Monthly Archives: January 2012

One of 50 or so remaining waste-wood burners remaining in the state, the old Beaver Lumber Co.burner sits near the town of Clatskanie; photo by Tom Nichols.

… out of the thousand or so obsolete waste-wood burners Oregon started out with, there are only about 50 left (see a photo of the one in Drain I posted April 27, 2011).

If you should be lucky enough to spot one, it would be good for you to know that these free-standing conical steel structures (ranging from 30 to 60 feet high) were used to burn waste wood in logging yards and sawdust in sawmills.  However, even though their tops were covered with a steel grill or mesh, the smoke and ash they produced into the air was too much.

Since they were legally banned in Oregon (they were taken out of use in the 1970s), we have since developed a use for wood waste as a component in various forest products such as particle board, paper and mulch as well as a burning process that produces steam to make heat and/or electricity.

The burner pictured is located near Clatskanie. To go there from Highway 30, turn north (left or right depending on the way you are going)  at the light – at the end of Nehalem Street take a left  on 5th, continue to Depot Road and take another left. Cross the tracks and turn right Clatskanie District road. You only need to go about a quarter of a mile and you will see it. For those of you who have a deeper interest in wigwam burners, visit the blog site of the new Oregon Wigwam Burners Association:

http://jaycritchley.com/2010/11/11/oregon-wigwam-burners-association-formed/

Anyway, if Oregon has 50 burners left and I have sighted two, it means I have 48 more to go – smile.

Luv,

Sissy

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As Sissy reads from a book called Weird Oregon, she lingers over images of Fort Rock; photo of Sissy by Jan Jackson

… I’ve been reading in a book called Weird Oregon again (tell me a better thing to do sitting on your hot rock in the middle of winter – smile). When I came across the story about Fort Rock, I was reminded about its extreme fortness.

The rock is an isolated crescent-shaped land mass that rises nearly 350 feet above a high desert plain off State Highway 5 just west of Christmas Valley. It is nearly a mile in diameter and it looks just like a fort. I guess it started out as a lava vent in the middle of a big lake – but by the time the settlers came, it had all dried out.

The Fort Rock formation and the nearby Fort Rock Cave, are part of Oregon’s Fort Rock State Natural Area. One of the things that makes the area so famous, is that they discovered several pairs of sagebrush sandals in the cave that date back 9000 to 13000 years – made them the oldest ever found.

There is no camping available, but visitors are welcome to walk around the rock formation and use the picnic areas. If you are there at one of the right times, a park host might even take you on a little tour.

For more information, visit the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department web site www.oregonstateparks.org and find a link to the Fort Rock site. If you want to have some fun reading (especially if you too have a hot rock), get yourself a copy of Weird Oregon by Al Eufrasio and Jeff Davis; 2010, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.)

Happy traveling and happy reading.

Luv,

Sissy

Martha Washington

… would make you think that honey bees were as American as apple pie, right? Well, guess what! This country never even had any honey bees until the Pilgrims came in the early 1600s – and we didn’t have any apples until then either (well, except the native crab apple but that doesn’t count). What a jolt.

So, where did honey bees come from? Well, even though the oldest honey bee fossils have been found in Europe, the thought is that they came from South and Southeast Asia, and the Philippines.

Now, for Martha’s recipe (provided by the estate): “One should bring a cup of mild-flavored honey to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Turn off the heat as soon as the honey starts to foam up. Stir in half a cup of fresh rose petals. Let the mixture sit for four hours. Bring to a boil again. Pour through a strainer and discard the petals.”

So, head for the rose garden, pick a few petals and make some rose-flavored honey. It is tasty tasty on toast – I think – smile.

Luv,

Sissy

Photo courtesy of www.public-domain-image.com

… So – when someone says you’re just the bee’s knees, is that a good thing or not?  It probably means, “excellent – the highest quality.” But, before you get too smug too quickly, read on.

Some say it’s merely a reference to the face that bees carry pollen back to the hive in sacs on their legs in which case there is definitely goodness to be found around a bee’s knee.

It is also sometimes said to be a corruption of ‘business’ though not much supports that definition.

What about this? In the 18^th century it was a synonym for smallness (you know – like the less polite ‘gnat’s bollock’ – smile).

