Jerry Apps's Blog, page 32

July 4 Garden Report

So far, fingers crossed—an excellent gardening season.  The rains have come when needed, warm, sunny days, and no critter problems.  Here’s a summary on this 2016 Independence Day.
 Top prize goes to the potato crop.  In bloom and completely filling the rows.  I don’t recall a better looking potato crop.  My son-in-law, Paul asked, “What are you gonna do with all those taters?”  As any gardener knows, as well as those who raise chickens, “Never count your chickens until the eggs are hatched.”  It’s a long time from now until October potato harvest.
 Second prize to the leaf lettuce—we’ve already harvested it four times and it continues to flourish.  Same with the Swiss chard; two harvests and showing no signs of slowing down.
 The peas were so-so—two harvests.  We all so much enjoy eating fresh peas.  I pulled the plants on Saturday and we planted the area to late sweet corn.
The tomatoes—several blossoms showing.  Plants are as luxuriant as the potatoes—no sign of blight yet.  Fingers crossed.  Natasha thinned the rutabagas—we planted them way too thick, but they are on a tear—growing well.  Broccoli ready in a week or so, cabbage heads beginning to show, cucumbers beginning to vine, as are squash and pumpkins.  Zucchini looking good.
Sweet corn knee high and taller.  Has to be knee high by the Fourth—my dad always used that as a measure for the success of his field corn.  The long row of sunflowers is waist high, beating the corn, which we planted on the same day.
The failures so far—always some failures.  The radishes were pathetic.  Scrawny, wormy—I think I harvested about a dozen that were fit to eat. Carrots, well I think I may have a dozen of them that are growing.  Sad.  I like carrots.  Planted them with the radishes.  I must try something different next year.
This year marks the fiftieth year of gardening at Roshara.  One of these years we’ll figure out how to do it.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS:  Vegetable gardening—what can be more fun, and more challenging?
ANNOUNCEMENT AND GOOD NEWS:  A second Clearing Writing Class is scheduled for Friday, October 28.  Call 920-854-4088 to Register.
Upcoming Events:
July 19, 11:00 a.m., Farm Technology Days, Snudden Farms, Lake Geneva, Walworth County. History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 9, 6:30 p.m. Winnebago County Historical Society.  Oshkosh Library.  History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 12, 9-4, Writing Workshop, The Clearing, Door County. (Filled)
August 20, 10:30-11:30 am.  Waupaca Annual Arts on the Square. 
Purchase Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them): 

The library now has available signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs: Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps (based on The Quiet Season book.) Jerry Apps a Farm Story (based on Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old Farm books.)
 The Land with Jerry Apps, (based on the book Whispers and Shadows.)Also available are several of Jerry’s signed books including: Jerry’s newest novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County. and Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.
Jerry’s newest books, Roshara Journal (with photos by Steve Apps) and Telling Your Story—a guide book for those who want to write their stories—are also available.Contact the library for prices and special package deals.Patterson Memorial Library500 Division StreetWild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835

Changing The Weather

For those of you who believe that you can’t change the weather, I’ve discovered a way to do it.  Here’s what happened.  Last Saturday it was in the 90s at our Roshara cabin.  High humidity.  Sticky.  Sweat a lot weather.  Son-in-law, Paul, a handyman extraordinaire, spent more than an hour stuffing our little window air conditioner into place.  Finally, when he plugged it in late morning, the temperature in the cabin was in the middle 80s.  At four in the afternoon, the temperature in the cabin was still in the middle 80s.
Sometime during the winter, when the air conditioner rested on our porch, it had died.  Quietly, without fuss it left us, in spirit if not in body for the thing still weighed nearly 50 pounds.   What to do?  The temperature outside continued in the low 90s.
My brother, Donald and I drove to Stevens Point, where I bought a replacement.  A healthy, longer life machine—I’m hoping.  This time Donald and I worked for an hour removing the dead machine and replacing the new one, following the “some assembly required” directions.  Donald is also quite a skilled “fix it” guy.  (Admission—about the only thing I can fix, is the order of words in a paragraph.)
 We turned on the machine.  It worked.  But here is where the weather changing business occurred.  It wasn’t an hour after the new air conditioner was in place that the temperature outside began dropping.  This morning it was 56 degrees.  No air conditioner needed.
How to squelch hot weather—buy a new air conditioner.  You may never need to use it, but the action was obviously necessary to convince the weather to change.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS:Who says you can’t change the weather?
Special Announcement:  No new blogs for the next two weeks.  On vacation.
Upcoming Events:
June 28, 11:00 a.m.  Larry Meiller Show. Wis. Public Radio.  Discussion of Roshara Journal and Telling Your Story (New Books)
June 28, 7:00 p.m. Book Discussion-with Steve Apps.  Mystery to Me Book Store, Madison.  Event at HotelRed, 1501 Monroe St., Madison, WI—parking at hotel. Roshara Journal and Telling Your Story (New Books)
July 19, 11:00 a.m., Farm Technology Days, Snudden Farms, Lake Geneva, Walworth County. History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 9, 6:30 p.m. Winnebago County Historical Society.  Oshkosh Library.  History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 12 9-4, Writing Workshop, The Clearing, Door County.
August 20, 10:30-11:30 am.  Waupaca Annual Arts on the Square. 
Purchase Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them): 

