Jerry Apps's Blog, page 51

Canada Geese

As long as I can remember, the honking of geese flying south on a cool autumn day was a thrilling sound.  It still is. Sometimes the geese fly at night. With a full moon the sight of geese in a moonlit sky along with the sound of their honking is a one of those never forgotten experiences.
Yesterday, when Steve and I visited our pond with the intention of viewing the maples, birch, and aspen in full autumn splendor, I spotted movement on the far end of our small body of water—maybe a couple hundred yards from where the pond path ended by the water’s edge.
There they were, fifteen Canada geese.  I don’t know if they were northern geese passing through and spending the day resting in this beautiful quiet place, or if they were locals making the rounds of area ponds.  They made no sound at all.  Nor did we.  We watched them for more than a half hour.  They looked in our direction—but didn’t panic and fly off.  Maybe they were just too tired from already flying a long distance.  Or, maybe they found this quiet place ablaze in fall color too nice to leave.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:  Take time to watch migrating geese fly overhead.  Notice how they take turns leading and following—and helping each other.
CHECK THIS OUT: Wisconsin Public Television premier showing of “Country life from an earlier day” documentary at Wild Rose High School Auditorium, Monday, October 15, 6:30 p.m. Show includes several photos from Wild Rose and the surrounding area. Free to the public. I will be offering introductory comments.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
October 3, 6:00 p.m. Onalaska Public Library, Rural Wit and Wisdom
October 4-6. Midwest Booksellers, Minneapolis. Book Signing.
October 13, 9-4.  The Clearing.  Writing Workshop: Writing From Your Life. Go to www.theclearing.org for information.
October 15, 6:30 p.m. Wild Rose High School Auditorium.  Wis Public TV showing of a “Country life from an earlier day” documentary.  Free to the public.
October 24, 2:15 p.m., Wisconsin Library Assoc. Annual Meeting, LaCrosse.  Garden Wisdom.

Horse Drawn Days

Before cars and trucks, airplanes and trains, horses got us from here to there.   In the villages and cities, horses pulled the milk wagons, hauled the beer wagons, toted everything that needed toting, including people.
On the farms, by the 1850s, draft horses began replacing oxen, those docile critters that did the heavy work of plowing and hauling heavy loads, and providing transportation for people as well. But they were so slow.  It’s claimed that if a family with oxen wanted to arrive on time for Sunday church, they had to leave home on Friday.
Soon draft horses were pulling the plows, the hay mowers and hay wagons, the grain binders and everything else that needed pulling. 
For many farmers, horses continued doing the heavy work through the Depression years of the 1930s, and through World War II as well, when tractors replaced the steady steeds.
Want to learn more about horses and horse-drawn equipment?  Travel to the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Stonefield Village, near Cassville, where next Saturday, September 29 you can see horses being harnessed and working. And you can hear me talk about the history of horses on the farm at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
If you want to learn still more about horses in our history, check out my book HORSE DRAWN DAYS, published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: When you farm with horses, you never have to worry about them starting on a cold winter morning.  Tractors are not that dependable.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
September 29, Stonefield Village, Cassville, WI.  Horse Drawn Days.
October 3, 6:00 p.m. Onalaska Public Library, Rural Wit and Wisdom
October 4-6 Midwest Booksellers, Minneapolis. Book Signing. RURAL WIT AND WISDOM and my new novel, TAMARACK RIVER GHOST.
October 13, 9-4.  The Clearing.  Writing Workshop: Writing From Your Life. (Still some openings. Go to www.theclearing.org for information.  Click on workshops.)

