The Valley - April 2012

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Serving Mifflin County and the surrounding area.

The Valley A free newspaper dedicated to agriculture, self-reliance, frugal living, and modern homesteading.

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The Valley, April 2012

Belleville Mennonite School To Hold Annual Sale

Life just keeps getting better in the valley. Recently I had the opportunity to travel out to Belleville Mennonite School to interview Valerie Reed concerning the upcoming 47th Annual Belleville Mennonite School Sale.

I was completely impressed with what those folks are doing to provide an excellent education for the area students. I also had renewed hope for our future. At Belleville Mennonite School they still live by that hard-working, self-reliant character of the first settlers to this area. If they want or need something, they don’t wait around for a hand-out, they spring into action and provide for themselves, with the help of local businesses and individuals. You see, when the education system is accountable to the local people, everyone seems to understand each other a little better and work a little harder to make sure things are done as those here see fit. When things are done within the community, outside influence (i.e. the Department of Education) is reduced, resulting in education that reflects the parents’ desires.

Belleville Mennonite School has been supplementing their operating budget and keeping tuition low by raising their own funds, which are used for instructional materials, student services, and technology. During my tour, I could see that the people here are succeeding magnificently in their mission to “provide comprehensive Pre-K through Grade 12 education in a Christ-centered environment.”

The sale has been an annual event since April 1965. The first

What started off as a cattle sale, is now more known for the fabulous locally crafted quilts that sell for a quarter of what commercial quilts cost. This sale is the place to get your very own handmade quilt at a great price.

sale was held at the Belleville Livestock Barn and only featured donated dairy cattle. Sales, as well as the school, were small in the beginning, with the 1969 sale only producing $3,400 in proceeds.

The sale continued to grow and be held in the Belleville Sale Barn until 1976 when it was moved to the Mifflin County Youth Park. It was held there until 1984 when it finally moved to the gymnasium of the Belleville Mennonite School.

The auction has been blessed with having Mark Glick and Dale Gibboney on hand since the start, and recently Brian Glick has

joined to help.

Over the years as the sale evolved, local handmade quilts have been a major draw for the sale. In 2010, proceeds from the quilt sale were $15,000! A testament to the great deals that can be had for those desiring an authentic handmade central PA quilt.

Another important facet of the annual sale is that every other year a cattle sale is held. In 2011 the cattle sale produced $10,000 in sales.

The sale has also become synonymous with good food!

Hoagies, sausage subs, whoopie pies, moon pies, ice cream and

the famous strawberry pies are always a huge hit.

This whole process is all about community. From the ladies who donate thousands of hours quilting the magnificent quilts, to the multitude of area farmers who donate animals and produce, the area businesses who provide items for the auctions, and the patrons and individuals who come every year to buy items from the sale. There are also the many folks behind the scenes on various committees and the volunteers who help ensure the process all goes off without a hitch. This is what community looks like,

Lighting Brush Fires in People’s Minds

and it is working to perfection in Belleville with God’s grace and goodness.

Approximately 200 local students are provided a superior education through the efforts of those at Belleville Mennonite School and those who make up this community. Ensuring that this Christian Learning Community continue to thrive, I would urge everyone to participate in the sale, but just make sure you save me a strawberry pie!

This year’s sale will take place on April 20th and 21st. On Friday the 20th, there will be a Pork BBQ Dinner from 4:00-7:00 pm, call the school before April 6th to order. Kids Activities will be held from 6:00-8:30 pm. A Gift Certificate auction will take place at 6:00 pm and the Special Feature Gift Certificates at 7:15 pm.

Saturday’s schedule will start with breakfast from 6:30-10:00 am. The Merchandise Auction will start at 8:30 am with Kids Activities planned for 9:00 am - 2:00 pm. The lunch bell is from 11:00 am - 2:00 pm. The Outdoor Auction starts at 11:30 am.

Supporting local control of education is just one more way we can make our way toward more self-reliant lifestyles without the heavy hand of government being involved diluting or marginalizing the values that we wish to pass on to our children. Local control requires local involvement. Last year total income from the sale was $84,000, I am hoping with the grace of God, and your help, we top that in 2012! a

The Valley, April 2012

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In this Issue Woods, Water and Wildlife --Wayne Stottlar Roads Less Traveled --Lynn Persing Understanding the Constitution --Dave Molek Thots on... --Lydia Adventures on Our Nourishing Journey --Sue Burns Grosze Thal Nachbaren --Jeptha I. Yoder Looking Out My Back Door --Mary Anna Chenoweth Julie Mac’s, Wisdom from the Kitchen, Home and Garden --Julie MacConnell Modern Energy and Alternative Heating --Curt Bierly Recipes, Crafts and Gift Ideas --Debra Kulp Memories of a Dairy Princess --Macy Fisher Home-Grown --Mary Eck The Chicken AND the Egg! --Mike Flanagan Contentment Quest --Joanne Wills Good News --Sarah Hurlburt Thought’s from the Bunker --Jared Kauffman

The Horse Scoop --Traci Hanna Yoder Poor Will’s Valley Almanack --Bill Felker Life in the East End --Rebecca Harrop Mail Pouch Books --Carleen B Grossman Back Talk --Dr. Joseph Kauffman Taking Stock --Pastor Pat Roller Coins, Precious Metal --Dave Wilson Splitting Hares --Julianne Cahill Walking on the Wild Side --Julie Shultz Smith Model Railroading News --Ed Forsythe Home Brew U --Kevin Morgan Caving Mifflin County --Todd Karschner Savvy Cents & Sensibility -- Joann Wills MBA Our Yesteryears --Forest K. Fisher Guest Editorial Chicken Crimes -- Jerri Cook

Editor’s Corner Wayne Stottlar

My goodness, this has to be the most pleasant winter, or lack there-of, I have ever witnessed.

The early spring is almost too much to take at times. I was out getting the garden ready this week and watched a Bald Eagle fly through the back yard following Kish Creek. I hadn’t seen one up close like this since leaving NH. Seeing the eagle really lifted my spirits, to watch this majestic symbol of our country so close reinforced my thoughts that this is a great place to live. Last year we had an Osprey take up residence in the tall sycamores along the creek, he could be seen often waiting for an opportunity to swoop down for his dinner. I don’t think they are too common here, so it was a treat to observe him all summer. Robins showed up on February 28th this year, and our spring bulbs are all coming into bloom, what a magical time.

Does this also mean that we need to move our normal schedules for having tasks completed up at least a few weeks? I think it does, so seeds are being sown indoors now so that we will have plants ready to go, surely we won’t have our typical Mother’s Day freeze this season. I also wonder if this means that Morel season will come early this year?

I think this kind of weather calls for a watchful eye the next couple

weeks.

Please join us in welcoming a new writer to our family. Todd Karschner, a local spelunker is going to follow up on our cave article with a column titled “Caving Mifflin County.” Todd has been in most of the 46 caves in the county and has experience and pictures to entertain and enlighten you to these natural wonders in our backyard. We had such a response to the cave article that it proved to us that many others enjoy them as much as we do. Todd is thinking about forming a local Mifflin County Caving Club, if you have any interest, drop him a line.

This month he starts off with a tour of Milroy Cave #2 with pictures. I am looking forward to the evolution of this column in issues to come.

Joann Wills, who continues with her “Contentment Quest” column, has agreed to pick up the torch in the Frugal Living department with a new twist. This will be a good column, Joann doesn’t just write about these things, she and Rick walk-the-walk and live their lives as low impact as possible. They are both great stewards of the land. Join Joann in “Savvy Cents & Sensibility” starting this month!

Also this month, is our second guest editorial. Jerri Cook, who is a staff writer for Countryside Magazine, is always on the cutting edge of government regulation and their attempts to steal your liberty. This month she sounds the alarm just as we all thought we could celebrate the demise of the NAIS. It seems every time “We the People...” stop the government from violating our rights and defeat bad legislation, the government just brings it back under another name. This is such a case, only much worse!

Get comfortable, read Jerri’s story and then ACT! It only takes a few moments to write a letter to those who represent you, this will seem like nothing compared to what we will have to endure if we are to remain free people.

You can call me crazy, a conspiracy theorist, or just plain wacky, but I have really been thinking about the reasons behind all this legislation that has come about recently that makes it harder and limits the ability for us to be self-reliant. For instance, laws trying to close down small farms and family homesteads. If this played

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out to their logical conclusion, the only food producers would be large mega-farms. Large mega-farms controlled by the government. Since the beginning of time, man has tried to control other men through the use of force, be it physical force or regulatory force. Force only works for a set period of time, then there is a revolt. Force is obviously only a temporary measure to achieve control over a population. Now what if the government controlled the food supply? Through regulation (see Chicken Crimes page 14) those who still know how are prohibited from growing food.

