Author: Paul Deaton

Categories
Living in Society Social Commentary

Cemeteries and Decorations

Flags at Oakland Cemetery
Flags at Oakland Cemetery

BIG GROVE TOWNSHIP, Iowa — A couple of years ago the Solon American Legion moved their annual Memorial Day commemoration from Oakland Cemetery to the new service memorial at American Legion Field.

As remaining World War II veterans depart on their long journey after this life, the new field is level, lessening the possibility of a fall for increasingly fragile nonagenarians.

The annual event seems better attended since moving to town.

The township trustees consider the condition of the cemetery before Memorial Day and the legion adorns its roadway with full-sized American flags with the names of local veterans on each flag post. We want the cemetery to present well regardless of where the event is held. After inspections, we decided it looked good for the holiday, although the trash barrels needed emptying.

Memorial Day began as Decoration Day in 1868 — a remembrance established by the Grand Army of the Republic to recognize union soldier deaths while defending against the rebellion. Confederate women had begun decorating graves during the earliest years of the long war that took 620,000 lives. It was traditional to visit the family cemetery and enjoy a picnic lunch and family reunion near remains of the departed. It took an act of Congress (the National Holiday Act of 1971) to sort out differences and competing claims of the remembrance. In many places traditions have vanished as family cemeteries gave way to cremation and burial in larger, public and commercial places of rest.

Just as grilling at home or at a park supplanted picnics near the deceased, and Memorial Day gets confused with Veterans Day, not many here think about what divided the North and South in the 1860s. Neither is there common cause in the deaths perpetrated by our modern national militarism. Our constant state of warfare has become a part of background noise many people try to ignore.

My ancestors and shirt tail relatives in Virginia fought on both sides of the Civil War and those roots provided me a form of ethnic identity — an indigenous culture shared by a localized clan of kinfolk. I’m not sure such culture is even possible today.

As for this Memorial Day, I’ll be working a shift at the home, farm and auto supply store and unable to attend the commemoration.

Memorial Day will start the summer vacation season, like it does for most Americans, and be a chance to relax after getting the garden planted. The bloody wars our country has fought and continues fighting will seem distant for a while… almost an abstraction. I’m not alone in that. Even drone pilots can go home after a shift to spend time with their families.

Memorial Day is part of a procession of life events that helps things seem stable and predictable. We want that as politicians and corporate news media slam us with bad news and frightening potentialities every time we tune in on a device. The idea that the dead don’t move unless someone made a mistake, and that grave decorations aren’t intended to be permanent provides comfort.

On the way to my shift I’ll stop briefly at the cemetery and pay my respects to neighbors killed in action, most of whom I didn’t know. Such deaths seem tragic and complex — clouded in a present that assigns new values to them. I’ll stand in silence on the hill among old oak trees considering the meaning of honor and valor and why it’s still important. I hope that’s decoration enough.

~ Written for Blog for Iowa

Categories
Kitchen Garden

Plenty of Seedlings

Last Trays of Seedlings for the Garden
Last Trays of Seedlings for the Garden

With zero percent chance of precipitation until 10 p.m., I expect to finish spring planting today.

The plan developed yesterday was modified. Carmen decided there wasn’t enough soil blocking to make it worth a trip to the farm this weekend. It was alright by me. My soil blocking work is almost finished with only winter crops remaining to be started.

Except for processing quarts of soup stock in a water bath, today is planned outside until the work is done.

Turk's Turban Squash Seedlings
Turk’s Turban Squash Seedlings

The rain let up yesterday long enough to weed. Encouraged by the condition of the soil, I cleaned space in the plot under the locust tree and planted cucumbers: slicers (Marketmore, Olympian and Poinsett), Diva seedless, and pickling (Northern organic and a hybrid). I designed, built and installed new welded wire vertical cucumber cages to save garden space. It’s an experiment growing cucumbers under the locust tree, but a couple years back I tried it and the morning shade appeared to be good for the plants, protecting them from the intense and long sunny drought conditions we often find in Iowa.

Once finished with cucumbers, another short, heavy rain came through, curtailing additional outside activity for the day.

Plenty of seedlings remain to be planted, given away or composted.

The rest of Saturday was posted on Twitter:

Categories
Kitchen Garden

Into Memorial Day Weekend

Garden Tools
Garden Tools

The Weather Channel application serves gardeners with a busy schedule.

The forecast called for rain through the 4 a.m. hour. At 4:22 a.m. the gentle rain we crave is ending.

Garden soil will be too wet for planting, so I’ll switch my soil blocking schedule at the farm for today after a work session in the garage. The change will clear tomorrow for planting.

At least those are the plans.

