IT’S A HOLIDAY?

 

Bess and I were enjoying an overnight staycation while Mike and Clint rode their motorcycles to central Oregon and back. And as we took our morning constitutional, I couldn’t help but think how quiet it was in the neighborhood. It was time for people to be dashing off to work, but nothing was happening. “You’d think it’s a holiday,” I said to myself. It wasn’t until an hour later when I was driving into town that I heard about the June Teenth holiday. It's was equally as quiet when we walked again this morning. Folks have obviously taken advantage of the three-day holiday to leave town or celebrate quietly indoors.

Hot temps are upon us again, and now they’re probably here to stay. I’m finally into my summer PJs for the duration. We need some cookies, but I’m thinking twice about turning on the oven.

The tomato plants are still thriving in my poor dilapidated raised bed that looks like it could fall over at any time, but fear not! Help is on the way. Under Hallie’s leadership, the frame will be rebuilt. The materials are waiting on the porch, and I hope the new frame can be built around the old mound. We’ll see. It will all work out some way. Doesn’t it always?

I broke down and bought two potted zucchini hills. One had two plants, the other three. It’s late in the transplant season now, and I was afraid if I tried to reseed, it would either fail or be too late for the squash to mature.

I’ve never seen such strawberry plants! They’re either very happy or running amok. I keep hearing my dad say, “Kathy, you over-fertilized. Your strawberry plants have gone to leaf.” But – I didn’t fertilize them at all.

ANOTHER CORN RECIPE

Here’s another recipe from Grandma Ina’s box, this one attributed to her sister-in-law, Ida Chandler Dickson. Ida was married to Ina’s brother, Ben, and my dad and his siblings called her “Ida-Ben” to distinguish her from the other Aunt Ida, Ina’s sister.

CORN SALAD

1 head cabbage

12 ears corn

4 tbsp mustard

2 tbsp salt

1 cup sugar

2 pts vinegar

1 red pepper, chopped

Mix together and let simmer 35 minutes; seal in jars.

I know I’ll never try it. KW

THE RETURN OF THE WASHING MACHINE

 

The repairman came twice to this rural place to fix our nearly-new Whirlpool washing machine. I see it as “nearly new” because in the two years since we bought it, it’s seen six months of light use. The dealer and the manufacturer see it as a two-year-old machine that’s out of warranty. 

Despite his two visits, the repairman didn’t fix it, and the dealer suggested that we bring it to the shop. At first Mike said no. Then we borrowed a dolly and the two of us finessed it through three narrow doorways and onto the front porch where we rolled it onto the bed of the pick-up. 

The initial problem was a faulty mother board, which the repairman replaced, but the machine still didn’t work. My opinion was that the replacement mother board was also defective. That makes sense, doesn’t it? If the manufacturer is dealing with faulty mother boards, the new ones might be faulty, too, but the repairman and the dealer didn’t think so. However, working with the machine in the shop, they indeed had to replace the mother board again. 

So, the dealer called to report that the machine was fixed. They had run five loads of laundry through it and it worked fine. Mike agreed to pick it up, then he called back and, as he puts it, pulled “the old man card.” “I know you came twice, but you didn’t fix it. I’m an old man. You could deliver it for me.” And they agreed to bring it on their next trip this way, which was Saturday (the 13^th). 

So, I’ve done a couple of small loads in the machine, and it ran the cycles fine, but I’m just guardedly cautious. If the original mother board and the first replacement were faulty, how long until it fails again? I expect it to be on its best behavior because it can be replaced, but they say all washing machines today are junk on account of plastic parts. It’s shameful that manufacturers put out faulty stuff and then make the consumer responsible. Both the dealer and the consumer are caught in this web. 

“It’s a terrible system we’re getting to have in this country,” said my sister Harriet. Things have not improved in the ten years since she left us. KW

WATER

A lull between storms

If I had known it would be this cold in June, I would have replanted the peas and spinach. Well, I don’t know about the spinach. Something ate it. But the something that ate the spinach, doesn’t care for peas. It did like the zucchini, though. The only zucchini sprout I noticed has disappeared. The tomatoes are slowly growing and blooming, and the strawberries still look good. I have to wonder what signals this cold snap is sending to the plants and fruit trees, though.