Once this war via regulation is over, a nation full of slaves will result. He who controls the food shall be called master. And to be honest, what business is it of the government how many seeds you plant, what you plant, or what you eat? The answer is, IT IS NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS! It is time common people starting pushing back. I believe, just like Martin Luther King, that it is “our moral obligation to disobey unjust law.” I would even go one step further and say that their laws and regulations end at my property line. If I am not directly affecting someone else’s pursuit of happiness, what goes on here, is not the business of someone in Harrisburg or Washington DC.

This month we also have a reader submission. Clarissa Goss shares her memories of Alexander Caverns. Our cave story elicited

Continued on page 3

Contact Info Editor/Publisher Wayne Stottlar Ad Designer/Co-Publisher Lynn Persing Associate Editor Colleen Swetland The Valley PO Box 41 Yeagertown, PA 17099 (717) 363-1550 E-mail: thevalleynewspaper@gmail.com Web: www.thevalleynewspaper.com ©The Valley. All Rights Reserved.

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The Valley, April 2012

A lost natural Beauty by clarissa goss

Fifty Years Ago April 1962

Mifflin County had four school districts: Chief Logan, Kishacoquillas, Lewistown-Granville and Rothrock, as construction of the future Brown Township Elementary School near Reedsville was well underway. The school, built in a field opposite the new Kishacoquillas Junior-Senior High School, had a capacity of 429 pupils in grades one through six. A principal, school secretary, thirteen classroom teachers, several special subject teachers, a full time custodian, cafeteria staff, and a visiting school nurse would work there. The bell from the former Reedsville Elementary School belfry was hung at the main entrance of Brown, a tangible connection with the new school’s past.

One Hundred Years ago April 1912

Col. Theodore Roosevelt, then a candidate for president of the United States, whistle-stopped through Mifflin County on April 9, 1912. Campaigning on the Bull Moose ticket, Roosevelt spoke from the rear platform of his special train at Lewistown Junction where he greeted a crowd estimated to be in the thousands.

Before reaching town, the former president ordered the train to stop in the Lewistown Narrows, just east of Lewistown, where an express train was robbed three years earlier in a bold, night-time

Editors corner from page 2 mountains of positive feedback!

Clarissa was the first one inspired to write about it though.

Have a story to share with our readers? Reader submissions are encouraged, lots of folks want to hear your story!

On a happy note, while delivering papers last month I stumbled upon the best deli sandwich I have had in a long while.

Check out the deli at the WhiteHall General Store. I used to run a couple convenience stores with delis in them, so I have a good idea of what makes a good hoagie. Whitehall general does it

holdup. Ever adventurous and one for a great tale, Roosevelt wanted to see first hand the actual spot where the robbery occurred.

Civil War Echoes April 1862

The buzz around Mifflin County was a proposed bill introduced in Congress. The Lewistown Gazette published a story about an excise tax in the proposed law that would raise funds to prosecute the war. The tax included: 15 cents a gallon on liquor; 3 cents a pound on leaf tobacco; 5 cents a pound on cigars; 10 cents a gallon on coal oil; $1 to $10 annually for the use of carriages and $1 per year on owners of gold watches. The bill also set licenses for various occupations, including: bankers, $100; auctioneers, $20; retail dealers, $20; and hotels, inns, etc., $5 to $200, depending on size. The most striking aspect to the general public was the proposed tax on income, including: 3% on income over $600; 3% on railroad bonds and dividends from banks and 3% on all salaries of public officials in civil, naval and military service.

Forest K. Fisher Mifflin County Historical Society 1 W. Market Street Lewistown, PA 17044 717-242-1022 info@mifflincountyhistoricalsociety.org www.mccoyhouse.com

all, FIRST CLASS!

Now more than ever is a good time to restrict your buying to as local as possible. In spite of the media telling you we are coming out of the recession ($4/gallon gas?), a thinking person knows this is not true. Things are going to get worse, a lot worse—it has to in order to even out the damage that has already been done by the Fed. If we all support each other and local business, we stand a better chance than most of weathering the coming storm. No one is going to do your homework for you. Get together with like-minded neighbors and PREPARE! a

In the summer you can see kids swimming and old men fishing in the Honey Creek. It is a source of cool water on those hot days and the reason for that?

The creek flows from a dark cool place that is still a mystery to people today. That place is called Alexander Caverns.

Alexander Caverns were once a thriving commercial cave where the Alexander family gave tours of the beautiful wonders beneath the earth’s surface. Located in Shrader of Mifflin County on picturesque farmland, the caverns were discovered in 1926 and then opened to the public in 1929. People came from all around to see the natural wonders of the caves and were able to visit a gift shop and a food station that was all located close to the cave openings.

The caves were popular because they not only offered a walking tour, but also a boat tour of the wet caverns. Unfortunately, due to flooding, the Great Depression, and World War II, the caverns were closed to the public.

I grew up hearing about these caverns from my grandparents and always wanted to see what they looked like. I never imagined that an Amish family I knew all of my life lived on top of these caves, but that’s exactly where the Hostetlers live to this day.

They bought the farm where the caves are located in the 1950’s after the caves were closed. The

caves were to be private property, but some local kids and souvenir hunters snuck into the caves in the late 60s and 70s and destroyed some of the most unique structures of the caves. After this occurred, a steel door was placed on the entrance to the caves and they were no longer disturbed.

That is until I was in high school and my grandfather was talking to the Hostetler family about the caverns and they offered to take our family in to see the caves. We took the opportunity and invited the WHOLE family, which is rather large, and went down inside the caves on a warm Saturday morning that May. We entered through the steel door and continued down over a hundred stairs to the beginning of what I like to call “one of God’s greatest creations.”

You enter the biggest of the cave rooms called the Cathedral and see the Pulpit and other formations that took hundreds of years to form. These formations are most unique as they have many different colors of the spectrum entwined with each other to create an epic shining stalactite, stalagmite, or column. Every formation has a crystal-like appearance that looks like a morning frost has laid itself on every little part of the caves. You can see the damage that was done to the caves from the 60s and 70s, but you can also see that they have begun to heal.

It will take another two hundred

years for them to look like they did once again, if that is at all possible, but it’s good to see the healing process has begun. Then you continue walking through the other rooms to finally get to the old boat ramp where tours were given of the wet cave. We walked right up to the edge of the water where you see a continuing blackness stretch into more of the caves than we will ever know.

This tour of the caves left me in awe and I couldn’t wait to tell my friends and teachers about it.

Then in my senior year of high school, I was to do a documentary with my friend Heather for our media class and saw it as the perfect opportunity to show everyone why I loved these caves so much.

When I filmed the documentary and showed it to people, they wanted to go in to see the caverns as well. Now my grandfather and I organize a tour of the caverns in the spring and fall of every year, and the Hostetler family doesn’t mind. But, to show our gratitude, we collect a small donation for the family and the time they take to do this for us. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to see this natural beauty and share it with the world. If you have never seen a raw cave, no longer touched by man, then you haven’t seen a real natural beauty and I deeply suggest that you do. a

Ain’t no Spring Chicken from page 29

chicken to come from. NOT! If you’re running an open yard chicken operation, your little back yard flock doesn’t require disinfecting at the twice-a-year clean outs. Seriously, are you going to disinfect the entire chicken yard?

I hope not. So as long as we remove the deep litter twice a year we are good to go.

You may remember that I told you to make the roosts removable. It’s much nicer to be able to just pull the roosts and stand them outside while I shovel all that litter out from under them than it is to try to do it with them in place.

And this is when I will take a stiff brush and a garden hose to clean the roosts off too. My roosts are paired 2x4’s nailed face-to-face.

At about the halfway point of the six months, as I’m laying down fresh hay, I flip the roosts so the girls are sitting on clean sides.

And at the spring and fall clean-

ings, I wash and scrub them clean again.

Oh, there’s a secret I almost forgot to share. Every night when I go down to get eggs, I’ll throw a couple of cups of scratch grains around inside the hen house. The girls go digging for it. This does several things. It keeps the litter from becoming compacted, it aerates the litter, and it dries out the poop. As long as the poop gets dried out, the hen house doesn’t smell of ammonia. If you (or your neighbor) can smell ammonia, then it’s too damp in there. Finish up with a bale of fresh hay on the floor, throw a couple of cups of scratch grains on it, and let the “chicken-tillers” do the rest.