Garden Harvest

Several people have asked how my vegetable garden turned out this year.  The quick answer: some of it great, some of it not so great.
As most know, my garden is in northern Waushara County where drought and extreme heat made growing anything difficult this summer.  I didn’t expect much from my garden—and I wouldn’t have gotten much either, without lots of watering (much of it thanks to my brother, Don, who turned on the hose when I couldn’t be there).
As any gardener knows, weeds grow in spite of the weather.  Much thanks to Steve and Natasha who spent many weekends, rototilling, hoeing, and weed pulling.
The cool weather crops such as lettuce, radishes and broccoli did poorly.  They started quickly, and then the heat just as quickly did them in—after only a couple of meals of lettuce, a handful of radishes and no broccoli at all.  Early red potatoes, planted in March—average yield.
The sweet corn (again with water at the right time) was outstanding. Yields were good, taste was special.  Cucumbers—average.  Short season, all through bearing before Labor Day.  Carrots, average.  Beets, above average.  Onions, average.
Squash and pumpkins.  Germinated well with warm soil temps in May, and grew well, but with the extreme heat—and lack of pollination, crop was late and about half what I expected.  Not so for the zucchini, tough plant, lots of yield.  Still green and producing in mid-September.
Tomatoes—outstanding crop.  We picked probably four bushels.  Tomatoes like hot weather.  Key this year was mulching each plant with straw, which kept down the weeds and kept in the moisture.
Late Potatoes—Best crop in several years. Blemish free, uniform size.  Key was ridding the plants of the cursed Colorado potato beetles as soon as we saw them appear.
Harvesting is about completed.  All that remains is a row of very tall broom corn that is not quite ready for cutting and a row of ornamental corn that needs a week or two more before it is ripe.
All and all, in spite of the weather challenges, a good vegetable garden year.
An aside: I met a fellow the other day who bought my new garden book, GARDEN WISDOM.  He said he had a bone to pick with me, that his garden was a complete failure.  I told him buying the book was not enough, he should also read it.  He didn’t reply.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: As we get older, we forget things that happened, and remember things that didn’t.
UPCOMING EVENTS:  September 18, 10:30-11:30 WAHCE Conference, Marriott Hotel, Middleton, WI. Rural Wit and Wisdom.
September 22, 2:00 Wade House Historic Site, Greenbush, WI. Garden Wisdom.
September 24, 11:30, Learning in Retirement, Oshkosh. Stories From the Land. Rural Wit and Wisdom.
September 29, Stonefield Village, Cassville, WI.  Horse Drawn Days.
October 3, 6:00 p.m. Onalaska Public Library, Rural Wit and Wisdom
October 4-6 Midwest Booksellers, Minneapolis. Book Signing.
October 13, 9-4.  The Clearing.  Writing Workshop: Writing From Your Life. (Still some openings. Go to www.theclearing.org for information.  Click on workshops.)

Wilderness Loon Calls

Steve and I just returned from a week in the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota, a place where we have returned to again and again for nearly 30 years, a place where silence is the rule, except when a loon’s mysterious call reminds us that we are in a special place.  A place that is called wilderness.
It was summer at the beginning of the week, and clearly fall as the northwest wind brought rain clouds and lower temperatures, and made canoeing impossible one day when the waves were too high for comfortable paddling.
It’s been hot in the Boundary Waters this summer, as it has been in much of the country.  So. . . our excuse for catching few fish.  You ask how many fish did we catch?  Well, a good fishermen brags about success and remains mum on failure.
 It was a great week for reading, thinking, paddling, and yes, fishing.  Catching was a bit of a problem.
If you have not read Campfires and Loon Calls that I wrote about our adventures in the BWCAW over the years, you may want to check it out. (Steve did the photography).  Fulcrum Press, Denver is the publisher. http://www.fulcrum-books.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=6083. 

THE OLD TIMER SAYS (Quoting John Muir): In God’s wildness lies the hope of the world—the great fresh, unblighted, unredeemed wilderness.
CHECK THIS OUT:  You can preorder my new novel, THE TAMARACK RIVER GHOST (fifth in my Ames County Series) from Amazon.com. See press kit at this link for information about the book: http://uwpress.wisc.edu/Presskits/Apps_RiverGhost.html
UPCOMING EVENTS:
September 15, 1-4 p.m. Old World Wisconsin, Eagle, WI.  Book Signing. Barns of Wisconsin, Garden Wisdom, Horses Drawn Days and more.
September 18, 10:30-11:30 WAHCE Conference, Marriott Hotel, Middleton, WI. Rural Wit and Wisdom.
September 22, 2:00 Wade House Historic Site, Greenbush, WI. Garden Wisdom.
September 24, 11:30, Learning in Retirement, Oshkosh. Stories From the Land. Rural Wit and Wisdom.
September 29, Stonefield Village, Cassville, WI.  Horse Drawn Days.
October 4-6 Midwest Booksellers, Minneapolis. Book Signing.
October 13, 9-4.  The Clearing.  Writing Workshop: Writing From Your Life. (Still some openings. Go to www.theclearing.org for information.  Click on workshops.)