Hallie suggested I plant marigolds to ward off insects, but Walmart didn’t have any. I had thought I would jumpstart my zucchini by buying plants, but Walmart was selling single plants for $5 each. Okay – I know I have a concept of $5 that’s straight out of the ‘70s, but it’s still too much for just one plant, especially when it could be like throwing $5 away. I’ll just replant, and if worst comes to worst, maybe this year I’ll have to buy zucchini. I wonder how much zucchini $5 will buy. Maybe not much.

Mike has now completed his annual farmhouse window washing. Knowing the forecast was for rain, he saved the protected downstairs windows for Tuesday, and it was a good thing because we had intermittent storms much of the day. It was also chilly – between 50 and 60 -- and today is yet another cold, rainy day. I was glad for the rain, though, because we need the moisture and it replenishes the cistern (my garden water). 

Southern view obscured by weather

On the subject of water, Hallie and I recently discussed water conservation, specifically the sharing of bath water. In Ina’s house, the family bathed in the wash tub just once a week – on Saturday night – whether they needed it or not. The cleanest people – women and children – bathed first and then the men.  Perhaps they occasionally added hot water, but they didn’t totally change the water. The water source was a distant spring or the cistern. Either way, water was a precious commodity to be used sparingly. My brother Chuck told me that when the men were working, such as during harvest, they did bathe in the evening. And I also think that everyone washed up as needed. 

And it was “dry land farming,” too. They didn’t irrigate the crops or the garden, and they didn’t need to because in those days it occasionally rained during the summer. I don’t know if they might have carried a little water to some struggling plant. Perhaps they did, but they certainly didn’t have sprinklers or drip systems.  

Hallie commented that the sharing of bath water seems like a practice born of poverty. Well, maybe so, but they had to conserve, AND we should be rethinking our water use today because the future of water in our world is at risk. I don’t think Hallie liked what I was saying, but even in Seattle where we think of frequent rain and lush gardens, she speaks of the need to water. She also said that their lawn is already turning brown and questions how much money she wants to spend to keep it green. It’s a question that homeowners have pondered for decades. KW 

HOW TO CAN CORN

 We have so little popcorn this year as something got so much of it before we gathered it in. Nearly half of it must have been gone when Mama and I went down to gather it. – Shirley Dobson, December 1932

Several posts ago, I wondered why Ina made no mention of corn in her little canning notebook. My dad enjoyed growing a large patch of corn at the farm, so I naturally assumed that he was carrying on the family tradition. I still think that Ina and Jack must have grown corn. At any rate, I found a number of corn recipes in Ina’s recipe box. Perhaps the corn was Jack’s responsibility.

“Ettie” sent this recipe to Ina with the following note: “Maybe you already know this method. If you do, no harm done. Lots of people don’t.” To can corn on the cob, remove husks as to cook. Place in pan. Blanch by pouring boiling water over it and let stand in water til cool. Pack in jars. Take vessel bigger than jars and fill with cold water. Immerse jar sideways in water. When bubbles stop, seal and cook about 15 minutes or ½ hour. And to cook, remove, wash and cook as usual, only add a little sugar. You can shave corn from cobs after blanching and can same way.

Here’s Mrs. Cordell’s recipe for canning corn. (Mrs. Cordell was a neighbor.)

10 cups corn cut from cob and milk scraped out,

1 cup sugar, 2 tbsp salt. Put on in open kettle. Add no water. Cook 10 minutes stirring constantly. Put in sterilized jars; seal and boil one hour.

And there are other corn recipes:

Corn Chowder

Corn Casserole

Corn Salad

Corn Relish

Here’s the recipe for corn relish:

Chop one head cabbage, sprinkle with salt, let stand one hour. Boil 12 ears corn, cut off cob. Grind 4 large onions, one large or 2 small peppers. Add chopped cabbage and cover with 1 ½ quarts vinegar [That’s what it says. No wonder I remember a house that smelled like vinegar!], 1 tsp mustard, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp celery seed, 1 cup sugar. Let all come to a boil and cook about 20 minutes and seal.

On the back of this recipe in Ina’s penciled scrawl is this recipe for corn and tomatoes:

Corn, tomatoes, onions browned in butter

Bacon diced and browned – added.