Until next month, remember, support your local economy. Buy local, eat local, and live well. a

my lungs recover. Spend the $20 and buy yourself a decent respirator type mask. Your lungs will thank you.

There are two schools of thought on the next step. Some advocate for spraying and washing down the entire interior with disinfectant. The other side doesn’t consider this necessary.

Do you know where that whole disinfectant spray theory comes from? You guessed it. That’s what big agri-business does to “clean” those 50,000 chicken barns and show the public how clean their operation is. Right!

They cram 50,000 chickens in a 50,000 square foot barn, never add/change fresh litter, and leave them there for eight weeks doing nothing but eating and pooping.

Hmm, that’s where I want my

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The Valley, April 2012

Looking out my Back Door Life on my Mifflin County Homestead

by Mary Anna Chenoweth

Beyond Sustainable Agriculture: What’s in Your Closet

“Who can find a virtuous woman, for her price is far above rubies…She seeks wool and flax and works willingly with her hands….She lays her hands to the spindle and her hands hold the distaff…She is not afraid of the snow for her household; for all her household are clothed with scarlet…”

The Book of Proverbs Chapter 31: 10, 13, 19 & 21

When people come into the shop and find me busy at the spinning wheel, most of them will say, “Now THAT’S a lost art!” Sometimes they say “dying” or “dead” art – talk about fingernails on a chalkboard- argggh! In response to such comments, these folks will invariably hear “Oh, not at all, it’s quite well and thriving!” And so it is. Not only do people world wide still spin their own yarn (that’s

it’s all spun using big machines, the “well” part), more and more which by necessity, removes us people are relearning the craft from the process. When folks see (that’s the “thriving” part), thus continuing yet another facet of our a small machine, i.e. a spinning collective inheritance.

The “ancient and honorable craft”* of spinning fiber into thread is just that – ancient. It came with us out of the dim recesses of prehistory and will probably still be with us in some form when our descendants look back on us as their ancient ancestors. Innovative developments notwithstanding (paper clothes, plastic clothes, spray on clothes, etc.), spun fiber is still the material from which we make most of our clothing and other fiber-based bits of our environment. We’re surrounded from birth to death A home carding drum and hand carders by spun fiber. The thing is,

wheel, powered by an individual person of course, they’re going to think, “Oh, how quaint. I didn’t know people still did that!”

Well, as we already mentioned, not only are we still doing it, we’ve been at it for quite while as well.

You see, when we say ancient we MEAN ancient. Give or take a handful of centuries, we’ve been spinning for at least ten thousand years. The earliest pieces of spun and woven fiber found so far have been dated between five to seven A student of 12 years old can master spinning thousand years B.C.E., with a little practice and instruction. but the techniques the snares, etc. - but animal fiber are obviously so well appears here and there as well established that the older date in some of the oldest finds so it for the development of spinning, would seem that from the start, over varied geographical areas, is whether it grew in the ground or probably a conservative estimate. ran around, if it had fiber we had a When our fore bearers were still go at seeing if we could find a use wearing expertly dressed animal for it. skins, they were already spin When discussing spinning ning and twining plant fibers it is important to remember for snares, ropes and other such that, until the last two centuries, items. It follows that spinning fibeverything made from fiber was ers for clothing was at least in its handspun—EVERYTHING. Stop developmental stages during that time. Those oldest bits of fabric Continued on page 19 are mostly plant based – just like

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Thots on...Genesis

A Bible Study for the Lay Christian

by Lydia

In 2 Timothy 3.16, Paul tells us, “Every inspired scripture has its use for teaching the truth and refuting error, or for reformation of manners and discipline in right living…” [NEB*] *Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptures are quoted from the New International Version.

Genesis 13.10-11

Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east.

Even though, for a little while, Abram had followed his own faulty wisdom, rather than rely on God’s guidance, and had gone into Egypt on his own, the LORD continued to bless him and Abram prospered. When Pharaoh, in effect, evicted Abram and his family and they returned to Canaan, they had such large flocks and herds that the land could not support both Abram and his nephew Lot. Their herdsmen were quarreling over grazing rights and tension was growing between their households. [Genesis 13.7-8]

Abram decided that the best course of action would be to put some space between himself and his nephew, so he gave Lot first choice of the land. [Genesis 13.9] Abram was confident that God would be able to bless him, no matter what his circumstances might be. Are we as confident?

“And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.” [Matthew 5.40] But Lord?! “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” [Matthew 5.42] But Lord??!!! These instructions strike us as illogical, if not completely foolish. We are so accustomed to taking care of ourselves and our families, making sure we aren’t cheated or taken advantage of, that we balk at any action that appears to be detrimental to our well-being. On Sunday, we sing “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”, but everybody knows that sentiment only applies on Sunday morning while we’re sitting in a pew—right? But Abram gave Lot first choice of the land and trusted God to take care of him, no matter what portion he ended up with.

How did Lot decide where to live? He looked out over the land and saw that the plain of the Jordan was green and well-watered, “like the land of Egypt.” Lot’s heart was still in Egypt. He chose to live among the cities of the plain, near Sodom, even though “the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.” [Genesis 13.13]

Lot did not consult God; he did not consider the consequences; he simply made his decision based on what appealed to his carnal nature. Does this sound familiar? Haven’t we made this mistake before? “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleas-

Taking Stock

by Pastor Pat Roller

There is an old joke that says, “April showers bring May flowers. What do May flowers bring? “ The answer is Pilgrims.

Bad jokes aside, we seem to be in the midst of spring bursting forth.

Yes, I know there is that fear still hanging over us that we will still have winter weather and possibly a bad snow storm. But, those who are optimistic are preparing for spring. Those who are more realistic haven’t put their winter clothes away yet. With daytime temperatures in the mid 70s and the sun shining, many of us are finding ourselves getting ready

to plant new flowers, starting seedlings of gardens and thinking about spring housecleaning.

This time of the Church year—Lent—is a time for us to take stock spiritually—to do a sort of house cleaning. Where are the growing edges of our lives?

Where are we bursting forth in our faith? What do we need to clean from our lives to make our hearts clean and pure before God?

This is a time when we can take on new spiritual practices.

These practices help us grow in our faith and closer to God. Some new practices you might want to

ing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.” [Genesis 3.6] How often must we suffer the consequences before it sinks in that there is a spiritual dimension to life and that perhaps we should base our decisions on what is best for our immortal souls, rather than what we see with our eyes and what appeals to our senses? God knows what we do not; God sees what we cannot; and God loves us and wants the best for us. The decisions we make, whether regarding a new job, a new home or a church family, should be based on God’s guidance, rather than our own faulty logic.

Abram trusted God. He had learned that God would take care of him and bless him, no matter where he was, no matter his outward circumstances, and because of his faith in God, he was able to allow Lot first choice—and

Lot, like Eve before him, chose to pitch his tents near Sodom.

Abram finally laid claim to God’s promise, settled at Hebron, and built and altar to the LORD. [Genesis 13.18] When God blesses us, do we take the time to thank him or do we pat ourselves on the back and tell ourselves what a smart decision we’ve made or how fortunate we’ve been? Do we recognize the Source of our prosperity or do we take the credit ourselves and boast of our own wisdom? Do we “build an altar” in our heart and praise the LORD, or do we worship at the altar of human endeavor?

Abram settled in Hebron; Lot chose the lush green plain near Sodom. Where have we chosen to pitch our tents? Are we living our lives in the land of God’s promise or have we pitched out tents near Sodom? Are we immersing ourselves in God’s Word and fol-

lowing His guidance, or have we allowed the sinful culture of the world to permeate our lives?

Lot had a choice to make; so do we. Let us choose to live our lives in obedience to God, rather than cast our lot with the world. a

consider are: Prayer—I don’t mean a quick “frog” prayer where you hop down and then hop up. I mean spending quality time listening to and talking with God. Prayer can be a wondrous time as you spend quiet time, pray the Scriptures (The people then faced many of the same questions and concerns we face now.), even praying hymns. Listening to God’s voice and sitting in God’s presence can bring calmness to our lives we can’t gain in other ways or times.

Journaling—I don’t mean a diary. Journaling means writing about your faith journey and contemplating seriously where you are and where God wants you to be. Journaling means you have a concrete map of your growth and journey. Journaling will give

you hope as you go forward in your life.