The library now has available signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs: Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps (based on The Quiet Season book.) Jerry Apps a Farm Story (based on Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old Farm books.)
 The Land with Jerry Apps, (based on the book Whispers and Shadows.)Also available are several of Jerry’s signed books including: Jerry’s newest novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County. and Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.Contact the library for prices and special package deals.Patterson Memorial Library500 Division StreetWild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835

Telling Your Story

            Everyone has a story to tell.  And each one is different and special.  As some of my readers know, I have been teaching Creative Writing workshops on How to Tell Your Story since 1971.  We Germans are not supposed to boast, but I have had well over 1,000 students in my workshops, which I continue to teach.  Several of writing students have written books including their stories.   Many more have written their stories and shared them with family and friends.
            “When are you going to write about what you teach?” students asked me over the years.  So I finally did.  The book is titled TELLING YOUR STORY: PRESERVE YOUR HISTORY THROUGH STORYTELLING. (Fulcrum Press, 2016).
            The book is in six parts: I: Why it’s important to write your storyII. Memory Joggers (Remembering what you thought you forgot)            III. Background Information (how to do research)            IV. Creating Your Story (How to do it)            V, When is a Story Not a Story            VI: Telling Your Story in Person (Speaking to a live audience, doing radio and TV
            To read more about the book, and to purchase a copy go to your local bookstore,  http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781936218226or order from Amazon .com                        

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:  It’s never too late to write down your stories.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Writing Workshop for 2016Telling Your Story Workshop at The Clearing in Door County.  Friday, August 12, 9-4.  Call 920-854-4088 to get your name on the list. (Still Room)
UPCOMING EVENTS.
June 7, 7:00 p.m. Cambria Library. Cambria Fire Dept. Community Center, Cambria.
June 11, 9-4 Writing Workshop, Wild Rose Library.  Telling Your Story
June 14, 9:00 a.m. Keynote speech. Country Heritage Day, St. John the Baptist Church, Montello. Barns of Wisconsin.
June 28, 11:00 a.m.  Larry Meiller Show. Wis. Public Radio.  Discussion of Roshara Journal and Telling Your Story (New Books)
June 28, Book Discussion.  Mystery to Me Book Store, Madison.  Details to follow.  Roshara Journal and Telling Your Story(New Books)
July 19, 11:00 a.m., Farm Technology Days, Snudden Farms, Lake Geneva, Walworth County. History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 9, 6:30 p.m. Winnebago County Historical Society.  Oshkosh Library.  History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 12 9-4, Writing Workshop, The Clearing, Door County.
August 20, 10:30-11:30 am.  Waupaca Annual Arts on the Square. 
Purchase Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them): 

The library now has available signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs: Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps (based on The Quiet Season book.) Jerry Apps a Farm Story (based on Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old Farm books.)
 The Land with Jerry Apps, (based on the book Whispers and Shadows.)Also available are several of Jerry’s signed books including: Jerry’s newest novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County. and Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.Contact the library for prices and special package deals.Patterson Memorial Library500 Division StreetWild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835