I bought two 50-foot rolls of 48-inch chicken wire after work at the home, farm and auto supply store for $43.74 or about a third of my yard and garden expenditures this year. Some current fencing needs replaced, but mostly new planting areas need protection from deer. I hope 100 yards is enough.

By setting fence walls in close proximity there is no room for deer to stand if they jump over. This tactic has been successful in the constant dialectic between plant predators and garden hopes. Rabbits have plenty of food outside the garden, so they are less of a threat. Chicken wire keeps them out most of the time.

Planting this weekend includes Brandywine tomato seedlings, hot peppers in one bed and bell peppers in another, Turk’s Turban squash seedlings and cucumbers. Initial planting will be considered finished if I get that done.

At 5:02 a.m. I had better get after the work.

Categories
Living in Society

We Like Amy Nielsen

Amy Nielsen
Amy Nielsen

Once Amy Nielsen of North Liberty set her mind on getting involved with government in one of Iowa’s fastest-growing cities there was no stopping her.

When Mayor Tom Salm died unexpectedly in 2014, she pursued a council appointment after nine-year councilor Gerry Kuhl was appointed mayor. The city council chose someone else.

Nielsen then ran for mayor and defeated Kuhl in a tight race, garnering 55 percent of the vote.

She’s running for election in the June 7 primary to represent Iowa House District 77 in the Iowa legislature. I believe there will be no stopping Amy Nielsen now either.

There is a lot to like about her.

“My primary ‘career’ is being a mom,” she said in a recent email.

Nielsen was born in Keokuk and grew up in Eastern Iowa. She attended Kirkwood Community College before moving to South Carolina where husband Jason took a job with Kimberly Clark. Nielsen took a job in a bank there. They followed his work to Utah, where their first daughter Catie was born, to Tennessee where son Ben was born, and to Wisconsin where daughter Jillian was born. The family next moved to Atlanta, which they found was “not a good fit.”

“We decided it was time to come back to Iowa,” Nielsen said. “We knew we wanted to raise our kids here. My husband was hired at Alliant Energy and we chose to settle in North Liberty.”

In 2007 the family moved and a few years later Nielsen burst on the scene of public engagement. She worked as a volunteer in a number of community organizations including local schools, the Iowa City Blue Zones Project, the North Liberty Community Pantry and more.

Nielsen is engaged fully in life and has the audacity to run for office to get things done for her family and her constituents.

“As a graduate of Iowa City Public Schools, and a parent of three children currently enrolled in those same schools, I know first-hand how important a world-class education is to our state’s future,” Nielsen said in a press release for her house bid. “I’m deeply concerned that some in Des Moines are shortchanging our children by refusing to invest in Iowa’s public schools.”

When asked how she would replicate outgoing State Representative Sally Stutsman’s connections in rural parts of District 77, Nielsen responded.

“I will do what I have always done,” she said, “which is proactively seek input from individual stakeholders that have more knowledge and experience to learn about their specific needs.”

Part of living in a fast-growing community is the expansion of low-wage jobs and North Liberty has more than its share of them.

“I am in favor of a state-wide higher minimum wage,” Nielsen said. “I would like to find a way to close the loop holes that allow for exemptions or advantages for doing things like using ‘temporary’ workers or ‘subcontracting.’  This is just a way to boost profits on the backs of low wage earners.”

Check out Nielsen’s campaign website, amyforiowa.com for her position on other issues. However, policy isn’t the only reason to like Amy Nielsen.

In the face of disparaging remarks by outgoing Mayor Kuhl in 2014, Nielsen handled herself well.

“I have largely ignored the criticism of Gerry Kuhl,” Nielsen said. “He was quoted after the election as saying ‘the mayor doesn’t have any power anyway’ and he was wrong. The mayor sets the attitude and tone of not only the council and staff, but the entire community. I firmly believe certain opportunities have come our way because of the change in leadership.”

I’m proud to offer my support to Amy Nielsen in her bid to win the Democratic primary in House District 77.

Categories
Kitchen Garden

In the Kitchen Garden

First Bunch of Radishes
First Bunch of Radishes

Radishes, spring garlic and turnip greens were ready for harvest.

It was the beginning of a day of gardening and cooking as good as takes place anywhere in the world.

The combination of today’s harvest, previous pickings in the ice box and bits and pieces made for a day close to the soil and replete with tasty and nutritious food.

It’s what gardeners live for.

I started a pot of turnip stock made of carrot, onion, celery, bay leaves, chervil and a large bunch of freshly picked and cleaned turnip greens. After bringing it to a boil, I turned down the heat and simmered it for most of the day. It made about a gallon.

After working in the yard and garden all day I came inside, strained the stock and used two cups to make rice for a casserole. I pulled the last bottle of Pinot Noir from the cooler, poured a glass and sipped while cooking our meal.