If I were to try this simple dish, I’d brown the bacon and remove from pan. Then I’d saute the corn, tomatoes, and onions in the same pan with a small amount of bacon fat. I’d crumble the bacon and stir it into the vegetables and add a sprinkle of pepper. I bet it would be pretty good.

[The photo here is of my other grandfather, Charlie Portfors. He planted a garden on a vacant lot he owned on Brown Avenue near “A” Street in Orofino. He was proud of that garden, and rightly so. It looks like he has squash in front of the corn. No date on the photo, but it was the mid-1950s.]

JUST A QUICK REAL-TIME UPDATE

We were in town all last week while Mike attended the NAIA World Series. Our local Lewis Clark State College lost out early in the week, but Mike enjoyed the games. And while he was busy, I enjoyed quiet time with my projects.

The three of us – Mike, Bess, and I – drove to the farm in the old pick-up on Sunday (May 31). The old Dodge RAM is a gas-guzzler, so we made the trip count both ways. We carried pavers and treated wood to the farm which will be used to renovate the raised bed when Hallie comes later this month. After offloading those supplies, we loaded the disappointing Whirlpool washing machine which we delivered to the shop in town today. Murray had volunteered to come help us on Monday, but Mike was able to load it with a dolly and my assistance. We senior citizens like to solve our own problems as long as we can.

The first thing I noticed as we drove into the farm was the bed of dazzling purple iris on the bank behind the house. I regret they were not in bloom on Memorial Day weekend.  

The tomatoes and strawberries seem to be doing well, but “something” is eating my green beans and zucchini sprouts. Hallie suggests I plant marigolds in that bed, and maybe I should. I’ll have to buy them. Too late to start from seed. I’ll also buy a zucchini plant – and some slug bait. I don’t think it’s too late to replant the beans and hope for the best. KW

 

PLEASE PASS THE KETCHUP

I have a childhood memory of my sister Nina explaining to her boyfriend that everyone says “ketchup,” but the word is really “catsup.” I’m not sure she was quite right, but catsup and ketchup are essentially the same product.

Hallie commented that maybe Ina made ketchup with her tomatoes, and in fact, I found a recipe for “Jiffy Ketchup” in her recipe box.

1 cup tomato juice or puree

1 medium onion chopped

Vinegar, salt, sugar and spices to taste

I don’t think I’ll try it. I’ll let the folks at Heinz or Hunt’s make mine.

In my research, I discovered that ketchup can be made from other ingredients. Here’s another variation from Ina’s recipe box:

Cucumber Catsup

Grate about 3 dozen large cucumbers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Allow one small onion for each bottle. Heat enough cider vinegar to pour over and seal jars.

On the other hand, maybe Ina did have a lot of tomatoes. Read on:

Tomato Pickles

Take about 8 quarts (1 peck) tomatoes. Slice and sprinkle with salt. Let stand overnight. Next morning, drain. Add ½ dozen large onions sliced.

Mix:

1 ½ scant cups sugar

1 tbsp mustard

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp allspice

1 tsp cloves

A little cayenne

Sprinkle over tomatoes and onions. Add sufficient vinegar to cover. Let simmer on back of stove till tender or pack into two quart jars, bring to a boil, and let boil for about 15 minutes.

Yes, well – I had never heard of tomato pickles, but you can find recipes online. Interesting. KW

CLOTTED CREAM -- INA'S RECIPE

Same house, different era

After Grandpa Jack Dobson died in 1946, their daughter Myrtle came to the farm to serve as Ina’s caregiver. In late middle age herself, Myrtle was still spry, energetic, and strong. Her early years with Ina were productive. They spent many hours together while Ina dictated her life story. Perhaps they also sorted things in the house. Myrtle was a great organizer.

AND – Myrtle reorganized Ina’s recipe box. I know she did because she initialed notations on recipe cards and also added recipes to the box. It’s easy to tell Myrtle’s even, legible cursive, always written in ink, from Ina’s penciled scrawl. Ina’s recipes are disappearing, fading right off the cards. It’s too bad, but I’m not going to use those recipes anyway. Modern methods are so much better.