Bible Study—Begin a planned reading of and study of various parts of the Bible. Move outside of your comfort zone in your reading—select parts that you haven’t spent much, or any, time with. The stories of the Old Testament show God’s grace, the prophets warn us against wandering from God as much as it spoke to their original audience.

The New Testament Epistles can certainly give us insights on human relationships, even within the Body of Christ.

Fasting—This is an ancient discipline that goes beyond not eating.

You can give up food, drinking, alcohol, smoking, television, music—anything that you think is hard to live without... Christian

fasting does not only refer to giving up pleasures of the flesh, but when you are on a religious fast, you are also supposed to pray so that your spirit may come closer to that of God. The aim of fasting in our spiritual growth is not to deprive the body of food and drink, but to purify one’s spirit and to find God.

Take care of the earth –April 20th is Earth Day and taking care of God’s good earth is a discipline that we need to spread beyond the Spring rush of new color. Recycling, reusing, and cleaning up are all ways we can honor God through his earth.

Spring is springing into the earth’s newness of life. We, too, can join in the newness and growth. a

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Adventures on Our Nourishing Journey

by Sue Burns

My Mindless Midnight Confession The Importance of Staying “Awake at the Plate”

Fall down seven times; get up eight—Japanese Proverb

I did IT again. IT has not happened for a long time, but nonetheless, I confess, I did IT. Yes, it happened late at night like it always does, and yes, I had experienced a long and stressful day leading up to IT, so perhaps you will understand because maybe you have done IT too. Hopefully, if I make my confession public here in The Valley we can offer support to each other. But before that can happen, I guess you need to know what IT is. IT is what is referred to as “mindless” eating.

In essence it means having little awareness of what or how much food is consumed. It is almost as if our rational thought process just checks out for a little while.

For me, IT usually begins at the end of a very busy day. So busy in fact that I somehow seem to justify the fact that skipping a meal is okay.

Here is the basic scenario leading up to my “out of mind” eating. Maybe you can relate. I arrive home after 9:00 pm. For various reasons I have not eaten for hours. My excuse is that because I have too much to do, I simply do not have the time to stop and eat. Besides, I don’t even feel hungry in my hurry and scurry. But once I am home, a glorious state of relaxation sets in, as does my appetite. And now, the floodgates of grazing open wide. IT starts simply and innocently enough with a few grapes and a piece of cheese, but quickly (and mindlessly), I become an irreversible crunching and munching whirlwind not unlike a locust invasion deep within the confines of my fridge and cupboards. All the while I am sipping and slurping, I remain standing so that I can move about, catching the late evening news on TV, reading the newspaper, checking email, and finally looking over my calendar for the next day. And then,

wham, without warning the details of the trip. This is a my mind returns and I mindless red flag, just like my instantly become aware mindless midnight food binge. that I am as stuffed as So the first “re-minder” is to a Thanksgiving turkey become awake and aware of and seemingly clueless eating patterns. Marc David, as to how IT happened. author, nutrition consultant Again. Oh, this is not and food psychology coach, good. Not good at all. coined the “awake at the plate”

Needless to say, it phrase. I love the message it is time for me to review, conveys. Basically, it means renew, and share some that when we savor all the “re-minders” that will goodness from our food, it is guide me in my goal metabolically inspiring. This to stay “awake at the awareness exercise is not a plate.” Perhaps they form of constraint or punishwill prove helpful to you Easily obtainable food is in front of us, but our minds ment. In fact, it is the exact too. opposite. Our meals become are somewhere else.

First and foremostmore satisfying. Eating is up” and realize you have automat“Be where your feet are”- A such a routine behavior that we ically arrived at your destination friend once offered me this phrase can eat an entire plate of food and without having much memory of when I was both lamenting about something from the past and fretting about the unknowns of the future. Its message implies that the best way to be mindful about anything in life is to bring a respect and trust into the “now.” It is a BeHere-Right-Now approach to living.

What does this have to do with eating? So often when we shift into an autopilot way of living, we also begin to behave automatically and without conscious thought in many aspects of our life, including feeding ourselves. I am sure you have experienced this concept while driving. When traveling a familiar route you suddenly “wake

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not taste one bite. We can also fall into repetitive mindless eating habits like eating a snack at the same time each day or stress eating at work. In contrast, when we are eating mindfully, we enjoy our food and truly savor it.

Out of sight “out of mind”- If we can see the food, we are more likely to want to eat it, even if we aren’t hungry. You may not have been craving donuts until you pass them in the lunchroom. Then, you can’t get them off your mind.

Strategically placing food falls in line with the “out of sight, out of mind” principle. The opposite is true as well. We are more likely to eat healthy foods if they are placed in a convenient location.

Keep a fruit bowl on the kitchen counter. Throw a healthy snack into your work bag. Then if the urge to graze hits, the available choices will be nourishing ones.

Un-clutter the eating space- This is the opposite of multi-tasking.

In order to bring full attention to the eating experience try to sit down when eating. This sounds so assumed and simple, but if you are like me, perhaps you occasionally eat on the move. When we eat standing up we may become tempted to do other tasks at the same time. This is a disrespect to the food and our bodies. Our focus becomes the task and not the flavor, texture and aroma of the food. We eat more than we need because our attention is diverted. We are humans, not machines. Ideally we want our meal times to be relaxing and pleasant. When we eat in a peacefully prepared environment, the food is best assimilated, appreciated and digested.

Listening to hunger signals- As we tune into minding our plate, we are also tuning into our body and feelings of hunger and fullness. Healthy human babies know instinctively when they are full.

They are incapable of overeating and cannot be forced to eat more when they have had enough. This suggests that there are biological sensors that determine how much food our body needs and that overeating is, in part, a learned behavior. Were you, like many of

Continued on page 11

8

The Valley, April 2012

Julie Mac’s

Wisdom from the Kitchen, Home, and Garden Julie MacConnell

Progress & Chicken Sweaters

Progress is being made here at the farm! The trees have been cleared and the stumps pulled.

Thanks to a friend, the “mat” of roots have been plowed up and disposed of. The sprinkler system has been added onto, and 100 yards of loam have been spread.

We bought cedar triple split rail fence that’s now sitting on a pallet in the vegetable garden. Thankfully our son works for a landscaper who owns a “dingo.” He has an auger bit attachment that will prove handy at digging the holes for the posts. With some teamwork, the fence should be up in short order and the fruit trees planted. Our favorite wholesale nursery is opening in two weeks so we will go right down on opening day and grab a few more pollinators for the peach trees. I know it will be a few years before we start seeing fruit production, but I am really getting excited at the prospect of picking our own organically grown pears, apples, plums and peaches! I am envi-

sioning rows of beautiful jars of fresh fruit on my pantry shelves!

My husband has already cut and split all of the beautiful oak and maple that came down from the woods and it is now waiting to be stacked for next year’s firewood. We are planning to heat exclusively with wood next winter.

Once the right side of the property is finished, we are going to begin clearing the left side. There is a ton of hardwood over there so we should have plenty to burn. I love the smell of those BTU’s being cut!

We’re hoping that soon we might be able to put up a second barn so that we can house some dairy goats and perhaps some horses. Once we get it figured out, we should have enough room for a decent sized paddock. Horse stall rentals around here go for a pretty penny, so if we can rent out a few stalls, it should help pay for our monthly living expenses. Everyone in the neighborhood seems excited at the prospect of having

our farm here. Even though we live in a development, we all have a decent amount of land and there are others here who are doing the same thing that we are. The people up the street have horses, another neighbor has taken up bee keeping, and there is a general move towards livestock ownership and self–sufficiency. Did I mention how blessed I am?

I am hoping in the next week to get my tomato and pepper seeds started…I am a little later than I was at this point last year, but we have been so busy that I haven’t had a moment to actually contemplate setting up the shelves and grow lights. Far worse for me is the thought that in just a week and a half, I should be putting my potatoes in the ground. April 1st—that’s when I always put the first tubers in. No peas, lettuce or kale going yet either. My garden hasn’t even been tilled. I have to remind myself that things happen one thing at a time and that it will all get done, but for some reason

I seem to be in a panic mode.

Maybe it’s because we have had such a warm winter that I seem to feel like I am behind. Even though we have had some typically chilly March days, this month has been far better than most years as far as the weather goes. I am hearing from folks around the country and for the most part, I am hearing the same kinds of weather reports.

New England springs are pretty notorious for being dreary wet and cold, but tomorrow is going to be 60! This has been par for the course lately. My husband reminds me that the good Lord is giving me this weather so that I can get the things done that need doing and that I shouldn’t fret. He is right, I know it in my heart— if we hadn’t had this kind of weather, I would be further behind than I am now.

