Plant a Vegetable Garden

I heard a lot from folks this past week about what they did to celebrate Earth Day (week). Some planted a tree. Others participated in Earth Day celebrations with speakers, booths, and locally grown food. Some celebrated at central Wisconsin’s Prairie Chicken Festival. Still others took time to read from A Sand County Almanac (Aldo Leopold’s classic book). Or they spent some time with Bill Christofferson’s biography of Gaylord Nelson, The Man from Clear Lake: Earth Day Founder.

I celebrated Earth Day by working up my garden and planting the early crops. My son, Steve and I planted five long rows of potatoes, a row of peas, half a row of radishes with carrots, a few feet of lettuce, some more feet of spinach, and several feet of beets. I’ll plant more in mid-May, and still more by the end of May. A frosty night in late May will often kill off my tomato plants, so I wait. Patiently I wait until the end of the month to set out the frost fragile plants and complete the planting.

We planted on Friday, and the rains came on Saturday. Great timing. Today, Sunday, my grandsons, Ben and Josh Horman and I put a fence around the garden. Nothing to eat there yet. But the deer, turkeys, raccoons, rabbits and assorted other critters (can you say ground hog) know about my garden. And they patiently wait as well.


THE OLD TIMER SAYS: To become truly close to the earth, in more ways than you could ever imagine, plant a garden.


UPCOMING EVENTS:


April 27, 6:30 P.M. Lake Geneva Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

May 1, 9:30 A.M. WEAC-Retired, Sheraton Hotel, Madison. Stories From the Land.

May 6, 7:00 P.M. Albertson Memorial Library, Albany, WI. Old Farm: A History.

May 7, 10:30 A.M. Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries Convention. Glacier Canyon Lodge at Wilderness Way, Wisconsin Dells. Old Farm: A history.

May 13, 7:00 P.M. Hartford Public Library, Hartford. Old Farm: A History.

May 16, 10:30 A.M. – 2:30 P.M. Dregne Gift Shop, Westby. Old Farm: A History

May 19, 7:00 P.M. Book Vault, Oskaloosa, Iowa. Old Farm: A History, In a Pickle and more.

Snapping Turtle

We found a snapping turtle on its back by our pond. It had bite marks on its neck and on its shell, and was nearly dead. A potential snack for a coyote or perhaps a pack of them?

Likely shaking off the lethargy of winter, the turtle had emerged from the depths of our pond, looking for spring. This old snapper had been attacked some time before we found it.

It was mean looking. Big thick neck. Beady eyes that supposedly see very well. Tail like an alligator. Legs with yellowish, curved claws. A middle sized one as snapping turtles go, maybe 10 or 15 pounds. Big ones will weigh 40 pounds and more. Live to 75 years.

Biologists say snapping turtles lived the same time as the dinosaurs. So whatever you might think of them—they are predators and eat many little ducks and geese—when you see one, you are with ancient history. Very ancient history. Something to consider.


THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Celebrate Earth Day. The first one was April 22, 1970. Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson is credited with organizing it.


UPCOMING EVENTS:


April 23, 7:00 P.M. Richfield Historical Society. Richfield Town Hall. Old Farm: A History.

April 25, 1:30 P.M. Books and Company, First Congregational Church of Christ, 815 S. Concord Rd. Oconomowoc. Old Farm A History.

April 27, 6:30 P.M. Lake Geneva Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

May 1, 9:30 A.M. WEAC-Retired, Sheraton Hotel, Madison. Stories From the Land.

May 6, 7:00 P.M. Albertson Memorial Library, Albany, WI. Old Farm: A History.

May 7, 10:30 A.M. Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries Convention. Glacier Canyon Lodge at Wilderness Way, Wisconsin Dells. Old Farm: A history.

May 13, 7:00 P.M. Hartford Public Library, Hartford. Old Farm: A History.

May 16, 10:30 A.M. – 2:30 P.M. Dregne Gift Shop, Westby. Old Farm: A History

May 19, 7:00 P.M. Book Vault, Oskaloosa, Iowa. Old Farm: A History, In a Pickle and more.

