Jul 15, 2012
July 10, 2012
Published in Siskiyou Daily News
Scott Valley View section
Del Norte Sheriff Dean Wilson will host the fifth Support Rural America Sheriffs Event this Saturday in Crescent City at the fairgrounds. Time is 2 to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Siskiyou Sheriff Jon Lopey will participate on the panel with seven or eight other sheriffs from the North State and Oregon’s Josephine County Sheriff Gil Gilbertson. Believe me, Sheriff Wilson and Sheriff Gilbertson will have plenty to say about over-regulations greatly hurting local economies. Hope you can make it as I believe it will be worth the trip to the Pacific Ocean.
Garden
Been working several hours each morning in the garden irrigating, by hand, the new seeds and plants. The two long rows of carrots are finally about a half-inch tall. Potatoes are doing so well, some are knee-high. I just added several inches of mulch and will start irrigating by soaker hose next week. My cousin, Trudy and husband, Dave Pearson, came to visit and attend the 1970s Etna High School Reunion last weekend, and I made a stir fry with the snow peas, although some were a bit old. The cabbage, zucchini and tomatoes are finally looking hardy.
Decided to dry the oregano in the oven like I did the thyme. Hint: I found the oven only needs to heat up to 200 degrees and then immediately shut it off. I left the door closed with the light bulb on for several hours. Then I did the process again. This way, it doesn’t get too hot, but is warm enough to dry faster than air drying. Using the oven is cheaper than running the dehydrator at my house. Did I mention that I am getting really cheap?
Pretty proud of myself as I also rubbed and sifted through a colander the oregano and it is done. It filled a quart jar about three cups full. The sage is dry, but it hasn’t been rubbed and sifted yet.
The lemon balm is ready for harvest as is the fever few and mint. So gotta keep at it this week. I like drying it in the oven as it keeps me plugging away, but not harvesting more than I can take care of every few days. And the problem I have with drying it for several weeks in brown paper bags is – out-of-sight and it is out-of-mind. I forget about it.
AB 2179
The highly-intrusive bill is like the anti-hound Senate Bill 2112 as both seem to have taken on a life of its own. The Liberals can’t take “no” for an answer and keep calling for another vote, when both bills have already been voted down in committee. There must be a lot of strong-arming going on as both just passed out of one committee and are now headed to the appropriations committees. Someone sent me an article with graphic photos of hounds that were killed by wolves. It is on Pie N Politics.com. Pretty sad state of affairs, when fashionable public sympathy is for wolves and not for hounds. I thought everyone loved dogs.
I claim it is in-humane to not allow hounds to do what they do naturally — hunt. Bears and bobcats tend to become over-populated. We need hounds to help with the management of them. Unfortunately, fashionable folks think everything must be saved.
The truth is: We do not have a shortage of wild animals, fish or fowl.
Talk about “saving”, yes, we do want to save the dams; but proponents of dam destruction spin lies and now claim the dams are “poisoning” the Klamath River. What bunk! The Klamath dams add cool water to provide sufficient water supply during the extremely low natural-flows of hot dry summer months. Ugh.
Another bill making it through the state legislature is one that is proposing a name change of the Dept. of Fish and Game to Dept. of Fish and Wildlife with a moniker of “Cal Wild.”
I am not kidding folks and the proponents of the bill argue that the name change will not cost any additional funds, because they will not immediately change their uniforms, letter head, business cards, decals on vehicles and signs on their office buildings. In reality, it will cost the tax payer plenty, cuz DFG can hardly wait to be called Cal Wild.
Speaking of DFG, several individuals have investigated the Humane Society of the U.S., which has its own law enforcement officers (guess they elected or appointed their own) and these officers are providing training to new Game Warden recruits. This is an oxymoron to me. No wonder Game Wardens now act like they are on swat teams with the goal of protecting all wildlife from “evil” humans!