Planting Garden Between Showers

Memorial Day weekend is our time to finish planting our garden at Roshara. This year was no exception.  But could we do it in between the rainstorms that had been visiting the area for several days?  We picked Saturday, and at seven a.m. on Saturday morning, it was raining, not hard, but enough to make one miserable if you worked in it.  It rained all of Friday night, nearly two inches in my rain gauge so the ground was wet, the grass was wet, everything was wet.            When Steve and Natasha arrived at ten on Saturday, it continued to drizzle, but we set out tomato plants (40 of them) a couple rows of broccoli, a row of cabbage, some eggplant, a few green peppers. and several kohlrabi plants.  One of the advantages of sandy-loam soil is you can work it in the rain.            By noon the rain stopped, the dark clouds left, the sun came out and planting the several garden seeds that remained became much more pleasant.  We planted sweet corn and bush beans, pumpkins and winter squash, zucchini and cucumbers, popcorn and rainbow corn, sunflowers and ornamental sorghum.   And a short row of dill—I so like the smell of dill.            The crops we planted three weeks ago, even with a hard freeze one Sunday evening, are doing well: potatoes, onions, radishes (pulled the first one), lettuce (about ready to eat), rutabagas, Swiss chard (anybody got some Swiss chard recipes), beets, and peas.            So the 2016 garden season is in full swing, year 50 for planting garden at Roshara.THE OLD TIMER SAYS: What would life be without a vegetable garden?
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Writing Workshop for 2016Telling Your Story Workshop at The Clearing in Door County.  Friday, August 12, 9-4.  Call 920-854-4088 to get your name on the list. (Still Room)
UPCOMING EVENTS.
June 7, 7:00 p.m. Cambria Library. Cambria Fire Dept. Community Center, Cambria.
June 11, 9-4 Writing Workshop, Wild Rose Library.  Telling Your Story
June 14, 9:00 a.m. Keynote speech. Country Heritage Day, St. John the Baptist Church, Montello. Barns of Wisconsin.
June 28, 11:00 a.m.  Larry Meiller Show. Wis. Public Radio.  Discussion of Roshara Journal and Telling Your Story (New Books)
June 28, Book Discussion.  Mystery to Me Book Store, Madison.  Details to follow.  Roshara Journal and Telling Your Story(New Books)
July 19, 11:00 a.m., Farm Technology Days, Snudden Farms, Lake Geneva, Walworth County. History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 9, 6:30 p.m. Winnebago County Historical Society.  Oshkosh Library.  History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 12 9-4, Writing Workshop, The Clearing, Door County.
August 20, 10:30-11:30 am.  Waupaca Annual Arts on the Square. 
Purchase Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them): 

The library now has available signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs: Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps (based on The Quiet Season book.) Jerry Apps a Farm Story (based on Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old Farm books.)
 The Land with Jerry Apps, (based on the book Whispers and Shadows.)Also available are several of Jerry’s signed books including: Jerry’s newest novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County. and Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.Contact the library for prices and special package deals.Patterson Memorial Library500 Division StreetWild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835

Colorado Graduation

For the past several days, Ruth and I have been in Eagle-Vail, Colorado, attending the graduation of our grandson, Christian Apps.  Eagle-Vail is in the mountains a couple hours west of Denver.  My son, Jeff and daughter-in-law Sandy’s family, besides Christian, includes Nick and Libby. They live in this paradise place with deep blue skies, roaring melt-water streams, newly leafed aspen trees and mountains all around, many of them with snow remaining on their peaks.
We attended several graduation events for the Battle Mountain High School graduates, about 200 of them, with the main event at the stunningly beautiful Gerald Ford Amphitheater in Vail.  We listening to a bevy of speeches,  most filled with graduate advice.
One of the most impressive “advice for graduates” was written and not spoken.  It appeared in the May 20 issue of The Vail Daily, andwas written by Chris Romer, president and CEO of the Vail Valley Partnership.  Here is some of what he wrote:
--No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
--What other people think of you isn’t your problem.
--Don’t take yourself too seriously.
--Envy is a waste of time.  Hard work will get you what you need.
--Read more books.  Spend less time in front of screens.
--Realize that life is a school and you’re here to learn.
--Make peace with your past so it doesn’t ruin your present.
--Smile and laugh more.
--Don’t compare yourself with others; you don’t know what their journey is all about.
--Time heals.
--Try new things.  Enjoy the moment.
Come to think of it, this advice fits more than new graduates.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: A little advice never hurt anyone
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Writing Workshop for 2016Telling Your Story Workshop at The Clearing in Door County.  Friday, August 12, 9-4.  Call 920-854-4088 to get your name on the list. (Still Room)
UPCOMING EVENTS.
May 26, 7:00 p.m. Richfield Historical Society, 4128 Hubertus Road, Richfield, WI  Whispers and Shadows.
June 7, 7:00 p.m. Cambria Library. Cambria Fire Dept. Community Center, Cambria. June 11, 9-4 Writing Workshop, Wild Rose Library.  Telling Your Story
June 14, 9:00 a.m. Keynote speech. Country Heritage Day, St. John the Baptist Church, Montello. Barns of Wisconsin.
June 28, 11:00 a.m.  Larry Meiller Show. Wis. Public Radio.  Discussion of Roshara Journal and Telling Your Story (New Books)
June 28, Book Discussion.  Mystery to Me Book Store, Madison.  Details to follow.  Roshara Journal and Telling Your Story(New Books)
July 19, 11:00 a.m., Farm Technology Days, Snudden Farms, Lake Geneva, Walworth County. History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 9, 6:30 p.m. Winnebago County Historical Society.  Oshkosh Library.  History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 12 9-4, Writing Workshop, The Clearing, Door County.
August 20, 10:30-11:30 am.  Waupaca Annual Arts on the Square. 
Purchase Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them): 

