Article about the Klamath Basin

I found this article interesting mainly because it's where my Dad grew up, it's where my family settled over 100 years ago. Water has been a big issue there since the beginning, and my family, being farmers, have been in the middle of the controversy all along. My grandfather, Charles Brown, worked on the reclamation project. He remembered when Tule Lake use to actually be around the peninsula, and he remembered when a lava tube broke open and a great deal of the lake drained out into the lava tube. Most people blame the farmers for the loss of water, but that's not the case. The Anderson's mentioned in this article are cousins of mine.




My grandmother, the one married to Charles, was an Anderson. She came to Merril Oregon (not far from Malin) in a covered wagon in the early 1900's. It was her family, and the Browns along with others who built the communities and the farms there. Kandra is another name I've grown up hearing. I'm quite sure my dad went to school with a Kandra.

It's interesting to see the North Coast Journal side with the people who farm the refuge, the people who are bringing in the corporate farms. Here in Humboldt it's all about keeping it local and supporting the local small farmers. I guess if it's not in your backyard, then corporate farms are all good. Unfortunately, it's not good for the way of life my family has been trying to live in the Klamath Basin for more than a century.

Deer in the garden, fox in the hen house

Shit! First we have deer jumping in our vegie garden eating our cauliflower, then I wake up to my husband yelling, "We only have one hen left!" Damn! I meant to close up the hen house last night right after dinner. My husband woke up to two "shadows" in the hen yard, turns out they were fox. One ripped the head off of a hen and dug straight into her abdomen to dig the egg out of her body. And people wonder why farmers want to kill off predators. I guarantee if most of these citified wanna be enviro's saw what we saw this morning, they'd be praying to their porcelain gods and plotting their revenge.

Gardening Again

Well, after taking a break from writing and gardening, I'm back at both now. My garden was a mess and my pages have been blank. A lot of catching up to do. With a lot of help from my husband we now have a happily growing vegetable garden full of lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, and many other things. Celery, once again this year is doing extremely well, as is the Pak Choy we tried out this year. Our pole beans aren't fairing too well though. I think there may not be enough sun where they're at. I'm giving asparagus a shot this year. I've heard it's difficult to grow, but that's what they said about celery too. I'll have to be patient for the asparagus. I won't see any harvest until next spring. The peas seem to be doing fairly well so far. Our squash and pumpkins are looking extremely happy as well. One of my happy surprises is that my basil is doing very will this year. I try every year and it just suffers along. But, thanks to the "drought" and all the extra sun we're getting this year, it's doing very well.

My next project is to get some more lettuce starts rolling so we can keep lettuce growing year round. Unfortunately tomatoes are out of the question here until I get a green house. I didn't event bother to try this year. So I'll have to buy all of my tomatoes at the Farmers Market. I'm hoping I can get the energy and gumption up to do some more canning this year. I'd like to have canned tomatoes, peaches, apples etc etc.

So, here we go.......garden on!!!!

Rhododendron Festival

Rhododendron Parade and Festival April 28th ~ 10 AM
Eureka
This popular community event is sponsored by the Greater Eureka Chamber of Commerce and accepts parade entries from throughout the region. The Year's 35th annual parade will start at Seventh and E Sts. and will travel up Seventh St. to H St., turn south on H and proceed West on Henderson Ave., ending at the Eureka Mall. The annual Rhododendron Show will be held at Miles Hall, St. Bernard's Elementary School, 115 Henderson St., on Saturday. Other events are to be arranged. Those interested in participating should contact the Chamber at 707-442-3738.

Rhododendron Society

Rhododendron Society. 7:30 p.m. Christ Church-Episcopal, Parish Room, 15th and H sts., Eureka. Don Wallace of Singing Trees Gardens presents "The King of Shrubs" slide show illustrating the use of rhododendrons in landscaping. Carol Dunning leads the Rhodo 101 session "Using Rhodies in Flower Arrangements." Refreshments. 443-1291.

It's Time To Garden!

Fortuna Feed & Garden Center is having their anniversary sale on April 28th! Woo Hoo!!!!
25% off of everything in the nursery! Yes! And they're having a BBQ and a goat calling competition! Can't wait!

17th Annual CR Plant Sale

The College of the Redwoods Agriculture program will be holding its 17th annual plant sale on Friday, April 27, from noon until 6 p.m. and Saturday, April 28 from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the CR greenhouse on the main Eureka campus