Myrtle’s recipes reflect an interest in the expanding cuisine of the 1950s, while Ina’s are for cakes, cookies, bread, a few salads, canning, and preserves. I also come upon oddball recipes that are such fun to read. Here’s one for clotted cream:

1 gal milk. Let stand 24 hours. Place in pan of water on stove and heat till a ring forms around edge. Do not boil. Then stand this aside for another 24 hours, when it will make a heavy new firm cream. Delicious.

Ina's recipes, written in pencil, are fading away

I had never heard of clotted cream, so I googled it, and AI gave me this brief overview: Clotted cream is a thick, rich, and luxurious British dairy spread made by slowly heating heavy cream so the cream rises and forms buttery "clots" on the surface. It boasts a silky texture similar to softened cream cheese, a nutty-sweet flavor, and contains 55-64% butterfat. So, it’s a cross between cream and butter and is delicious when spread on scones and topped with jam.

If you want to make clotted cream, I recommend searching a recipe using today’s methods. Remember, Ina’s milk was actually raw milk from the cow. Today’s recipes call for cream. I’m intrigued, but I probably won’t go to the trouble since we seldom use cream. We don’t even stray from skim milk to one-percent unless we absolutely have to, and yes, my custards are watery. That’s just the way it is.

But – when I was a child, we always had a jar of cream in the fridge. My dad loved cream, and in those days, we could buy raw cream from our “egg lady.” Daddy used it frequently on his cereal, in his coffee, and on whatever else he thought would be enhanced by a tablespoon or two. I considered that jar nasty and didn’t touch it.

And Mother would whip cream for strawberry shortcake. We use non-dairy whipped products instead – or nothing at all. Mother also made cream puffs, which she would serve to the ladies of her sewing circle. Don’t look to me to make them for you.

As we move into summer, I think of Ina's big vegetable garden and tasty fresh produce – so good for us – but the farm diet was also heavy in fat – eggs, bacon, cream, butter, and don’t forget about lard. Today we worry about fast food, but perhaps every generation has its food challenges. KW

PLAIN FOOD AND LEFTOVERS

 

We have about three feet of snow and it is cold. It began piling up week before last and we have had sub-zero weather off and on ever since. Dad keeps a lantern in the cellar “of a nite” and nothing has frozen. – Ina Dobson, February 1936

Hallie wonders: “Now I’m curious about the recipes. Was it mostly, ‘here are your peas, here are your potatoes and here’s your chicken’ or did they make casseroles and soups and such? Did they have an ice box / refrigerator? Could they ever just heat up leftovers for dinner or did they have to cook every night because they couldn’t store the food?”

The short answer is that it was just plain food – meat, potatoes, garden vegetables and berries in season, and homemade bread. If they had leftovers, I’m sure they used them up quickly.

Refrigeration was not available at our farmhouse until Vance (my dad) brought in a propane fridge in the ‘50s and parked it where the water tank sits today. In the old days, the family had a cold house built into the bank off the kitchen porch, which they called the “cellar.” It had sawdust between the walls, and it was cool even in summer but as the above note indicates, things could freeze there in the cold of winter. In 1996, when the pine tree hit the house, it also obliterated the cellar and that was that. It was time for it to go anyway.

So, yes, they had a way to preserve food, though not to today’s standards. Sunday’s pot roast might have been stored in the cellar and served again on Monday. Next, any leftover meat and vegetables could be cut up and warmed in gravy. My mother did this, and I loved it. Or, they might grind up leftover beef roast, potatoes, and onions for a tasty hash, a favorite of mine that I haven’t tasted since childhood and likely won’t again.

Of course, Ina roasted or stewed chicken, and in those days, chickens were smaller than today. Chicken probably wasn’t left over too often, and that was a good thing since it doesn’t keep well. I know that Ina made soup, and this was another means of using leftovers. My dad said homemade soup was better than the canned variety we all know so well. I didn’t agree. If canned soup is an acquired taste, I have acquired it.

I think the main meal was usually at noon, so meal prep took place in the morning, especially in summer. When the farm crew was working, they needed a good midday meal, and then perhaps the family ate leftovers in the evening, but sometimes they were so tired that they just had bread and milk. And it wouldn’t surprise me if during strawberry season they had strawberry shortcake for supper. (I would if I could get away with it.)

