“Native Plants, Textiles, Baskets: Inspired by Traditions of the Salish Sea” is the new show opening at Chimera Gallery June 12, and continuing through July 9.
June is “Dairy Month,” a designation begun in 1937 by the National Dairy Council as a way to encourage milk drinking and support dairy farmers. But before there were dairy associations promoting the milk, cream, butter, ice cream, yogurt and cheese we buy in markets today, many families had their own cow. And here on Lopez some still do.
Those who’ve lived in the San Juan Islands for many years remember farms large enough to sustain a herd of dairy cows and operate a dairy or to raise large numbers of hogs, sheep or cattle and grow fields of grain to feed them.
Maybe it comes from growing up in New England eating baked beans in the winter and shell beans in the summer, but for as long as I’ve had a garden I’ve grown beans, not for the pods but for the seeds inside. Occasionally I’ll meet another bean lover and we’ll talk like long-lost relatives, members of the happy family of bean growers and eaters. Lately, with current interests in local food and food security, I’ve met other gardeners who want to join the bean family. Here’s what I share from my experience with varieties, planting, shelling and eating.
When Lopezian Denise McIntosh heard about Grow a Row from a friend in Friday Harbor, “I got an instant picture of exactly what it was. I think it would make sense to most people.” After attending the Jan. 30 Lopez Community Land Trust Food Charrette and learning of food needs on Lopez, Denise decided to create a Grow a Row project here.
It’s time to prune fruit trees and there are many print and Internet resources for guidance if you’re new to pruning or want to review. Another great resource is friends with experience pruning who will let you tag along as they prune.
For all of us who grow vegetable gardens, the New Year is a good time to pause and consider why we choose to spend our time planting and harvesting food. There’s the food, of course, but as a sampling of Lopez gardeners reveals, there’s also a sense of self-reliance and most of all there’s the garden itself.
Two ways to harvest grain: David Zapalac’s cradle scythe and Gary Buffum’s combine.
Lorri Swanson admires the Scarlet Emperor runner beans which students will study this year in class.
Green living
Crowfoot Farm UPick raspberries will be ripe soon.
Nick Jones checks Sweetwater Shellfish oysters. In the background, Robin Minkler digs clams.