The library now has aable signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs: Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps (based on The Quiet Season book.) Jerry Apps a Farm Story (based on Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old Farm books.)
 The Land with Jerry Apps, (based on the book Whispers and Shadows.)Also aable are several of Jerry’s signed books including: Jerry’s newest novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County. and Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.Contact the library for prices and special package deals.Patterson Memorial Library500 Division StreetWild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835

Colorado Graduation

For the past several days, Ruth and I have been in Eagle-Vale, Colorado, attending the graduation of our grandson, Christian Apps.  Eagle-Vale is in the mountains a couple hours west of Denver.  My son, Jeff and daughter-in-law Sandy’s family, besides Christian, includes Nick and Libby. They live in this paradise place with deep blue skies, roaring melt-water streams, newly leafed aspen trees and mountains all around, many of them with snow remaining on their peaks.
We attended several graduation events for the Battle Mountain High School graduates, about 200 of them, with the main event at the stunningly beautiful Gerald Ford Amphitheater in Vale.  We listening to a bevy of speeches,  most filled with graduate advice.
One of the most impressive “advice for graduates” was written and not spoken.  It appeared in the May 20 issue of The Vale Daily, andwas written by Chris Romer, president and CEO of the Vale Valley Partnership.  Here is some of what he wrote:
--No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
--What other people think of you isn’t your problem.
--Don’t take yourself too seriously.
--Envy is a waste of time.  Hard work will get you what you need.
--Read more books.  Spend less time in front of screens.
--Realize that life is a school and you’re here to learn.
--Make peace with your past so it doesn’t ruin your present.
--Smile and laugh more.
--Don’t compare yourself with others; you don’t know what their journey is all about.
--Time heals.
--Try new things.  Enjoy the moment.
Come to think of it, this advice fits more than new graduates.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: A little advice never hurt anyone
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Writing Workshop for 2016Telling Your Story Workshop at The Clearing in Door County.  Friday, August 12, 9-4.  Call 920-854-4088 to get your name on the list. (Still Room)
UPCOMING EVENTS.
May 26, 7:00 p.m. Richfield Historical Society, 4128 Hubertus Road, Richfield, WI  Whispers and Shadows.
June 7, 7:00 p.m. Cambria Library. Cambria Fire Dept. Community Center, Cambria. June 11, 9-4 Writing Workshop, Wild Rose Library.  Telling Your Story
June 14, 9:00 a.m. Keynote speech. Country Heritage Day, St. John the Baptist Church, Montello. Barns of Wisconsin.
June 28, 11:00 a.m.  Larry Meiller Show. Wis. Public Radio.  Discussion of Roshara Journal and Telling Your Story (New Books)
June 28, Book Discussion.  Mystery to Me Book Store, Madison.  Details to follow.  Roshara Journal and Telling Your Story(New Books)
July 19, 11:00 a.m., Farm Technology Days, Snudden Farms, Lake Geneva, Walworth County. History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 9, 6:30 p.m. Winnebago County Historical Society.  Oshkosh Library.  History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 12 9-4, Writing Workshop, The Clearing, Door County.
August 20, 10:30-11:30 am.  Waupaca Annual Arts on the Square. 
Purchase Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them): 