Myrtle Dobson

Recipes? I believe that cooking for the homesteading farmwife was less about following a recipe and more about what she learned at her mother’s elbow or through her own experience. I have Ina’s recipe box, and I see that she exchanged recipes for cakes and cookies with her neighbors. It does not contain recipes for casseroles except for those written by Myrtle c. 1950. Frankly, Ina took to the grave the recipes for family favorites, reinforcing my opinion that she wasn’t much into recordkeeping.

Coming soon – Ina’s recipe box

MEMORIAL DAY BOUQUETS

 

Cottonwood Butte from Gilbert Cemetery

It was cold this morning as Mike and I visited the Gilbert Cemetery with two fresh bouquets – one for Milo’s grave and the other for my dad’s. Sometimes I place artificial flowers on all the family graves, but this year I have other things to do.

Yesterday as I toured the yard, I thought I had enough flowers for the two bouquets – lilacs, iris, spirea. This morning, the lilacs are turning brown, the remaining iris are few, and the spirea flowers are dropping like snow. More iris will bloom out in a day or two but too late for us. We must visit the cemetery early this year.

The caretaker was mowing in preparation for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. We had a nice visit and expressed appreciation for his work. This is an old cemetery, and we know from experience that not many will visit, which makes his efforts all the more meaningful. I suppose we have more graves here than any other family – 24.

Milo’s marker is next to Ina and Jack’s, his great-grandparents.

Coming up – more about farmhouse kitchen practices. KW

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON INA’S GARDEN

 We are about to dine off roast chicken and dressing and baked onions & apples. “Plenty of onions,” says you, and I agree. – Ina Dobson to son Vance, Dec. 31, 1933

Myrtle Dobson (left) and her sister, Pearl Dobson Sanders

On the previous post, Hallie commented that in 1935, the Dobsons had lived here over 40 years and were still taking notes on what worked best. She observed that the experiments never end. Yes, Ina’s little notebook indicates that someone, probably her daughter Myrtle (a.k.a. Lynn), suggested the need for garden recordkeeping and set her up with the little notebook. I see that Ina missed a few years. Perhaps Myrtle wasn’t around and it wasn’t so important to Ina. I can relate because I have a garden journal now, and I not only forget to make notes but forget that I even have it! I understand the desire to keep organized records for review the next year, and maybe Ina did, too. I just don’t think Ina was totally on board with the process.

Pearl Sanders, Bernice Dryden Dobson, & Myrtle Dobson

Gardening is an experiment, and Ina’s notes leave out a lot. When did she plant? When and how did she fertilize? When and how much did she harvest from her garden? Why was her bean crop short in 1935? Did she plant again late in the summer for a fall crop? Did she hoe the weeds or did Grandpa Jack? I think rodents were a problem, but I’ve heard that prior to Dworshak Dam, the deer ran mainly on the other side of the river. I know the garden wasn’t fenced.

At any rate, the vegetable garden was important to subsistence living. Today, 55% of the American diet comes from processed food, contrasted to less than 5% in Ina’s day. During the summer, they had vegetables in abundance – at least in a good year. Imagine – 11 tomato plants for two or three people! I plant three, and if they bear, it’s enough for the two of us. And why on earth did she need four rows of lettuce? She doesn’t mention spinach. Maybe she couldn’t plant early enough for spinach. Maybe they just didn’t care for spinach.

It’s clear from her notes that Ina loved onions, grew plenty of them, and served them as a side dish. The only time we actually eat onions is when included in pot roast, but my research shows that they are quite nutritious.

Ina also grew plenty of potatoes, but there’s no mention of corn in her notes, but I know from the family letters that Grandpa grew popcorn. In December 1932, Aunt Shirley wrote that “we have so little popcorn this year as something got so much of it before we gathered it in.” My dad was proud of the corn on the cob he grew here for years, but he didn’t grow popcorn.

Gardening is weather-dependent, and in Ina’s day, the weather was different. She saw late frosts and wet soil in the spring, and it could turn cold and frost in August. The growing season was definitely shorter then than now.

