Country Life
Wednesday, January 14, 2015 • lyndentribune.com • A3
Bruce Scholten reflects Cures for the Whatcom roots in new book spring itch In Bloom
He has become an expert on world dairy interconnections By Calvin Bratt editor@lyndentribune.com
LYNDEN — When Bruce Scholten writes descriptively about “the ‘Dutch barn’ on the cover of this book,” he could easily have waxed personal or sentimental. After all, it’s his own boyhood farm off East Badger Road that he’s talking about. Instead, he stays objective. It was his dad, Bas Scholten, along with uncles and a contractor’s crew that built the barn over a period of months in 1951, he says. “The labor-intensive structure was an architectural monument of lumber cut from the dark dense forests of the Cascade Mountains. Triangulation designed into the heavy-duty Douglas fir rafters and diagonal one-inchby-eight-inch shiplap wood sheathing on the walls made the barn resilient in wind and rain. It might flex or swell, but it wouldn’t permanently deform over decades of rough weather,” the text continues. He goes on to describe at length how a Dutch barn was put together and stood up under conditions in Whatcom County as well as elsewhere. Scholten, thoroughly a product of Whatcom County 1950s-60s dairying, took a copy of his latest book, “U.S. Organic Dairy Politics: Animals, Pasture, People, and Agribusiness” with him when he visited the Tribune office in mid-December. Bruce, 63, now makes his home, with his wife Martha, in
Durham, northern England, where he is a research fellow in geology at the university there. The 291-page book from Palgrave Macmillan has an academic feel to it and may not be among bestsellers. But this fourth book by Scholten is solidly thought-out and globally aware. A central chapter could be considered a tribute to his Lynden-area upbringing. It’s titled “Stewardship in the Northwest: Dutch Stewards, Vets and Researchers Discuss U.S., Canadian, and European Rules,” and it’s rich and deep with narrative revolving around notions of Christian stewardship. It’s also a quick trip through the history and agriculture of the Lynden area. Scholten then shifts to the Joyce LeCompte-Mastenbrook anthropological study of Dutch stewardship and brings its biblical and ethical considerations to bear upon the practices of dairy farming. Organic dairy politics, of course, is the unifying thread, and the emergence of organic dairying also in traditional Whatcom County is reviewed. This is one passage: “Near Ferndale in Whatcom County, Appel Farms subscribes to sustainable principles of animal and land care, if not USDA organic certification. Appel may be an example for some farmers who, frustrated by the burdens in time and money of USDA bureaucracy, go beyond USDA organic in their pursuit of sustainability mixed with traditional values.” Later is this: “Whatcom County farmers teetering on bankruptcy began to eye the approximate 25 percent price See Scholten on A4
By David Vos
Bruce Scholten, who grew up as one of five boys on a Whatcom County farm, is now a research fellow in geography at Durham University in northern England. He holds his newest book as he visited in Lynden in December. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)
Educating in manure management One session was held in Lynden Jan. 7, another in Sunnyside LYNDEN — Dairy farmers and manure applicators sat for a six-hour manure management workshop at Ten Mile Grange on Jan. 7. It was one of a pair — the other was held in Sunnyside — developed by the Whatcom and Yakima county conservation districts. “Dairy farmers have a lot of nutrient/manure to manage, and training helps them and their workers understand
the requirements, benefits and value of nutrient management, and how to make the elements of their Dairy Nutrient Management Plan work for them,” said Dr. Nichole Embertson, resource coordinator in the Whatcom district’s livestock production program. Embertson conducted the well-attended workshops, which provided accurate information about regulations, science-based approaches for nutrient cycling, crop production, agronomic rate calculation, economics, manure risk management and real-time manure management tools. Manure/nutrient man-
in 2015 — chances are, you’ll find some must-have plants you wonder how you’ve ever done without. Third, January is a great time to take care of the most abundant garden life in winter — birds! While winter is a dormant season for most plants, birds are as active as ever and would be thankful for a little bit of seed to keep them well-fed. To keep squirrels at bay, treat your bird seed with a pepper-based sauce every few fill-ups. A product like Coles Flaming Squirrel seed sauce is an easy-to-use, bird-friendly additive (who knew they actually like spicy food?!) that will deter squirrels or other rodents. Finally, if your spring itch is too difficult to not scratch, there are some plants you can begin to enjoy already this month. Kramer’s Rote (also known as Kramer’s Red) heather, blooming now, can be added to a container planting on your porch for a splash of deep rose-pink. Enjoy it in a pot until it finishes blooming in April and then move it to a flowerbed for winter-long color for years to come. Several varieties of hellebore — as I wrote about last month — are in bloom now with many more varieties ready to bloom soon. And, of course, primroses will soon start to arrive at nurseries throughout the county. As we enjoy another mild western Washington winter, make the most of the slower pace and begin to prepare for the season of gardening upcoming. Happy New Year! David Vos is the general manager of Vander Giessen Nursery in Lynden.
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With less than half of January in the rearview mirror, I have to admit I’m already feeling the itch to start doing some work around the yard, a sentiment I normally don’t feel until February at some point. If you’re also beginning to feel the “need to weed” or get gardening, here are some recommendations to keep you busy without getting ahead of yourself. First, let me offer a word of caution. Last year, we enjoyed a particularly mild, pleasant January, only to get walloped in February by two snowy, icy winter storms and bitter cold. So, as much as I look forward to the signs of spring and the beautiful color the new season brings, I’m going to hold off from doing too much outdoors this month. That said, January is a great time for many of the less-glamorous but equally important aspects of gardening. One of the best ways you can ensure an enjoyable year ahead is by taking good care of your gardening tools. If it’s been awhile since you’ve sharpened your shovels and pruners — or, if you’ve never done so — you’ll be amazed at the difference a sharp tool can make. Use a bastard file to put an edge on your shovels and take a sharpening stone to your pruner. With a little bit of work, you’ll enjoy effortless digging, chopping and pruning all season long. A second gardening task you can do this month is to begin planning your vegetable garden for the coming year. By early February, most garden centers and stores around the county that carry seed racks will have their selection for the year, and now is a great time to start mapping out what you’ll plant and where. Before your mind gets too focused on the upcoming year, take stock of what grew well last year, what you wish you had grown and what might need to be replaced with something new in your garden plot. With so many varieties of just about every major vegetable and herb available, I make an effort to try something new each year. Don’t be afraid to try new things
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