Bee’s knees began to be used in early 20^th century America as a nonsense expression that denoted something that didn’t have any meaningful existence – like a ‘sky-hook’ or ‘striped paint’ or like the story in a 1906 New Zealand West Coast Times that listed cargo carried by the SS Zealandia as ‘a quantity of post holes, 3 bags of treacle and 7 cases of bee’s knees.

So, before you get too excited about being the bee’s knees, it might just be foolishness like like the cats meow or the beaver’s slappy tail.

Just trying to keep you up on things.

Luv,

Sissy

P.S. You can read a good story about honey bees earning their keep at Oregon Garden at http://countrytraveleronline.com/2012/01/10/oregon-garden-honeybees-earn-their-keep/

Mark Thompson working honeybees; photo courtesy Mark Thompson

SILVERTON, Ore. – When Oregon Garden horticulturist Jeff Para came up with the idea of adding a permanent bee colony to the Oregon Garden, Dundee beekeeper Mark Thompson made it happen. This spring will mark the third season that Thompson’s honeybees will pollinate the flowers in the 80-acre botanical garden.

In addition to pollinating the flowers, these now resident bees are a popular subject of garden-sponsored educational workshops, while producing natural Oregon Garden honey to sell in the gift shop. Though the bees reside in the Garden’s oak grove, their hives are placed far enough away from visitors to provide them a stress-free environment.

Thompson, whose day-job is owning and operating a coffee roasting business in Dundee, graduated from George Fox College with a degree in Communication Arts, Christian Education and Physical Education.

Mark Thompson and his wife tend the four solar-cooled honeybee hives in the Oak Grove at Oregon Garden in Silverton; photo courtesy of Mark Thompson.

While visiting an elderly member of his church who was recovering from a heart attack, Thompson uttered the one little word that propelled him into the bee business.

“I still can’t believe I agreed to do something I knew nothing about,” Thompson said recalling the day he yelled ‘NO’ when lifelong beekeeper Eldon Havaman said he was going to have to give up his bees.

“Eldon was not only a retired bee inspector for the State of Oregon, but had spent his life raising bees. He was so depressed about his future that when he said he was going to have to give them up, I heard myself  assuring him that he wouldn’t have to.

“I remember telling him that if he would be the brain, I would be the brawn and between the two of us we could make it happen. Keeping my fear of being stung to myself, I showed up at his place a few weeks later and donned Eldon’s old suit, veil and gloves.

“He sat on a box and told me what to do. After the first year, my focus began to mature from thinking only about what was going on inside the veil to what was going on inside the hive. By the end of the third year, I asked him if I could add a hive of my own and the fourth year I added another and then another. We worked the bees together for several years and when he died, I bought them all.”

In addition to driving the 40-plus miles from Dundee to Silverton to manage his hives, Thompson also conducts an occasional public education workshop for Oregon Garden.

Mark Thompson, owner/operator of Fair Wage Coffee, is a beekeeper for the love of bees; photo by Jan Jackson

“I love talking about the bees and I always give examples about how sophisticated and smart they are,” Thompson said. “Over the years I’ve watched them head for a field that had just been sprayed, detect something was wrong, pass the word to their fellow bees and redirect themselves to another field. They seem to have a sixth sense about what is and is not good for them. Of course, the Oregon Garden is a perfect place for them because they are secluded in the oak grove in solar cooled hives in their own spray-free garden.”

Though bees seal themselves in their hives and stay dormant during the winter, Thompson continues to check them regularly for mites and protect them from yellow jackets, mice, bears, skunks and other predators.

“They do a pretty good job of taking care of themselves, but I’m still there to help them out when they need it,” Thompson said.  “Some beekeepers don’t like solar hives but the fact that honey production as increased 30 percent since we started using them and the fact that they don’t leave, tells me the bees are happy. The program seems to be good for the garden, its good for the bees and its good for the people who visit.

For more information about the Oregon Garden Bees, call the Oregon Garden at 503-874-8100 or visit www. oregongarden.org. For more information about Mark Thompson, visit www.fairwagecoffee.com

Jan Jackson- ©2012 – See Jan Jackson Bio