The library now has available signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs: Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps (based on The Quiet Season book.) Jerry Apps a Farm Story (based on Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old Farm books.)
 The Land with Jerry Apps, (based on the book Whispers and Shadows.)Also available are several of Jerry’s signed books including: Jerry’s newest novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County. and Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.Contact the library for prices and special package deals.Patterson Memorial Library500 Division StreetWild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835

Eighth Grade Graduation

The year was 1947, the month was May, and it was a Friday.  It was a special day for me.  I was still recovering from a bout with Polio, still learning how to walk again with a leg that had been paralyzed for several months.  But I was not going to miss this day no matter what.
This day was one of the few times I rode to the Chain O’ Lake One-Room Country School located in the Town of Rose, Waushara County, Wisconsin.  I had attended there since 1939, when the school had no electricity, no running water, and no central heating.  All of that was still true in 1947, except the building did get electricity in 1942.
On this sunny day in May, my brothers, Donald and Darrel (twins and four grades behind me), and my dad and mother piled into our 1936 Plymouth and drove the mile to the school, along the dusty country road that I had walked for eight years—the last couple of months with considerable difficulty because of the polio.
The event was the last day of school picnic, where everyone brought something to share with others at the noon meal, and the school board bought the ice cream.  Faith Jenks was our teacher, and after the meal she made a brief announcement.  She said that I had passed the difficult and challenging day-long eighth grade examinations held at the county seat in Wautoma.  And I was graduating and ready to attend Wild Rose High School in the fall.  She said that Jim Kolka and Mildred Swendrzynski had passed the seventh grade exams and were ready for eighth grade come fall.
Then we played softball, the students against their fathers, as the mothers chatted under the big black oak trees that shaded the school.
Upon arriving at home, my dad gave me a little box, a graduation present.  I tore off the wrappings and found a Pocket Ben watch, the first watch I had ever owned. Both my mother and father were smiling, as neither of them had graduated from eighth grade.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Eighth grade graduation was a special time in 1947.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:
 Writing Workshop for 2016:
Telling Your Story Workshop at The Clearing in Door County.  Friday, August 12, 9-4.  Call 920-854-4088 to get your name on the list. (Still Room)

UPCOMING EVENTS.May 26, 7:00 p.m. Richfield Historical Society, 4128 Hubertus Road, Richfield, WI  Whispers and Shadows.
June 7, 7:00 p.m. Cambria Library. Cambria Fire Dept. Community Center, Cambria.
June 11, 9-4 Writing Workshop, Wild Rose Library.  Telling Your Story
June 14, 9:00 a.m. Keynote speech. Country Heritage Day, St. John the Baptist Church, Montello. Barns of Wisconsin.
June 28, 11:00 a.m.  Larry Meiller Show. Wis. Public Radio.  Discussion of Roshara Journal and Telling Your Story (New Books)
June 28, Book Discussion.  Mystery to Me Book Store, Madison.  Details to follow.  Roshara Journal and Telling Your Story(New Books)
July 19, 11:00 a.m., Farm Technology Days, Snudden Farms, Lake Geneva, Walworth County. History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 9, 6:30 p.m. Winnebago County Historical Society.  Oshkosh Library.  History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 12 9-4, Writing Workshop, The Clearing, Door County.
August 20, 10:30-11:30 am.  Waupaca Annual Arts on the Square. 
Purchase Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them): 

The library now has available signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs:
 Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps (based on The Quiet Season book.)
 Jerry Apps a Farm Story (based on Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old Farm books.)
 The Land with Jerry Apps, (based on the book Whispers and Shadows.)
Also available are several of Jerry’s signed books including: Jerry’s newest novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County. and Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.
Contact the library for prices and special package deals.Patterson Memorial Library500 Division StreetWild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835