Growing up here on the farm, my dad’s knowledge of gardening was cultured through his mother. I think knowing what to do and when to do it became second-nature. He was a good gardener, puttering over his garden, watching it day by day, providing a little fertilizer here or a stake there. KW

INA’S GARDEN NOTES

 

My grandmother, Ina Dobson, with her daughter Myrtle at their garden in 1950

Please have plenty of vegetables cooked and a big cake, canned or fresh fruit. If handy, chicken. – Ina Dobson, 1926

Hallie opined that the homesteaders knew exactly how much food they would need to feed a family through the winter, and I commented that they might have known but wondered it they would always have it. Living off the land can be such a gamble.

As I thought about it, I remembered Grandma Ina’s little record book. This little notebook was an advertising giveaway from the “American Wire Rope” manufacturer obtained at the John Oud Hardware Company in Orofino. It’s just a common pocket notebook with lined pages, but someone, probably one of Ina’s daughters, made it special by pasting a bright cover onto it and labeling it “garden book.” She also tied a little pencil onto it.

It’s clear that two people made entries – Grandma Ina in pencil and the daughter (either Aunt Lynn or Aunt Shirley) in ink. I thought I’d transcribe some of these notes here since the subject of food readiness more or less came up. The dates are confusing, but I think it’s because sometimes it’s what she planted for that year and sometimes she’s making notes for the next year. Sometimes it’s an inventory of what’s on hand, not what she put up. These are her notes, and she never meant that they should be read by anyone else. It just proves Hallie’s point that she knew how much produce she needed.  

In 1935 when Ina began this notebook, her children were grown and long gone with the exception of Aunt Shirley, who was in and out. So, the household had dwindled to two or three adults with occasional visitors, and it’s fascinating to see the size of her garden. It surely puts me to shame.

1935

·      Peas – about 2 ½ rows, early and late. Decided to plant all marrowfat in 1936.

·      Beans – 1 row white stringless; 2/3 row brown (John Boehm)

[Their neighbor John Boehm probably shared those beans with her.]

·      Got peas and beans from Bee [her sister Bertha] for part of canning of short crop. [I think this means that Ina’s crop was short, so she filled in with peas and beans from Bertha.]

·      Pickling onions – 9 short rows. Plenty into fall.

·      Tomato seed saved from best plant. Note date on package of seed in box.

·      Plant 4 rows of lettuce. Thin for early use.

·      2 dozen tomato plants well-spaced enuf.

Canning Record for 1935

·      Peas – 23 qts. canned the 3-hour way. Note from 1934 tried and proved. Can like this in 1936. Cook open pot until tender, then 1 hour process. Taste fresher.

·      Beans – 24 qts.

·      Beets – 6 qts.

·      Tomato puree

On August 2, 1938, she notes what she should plant in 1939:

·      About 1 row peas or less. This all kinds.

·      1/3 row beets, parsnips, and carrots

·      8 or 9 rows of onions ample

·      4 rows of lettuce ample.

·      2 rows radishes

·      1 row cress

·      3 rows Swiss chard

·      3 rows golden wax beans

·      6 cucumber hills ample

·      2 Garden Queen squash [A classic acorn squash, also called Table Queen]

·      1 dozen watermelon

·      About 6 or 8 zucchini squash

1940:

Cut four 2-gallon pails of potatoes. It made 6 rows across garden. There was one row of volunteers.

1941:

Jack cut three 10-qt. pails heaped up of potatoes. One pail Irish made some 2 rows south of orchard. 2 pails Early Rose and 1 pail small Irish planted on flat May 2.

1942:

To can raspberries, make a thin syrup and pour boiling hot over berries. Put jars into hot water about same as jars are after syrup is in. [That’s what it says.] Bring to a boil, then pull to back of stove for a little longer – 10 to 15 minutes. This is fine. Try to put up strawberries the same way. Also Logans. Myrtle and I canned raspberries as above this year of 1942.

[The following are inventories. I found it interesting to see the variety on hand.]

Oct. 6, 1936

This was probably written by Myrtle

Fruit on hand:

·      Cherries, Bing – 11 qts.

·      Royal Ann – 1 qt.

·      Olivet – 1 qt.

·      Italian prune – 1 qt.

·      Logans – 2 qts.

·      Raspberries – 1 pt.

·      Strawberries – 3 pts.

Oct. 6, 1935

·      Olivet cherries – 5 qts.

·      Apricots – 5 pts.

·      Peaches – 6 pts.

·      Gooseberries – 6 pts.

·      Pears – 1 qt.

·      Petites – 5 qts.

