Trego's Mountain Ear

"Serving North Lincoln County"

Tag: Gardening

  • October, And No Frost

    When I moved to Trinidad, Colorado to begin teaching, I was surprised that the annual precipitation was about the same as it was in Trego. Trinidad was 6,000 feet elevation – downtown Trego is a little over 3,000. Trego is definitely timber – predominately Doug Fir, and in Trinidad you still have to go up the mountain to get to the timber.

    We moved to Trinidad along with the final episode of MASH – it took years for me to see that epic program – and we moved into a very arid climate. The record frosts (from Climate and Man) recorded for Fortine were May 29 and September 8. Annual precipitation was 17.43 inches. At Trinidad, the record frosts were May 2 and October 16. Annual precipitation was 16.2 inches. Trinidad showed 167 days of growing season, while Fortine showed only102 days of growing season.

    Back in the late seventies, one of the foresters I listened to spoke of ‘climax species’ – essentially the trees that will remain in a location until fire wipes them out, and a succession begins. So I knew that in Trego, with 17 inches of rain and 100 days between f8rosts, Doug Fur would remain. Now, fifty-odd years later, and with the experience of Trinidad’s arid, near desert environment, I’m looking at a longer growing season. I kind of prefer the term global warming to climate change. Can’t say for sure – when Climate and Man was published, they had less than 40 years record for Fortine and Trinidad. But one thing is sure – if you spread the same amount of precipitation over more growing days, it’s a good idea to look for plants that are more drought tolerant.

    I need to do more thinning – Dad like the forest unmanaged, and that was OK for his lifetime – but a longer growing season demands more space between trees, and probably a change in species – so when I can, I’m leaving Western Larch and Ponderosa Pine. They seem to be a bit more drought tolerant and fire resistant.

    The hayfield, despite being partially sub-irrigated, becomes drier with a longer growing season. On the other hand, when I was a kid, raising sweet corn was a challenge. No longer.

    The longer growing season may indicate a change in climate, or it may just be an anomaly. I don’t know – but I’m placing my bet on plants that are a bit more drought tolerant.

  • A Gopher in the Garden

    Well, technically the beast is a Columbia Ground Squirrel – but it has moved in at a time of my infirmity – as I use a walker to get the left knee back into shape, pretty much confined to the porch and first floor, the gopher has moved into the garden. And he goes down the row, eating the peas down to ground level.

    Fifty or sixty years back, I was trying for gopher control in the same location, and I accidentally trapped a lactating badger by her front foot. I had heard all the stories about how dangerous a badger could be in close – but when I knew she had little ones, leaving her trapped didn’t seem right. So I got her where she pulled the trap and chain as far from the stake as I could, and as she strained against the trap, I used a stick to take the tension from the jaws of the trap, and she pulled loose. I picked up the rest of the gopher traps, and felt good for the rest of the day.

    The next day I was back with the 22, shot a gopher, and she bit it, backed off, and apparently made the decision: “This guy helped me when I was trapped, and now he’s helping me catch gophers while my foot hurts. He’s OK.” I spent six weeks or so that summer shooting gophers for my badger companion. I don’t imagine we were ever much closer than 20 yards or so. We probably hunted together no more than 40 times – but it turned into one of my more fun hunting experiences.

    So I’m thinking of my badger buddy as I try to come up with a plan to get the gophers out of my garden. In the old days, I would have bummed a bit of 1080 – but my new world doesn’t allow such lethal formulas to its citizenry. I remember that I own 3 gopher traps – but I don’t remember where I stashed them. I could borrow a trap from a friend, and build a mini-fence around the gopher hole – but that would be a lot easier with a working left knee. It looks like my solution is going to be these green bait bars in a bait station

    Fortunately, I have the internet and amazon prime available. By the time I can get out to the garden again, I’ll have my green bait bars and bait station. It’s been a good problem to have – remembering the mother badger that was once my hunting companion.

  • Trego: Hardiness Zone 5a

    Trego: Hardiness Zone 5a

    The USDA has updated plant hardiness zones, and despite last winter’s impressive cold, we’ve jumped up a zone (to 5a from 4b in 2012; the average low went up by 6 degrees)

    Hardiness zones are a (partial) climate description that’s been in existence for a bit over a century, though the government didn’t get involved in it until the ’60s (At which point they proceeded to do so badly for a few decades). They use the average minimum winter temperature to determine the zone.

    The current map can be found at usda.gov/ and is searchable by zip code. Here’s the current map for Montana:

  • Low Carb Potatoes

    As the garden becomes better established, I’m researching low carbohydrate potatoes.  I like potatoes, but part of surviving cancer included type II diabetes.  It isn’t a big deal – but potatoes and apples are high in carbohydrates, carbohydrates convert to sugar, and I have the ability to find the low carb varieties.  If I can’t buy them in the stores, I can grow them in the garden.

    Spud Smart and Potato Grower both have articles on the new varieties of potatoes that are low carb. The Spud Smart article starts with

    Potandon Produce unveiled its first low-carbohydrate potato Oct. 19 during the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit convention in New Orleans. The Idaho Falls-based company boasts its CarbSmart potato has 55 percent fewer carbohydrates than rice or pasta.”

    Boise isn’t that far away, Idaho produces a lot of potatoes, and I have hopes of being able to find their CarbSmart potato in the grocery store.

    Potato Grower describes a world where many different low carb potatoes are available – though it’s a long drive to get Lotato in the Netherlands or New Zealand.  Still, the Sunlite variety is listed as available in supermarkets ranging from Florida to Minnesota – and the drive is getting shorter. 

    Montana State University has developed a variety named “Huckleberry Gold.”  For a change, it is easier to find data online from the seed potato sellers than from the university.  The common description is “MSU researchers have found that Huckleberry Gold has a low glycemic index. This variety does not cause a rapid spike in blood sugar like most starchy foods. Great potato for diabetics!

    It appears to need a slightly longer growing season than Trego offers – more suited to Eureka or Rexford.  Still, there are ways to work around this – a dark cold frame to warm the soil early and protect from late frost will help me.  I can mix a bit of sand into my silty clay to come up with a small plot closer to a loam and better suited for potatoes.  I am looking forward to raising potatoes that do not spike my blood sugar.

    Huckleberry Gold produces round to oval small to medium sized tubers with purple skin and yellow flesh. Resistant to common scab and verticillium wilt.”

    Irish Eyes Garden Seeds

    “Researchers in the Sands’ Research Lab at MSU’s Plant Science Department have found low glycemic index potatoes that do not cause the rapid spike in blood sugar that comes with eating starchy foods. Sugar spikes can be dangerous for diabetics who lack the insulin to handle it and have been linked to cancer, heart disease and other conditions.”

    Ag Update