One Kernel

My brother, Donald’s tree farm is adjacent to mine, and we have both been lamenting the havoc the dry weather has been having on our trees.  But the drought goes further.
Don also plants food plots for the deer and turkeys and whatever other wild creature wants a special treat.  He plants mostly corn and rye on these little cultivated pieces of ground.  This past weekend, my son, Steve and Don inspected one of his corn plots that he had planted in the spring.  By now the corn should be dark green, six feet tall, with plump ears hanging on each stalk.
Because of the dry weather, Don’s corn is about three feet fall, mostly brown, and a pitiful sight by any standard for decent farming.  Steve went hunting for ears—and finally found one.  One ear in the entire food plot.  When he stripped back the husk, he discovered the ear, which was about six inches long, had but one kernel on it.  Of course a corn ear should have kernels from tip to base.
“It is a nicely formed kernel,” Steve said, smiling. 
The wild critters will have to look elsewhere for their special treats this fall and winter.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Next year will be better (he hopes).
CHECK THIS OUT:  You can preorder my new novel, THE TAMARACK RIVER GHOST (fifth in my Ames County Series) from Amazon.com.  See press kit at this link for information about the book: http://uwpress.wisc.edu/Presskits/Apps_RiverGhost.html
UPCOMING EVENTS:

September 7-8, Southwest Wisconsin Prairie Festival, Folklore Village, 3210 Co. Hwy. BB, Dodgeville, WI. Keynote, Saturday, Sept. 8, 1:00 p.m. “People and the Prairie.”
September 15, 1-4 p.m. Old World Wisconsin, Eagle, WI.  Book Signing.
September 18, 10:30-11:30 WAHCE Conference, Marriott Hotel, Middleton, WI Keynote.
September 22, 2:00 Wade House Historic Site, Greenbush, WI. Garden Wisdom.
September 24, 11:30, Learning in Retirement, Oshkosh. Stories From the Land.
September 29, Stonefield Village, Cassville, WI.  Horse Drawn Days.
October 4-6 Midwest Booksellers, Minneapolis. Book Signing.
October 13, 9-4.  The Clearing.  Writing Workshop: Writing From Your Life. (Still some openings. Go to www.theclearing.org for information.  Click on workshops.)

Rural Wit and Wisdom

Earlier this summer, my newest book, Rural Wit and Wisdom: Time-Honored Values From the Midwest (Fulcrum Press) came out.  It’s a completely revised version of a book I wrote several years ago.
I wrote the first version of the book shortly after my father died at age 93.  Although he had little formal education—he completed fifth grade—he was a man of wisdom and a great storyteller.  With his passing, I wrote across the top of a page in my journal, “Things I learned from my father.”  It was my way of grieving my loss.  I thought I would fill up a couple of pages with my memories.  As it turned out, a book resulted from this effort.
In this new edition, I include additional bits of wit and wisdom from my father, and I also include a section on storytelling—especially how to write stories that you remember from your life. The book includes a set of new photos taken by my son, Steve, who is Chief Photographer for the Wisconsin State Journal. Give the book a look; I think you will find it interesting.  To learn more go to http://www.fulcrum-books.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=6171or stop at your local bookstore.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: There is never enough wit and wisdom.
CHECK THIS OUT:  You can preorder my new novel, THE TAMARACK RIVER GHOST (fifth in my Ames County Series) from Amazon.com.  See press kit at this link for information about the book: http://uwpress.wisc.edu/Presskits/Apps_RiverGhost.html
UPCOMING EVENTS:

