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The INDEPENDENT, April 21, 2011
Can You Dig It?
your garden are obnoxious, there are also many culti-
vated varieties that are beautiful, scented, hardy, etc.
They are easy to grow in pots for summer color – these
One of the advantages of beauties are usually not winter hardy. However, there
having raised garden beds is are cultivars of hardy geraniums that work wonders in
that they work up so easy in shady, damp spots along with ferns, hostas, delphini-
the spring. With my wide metal um and columbine.
rake I can work up a bed for
I thought I’d give a brief opinion of ‘Green Comet’
planting very quickly. First, I Broccoli. These particular cultivars form a single large
rake what’s left of the winter’s head early in the season, but, don’t expect side shoot
mulch off to the sides of the production – you’re farther ahead to just jerk it out of
bed. This old stuff ends up hav- the ground, put it into the compost, and plant some-
ing a variety of uses. With the thing else. Unlike other broccoli varieties this one does
rake I can work the surface of the bed to an even NOT continue significant side shoot production. Defi-
seedbed of friable soil to a depth of 4 –6 inches. Tak- nitely a spring variety, you
ing OSU Extension Agent Chip Bubl’s advice to pre- are not going to pick broc-
warm the soil, I’ve raked out two seedbeds and cov- coli flowerettes off this for
ered them with recycled clear shower curtains (using most of the winter, but you
that mulch to hold the plastic down all the way around). will have open space in
The soil warms up a LOT! The peas are sprouting al- your garden, basically
ready. I want to get a little mulch and more slug bait on ready to plant, after you
them before they break through the surface. It would harvest the broc. A person
be way to easy to scorch the daylights out of the little could even harvest it and
things!
plant another crop of win-
I was perhaps a bit hard on geraniums in my last ter broccoli in the same
column. While it’s true that many of the wilder gerani- space, though I would
ums that grow in driveways, roadsides, and thrive in think you would have to be vigilant about cabbage
moths. I plant tiny ‘Walla Walla’ onion
plants all around the edges of the broccoli
bed – it seems to confuse the cabbage
the offer to join the board of di- wishes to attend.
moths, though certainly not enough to
Oregonians and Vernonians eliminate the problem.
rectors for the state event, so I
are well known in Wyoming,
will remain happily involved.”
Economics of vegetable gardening: I
The winner of the Oregon with three Oregonians among bought one six-pack of broccoli, one of
bee receives some financial as- the top 16 in 2010. Vernonians spinach and two of onions. After making
sistance if they choose to at- have won the National Senior sure that they were completely soaked, I
tend the AARP National Senior Spelling Bee, too, with Audeen gently teased apart each individual plant,
Spelling Bee held, since 1996, Wagner in 2000 and Carol Planting the spinach at about 4-inches
in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Ander- Sawyer in 2003. Other Orego- apart and the broc about 6-inches apart
sen hasn’t decided whether she nians won in 2002 and 2007, with the onions around the edges of the
will go to the national event in while Finzel twice placed a very broccoli. I covered the whole thing with a
June. The national bee is open honorable third in 2003 and
to anyone 50 and older who 2004.
By Schann Nelson
Columbia County Master Gardener
Spelling is fun for senior winner
layer of wood ash (completely without calculation as to
what pH effect it might have) because the slugs, at
least, would not like coming across this barrier. Every-
thing we plant has to be covered completely with frost
blanket since one (very large) cat has decided that
these beds are prepared solely for her benefit. YUCK!!
We have sprouted potatoes we can’t eat and will
plant, though this is a move sure to produce less than
perfect potatoes. My hope is that by eating them early
and not trying to store them, we will minimize the neg-
ative effects and increase the edible potions.
I’m still working on completing winter pruning of fruit
trees and I have lots of other pruning I’d like to do, but
it requires a younger, more athletic approach. There’s
still time to move and/or shape perennials and shrubs.
We have an apple tree that’s been heeled into the gar-
den for about three years now and it absolutely has to
move this year! This is a tree I had grafted onto full size
root stock to reproduce a fallen giant from the farm. It’s
in fine health but doesn’t get enough sun, and it blocks
what sun there is from the kiwi I want to grow at the
edge of the garden. What a project!
Hope lots of you enjoyed the recent sun. Remem-
ber, with weeds destroyed and bare earth mulched to
eliminate sprouting, plus slugs and wasps and other
bugs dealt with early so they don’t have families for
you to deal with later, you’ll find your garden more en-
joyable…and someday the lawn will dry out enough to
mow!
Church Directory
V ERNONIA F OURSQUARE C HURCH
F IRST B APTIST C HURCH
P IONEER B APTIST F ELLOWSHIP
Carl Pense, Pastor
850 Madison Avenue, Vernonia
503 429-1103
Sunday Worship Service: 10:30 a.m.
Children’s Sunday School
Pastor John D. Murray
359 “A” Street, Vernonia
503 860-3860
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
Sunday Worship Service 11:00 a.m.
Wednesday Prayer Meeting 7:00 p.m.
John Cahill, Pastor
939 Bridge Street, Vernonia
503-429-1161
www.pbfalive.com
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
Sunday Morning Worship 11:00 a.m.
Thursday Prayer 7:00 p.m.
S EVENTH D AY A DVENTIST
Larry Gibson, Pastor
2nd Ave. and Nehalem St., Vernonia
503 429-8301
Morning Worship, 11:00 a.m.
Sabbath School 9:30 a.m.
A SSEMBLY OF G OD
Wayne and Maureene Marr
662 Jefferson Ave., Vernonia,
503 429-0373
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
Morning Worship 11:00 a.m
S T . M ARY ' S C ATHOLIC C HURCH
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 OMMUNITY C HURCH
Ralph Young, Pastor
957 State Avenue, Vernonia
503 429-6790
Sunday Bible Classes 9:00 a.m.
Family Praise & Worship 10:30 a.m.
Wednesday Prayer 6:30 p.m.
Thursday Laadies Study 7:00 p.m.
Nursery 10:15 a.m.
Vernonia Community Preschool
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
C HURCH OF J ESUS C HRIST
OF L ATTER D AY S AINTS
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)
Various Home Group Meetings
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.