Oh, I wanted to share one last thing with you. My dear friend Laurie knitted me a chicken sweater...no, not a sweater with a chicken on it—a sweater for my chickens. Wayne gave me the idea actually. He posted a picture of someone’s brilliant idea on Fa-

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cebook, and the brainstorming began. She is a brilliant knitter and she figured the whole thing out— even made it a V-Neck. Well hilarity ensued when I chased my tame Mama across the yard to grab her to try the darned thing on. She was less than thrilled about the sweater going over her head but once it was on and the Velcro secured at the sides, she looked absolutely marvelous. She kind of dug it after awhile and stopped fussing. How warm and toasty she was that afternoon! I am trying to convince Laurie to

start making them to sell. The Black Dog is famous here on the Cape for their logo of a black lab on their sweatshirts and clothing. What would be cooler than a chicken instead? a

9

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The Valley, April 2012

10

The Horse Scoop

by Traci Hanna Yoder events.) Throughout the year many feed dealers plan events and promotions. Often horse show organizations will post

It seems the area horse people is something in the area for you. events at local tack shops and feed made it through winter without While you are making your schedstores. The community bulletin much snow, but we sure had some ule of horse events, here are a few board in these stores is sure to mud! Unless you are blessed to consider this year. keep you informed of local hapwith the use of an indoor arena,

Remember to check out your penings. hopefully April will bring us some local feed stores for upcoming

If you are starting the year off much drier ground to get riding horse related events, especially looking for a new horse, the Penn and getting our horses back in your Purina dealers. East Gate State Equine Science Showcase & shape. What events do you plan for example will be having a Registered Quarter Horse Sale is to take your horses to this year?

Horse Care Clinic Wednesday, April 28th. The sale will feature Are you continuing your usual April 4th on the topic of Feed, many Penn State 2 yr. old Quarter routine or looking for change this Horse Health and Manure ManHorses along with tours of the year? agement Issues. (I know you are Penn State Horse Farm. Sale cata Whether you ride Hunters or saying I should have told you logs should be available online at Western Pleasure, Timed Events about this sooner, but continue to http://dasweb.psu.edu/sales/horse/ or Dressage, Trail riding or just check on our website www.eastcatalog.cfm. want to watch a horse event; there gatefeed.com for more upcoming

Are you a youth or interested in volunteering or becoming Phone (717) 667-6556 141 Three Cent Lane a leader in a Toll Free (888) 567-6556 Reedsville, PA 17084 local 4-H horse program? The Pennsylvania 4-H Horse Program helps to promote More than just a feed store responsible equine use, care, and management.

Horse Happenings

For more information on the 4-H Horse Program, contact your local extension office or visit www.das. psu.edu/4h/horses. Another horse program for youth that is quickly growing in popularity is rodeo.

The Keystone Junior Rodeo Association, www.pakjra.com, was started in 2001. Located in Central Pennsylvania, KJRA was started in hopes to give the youth experience in the sport of rodeo.

If team roping and timed events such as barrels and poles interest you, check out the Pa Timed Event Association at www. patea.webs.com. Events for this association are held at Mike Smith’s Rocky Ridge Ranch in McVeytown, Bobb’s Arena in Middleburg, Shale Knoll Arena in Grantville and Poor House Farm in Martinsburg, WV. Rocky Ridge Arena also has cattle sorting every month. Barry Smith’s Arena in Lewistown is an enjoyable family place to attend for team penning whether you are riding or just enjoying watching.

Hilltop Kids Riding Club in Lewistown has several youth fun shows as well as a few open shows, all with a casual family oriented atmosphere.

If you are looking to head out and relax on the trail, Cooks Forest is an enjoyable place to go. For more information on trail riding check out www.patrailride. com. A wonderful family ride the first Sunday in October in the Bedford area is an annual Spaghetti Dinner & Trail Ride to benefit the Bedford County Therapeutic Riding Program.

If you are interested in learn ing more about Dressage and

Good News from page 22 moments, get outside and take a walk in God’s amazing creation.

Or even better, buy yourself some seeds, plow up a piece of earth, and plant something. Watch the miracle of its growth and enjoy the refreshing taste of homegrown produce throughout the summer.

Happy Spring! a

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Combined Training, go to www.

KDCTA.org for more information on the Keystone Dressage and Combined Training Association events to be held on May 12th and Sept 23rd this year. For those interested in showing hunters, The Central Pa Hunter Circuit (http://thecphc.com) provides both schooling shows and USEF rated horse shows.

For local open horse shows there are many popular show grounds to attend. Huntingdon Horsemen’s Horse Shows are May 26 & 27, June 23 & 24, July 28 & 29, and August 25 & 26. Game shows will be on Saturday, the other events will be on Sundays.

The Williamsburg Horse Show Association will be having shows on June 3, July 1, and August 19, 2012. Williamsburg will also have a fun show in May. Wood Valley Wranglers Saddle Club in Huntingdon, Pa. are scheduled for June 10, July 8, and September 9, 2012. Centre County Grange Fairgrounds has several AQHA shows and open shows. Moondust Meadows in McClure is a great show to start your kids out and have some family fun. April 22nd, 2012 there will be a Schooling Horse Show at the Huntingdon Fairgrounds to raise money to help fight Leukemia.

For updates on other horse shows and clinics in the area, a great place to look is http:// easternpaopenhorseshows.webs. com. Many associations now have websites or a social media site such as Facebook to advertise their upcoming events. I realize that (shockingly) not everyone has a computer and may not be able to access the websites. If you would like more information on any of the events or associations listed, please give me a call at East Gate Feed & Grain at 717-667-6556. I would be happy to get you further information.

Let’s all hope for good weather and sunshine at whatever event we plan to attend. Be happy to be in the saddle and enjoying the moment with your equine companion. a

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

--T. Jefferson

11

The Valley, April 2012 Mindless Eating from page 7 us, raised in a “clean plate” household? This can set up a behavior later in life that assumes we will consume the amount of food that is set in front of us. Those super sized portions certainly challenge us to “mind our plate.” With portion sizes getting bigger, it is easy to mindlessly eat and not even realize it. Also, the media continues to push the therapeutic value of food; therefore making it more likely to use food as a way to calm and soothe, rather than turning to non-caloric ways of relaxing. The fast pace of the world also makes it difficult to slow down, and dedicate time to eating. We eat in the car and on the run, which encourages mindless eating.

Walking backwards through the day- As I mentioned, my mindless eating typically occurs at the end of a very busy day. When I retraced my steps I could think of different times throughout that day in which I could have taken a different path. For instance, keeping grab-and-go snacks on hand like hardboiled eggs, yogurt, celery and peanut butter, fresh fruit, and trail mix would allow me to graze every few hours, keeping my blood sugar in check.

Also, placing the newspaper out of sight until after I am finished eating is a huge help. In the past, it seemed that as long as I would be reading the paper, I felt the need to keep munching. Knowing that reading and eating are not a healthy combination for me, I can take better control of my environment to make sure I separate the two. Finally, in thinking over the events of that day, I recalled that my emotions were pretty raw so perhaps I was trying to feed a feeling rather than feeding my body. A point to ponder. Was I mostly seeking relaxation and food for my soul but misinterpreted the message and instead polluted my body with excess calories?

Identify mindless eating cues- I want to examine the places and spaces in which I am most likely to eat mindlessly. Here is my personal awareness checklist.

Ignoring my hunger cues during the day, check. Waiting until it is late at night to eat, check. Starting to relax, check. Staying in the kitchen, check. Being all alone, check. Last, but certainly not least, surrounding myself with distractions, check. Keeping these check points in mind, now when I feel the up surging of the mindless midnight munchies I can step back and recognize that not paying attention to my need for food

during the day totally sets me up for mindless eating late at night.

It is a one-two punch that leaves me down for the count. I recognize that I will more than likely still have a strong need to unwind, but I now know that I don’t have to do that completely with food.

Instead, I can fix myself a cup of herbal tea, move out of the kitchen, and seek a good book and my loyal lap cat. These are a few of my favorite things that can “fill me up” just as well as food.

I plan to use these 6 “reminders” every time I catch myself “dozing off” with my hand in a bag of corn chips.