Rhubarb

Rhubarb. 
My dad called it a spring tonic.  My mother named it a special treat.
Ma made rhubarb sauce, a sad green, stringy concoction that Pa insisted the entire family eat for it cleansed the system of the last remnants of winter as we moved on into spring.  It was so sour that after a few teaspoons of it you remained puckered up for at least an hour.
 Rather than celebrating the eating of the  first crop from the garden in spring, we were subjected to a suffering of untold dimensions. I hated rhubarb sauce.  My brothers hated rhubarb sauce.  But Pa was firm, we must all eat it or we would experience a sickly spring.  Nobody wanted to live through a sickly spring.
Ma saved the day, for not only could rhubarb sauce be a miserable thing to try and swallow, Ma’s rhubarb crisp was sheer delight.  How could the same plant be both a miserable as well as a delightful experience? 
Rhubarb could do it.
Here is a recipe for rhubarb crisp.  No one wants to know the recipe for rhubarb sauce, except maybe a few like my dad who believed that the entire world should cleanse itself of winter by eating the sour, stringy stuff.
Rhubarb Crisp4 cups chopped rhubarb
1 cup flour
I cup brown sugar
¾ cup instant, quick cook, or old –fashioned oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 x 13-inch pan
Mix together the flour, brown sugar, oats and cinnamon.
Add butter to the flour mixture and mix until crumbly.  Press about half of the flour mixture into prepared pan, reserving the rest for topping.
Combine granulated sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan.  
Add water and vanilla.  Cook over medium heat until clear, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Add rhubarb to the sugar-water mixture, coating the rhubarb.
Pour rhubarb over crust.  Sprinkle remaining flour crumbs on top.  Bake until topping is light brown, 50 to 60 minutes.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Rhubarb pie is also pretty special.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Writing Workshop for 2016Telling Your Story Workshop at The Clearing in Door County.  Friday, August 12, 9-4.  Call 920-854-4088 to get your name on the list. (Still Room)
UPCOMING EVENTS.
May 14, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Booksigning, Dregne’s, Westby.May 26, 7:00 p.m. Richfield Historical Society, 4128 Hubertus Road, Richfield, WI  Whispers and Shadows.
June 7, 7:00 p.m. Cambria Library. Cambria Fire Dept. Community Center, Cambria.
June 11, 9-4 Writing Workshop, Wild Rose Library.  Telling Your Story
June 14, 9:00 a.m. Keynote speech. Country Heritage Day, St. John the Baptist Church, Montello. Barns of Wisconsin.
July 19, 11:00 a.m., Farm Technology Days, Snudden Farms, Lake Geneva, Walworth County. History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 9, 6:30 p.m. Winnebago County Historical Society.  Oshkosh Library.  History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 12 9-4, Writing Workshop, The Clearing, Door County.
August 20, 10:30-11:30 am.  Waupaca Annual Arts on the Square. 
Purchase Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them): 

The library now has available signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs:
 Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps (based on The Quiet Season book.)
 Jerry Apps a Farm Story (based on Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old Farm books.)
 The Land with Jerry Apps, (based on the book Whispers and Shadows.)
Also available are several of Jerry’s signed books including: Jerry’s newest novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County. and Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.Contact the library for prices and special package deals.Patterson Memorial Library500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835

Musicales for the Red Cross

Vicki and John Jenks own a beautiful log home near Wild Rose, WI, built on the same farm where John grew up.  Each year in April, this year the ninth time, they open their home to what they call a Heroes Musicales (mini concerts).  The program is a fund raiser for local Red Cross Disaster relief and Service to the Armed Forces.   Vicki and John are Red Cross volunteers.
Both accomplished musicians, they  invite musical groups from around the country to perform at their home---in 2016, a blue grass band performed at 11:00 a.m., a Gypsy jazz and American folk group performed at 1:30 p.m., and a “Made in America” duo with piano and harp performed at 4:00 p.m.  All three groups were “sellouts” with more than 200 people attending the three events.
Ruth and I attended the 4:00 p.m. event, and were delighted with the music of Jodie DeSalvo on Piano and Faye Seeman on harp.  In between the musical performances, the audience enjoyed refreshments, and the opportunity to bid on more than 200 silent auction treasures.
A good time was had by all on this chilly and about to rain Saturday afternoon, as we listened to fine music and looked out at a sputtering spring that is slowly showing green.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Wild Rose is proud of their local musicians and the wonderful contribution they are making to the community and to the Red Cross.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Writing Workshop for 2016
Telling Your Story Workshop at The Clearing in Door County.  Friday, August 12, 9-4.  Call 920-854-4088 to get your name on the list. (Still Room)
UPCOMING EVENTS.
May 9, 12:30 p.m.  Midvale Community Lutheran Church, 4329, Tokay, Blvd, Madison. Wisconsin Agricultural History.  The public is invited.
May 14, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Booksigning, Dregne’s, Westby.
May 26, 7:00 p.m. Richfield Historical Society, 4128 Hubertus Road, Richfield, WI  Whispers and Shadows.
June 7, 7:00 p.m. Cambria Library. Cambria Fire Dept. Community Center, Cambria.
June 11, 9-4 Writing Workshop, Wild Rose Library.  Telling Your Story
June 14, 9:00 a.m. Keynote speech. Country Heritage Day, St. John the Baptist Church, Montello. Barns of Wisconsin.
July 19, 11:00 a.m., Farm Technology Days, Snudden Farms, Lake Geneva, Walworth County. History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 9, 6:30 p.m. Winnebago County Historical Society.  Oshkosh Library.  History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 12 9-4, Writing Workshop, The Clearing, Door County.
August 20, 10:30-11:30 am.  Waupaca Annual Arts on the Square. 
Purchase Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them): 