Liz Bowen writes biographies, blogs, radio and freelances. Check out her blogs: lizbowen.com and PieNPolitics.com
Jul 15, 2012
July 3, 2012
Published in Siskiyou Daily News
Scott Valley View section
This headline could read: “Fort Jones graduate saves the day.” You see Jim Klump grew up in Scott Valley and graduated from Fort Jones High School, which was a while ago, cuz the school consolidated with Etna High School in the 1980s (I think). Apparently, Jim went to work for the U.S. Forest Service and eventually invented a firefighting water pump called the Uni-engine. And guess what? It was used last week on the wildfire that was just north of Fort Jones on the hill across the little valley about a mile from where the “old” Fort Jones High School was located.
Actually, I called a friend, Jean Mielke, to ask how she was doing knowing the fire was very close to her home at the bottom of that hill on McAdams Creek. She was singing the praises of Cal-Fire and the many local volunteer firefighting Districts for such immediate action and great tactics. The fire started on a breezy Thursday afternoon and soon rushed up the brushy hill and began racing to the north. Jean mentioned the firefighters used this long hose that went up from near or at their place to the top of the hill and down the other side to shoot out water. My thought was “wow that is quite a feat involving enough pressure to pump water over that distance.”
Then Wendy Wilson, from Yreka, and a 1960-something graduate from Etna High School, called to tell me that Jim Klump’s invention was used to fight the fire. I put two and two together, then looked up “Uni-engine.com” on the internet. Sure enough, its nickname is “Klump Pump” and it has been used on many wildfires during the past decade. The Uni-engine consists of a water tank, pump and storage area built within a self-leveling frame and can be placed using a pickup bed or a helicopter as was the case on June 28th.
So a big thank you goes out to Jim for his invention; and to the many firefighters who hustled to save homes and stop the fire.
AB 2179
There is a bill that passed the State Assembly several weeks ago and is working through the Senate Committees that will be onerous to farmers and ranchers. Although it is touted as a wildlife protection bill, AB 2179 will give CA. Dept. of Fish and Game an incredible increase in authority. It allows the state agency to circumvent the local sheriff, District Attorney and Superior Court. If it passes, DFG will deal with violators “in-house” acting as judge and jury and levying fines up to $10,000.
Scott Valley Protect Our Water, Tea Parties and Senator Doug LaMalfa are fighting this bill. Siskiyou Sheriff Jon Lopey said that the California Sheriffs Association along with numerous other ag, water, business and fish groups are lobbying against it. But it did pass the Natural Resources Committee and is up for immediate vote in the Appropriations Committee. This in-house setting of Permit fees and fines is a “new” way for agencies to fund themselves providing salaries. Not a good precedence to set. We have asked citizens to call Senators explaining why a “no” vote is so important.
A little bit of sunshine came when California Senate Bill 1221 failed to garner enough support to make it out of the state’s Assembly committee on June 26. “Outdoor Life.com” stated: It’s a victory for sportsmen, common sense, and scientific-based management of game animals in the Golden State … but is likely to be short-lived.
After the Humane Society spewed its touchy-feeling rhetoric, the bill may gain support again for another vote.
Garden
Last week’s cooler weather was just fine with me, but the garden isn’t growing as fast as it will as soon as the summer heat hits. The watermelon and cantaloupe are putting on their second set of leaves; the green beans sprouted really well and there will be enough cucumber plants, although I will need to transplant several to even out the row.
I pulled several winter onions and was surprised at the large size. The volunteer elephant garlic was going to seed and the russet potatoes planted in the same row are finally growing well. So I pulled out the garlic and found two of the three were huge. One was four-inches across. The real garlic needs to be pulled next week as the strawberries I planted next to them are starting to grow.
I did get the thyme harvested, dried in the oven on very low heat, sifted and it filled a pint jar. Also cut the horehound and oregano and it is drying in paper bags.
May you take a moment on July 4th to remember it is our “Independence Day” and that freedom isn’t free.
Liz Bowen writes biographies, free lances and writes blogs: Pie N Politics.com and Liz Bowen.com
Contact
Subscribe
No Comments 