Some Other ‘Mindful” Tools That May Be Worth Trying

In addition to the above mentioned “re-minders,” here is a fun mindful eating experiment you might want to try. It involves ice cream. Oh the sacrifices, in the name of “science.” Do you prefer a cone or a dish? According to a study reported in Eating Well Magazine, licking an ice cream is more satisfying than eating it with a spoon. Kay McMath, a food technologist for New Zealand’s Massey University is quoted as saying “Flavor in ice cream is released when the fat, which carries the flavor, is warmed to at least body temperature.” In other words, when you lick ice cream, your tongue warms it up. This is in contrast to a spoon which insulates the tongue from the ice cream. The flavor is released in a different way. The study also hypothesized that ice cream is more satisfying in a cone because it takes a lot longer to eat (licking takes much more work than spooning).

The moral of the story: to eat ice cream mindfully, consider ordering a cone. It’s likely that you will be satisfied with a smaller portion because it will last a lot longer and the flavor will be fuller. Also, order mindfully. Get a clear visual on the size of the cone you are ordering. More, even in ice cream, isn’t always better. What is important is that you enjoy this spring and summer treat mindfully. Lick away.

And how about this crafty distraction technique that really works for me?

Did you know that knitting may be the perfect antidote to mindless eating? So if you think knitting isn’t cool, you may just want to reconsider.

A 2009 study published in the journal of Eating and Weight Disorders put knitting up to the test. The researchers wanted to see if knitting had any notable clinical benefits and whether it could be

a useful tool in helping people lessen the amount of obsessing they do about food and weight.

Avid knitters have been telling us for years about the therapeutic benefits of knitting.

In fact The Valley’s own Mary Anna Chenoweth told us so in the February 2012 edition. But how could it help prevent comfort eating? In part, the rhythmic movements and clicking of the needles can put you into a zone-like state.

It is much like the trance comfort eaters experience while chewing on food. Thinking about nothing is boring and often a trigger for mindless eating. Doing something easy, yet productive like knitting, is a welcome mini break for an overloaded, stressed-out mind.

The Study: The participants in this study were seeking treatment at an eating disorder treatment facility. In other words, these were people who chronically struggle with anxious thoughts about food and their weight. Their issues are generally much more intense than the typical mindless eater (so if it works for them, it is likely to work for us).

Intervention: The participants were taught how to knit and given supplies.

Results: Overall, the participants reported that they were much less preoccupied with anxious thoughts of food and weight while knitting.

Almost three quarters of the participants indicated that knitting helped them: 1) Lessened the intensity of their fears and thoughts about food/ weight/shape.

2) Helped to clear their mind

Buffalo from page 25 interests as our own. I am sure when they have the show next year, we will try to attend it.

I have to say this weekend was a lot like the weekend when we were out looking for a zebra.

When we returned home Saturday night, Herb made some phone calls about some other buffalo for sale and we found ourselves up early Sunday morning and on the road to Ohio to look at a herd of 20 head. There are 14 bred cows, 5 young heifers and one very nice large herd bull. Not that we were really looking for that many; I mean we needed a bull, but it seems like Herb just can’t get enough. It’s kinda funny that when Herb and I got together he had a dog and that was it. Now its buffalo, zebra, donkey, goats, cattle and horses! Oh no, what have I started?

3) Reported it had a calming and therapeutic effect

Why it Works: It is difficult to worry about food and do a visual spatial task at the same time. Something has to give. Also, creating something such as a blanket or scarf feels productive. Not to mention that you get a sense of achievement when you’ve mastered a new skill.

What if I hate knitting & crafts but need help with mindless eating? That’s okay. We aren’t all meant to spin yarn into something crafty. If you don’t like knitting, try another visual spatial task (video games, puzzles, crossstitching, painting, computer games)...

So, the moral of the story: Take a knitting lesson from your grandmother or Mary Anna if you are a mindless eater; find a visual spatial task like knitting to keep your hands busy and give your mind a place to rest without food.

The Good News- Eating with a Full Mind allows for a Full Body and Full Spirit Remember, Mindful Eating Is: • More about how you eat than what you eat. Ronald Reagan once said, “You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jelly beans.” Do you eat them one at a time? Do you savor them or gobble them down? Or do you eat them alone in the middle of the night? Maybe you even avoid them altogether.

• A long-term approach to eating versus dieting, which we all know is very short term and for the most part un Anyhow, when we arrived at Nancy’s house (the lady that is selling the buffalo), all I could say is WOW—I loved her farm. It was in the middle of nowhere and she lives on 400 acres. I believe her house is right in the middle of her land as she has no one living around her. It was beautiful! We talked a bit and then looked at the buffalo; she has some really nice animals. The bull is probably one of the tallest and longest bulls Herb and I both have ever seen.

We both agreed that we needed him as our herd bull. But we ran into a little problem. Nancy didn’t want to part the herd any more than she already had, so you all know what that means. I believe we now have 20 more head of buffalo coming to live at the Grove/Smith Ranch. That’s ok with us though as there is nothing greater than to sit out on the porch and watch the buffalo roam. Now starts the mess with getting all

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• •

healthy and unsuccessful.

Doable and realistic because it does not cut any food from your diet “Falling down seven times and getting up eight”- Understanding and healing our eating habits is a lifelong journey. Expect the occasional “out of the blue” mindless eating experience that I call IT. We all slip up from time to time. Let it go. Get up and get going again. Just remember, “be where your feet are.”

Ladies, if you would like to learn more about mindful eating, bring your feet and your mind to the Hill Store in Belleville on Saturday April 28th from 9 am -3:30 pm where life coach Linda Letner and I will be hosting an energizing Ladies Day Out called “Power Tools” for women. See our ad on page 30, for more information. To register, contact Linda@envisionlcoaching.com or call her at 717-320-2719. See you then!

Sue is a holistic nutrition consultant and holistic health educator. Her office is located at 54 Chestnut Street in Lewistown.

To learn more about her business go to www.mynourishingjourney. com She can be reached by email at sue@mynourishingjourney.com or give her a call at 242- 3132.

Resources: Albers, Susan psy.d. Eating Mindfully, New Harbinger Publication Inc. 2002 and Fifty Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food, New Harbinger Publications Inc. 2009. a these animals home and introducing them to the little herd we already have.

So that brings up the question of what we are going to do with all these animals? We will have 29 head of buffalo and 19 of them are bred for this spring. We are thinking of selling some young stock for those that are interested and we are also thinking about selling bison meat. Did you know that it is one of the best tasting meats and it is also good for you (that could be a whole different article!) It’s even better than beef, chicken, or fish. If any of you would be interested in bison or bison meat, you can give me, Julie, a call at E & L Supplies. I would be glad to talk to you about it. You can reach me at (814) 422-0370. Or, give Herb a call.

He can be reached at (814) 4220598. He just loves talking bison with anyone that is interested! a

The Valley, April 2012

12

Roads Less Traveled...

by Lynn Persing

I felt as if the month of March was a blur and I missed most of it. I noticed the daffodils in full bloom one day, and what seemed liked the next, they were already beginning to shrivel up. I am enjoying the extra daylight at the end of the day though! I travel back and forth to State College to work, so that extra couple hours in the evening when I get home gives me some time to enjoy our screened porch—so relaxing. Since I just didn’t get my act together in time to write a piece for this issue, and since I feel the following information is so vital to our community, I gladly give up my space to make room for the following article about an important Mifflin County resource—the Mifflin County Library.

Mifflin County Library: It’s Not Your Grandparents’ Library What do you think of when someone says the word “library?” Is it a dull, boring place filled with musty old books and staffed by grouchy old ladies who glare at visitors—people whose favorite word is “Shhhh?”

Think again. The library is not that dull, boring place. It’s alive with people of all ages.

There are no musty old books. Most of the books have bright, colorful covers designed to lure people into reading them.

Books come in different formats.

There are large print books for people who can’t read regular size print. Books also come in audio formats ranging from CDs to MP3 players with books pre-recorded.

Other books can be downloaded onto Kindles, Nooks, and other e-readers, or downloaded in audio format to your iPod, MP3 player, or other device.

Current economic conditions

place more demands on public libraries. We see more people coming to the library to use the computers, read magazines and newspapers, and borrow books because they can’t afford these things at home. In Mifflin County people also use the library’s computers and wi-fi because they don’t have the means to access high speed Internet service at home.

Visits to the library often start when parents or caregivers bring babies to Baby Story Time with Miss Susan. They hear two stories, do fingerplays, sing songs, and best of all, get to take a board book home each program week.

Many of these babies have already received their first book as part of a joint library and United Way project – the Welcome Baby bag.

Gifts in the bag include a board book, a baby spoon, bib, and lots of information for parents about

the importance of reading to babies, what to expect your baby to do at various ages, and a special booklet with foolproof ways to quiet a fussy baby.