September 7-8, Southwest Wisconsin Prairie Festival, Folklore Village, 3210 Co. Hwy. BB, Dodgeville, WI. Keynote, Saturday, Sept. 8, 1:00 p.m. “People and the Prairie.”
September 15, 1-4 p.m. Old World Wisconsin, Eagle, WI.  Book Signing.
September 18, 10:30-11:30 WAHCE Conference, Marriott Hotel, Middleton, WI Keynote.
September 22, 2:00 Wade House Historic Site, Greenbush, WI. Garden Wisdom.
September 24, 11:30, Learning in Retirement, Oshkosh. Stories From the Land.
September 29, Stonefield Village, Cassville, WI.  Horse Drawn Days.
October 4-6 Midwest Booksellers, Minneapolis. Book Signing.
October 13, 9-4.  The Clearing.  Writing Workshop: Writing From Your Life. (Still some openings. Go to www.theclearing.org for information.  Click on workshops.)

Pine Trees and Drought

Driving in the sand country of central Wisconsin, where there is no irrigation available, you quickly see the havoc created by this summer’s heat and drought.  Cornfields are dead and dying—some already have been plowed down with the crop declared a complete failure.  Other cornfields are stunted with dead leaves and no ears.  The soybean crop is not much better. Nor is the late cutting of hay.
But overlooked by many is what the drought has done to those of us who are tree farmers.  About five years ago we planted seven-thousand red pine trees on our farm.  They were doing well, many of them already three and four feet tall.  But this year trees that were planted on sandy, gravely hilltops have died. Once green needles are now a sickly, reddish brown.  Entire hillsides of dead and dying trees.  Not a pleasant sight.
It’s not just the relatively young trees that are dying.  Yesterday, on our farm, I spotted a twenty-foot jack pine, the toughest of tough native trees that had died.  And not far away, a Scotch pine, about six feet tall—dead.
I decided at the very beginning of my tree farming operation in the middle 1960s that I would grow pulp wood, logs for log cabins, and saw logs for lumber.  No Christmas trees. Driving past a Christmas tree farm north of Montello, I spotted an entire hillside of once beautiful Christmas trees, all dead.  The entire hillside of trees killed by the drought—and a great loss to the grower, I’m sure.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Let’s hope next year will be better.
CHECK THIS OUT:  You can preorder my new novel, THE TAMARACK RIVER GHOST (fifth in my Ames County Series) from Amazon.com.  See press kit at this link for information about the book: http://uwpress.wisc.edu/Presskits/Apps_RiverGhost.html
UPCOMING EVENTS:
August 25, 11:00 Mt. Morris Camp and Conference Center.  Mt. Morris, WI. Barns of Wisconsin.
September 7-8, Southwest Wisconsin Prairie Festival, Folklore Village, 3210 Co. Hwy. BB, Dodgeville, WI. Keynote, Saturday, Sept. 8, 1:00 p.m. “People and the Prairie.”
September 15, 1-4 p.m. Old World Wisconsin, Eagle, WI.  Book Signing.
September 18, 10:30-11:30 WAHCE Conference, Marriott Hotel, Middleton, WI Keynote.
September 22, 2:00 Wade House Historic Site, Greenbush, WI. Garden Wisdom.
September 24, 11:30, Learning in Retirement, Oshkosh. Stories From the Land.
September 29, Stonefield Village, Cassville, WI.  Horse Drawn Days.
October 4-6 Midwest Booksellers, Minneapolis. Book Signing.
October 13, 9-4.  The Clearing.  Writing Workshop: Writing From Your Life. (Still some openings. Go to www.theclearing.orgfor information.  Click on workshops.)

Stories To Tell

The came to Door County from Illinois and Iowa, from Minnesota and Wisconsin.  They came to The Clearing, a residential learning center near Ellison Bay.  They came to write stories.  Their own stories, as they participated in my “Writing From Your Life” workshop held last week.
They wrote of early childhood fun.  They wrote about tragedy—death in the family. They wrote hilariously funny stories.  They wrote about little things important in their lives—a rocking chair passed on from generation to generation, a mother’s coffee cup filled with memories, a favorite pair of boots.
They wrote six-word stories patterned after Ernest Hemingway’s six-word story: “For sale.  Baby shoes.  Never Worn.”
They laughed.  They cried.  They shared and critiqued each other’s work.  And they wrote and wrote some more.  Wonderful stories.  Stories from the heart.  Stories from the past with meaning for today.
CHECK THIS OUT: For a guide to writing your own story, see my book RURAL WIT AND WISDOM (Fulcrum Press, 2012).  I include a long chapter on writing personal stories with many tips to help you get started.
 THE OLD TIMER SAYS: When we forget our stories, we forget who we are.
CHECK THIS OUT:  You can preorder my new novel, THE TAMARACK RIVER GHOST (fifth in my Ames County Series) from Amazon.com.  See press kit at this link for information about the book: http://uwpress.wisc.edu/Presskits/Apps_RiverGhost.html
UPCOMING EVENTS:

