7% of Americans think that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. More fodder for my theory that we are the most poorly educated people on the planet.
Read the full article HERE.
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Agricultural illiteracy
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Category Archives: agriculture
EAST-WEST Rail Grant Video and O Those Willow Creek Peaches
The Humboldt Bay Harbor Working Group presented an overview of Trinity County’s recently obtained grant to study an East-West rail route. Will this be the study that finally drives the stake through the vampire’s heart? I’m all in favor of studies. They’re nonpolluting, for the most part, and they keep State and County employees off the street. So I say, Study ON! Study it to death!! Good training for fledgling Associate Governmental Program Analysts, or whatever they’re called these days.
Anyway, the recent program was a preview of the study. The only concrete fact that stayed in my mind after the meeting (and I’m still thinking about it) is this: there are NO incorporated cities in Trinity County. None.
Charlie Bean provided the following two videos of the presentation.
HERE is Part One.
And HERE is Part Two. Many thanks, Charlie.
Well, all this talk of Points Eastward coincides with the appearance, however ephemeral , of WILLOW CREEK PEACHES at Murphy’s. They had some last week that were about the size of tangerines and really ugly, but God were they good! Eating-over-the-sink good. Hopefully they’re be back soon. And all this talk of Willow Creek peaches reminds me of the several happy years I spent as a member of the Eureka Kiwanis. Kiwanis used to have a powwow during the summer hosted by the Willow Creek Club that everyone looked forward to all year. They had a pit bbq, excellent food and everyone had a great time and everyone went home with something. I came home with a lug of tomatoes so big and ripe I carried them around to the neighbors that very night. And I don’t like tomatoes! but these were fantastic.
One year my big shepherd jumped into the river and couldn’t get out because he was so weighed down by his wet fur. Ben Doane of the HCSO waded in and rescued him. (Thanks, Ben! I’ve never forgotten that.) I don’t know if Kiwanis still has its Willow Creek barbecue, but go if you’re invited. Hearts are broken and mended, careers are trashed and salvaged and there’s lots of good eating. A lot of the folks I knew from then have passed but I hope the Willow Creek club is still going strong. Good people.
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Our Hip Chicks strike “West Texas” gold
I was pleased and surprised to see that the HipChicks, who farm in Sebastopol (how can anyone afford to do that?) and sell their frozen organic chicken products at the Co-Op and ENF, were featured on “The West Texas Investors Club”. This is a yeehaw version of “Shark Tank “, corny and predictable but it grows on you. ( CNBC, Ch 51 on Suddenlink, 7pm and 10pm Tuesdays.) The ladies of HipChicks are true Redwood Coast types and would fit right in here.
They had to do a store demo for the Club with a bunch of kids. It was a success and everyone, especially old Gil, the one with the screechy voice, pronounced it the best chicken he’d had. I don’t usually buy organic but next time I’m at the Coop or ENF I’ll give them a try. Heck, they’re practically local. Check out their site HERE.
And yes, they got an investment.
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The Chickens Are Growing
Our chickens are growing up. The three babies that we had in a bin on the dining room table are now outside full time. We finished clearing out the space on the side of the house and now we have a lovely chicken run. It has quite a few plants for shade and for snacks., and plenty of room to run around. They definitely like greens and I’d get tired of the chicken food, too. It looks like gravel and probably tastes like it too but they love it. Southside Mike, who lives over on Glenwood, warned me about hawks so Jon has rigged up netting over the space to deter them.
Their day begins at 7am when I go out to open their little enclosure. They don’t mind being penned up. When the silky was the only one outside she’d go into the cat carrier we used as a chicken house of sorts, and wait for someone to lock her up. Now that there are three others, they take longer to settle down but they’re the easiest animals to manage I’ve ever seen. I feed them in the morning and again around 6 or 7 so they’ll mosey back into their enclosure. They seem to smell that dry feed; somehow they know when you’ve replenished it. There is a lot of chatter before they go to sleep. Are they catching up on each others’ days? They’ve been together the whole time. They spend their days poking around the space. There are plants, a big table with more plants to afford them shelter, some higher points where they can perch, some shady spots, some sunny spots. They seem happy.
Now that they are teenagers, their appearance has changed . The little yellow chick is becoming a beautiful white bird with black markings. The smallest, the brown one, has developed a gorgeous chestnut color with tiny golden chevrons and the big black one is going to be HUGE. But I love the siiky best of all. I love her white fluffy feathers, her dopey look with that topknot, the fluffy feathers all up and down her legs and between her toes as she steps so high and deliberately.
I don’t know if we’ll ever get any eggs and I don’t care. We have chickens. Our house is complete.
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Chickens
We have chickens. Five little fur-balls in a crate on the dining room table. There is a bigger one, old enough to be outside, but the ones that I keep staring at and checking every few minutes are the chicks. They huddle together-and on top of each other- as if trying to form a ball of chicken. Their little wings are just starting to poke out of the fuzz. They are wonderful. I love them.
The dogs are going crazy. LouLou killed two mostly-grown chicks when we were just getting set up. Now we are more vigilant and she knows she won’t get that lucky again. She and Buddy keep a vigil but it’s kind of half-hearted. In another month all the chicks will be outside. We’ve turned the sidewalk running around the side of the house into Chicken Central and it’s a lovely space with dappled shade and plenty of room for walking around and being chickens.
I rent out my extra bedroom and bath and at least 14 prospective tenants have asked me about keeping chickens. “Go right ahead”, I always say, knowing none of them are really ambitious enough to do it. (It’s a LOT of work.) Then Jon moved in and actually built a coop in the back yard. We’ve moved the chicken area to the side, better protected and also closer to the neighbors, who also have chickens. The “big” one, a half-grown white silky with a fetching topknot, seems to like hearing the neighbors’ chickens. We call her Silky Silk ’cause she’s definitely a rapper. I love how she walks so deliberately, lifting her feet up high.