The casserole included three eggs from a friend’s farm, sauteed onion and spring garlic, along with wilted greens from the farm. I added a quarter cup dried parsley to the ingredients in a large stainless steel bowl, mixed and turned it into a buttered baking dish. I topped the casserole with Parmesan cheese and baked for 30-35 minutes. Once the casserole was in the oven I made small salads with lettuce from the ice box. There was part of a cucumber, carrot, radishes, Vidalia onion, and prepared kidney beans. Dressing was commercial, organic balsamic from the ice box.

To live life one must either cook or quit. As hard as Saturday’s work was, I’m not ready to quit.

Kubichek Plumbing Yard Stick
Kubichek Plumbing Yard Stick

The priority among the endless yard and garden tasks is getting the rest of spring planting finished.

Chives
Chives

I fenced the sprouted green beans, planted basil, and deconstructed last year’s kale patch for this year’s tomatoes. I left the row of peas.

I measured the plot. If the tomato seedlings are 36 inches apart, there is room for 20 without digging up the peas. The ground was full of earthworms when I spaded it.

Needing mulch for the tomatoes, I mowed with the grass catcher. The second cut was less than the first. I piled them where the bell pepper plants will go. When the sun comes up today I’ll finish preparing the soil.

The day was full of work. I caught a tomato cage in the mower and took a half hour to jack the front end up and remove it from around the blade. There was trimming, raking and watering. Temperatures were close to 80 degrees, but it didn’t seem hot.

After dinner it didn’t take long to fold laundry and fall asleep with the feeling it was a day well spent.

Categories
Living in Society

Into the Dirt

Part of the Big Grove Sample Ballot
Part of the Big Grove Sample Ballot

SOLON, Iowa — At a table under a locust tree on Main Street I chatted with Kurt Friese, his wife and son as people gathered for his political meet and greet.

Most of the small group of attendees are not in my circle of political friends. Maybe they should be.

I’ll support Friese in the June 7 Democratic primary. With that decision made, I can move on to more engaging endeavors. That means digging in the dirt in my garden until the initial planting is done.

I brought a lawn sign home and found the two from previous supervisor campaigns. After sizing them up for wires in the garage, they will go out on Friday for the weekend traffic in front of our home.

Sizing Signs for Wires in the Garage
Sizing Signs for Wires in the Garage

I took the time to meet and have a conversation with five of the six supervisor candidates before deciding, also considering the work of the two incumbents. Comparing what I know about the job of supervisor, the needs of the county, and how each candidate seemed as a person, Friese was the best fit to fill out my votes. The five candidates I met would each bring something different to the table. (I still don’t get what the helicopter pilot is doing). This slate fits the direction the county should go during the next four years.

Someone on social media asked why Friese over Heiden? First, I have more in common with Friese and his circle. Second, Heiden didn’t take my advice a month ago about getting on top of her recent switch in party registration. The switch itself is not an issue. The way she handled it publicly is. Finally, my pick was about having a business person on the board of supervisors. Being a successful restaurateur and author carried more weight than being executive director of a retirement home for the affluent. Either one would make a competent supervisor.

Now it’s into the dirt for me.

Categories
Kitchen Garden

Moving Plants Outside

Seasoning Seedlings
Seasoning Seedlings

Monday morning I moved the last two trays of tomato seedlings outside.

Since February, seedlings crowded around the windows of our bedroom. Now the race is on to get them in the ground.

Ours is a garden designed to keep expenses low and minimize our carbon footprint. I’d prefer a small greenhouse though we didn’t have resources to make one this year.

Seedlings are coming along well. There are way too many of some varieties and once the garden is established, excess will be given away or sold.

Saturday I planted 26 kale plants — three varieties in two rows. This is a money crop for a food to funds project I am working on for Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility. Like many non-profits, our discretionary funds are limited. We hope to convert kale to cash for projects outside grant specific projects. There is never enough of those funds. Not sure how it will go, but I’m doubling kale production from last year which had everyone in my network who wanted it flush with the green and red leaves.

With the early lettuce harvested, the next crops are spring garlic and onions, turnip leaves, radishes and oregano. Once the tomatoes and peppers are in the ground there will be a sigh of relief and the tenor of late spring will turn to summer.

Categories
Living in Society

Politics Doesn’t Take a Holiday

Newport Precinct Polling Place
Newport Precinct Polling Place

JOHNSON COUNTY, Iowa — Talk about politics is everywhere as the June 7 Democratic primary approaches.

There is a lot to think about in the two races with a field: U.S. Senate and county supervisors.

Well maybe not that much.

The four U.S. Senate candidates participated in a foreign policy forum in Des Moines last night and this tweet summarizes why I support State Senator Rob Hogg:

Addressing anthropogenic global warming is high on my priority list.