The library now has available signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs: Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps (based on The Quiet Season book.) Jerry Apps a Farm Story (based on Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old Farm books.)
 The Land with Jerry Apps, (based on the book Whispers and Shadows.)Also available are several of Jerry’s signed books including: Jerry’s newest novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County. and Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.Contact the library for prices and special package deals.Patterson Memorial Library500 Division StreetWild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835

Gardening in the Rain

Sunday, April 24.  Garden planting day at Roshara.  Cloudy. 50 degrees.  Good day for working.  Great day for planting the early crops at our Waushara County farm.
First came the row marking, using a wooden, hand-pulled marker that my father made some 35 years ago.  Thirty-inch rows.  Lots of room for the rototiller to maneuver.
The crew was of two minds—one the optimist: the sun will come out and the temp will climb into the 70s.  The other a realist: no sun, and by 10:00 a.m. it will rain and keep raining.
Ready to plant—a big pail of Kennebec seed potatoes, enough for a dozen long rows.  A small pail of Red Norland red potatoes—a row and a half.  Red onion sets, white onion sets: enough for a row of each.  Snap peas—a couple of long rows.  Spinach, carrots, radishes, Swiss chard, lettuce.  Short rows of each.
First row of potatoes planted.  All going well.  Second row—first rain drops.  Third row—a steady rain.  Not a pouring down, cat and dog down pour, but a cold, ornery, wet spring rain.  Sometimes heavier, sometimes lighter—but never stopping.  And we didn’t stop either, but continuing planting until the work was done.  One of the advantages of sandy soil—no mud.  Just inconvenience.
The realist doesn’t let up on the poor optimist who continues to believe that the sun will eventually shine.  And it will of course.  But not likely on this day.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: When it’s time to plant the garden, plant the garden.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Writing Workshops for 2016
Telling Your Story Workshop at Wild Rose Library, Saturday June 11, 9-4. Call 920-622-3835 to get your name on the list as enrollment is limited. (Class is filled)Telling Your Story Workshop at The Clearing in Door County.  Friday, August 12, 9-4.  Call 920-854-4088 to get your name on the list. (Still Room)
UPCOMING EVENTS.
May 14, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Booksigning, Dregne’s, Westby.
May 26, 7:00 p.m. Richfield Historical Society, 4128 Hubertus Road, Richfield, WI  Whispers and Shadows.
June 7, 7:00 p.m. Cambria Library. Cambria Fire Dept. Community Center, Cambria.
June 11, 9-4 Writing Workshop, Wild Rose Library.  Telling Your Story
June 14, 9:00 a.m. Keynote speech. Country Heritage Day, St. John the Baptist Church, Montello. Barns of Wisconsin.
July 19, 11:00 a.m., Farm Technology Days, Snudden Farms, Lake Geneva, Walworth County. History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 9, 6:30 p.m.. Evening. Winnebago County Historical Society.  Oshkosh Library.  History of Wisconsin Agriculture.
August 12 9-4, Writing Workshop, The Clearing, Door County.
August 20, 10:30-11:30 am.  Waupaca Annual Arts on the Square. 
Purchase Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them): 

The library now has available signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs: Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps (based on The Quiet Season book.) Jerry Apps a Farm Story (based on Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old Farm books.)
 The Land with Jerry Apps, (based on the book Whispers and Shadows.)Also available are several of Jerry’s signed books including: Jerry’s newest novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County. and Wisconsin Agriculture: A History.Contact the library for prices and special package deals.Patterson Memorial Library500 Division StreetWild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.org
www.wildroselibrary.org
920-622-3835