Someday, I guess, we’ll be getting eggs from them but I don’t really care. Our home is a happier, though messier, place. We have chickens.
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Smith River Residents Being Poisoned? Why Hasn’t Local Media Covered This?
Yahoo News carries a frightening story about pesticide poisoning and the Smith River lily bulb farms. Read about it HERE.
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The Harbor Working Group keeps on keeping on.
The Humboldt Bay Harbor Working Group’s meeting last Wednesday (Feb 24) was not well-attended. They had missed their connection with the Times-Standard again so there was no publicity and the attendees were those like myself who mark our calendars for the last Wednesday on the month. There were less than 20 of us including Dan Hauser, Karen Brooks, Nick Angeloff, Marian Brady, Dave Hull, Richard Marks and the ever-affable Leo Sears.
(Background/Disclosure; I served on the 2012 Prosperity task force that recommended a study be done of the feasibility of an East-West railroad. It WAS done but hope springs eternal and the folks on the task force who disagreed with its finding that the E-W route was impractical sort of morphed into the Harbor Working Group which is also a descendant of the old Committee for Port Development. Pay attention, there will be a test. Personally, I’m an advocate of spending a billion or so to rebuild the north-south route through the Eel River Canyon with passenger-grade rail. This is an investment that would pay off many times over but I can’t get anyone interested.)
So those of us gathered at the Samoa Cookhouse heard from a knowledgeable gentleman named Bill Carlson who works for the USDA in Oregon and knows a lot about agriculture and its markets. He considers PHB (an acronym for Port of Humboldt Bay) to be the “most underdeveloped deep-water port on the West Coast”. Grays Harbor, WA, near Aberdeen, ended up with a giant shipping and transfer facility run by the shipping giant PASHA, for which PHB was one of the competitors. PHB lost out because of not having rail access. One of Grays Harbor’s big customers is a Midwest soybean co-op.
Currently agricultural products from the Central Valley are shipped south to Oakland for transfer. This includes a lot of alfalfa and hay to Japan. Almond hulls and walnut shells are shipped for use as abrasives (!) All these could be shipped out of PHB, along with rice to Japan. The whole conundrum of the E-W scheme is: what is there to ship? There is a Walmart distribution center in Gerber, where Union Pacific has 20 acres available for development as a ag hub.
The most striking assertion, to me, was that a route from Gerber to PHB could be patched together using existing rail lines which would only require 12 miles of new rail. That’s a lot different and a lot cheaper than building a 200-mile stretch of rail from scratch.
I hope that the Group will make Mr Carlson’s presentation available on its website HERE as it used to do in the past but the website looks like no one is paying it much mind. Still, you should pay attention to what these folks are up to. They just might be on to something. 12 miles??
I’ll be posting the meeting notices from now on. Last Wednesdays!
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The BEST Strawberries on the Planet
Those of you who know about Saechow’s strawberries in Fortuna, you can skip this. Those who don’t, you owe me a big favor for telling you.
What: Mr. Chan Yan Saechow began growing strawberries after he was laid off from Eel River Sawmill. Thank God he was laid off, because he grows the best strawberries you have ever had. They have vegetables, too, but the berries are the thing. And we still have a good chunk of summer left.
Where: Take the Kenmar exit and when you reach the bottom of the ramp go left. (Right takes you to the River Lodge). Then go about a block and make the first right, where you see signs advertising berries, butterflies , burls, a gun range , etc. Saechow’s stand is about a mile own the road on your left and you won’t miss it.
When: When I went there Saturday, they handed me a business card with their number and suggested calling ahead to see when they’re open. There were a few traumatic weeks when they were NOT open but now they’re back. Just call 707-845-3930 to make sure.
And you’re welcome.
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Humboldt Saltwater Anglers’ Update
We are always proud to share the Humboldt Area Saltwater Anglers’ newsletter because a) it’s informative and b) it LOOKS so good. Here is the latest from this stellar organization. It takes a while to load. Good things are worth waiting for.
Election Notes October 2014
I don’t profess to be a “Famous Humboldt blogger” like our friend Fred. (Fred has a good sense of humor.) And I have to confess that I haven’t been as involved in politics as I normally am, due to family and health issues, but elections are important and I’ll put my two cents in. I think most of you know that I’m a nonvoting member of the HCDCC, and a lifelong Democrat.
Eureka City Council- this is the easiest call. Natalie Arroyo and Kim Bergel are like a breath of fresh air compared to their undistinguished opponents, about whom the less said the better. Give these two women a shot. You won’t regret it.
Fair Wage (Prop R)- I just accosted John Forrest, the owner of Hole-in-the -Wall, down at the store. I had not visited my favorite sandwich place in some weeks because I was so irritated at his apparent callousness in remarks reported by the Times-Standard. Then on Saturday, while I was struggling with my groceries in the Winco parking lot and the rain was starting to fall, one of the HITW employees saw me and helped me. Now I’m a regular again because of his STAFF. Mr Forrest is a genial guy but no one patronizes HITW because of him, it’s because of the STAFF. I hope the Fair Wage initiative passes. Yes, I know prices will rise. As an old lady on a fixed income, I’ll manage and so will others. There has been more ugliness and hypocrisy around this issue than any I can remember and it has been dismaying to behold.
No GMOs (Prop P)- If the family farmers who bring us the Farmers’ Markets and enhance our quality of life so much are for it, then I’m for it. ‘Nuff said.
FInally, the public safety measures, County Measure Z and Eureka Measure Q, are certainly worthy of your support. Thanks to ALL the candidates and campaign workers for giving your time.