September 7-8, Southwest Wisconsin Prairie Festival, Folklore Village, 3210 Co. Hwy. BB, Dodgeville, WI. I’m giving keynote talk, Saturday, Sept. 8, 1:00 p.m. “People and the Prairie.”
October 13, 9-4.  The Clearing.  Writing Workshop: Writing From Your Life.

Dry Weather Gardening

Five things to do during hot, dry weather to keep a vegetable garden alive and producing:
1. Work hard to keep out all weeds.  They use a lot of moisture.
2.  Water regularly--about a half-inch at a time, in the early morning to reduce evaporation.  We try to not let the garden "dry out" too much (we have sandy soil) as too dry and then too wet leads to problems (blossom end-rot of tomatoes for example).  Too much watering leads to mildew and other wet weather problems.
3. When I finished harvesting the early sweet corn, I cut the stalks into little pieces so the remaining corn plant would not draw moisture. Same for when the green beans finish bearing.
4.With hot weather,  crops mature quickly--and can over grow almost while you watch (especially zucchini  and cucumbers). Harvest regularly.  Overgrown crops draw lots of moisture.
5.  Do a rain dance--regularly, with vigor and enthusiasm.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Gardening is never a sure thing.  Mother Nature is full of surprises.
CHECK THIS OUT:  You can preorder my new novel, THE TAMARACK RIVER GHOST (fifth in my Ames County Series) from Amazon.com.  See press kit at this link for information about the book: http://uwpress.wisc.edu/Presskits/Apps_RiverGhost.html
UPCOMING EVENTS:
August 5-11, The Clearing.  Writing Workshop: Writing From Your Life.
September 7-8, Southwest Wisconsin Prairie Festival, Folklore Village, 3210 Co. Hwy. BB, Dodgeville, WI.  Keynote talk, Saturday, Sept. 8, 1:00 p.m. “People and the Prairie.”
October 13, The Clearing.  Writing Workshop: Writing From Your Life.

Lawn Grass and Patience

For more than a month my lawn has been the color of an Arizona desert.  What was once green grass turned brown and stayed that way as southern Wisconsin’s drought dragged on week after hot, dry week. Not a pretty sight. Walking on my lawn was like walking on egg shells. 
Those folks who had not experienced a long spell of hot, dry weather asked if their lawns were as dead as they looked, and wondered if they’d have to re-seed them.
“Wait," I said.  "Be patient.”
This week it rained—more than an inch.  And the dried up lawns once more began turning green.  Lawnmowers sputtered to life and the smell of freshly cut grass filled the air.
This may be a stretch—comparing lawn grass to human nature.  But when things go bad, lawn grass hunkers down and waits.  Patiently.
Not the worst approach for people who often quickly complain and want a quick fix when life tosses a curve ball at them. Sometimes a little patience will make all the difference.  The lawn grass doesn’t fret and fuss when it needs rain (at least not that I can tell).
A lesson here?
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Whatever happened to patience?
CHECK THIS OUT:  You can preorder my new novel, TAMARACK RIVER GHOST (fifth in my Ames County Series) from Amazon.com.  See press kit at this link for information about the book: http://uwpress.wisc.edu/Presskits/Apps_RiverGhost.html
UPCOMING EVENTS:
August 5-11, The Clearing.  Writing Workshop: Writing From Your Life.
September 7-8, Southwest Wisconsin Prairie Festival, Folklore Village, 3210 Co. Hwy. BB, Dodgeville, WI.  Keynote talk, Saturday, Sept. 8, 1:00 p.m. “People and the Prairie.”
October 13, The Clearing.  Writing Workshop: Writing From Your Life.