The Pond in Spring

The pond at our farm is waking up after a long winter sleep. The ice has melted, finally. The sandhill cranes are back; a pair has nested on the west shore for several years in a row. I heard the first frog song this week, still rather tentative, but a sure sign that winter has finally retreated. A pair of wood ducks lifted up and winged off to the north when I approached the other day, a red tailed hawk, with its wings spread wide, sailed in big circles, riding the thermals above the valley. And I could smell new growth among the remnants of winter.

A surprise this year. We have a beaver that is busy dragging recently cut aspen trees into the water. Building a beaver house? Maybe. Building a dam? Why? No running water here. Do beavers get confused about what they are doing, like the rest of us from time to time?

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: If everyone is doing it, then this might be the time to question whether you should.

UP COMING EVENTS:

April 17, 9:15 A.M. Jefferson County History and Historic Preservation Conference, Hoard Museum, Fort Atkinson. “Lighter Side of Country Living.”

April 18, 1:45 P.M. Fox Cities Book Festival. Little Chute Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

April 19, 1:00 P.M. Historic Point Basse, Nekoosa. Old Farm: A History

April 23, 7:00 P.M. Richfield Historical Society. Richfield Town Hall. Old Farm: A History.

April 25, 1:30 P.M. Books and Company, First Congregational Church of Christ, 815 S. Concord Rd. Oconomowoc. Old Farm A History.

April 27, 6:30 P.M. Lake Geneva Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

May 1, 9:30 A.M. WEAC-Retired, Sheraton Hotel, Madison. Stories From the Land.

May 6, 7:00 P.M. Albertson Memorial Library, Albany, WI. Old Farm: A History.

May 7, 10:30 A.M. Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries Convention. Glacier Canyon Lodge at Wilderness Way, Wisconsin Dells. Old Farm: A history.

May 13, 7:00 P.M. Hartford Public Library, Hartford. Old Farm: A History.

May 16, 10:30 A.M. – 2:30 P.M. Dregne Gift Shop, Westby. Book Signing.

May 19, 7:00 P.M. Book Vault, Oskaloosa, Iowa. Old Farm: A History, In a Pickle and more.

Making a Difference

How often have you heard, we are only one couple, how can we do anything that matters? The short answer is, much more than you think.

Last Saturday Ruth and I attended a fundraiser to purchase a tri-county Red Cross Disaster Trailer. John and Vicki Jenks held the event in their home near Wild Rose. Two events really, 51 attended the first, 49 the second. John and Vicki retired to the Wild Rose area a few years ago, and they are making a difference in the community (John is a graduate of Wild Rose High School, Vicki is from North Dakota). They are demonstrating that one couple, with the help of some friends, can make an enormous difference.

John and Vicki are professional musicians. They performed for the crowd as did several of their musician friends—everything from country western, polkas and show tunes to classical pieces.

People came from all around, Madison, Markesan, Wautoma, Stevens Point, Coloma and of course Wild Rose.

The event raised a bunch of money, too. With a positive attitude, some enthusiasm, a can-do spirit, and friends, big things can happen.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: (Borrowed from Edgar Guest)

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
But, he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

April 17, 9:15 A.M. Jefferson County History and Historic Preservation Conference, Hoard Museum, Fort Atkinson. “Lighter Side of Country Living.”

April 18, 1:45 P.M. Fox Cities Book Festival. Little Chute Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

April 19, 1:00 P.M. Historic Point Basse, Nekoosa. Old Farm: A History

April 23, 7:00 P.M. Richfield Historical Society. Richfield Town Hall. Lighter Side of
Country Living.

April 25, 1:30 P.M. Books and Company, First Congregational Church of Christ, 815 S. Concord Rd. Oconomowoc. Old Farm A History.

April 27, 6:30 P.M. Lake Geneva Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

May 1, 9:30 A.M. WEAC-Retired, Sheraton Hotel, Madison. Stories From the Land.