I’ve written about the county supervisor race a couple of times and I’m still where I was with my three votes: Sullivan, Green-Douglass and either Pat Heiden or Kurt Friese.

Heiden comes with strong endorsements of people I know and respect in and out of politics. On the positive side, she is an experienced businesswoman turned political newcomer with credibility on the three issues she is highlighting during the primary campaign: good governance based on her experience as executive director at Oaknoll Retirement Community; attention to the needs of the elderly — the county’s fastest growing population segment, and addressing mental health care delivery in the wake of the state’s poorly executed consolidation of services.

On the challenged side, Heiden was registered as a Republican voter as recently as last year. Already the whisper campaign has begun: she is a Republican in Democratic garb and will undo the progressive agenda, they say.

I asked her about the recent switch in registration. While she didn’t have a good answer, she made clear she was new to politics and didn’t fully understand the importance of one’s registration in the so-called People’s Republic of Johnson County. It is not an issue for me, and the idea she would help undo progress is a stretch.

As for Friese, he appears to be working his campaign as one would expect a candidate to do. Information is readily available and he scheduled an event in each of the towns in the county. That he’s riding his bicycle to each town is a positive, unique twist. The importance of community outreach is high on my list. Thus far, only he, Sullivan and Heiden have made a noticeable effort to campaign outside the peculiar enclave that is Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty.

On the positive side, Friese’s issues list includes social justice for people living in poverty, who are food insecure, and without affordable housing and access to mental health care. His list of endorsements is a mixed bag of people I know and respect, with some clinkers mixed in.

On the challenged side, Friese is a denizen of Iowa City with all the negative connotations that includes. His business is there and he participates actively as a notable person in society. Outside the county seat, people don’t know him and he has managed to get sideways with a couple of people I know and respect.

To an extent, he panders to the Newport Road gang and their method of slowing urban sprawl. His early tagline, “stop pouring concrete on good farm land,” is evidence of this. He has strong support on Newport Road. This is about the land use plan and how the supervisors administer it. At least Friese is engaged in this issue and expected to be a predictable vote on development in the northern part of the county.

As one of the liberal centers in the state, Johnson County has some responsibility to lead by example and support gender equity on boards and commissions, including the board of supervisors. The current status is two females and three males and I feel strongly we don’t want to walk that back to one to four. Gender equity is an important issue, although not the most important one. It’s worth considering when there are plenty of good potential supervisors in the race. With three of five seats up for election, the decisions made in the primary will presumably be ratified during the general election and set the agenda for the next four years.

It is important people take time to learn about the candidates before voting.

Categories
Kitchen Garden

A Blustery Day with Lettuce

Belgian Lettuce Harvest
Belgian Lettuce Harvest

Holy cats it was windy yesterday!

My to-do list was long, the weather sunny and dry, and danger for frost long past.

It was time to focus on planting.

The blustery day took its toll long before everything was erased from the white board.

As readers can see from the diagram, indecision plagued execution of the planting. In the end, I planted more kale than expected (26 plants of three varieties in two rows) and left the rest open. The morning after, I plan to wait until the soil warms a bit and plant a long row of hot peppers (5 varieties, spaced 18 inches in a 19-foot row) and finish with two rows of red beans in this plot. While I planned to work two plots, the wind took my energy before starting the second and the clock timed out.

Saturday Plan
Saturday Plan

I slept nine hours last night.

Later this morning it’s back to work at the farm. Most seedlings will be outside seasoning while I’m gone as the tray-based numbers diminish and move to the soil.

Life is not only about gardening as much as some days I wish it were.

My solar-powered garden radio pulled in a signal with The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart while I was breaking up the clods of turned soil with a hoe. After my shower, I found this bar-graph version of the overture, which helped me better understand the music.

Categories
Kitchen Garden

Le Weekend de la Plantation

Blue Spruce Tree
Blue Spruce Tree

The fields were too wet for planting this week so farmers took on other projects and came to town.

Partly as a result, sales were up at the home, farm and auto supply store.

One of the highlights of working there is listening to narratives about the projects in which people engage. Customers seek specific hardware to meet practical needs in a turbulent world.

For a lot of customers, coming to town is fun and it rubs off.

This weekend’s project in Big Grove is planting two plots in the garden.

You’d think that with seeds and seedlings in the bedroom since February I’d have more of a layout for the crops. I’m working a 9 by 19 foot plot first, having turned it before the rains and applied compost this morning. A long row of kale will go in for sure. After that, I’m not sure. As I condition the soil with a hoe and rake there’s more time for consideration.

If my plan for growing seedlings was that of an experienced gardener, how I execute the actual space will be the work of an artist. As long as some vegetables are produced, I’ll enjoy gardening while I may.

Note to self: get the weeds suppressed today.