·      Pickled beets – 5 ½ qts.

·      Elderberries – 2 pts.

Fruit

·      Cherries (Olivet) – 16 qts.

·      Apricots (Clarkston, WA) – 24 pts.

·      Peaches (Elberta) – 1 box, 15 pts.

·      Pears (local) – 13 pts.

·      Elderberries – 3 pts.

 

WASHING MACHINE WOES

Two years ago (2024), we bought a brand new Whirlpool washing machine for the farmhouse. It worked well for me, but last summer (2025), the dealer called to say this particular model was manufactured with a faulty motherboard. They wanted to replace it while the machine was still under warranty. Well, we weren’t experiencing problems, so they said that they would order the part for the eventuality that we would need it.

A couple of weeks ago – before I had even begun to do laundry at the farmhouse this season – I found the washer’s motor purring along on its own. The only way to stop it was to unplug it. The dealer said that they would install the aforementioned part when they had other orders in our area, which happened on Thursday (May 7). The repairmen arrived mid-morning, installed the new motherboard, ran diagnostics, and pronounced the machine good to go. That’s when I should have said, “Just sit tight while I run a small load of laundry.” But of course, I didn’t say that, and they left.

Mike was nervous about the repair and suggested I try the machine immediately, but I would not be pushed. “I’ll wash tomorrow,” I said. So, when Friday came, I loaded the machine, selected my options, and pressed “start,” but it just wasn’t right. It would only fill and then drain. I turned dials and pressed buttons, but no way would it run through the cycles. I was left with soggy, soapy, unwashed clothes. I called the dealer then, and he told me to unplug the machine for at least ten minutes and try again. I did that three or four times to no avail. I spent hours working with the machine because I didn’t want them to drive here only to have it be my fault.

Mike and I have experienced frustrating appliance problems for the last ten years. And you know, I marveled that in their latter years, my parents struggled with their appliances. Honestly – I thought their age was a factor. Well, 40 years ago, we didn’t realize that we were sitting on the cusp of the “it-can’t-be-fixed” era. The dealer admitted that 75% of these washing machines have defective motherboards. I say if 75% are defective, the other 25% are likely defective, too. He said he would work with us, but we will have to wait until they are coming our way.

The big question is – Will this washing machine ever be fixed and dependable? KW

GARDEN DILEMMAS

 

Just a country scene

The little tick I found on my leg the other night announced that tick season is indeed upon us. It only gets worse. I raked the path around the pond prior to Mike’s mowing, and in the next hour I took a tick off my shirt and two off my neck. Now it’s a given that my skin will crawl for the next two months. I won’t be able to tell if it’s a tick or just the creeps. Now I remember why gardening in the spring is odious to me.  

Empire Apple Blossoms

Over the warm weekend that we were in town, the farm dried out a bit. The puddle where the clothesline stands is now completely dry so that I can hang clothes without wearing boots. The puddles in the fields are smaller, and Mike was finally able to reinstall our mailbox. The water in the hole at “Mailbox Corner” finally dried out enough to complete the job.

All three tomato plants are small but have blossoms, but true to form, the peas and spinach are making a sparse showing. Why? After considerable online research with no real answers, I concluded that even though I planted mid-April, it was still too late. I further conclude that I will probably never be able to plant early here.

Empire Apple Tree

Well, to continue reasoning along the gardening dilemma – I sent Mike to the store for a head of lettuce the other night, and he came back ranting that he had paid nearly $5.00 for it. “Everything is going to be more expensive,” he exclaimed. “EVERYTHING! Plant lettuce.” But as long-time followers know, my gardens don’t produce much of anything. It’s not like I have a big garden plot where I can grow a “victory” garden of vegetables to sustain us throughout the year. Produce is always sparse – or even non-existent, like the peas and spinach.

I just think it’s too darn hot out there. We can’t water enough to make up for those spring/summer rains that used to bring relief to our corner of the world.

Meanwhile – the strawberry plants are blooming and the rhubarb came back. The blossoms have fallen from the cherry tree, and I hope for another good harvest. The Empire apple tree is just beautiful this year. I can’t say the same for the Honey Crisp, but it IS still alive. (I was a little worried.) The pear tree in bloom was lackluster. And the lilacs are gorgeous. KW