Toddler Time and Pre-School Story Time continue this lively experience with books. Following the Rainbow to the Children’s Room the children pass through colorful hallways covered with their art and favorite storybook characters. Children learn all the things they need to know before starting to read. Many head off to kindergarten able to read simple books like “Hop on Pop.”

Their excitement continues when they reach the age of 5 and are able to have their very own library cards. You may not think that is a big deal, but it is for these children. I remember one Mom telling us that her daughter wanted no other gifts for her 5th birthday except her own library card. The

child woke that morning and asked her Mom if it was really her birthday. When her Mom said “yes,” the child wanted to know how soon they could leave for the library so she could get her present.

Library staff in the children’s room assist school-aged children with homework assignments ranging from picking a book for that dreaded book report to searching online resources for the history paper their teacher has assigned.

Books may be in the standard print, audiobook, or e-book formats.

The Teen Corner of the library is being relocated to be near the Reference section. There are study carrels and a café table to use laptops or iPads. Walls are covered with bright posters and wi-fi is available. Mifflin County Library has online resources with up-to-date information from reputable sources for those term papers, the Living History project, and other school assignments.

Issues and Controversies, Today’s Science, and the Learning Express Library can also be accessed from home computers with Internet access. You do have to have a library card to use the databases.

PowerLibraries are databases provided by your state tax dollars.

Contemporary Authors and Readers Guide Select are two of the most useful.

Adults are not forgotten either. In addition to those colorful books, the public access computers provide people with high speed internet access. Wi-fi is also available to patrons in all five MCL locations. Databases include Heritage Quest and Ancestry for genealogical research.

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Patrons can use Heritage Quest at home, but must be in the library to access Ancestry.

Health information is important to many of our patrons.

PowerLibraries’ Consumer Health Complete provides that up-to-date information that matters when you are hit with an unexpected medical diagnosis. Best of all, it is written for lay people, not medical professionals.

In today’s economy more and more people are keeping their cars longer and going back to doing what repairs they can for themselves. We also expect our mechanics to fix our mistakes and help us keep those vehicles on the road safely. PowerLibraries has the Auto Repair Reference Center database. There are mechanics in Mifflin County who have stopped purchasing Chilton’s manuals and are using this database to get repair information in a cost-effective way.

MCL has three different adult book groups, one tween and one teen book group, and Summer Program activities for people of all ages. Ask-A-Librarian is a state level, live on-line chat reference service provided by professional librarians 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Their homework help is awesome.

In 2011 and 2012 more people came to the library to get paper federal and state income tax forms or use the computers to file their income tax returns. Others came to the library to search the Internet for jobs, file for unemployment or social security, do research, or use social media to keep up with family and friends.

Library service in each of the library’s branches is provided by friendly staff and volunteers. All these library services are available to Mifflin County residents free of charge.

That first library card is also free at any branch of the Mifflin County Library. Applicants must have proof of address from a driver’s license, PA ID card, or a

Continued on page 36

The Valley, April 2012

Understanding the Constitution

13

by David Molek

Delegation of legislative powers Two cases in the Supreme Court may well decide, in the short term at least, the constitutional issue of the reach and extent of the federal government. At stake is the future of limited government. Those cases are the Arizona illegal alien law and Obamacare. In the Arizona case, the federal government is suing a state for alleged constitutional violations of enforcing state laws to remedy the federal government’s lack of enforcement of our borders. In the Obamacare case, or Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (what a name for a true abomination), more than half the states are suing the federal government contesting the law’s constitutionality.

The written text of our Constitution is bedrock. Our President should extract two lessons in particular. First, the framers gave us a limited federal government with strictly enumerated powers.

The Preamble tells us that govern-

ment gets its power from “We the People”, not vice versa. The body of our Constitution identifies those powers with specificity. Then, the Tenth Amendment reminds us , “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution…are reserved to the States…or to the people”. That’s our principal defense against an abusive national government – but not our only defense.

A second textually explicit safeguard is the separation of powers among the three branches – legislative, executive and judicial. The first sentence of Article I states that “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress”. Only the legislature, and not the executive branch, is authorized to make laws. Article II, Section 3, stipulates that the president “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed”.

Thus, as we all learned in civics or government classes, our Con-

stitution clearly provides for the separation of powers between the various branches of government.

For the first 150 years, our Supreme Court upheld the original constitutional design, requiring that Congress, rather than the administrators (executive branch), make the law. The suggestion that Congress could broadly delegate its lawmaking power to the executive branch was generally rejected by the courts for good reason.

Nowhere in our Constitution, either explicitly or even implicitly, was Congress given the power to delegate. Americans believe that those who make the law should be directly accountable at the ballot box.

The upshot was that the separation of powers effectively restrained federal power, just as the Founders had intended. The sense of political crisis in the 1930s economic depression era effectively buried the nondelegation doctrine

of our Constitution. As long as Congress started articulating some intelligible standard (no matter how vague or arbitrary) to govern executive branch lawmaking, courts today have allowed delegation to run rampant. This delegation doctrine essentially allows Congress to abdicate its power of lawmaking function to other bodies in other branches. Congress delegates power for much the same reason that Congress ran budget deficits for decades (although the current Democratic Congress has not passed a budget in over 1000 days). With deficit spending, members of Congress can claim credit for the benefits of their expenditures yet escape blame for the cost.

Delegation shifts the power to make law from a Congress of all interests to sub-governments (administrators and lobbyists) typically representative of only a small subset of all interests. The obstacles intentionally placed by our Founders in the path of lawmaking disappear, and the power of organized interests is magnified. Government by elected officials is superior to government by administrators and lobbyists.

Forcing Congress to vote on each and every administrative regulation that establishes any rule of private conduct would prove to be the most revolutionary change in government since the War

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Between the States. Today, we are a nation governed, not by elected officials as intended by our Constitution, but by unelected bureaucrats.

As the Cato Institute suggested, “No regulation without representation” would be a fitting battle cry for those of us who are truly interested in fundamental reform of government. The administrative state always seeks to extend its reach and magnify power. This is an intrinsic feature of a system where administration and regulation replace politics as the ordinary means of making policy. This sounds like the current Obama administration to me. The advent of this administrative state poses the greatest challenge to limited government because it elevates the welfare of the community over the rights and liberties of individuals (share the wealth?). The task today is to confine the federal government to its delegated powers.

The advent and extraordinary success of the Tea Party movement, with its emphasis on restoring limited government, has made this an opportune time to rethink what the framers meant by limited government. People need to become increasingly aware of the future of delegation and what it is doing to our nation. a

The Valley, April 2012

14

Guest Editorial

Chicken Crimes

by Jerri Cook

Staff Writer for Countryside Magazine

‘There’s a sign hanging on one of the walls at COUNTRYSIDE that says, “Wherever chickens are outlawed, only outlaws will have chickens.” It’s funny, but who knew it was prophetic?

Get ready folks. There’s a new rule coming. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) means to lock up those dangerous chickens and their homestead cohorts once and for all.

We all celebrated when the proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS) was withdrawn, but the party’s over.

There’s a new rule on the horizon which is not only cumbersome to small homestead herds, it puts a heavy burden on those with backyard poultry flocks. The rule proposed by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, titled Traceability for Livestock Moving Interstate, is on its face useless, and a little digging reveals the real reason for such over-reaching regulation- to raise money to keep a bloated, bureaucratic agency alive. Get your shovels ready.

It’s not like APHIS is lying to anyone. In fact, the truth is right there for all to see. Here’s the reason for the proposed new rule: “Benefits of the proposed traceability system are for the most part potential benefits that rest on largely unknown probabilities of disease occurrence and reactions by domestic and foreign markets (pg. 3).” They have no idea what disease, if any, they might be protecting against. In the 67-page document explaining the rule, APHIS throws around references to BSE, otherwise known as mad cow disease, but other than that, they seem more worried about some disease, somewhere, someday, that might cause a problem for the domestic livestock markets.

If they really were concerned about tracing disease, APHIS would do something about the Johne’s outbreak that is beyond epidemic in the United States. By some estimates, nearly 90% of herds are infected with this always fatal disease. The pathogen which causes Johne’s in cows has been linked to serious disease in humans, including Crohn’s disease which is rising at an alarming rate.

Where is APHIS? This isn’t some pretend unknown probability of disease. This is real.

