is how Ed Hume Seeds of Puyallup, Washington labels his breed of Tongues-of-Fire or Cranberry Bean. This type of bean can be eaten young as a snap bean, can be eaten at the green shell stage, or harvested as a fully dry shell bean. The bright red streaks on mature beans give the type its name. Beans are one of the crops is seems ‘prof- itable’ to grow yourself. Assuming that you plant in good fertile garden soil, beans grow reliably even in my short sun-day garden. You can get a lot of beans in a small space. There are LOTS of varieties of pole and bush beans including short season types. Recently, shell beans and lima’s have become available in short season varieties. All types of beans, like the brassicas and aspara- gus, taste WAY better fresh from the garden. You precisely control the processing, if any! In addition, the veggie garden is bursting with: 4 pickling cucumbers nicely climbing a 4- foot section of fence About 25 red onion sets in a 4 x 4 ft area 4 Sweet Basil and one Lemon Basil surviving in a nice cluster at the end of one bed and beginning to get har- vestable leaves Two beds of potatoes, one in the shadiest bed that Dennis planted and the other of volunteers he won’t let me rip out now that they’ve taken over that corner of the garden and are huge beautiful plants Several volunteer squash and/or pumpkins. This should be interesting! Squashes cross- breed readily and it’s already obvious some are more of a bush type and some are going to vine all over. I harvested some early broccoli, have lots of lettuce, several cauliflower (thankfully in various stages of growth) and a couple of very young broccoli of another variety that will, hopefully, provide better side-shoot production. One short row of spinach is starting to come up, along with plans to add two more rows across the bed over the next month. I’d still like to get pole beans in. One last gar- den best is ready to plant tomorrow, along with that second row of spinach. It’d be nice to grow more lettuce/greens and maybe squeeze in a packet of Henderson’s Baby Lima Bean (65 days). Then it will be time to start fall brassicas and try (again) for fall peas. One more unplanted bed is on the edge of the veggie garden, next to my oldest perennial bed. The only purchased rose I’ve ever successfully grown, a JFK Peace, was once bracketed by lavender and balanced by a small heather. The rose looks much healthier than it did the last time I wrote about it – several years of vigorously keeping the root stock cut back as much as pos- sible (I swear it will grow a nasty five-foot vine of thorns between one day and the next!) has al- lowed the JFK Peace to grow several vig- orous new stems. The heather grew and had to be moved a bit and is finally begin- ning to recover three years later. The lavenders got old, rangy and didn’t flower much. The bed was being taken over by grass, buttercups, and sweet woodruff. The VERNONIA INN Enjoy a quiet weekend with us. FULL SIZE, IN ROOM HOT TUBS Queen Beds • Private Bath • Separate Entrance Cable TV • Phones • Handicapped Access • Commercial Rates FOR RESERVATIONS CALL 1-800-354-9494 / 503-429-4006 Gift Certificates Available 900 MADISON AVE., VERNONIA, OR 97064 Just one block off scenic Nehalem River Hwy. (Oregon 47) Please see page 22 Tuality Thursday Farmers Market will be held from July 23 through August 27, from 3:00 to 6:30 p.m. in the parking lot at Tuality Health Education Cen- ter. Shop for fresh foods, flow- ers, crafts, and more. Pick up a “healthy harvest” of local pro- duce, freshly picked during the peak of the growing season, and support local farmers. Come for the market on July 23 and stay for a free 90- minute presentation, starting at 6:00 p.m., on Eating Healthy and Local, with registered dieti- tian Shelie Hartman-Gibbs, RD. Please R.S.V.P. for the presentation to 503-681-1700. What are vitamins and minerals? Vitamins are organic food substances found only in living things, i.e. plants and animals. They are essential for our bodies to function properly, for growth, energy and for our gen- eral well-being. With very few exceptions the human body cannot manufacture or synthe- size vitamins. They must be supplied in our diet or in man- made dietary supplements. Some people believe that vita- mins can replace food, but that is incorrect. In fact, vitamins cannot be assimilated without also ingesting food. That is why it is best to take them with a meal. Synthetic vitamin supple- ments can be of varying quality, so it is a good idea to get your supplements from a reliable source. Mineral nutrients are inor- ganic elements found in food which the body cannot synthe- size. Mineral nutrients are es- sential and vital components of all living cells and are involved in the metabolism of the body. The human body needs miner- al nutrients for many functions e.g. composition of body sub- stances (bones, muscles) and the maintenance of enzymatic activities. The primary nutrients are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). These may become insufficient in the soil, requiring fertilization, because plants use large amounts for their growth and survival. The secondary nutrients are calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and sulfur (S). There are usual- ly enough of these nutrients in the soil so fertilization is not al- ways needed. Also, large amounts of Calcium and Mag- nesium are added when lime is applied to acidic soils. Sulfur is usually found in sufficient amounts from the slow decom- position of soil organic matter, an important reason for not throwing out grass clippings and leaves. Church Directory N EHALEM V ALLEY B IBLE C HURCH S EVENTH D AY A DVENTIST F IRST B APTIST 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. Gary S. Walter, Pastor 2nd Ave. and Nehalem St., Vernonia 503 429-8301 Morning Worship, 11:00 a.m. Sabbath School 9:30 a.m. 359 “A” Street, Vernonia 503 429-4027 Sunday School 9:45 a.m. Sunday Worship Service 11:00 a.m. Wednesday Prayer Meeting 7:00 p.m. A SSEMBLY OF G OD S T . M ARY ' S C ATHOLIC C HURCH Wayne and Maureene Marr 662 Jefferson Ave., Vernonia, 503 429-0373 Sunday School 9:45 a.m. Morning Worship 11:00 a.m Rev. Luan Tran, Administrator 960 Missouri Avenue, Vernonia 503 429-8841 Mass Sunday 12:00 Noon Religious Educ. Sunday 10:30 a.m. V ERNONIA C HRISTIAN C HURCH V ERNONIA C OMMUNITY C HURCH Sam Hough, Minister 410 North Street, Vernonia 503 429-6522 Sunday School 9:45 a.m. Sunday Worship 11:00 a.m. (meets in Youth & Family Center) Home Group Meeting throughout the week at various locations Grant Williams, Pastor 957 State Avenue, Vernonia 503 429-6790 Sunday Breakfast 9:00 a.m. Morning Worship 9:45 a.m. Children and Nursery 10:00 a.m. Youth Group 6:00 p.m. Preschool Mon. & Wed. 9:00 a.m. Wednesday Prayer 6:00 p.m. Tues. & Fri. Adult Volleyball 7:00 p.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 C HURCH OF J ESUS C HRIST OF L ATTER D AY S AINTS Marc Farmer, Branch President 1350 E. Knott Street, Vernonia 503 429-7151 Sacrament Meeting, Sunday 10 a.m. Sunday School & Primary 11:20 a.m. Relief Society, Priesthood and Young Women, Sunday 12:10 p.m.