Nor does APHIS claim to be protecting consumers. Just the opposite. They’re protecting big banks and big government: The primary benefit of the proposed regulations would be the enhanced ability of the United States to regionalize and compartmentalize animal health issues more quickly, minimizing losses and enabling reestablishment of foreign and domestic market access with minimum delay in the wake of an animal disease event. None of this is news to homesteaders with cows, sheep, or goats. We’ve been through this before. But those of you with backyard flocks need to sit up and take notice. You’re sitting ducks, and the shooting’s about to begin.

Do you order your chicks from a hatchery? If so, you’re about to pay more - a lot more.

The new rule provides: Poultry moved interstate would be required to be accompanied by an ICVI (interstate certificate of veterinary inspection) unless they are from a flock participating in the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) and are accompanied by the documentation required under the NPIP regulations or they are moved directly to a recognized slaughtering establishment (pg.

30). In addition to the required paperwork, the proposed rule also requires flocks not eligible for group identification (backyard and homestead flocks) to be banded individually before they cross a border, this includes day-old chicks shipped from out-of-state hatcheries. Even if the chicks never leave the homestead of the person who ordered them, the bands must be on their legs and remain there for the life of the bird. So, what happens if someone fails to comply? The proposed regulation specifically cites Title VII, Section 8313 of the US Code.

First, there are the criminal penalties for non-compliance: Distribution or sale

A person that knowingly imports, enters, exports, or moves any animal or article, for distribution or sale, in violation of this chapter, shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than five

years, or both.

Multiple violations

On the second and any subsequent conviction of a person of a violation of this chapter under paragraph (1), the person shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.

Then, there are the civil penalties: Except as provided in section 8309(d) of this title, any person that violates this chapter, or that forges, counterfeits, or, without authority from the Secretary, uses, alters, defaces, or destroys any certificate, permit, or other document provided under this chapter may, after notice and opportunity for a hearing on the record, be assessed a civil penalty by the Secretary that does not exceed the greater of - (i) $50,000 in the case of any individual, except that the civil penalty may not exceed $1,000 in the case of an initial violation of this chapter by an individual moving regulated articles not for monetary gain; (ii) $250,000 in the case of any other person for each violation; (iii) for all violations adjudicated in a single proceeding - (iv) $500,000 if the violations do not include a willful violation; or (v) $1,000,000 if the violations include one or more willful violations. Twice the gross gain or gross loss for any violation or forgery, counterfeiting, or unauthorized use, alteration, defacing or destruction of a certificate, permit, or other document provided under this chapter that results in the person’s deriving pecuniary gain or causing pecuniary loss to another person.

Failure to band a chicken could result in fines, imprisonment and possible confiscation of every chick at the hatchery or every animal on the homestead where un-banded poultry is found.

In case you haven’t already figured it out, these governmentapproved, individually sealed and numbered leg bands aren’t free.

But APHIS seems unconcerned about cost. They openly acknowledge they don’ t have a clue how much this new regulation will cost the nation’s small-scale poultry producers and independent hatcheries (pg. 31). APHIS does offer a few convoluted figures on how much the rule will cost

producers overall--somewhere around $34 million a year. Not to worry though, the taxpayer will be picking up any additional costs.

The 2012 budget calls for at least $3 million of taxpayer funds to be set aside for this program to offset the cost of metal ear tags. No money has been set aside to help independent hatcheries and small flock owners purchase leg bands, not one dime.

I’ve been accused of portraying government employees as academics who sit around dreaming up new regulations at the taxpayer’s expense. And after reading this proposed traceability rule, I stand firmly behind my assertions, at least where the USDA and its agencies are concerned.

This is nothing more than regulation for the sake of regulation.

So where does that leave us? Once again, independent family farmers are staring down the barrel of government regulation. Thanks to overwhelming organizing and persistent resistance, NAIS went down in flames. But as often happens when one bad piece of regulation is defeated, another has appeared in its place Yes, immediate action is needed. Calls to Congressmen must be made, but then what? Are we going to sit around and wait for the next regulation to come at us? And it will come. We all know it for a fact. There is, however, a way to stop such assaults on small-scale producers and homesteaders once and for all.

Have you ever asked the question, “who makes this stuff up?” The answer is always one regulatory agency or the other, but that’s not the case. Federal regulators don’t make the laws.

Congress does, and then the laws are published in the United States Code, a gargantuan tome, legendary in its complexity (http:// uscode.house.gov/lawrevisioncounsel.shtml). The Code is a codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is over 200,000 pages long, and after the update scheduled in 2012, we can be assured it will reflect more bloated government edicts than ever before. Fortunately for us, we’re only concerned with Title VII of the Code - the section that gives the Secretary of Agriculture the power to make criminals out of small-scale family farmers and homesteaders. It needs to be changed, and sooner rather than later.

It may seem like a massive challenge, but in reality it’s not.

No one is suggesting a complete overhaul of Title VII; just a little

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tweaking will do the trick. Right now, the Secretary of Agriculture has full control of all the nation’s producers - those who have hundreds, sometimes, thousands of animals as well of those of us with small, managed herds and flocks. The purpose of Title VII was to allow the federal government to regulate the production and trade of corporate agriculture production facilities. Title VII was never meant to allow federal control of traditional family farmers and homesteaders who produce, market and sell locally. Yet, we find ourselves squarely under the regulator’s thumb. Once again, if you give the government an inch, it’ll take a mile.

It’s time for the language to be changed to reflect the realities of the evolving models of agriculture, which are trending smaller and more sustainable. Corporate agri-business needs far more regulating than small producers. This is so by the government’s own admission. A few years ago we applied for a government funded program that helped to fund improvements to on-farm manure storage, only to be turned down because our 20-cow organic farm wasn’t a big enough threat to the environment to warrant assistance with manure management. So, if we’re not a threat, why should the federal government bother with us at all? The answer is plain. It shouldn’t. Yet it does.

To argue that corporate agriculture is in any way similar to sustainable homestead producers is to kick reason right in the head.

The only way to break the stranglehold the Secretary of Agriculture has on small farms is to insist on a return to federalism. The States are the proper regulators of small independent farmers who don’t participate in the rat-race known as corporate agriculture. If the small producer isn’t shipping anything across state lines, then the federal government shouldn’t be able to enforce regulations that hamstring locally sustainable agriculture. Similarly, if a hatchery is shipping a few dozen meat birds to a homestead in Wisconsin where they are processed and distributed as part of a local in-state CSA, it is the State of Wisconsin’s responsibility to regulate that sale of chicks. If, however, a confined-animal feeding operation (CAFO) receives thousands of day-old chicks which will be raised, butchered, and distributed nationally or internationally, then by all means, let the Secretary of Agriculture regulate away. That’s

Continued on page 30

15

The Valley, April 2012

Our Environment Our Culture Agritourism and the PA Quilt (and Rug) Trails Sharon Lee Administrator PA Quilt (and Rug) Trails Community Partnerships RC&D

Tourism is one of the largest industries of the world. Trillions of dollars are spent each year worldwide as a result of tourism.

One out of eight jobs in the United States is a result of the tourism industry. In contrast, agriculture is a struggling industry and has been for the past three decades.

Agritourism: Cultivating Tourism on the Farm. Recently there has been a movement to combine agriculture and tourism resulting in the “agritourism” movement.

In the past, farms relied on government subsidies and communities to support them. However, as the prices of food production have declined and production and costs of living have risen, this is no longer a feasible venture. Across the world, farmers are beginning to diversify by cultivating tourist interest through farmstays, pick your own crops, wineries and

wine region tours and a new venture, Quilt Trails.

Quilt Trails, like many of the agritourism businesses, encourage tourists to explore communities by offering a predetermined trail to follow in areas that may not have been part of tourists’ travel plans. Started in southeast Ohio

by Donna Sue Groves, today’s quilt trails are in over thirtytwo states as well as in Ontario, Canada. Two years ago, Community Partnerships RC&D began the first quilt trail in Pennsylvania.

Originally, the PA Quilt (and Rug) Trails was to be 8’ x 8’ wood painted quilt squares hung in farm settings. Today, the PA Quilt (and Rug) Trails includes: an inlaid wood piece (Vicksburg) and the world’s first Trail Rug (Tuscarora State Forest). Both pieces honor craftspeople of bygone days who have influence the central Penn-

sylvania region.

Though one of the youngest trails of the “Quilt Trail Movement,” the PA Quilt (and Rug) Trails is already a strong presence in the central Pennsylvania region. Recently the PA Quilt (and Rug) Trails was included in the first book about Quilt Trails by Suzi Parron (Barn Quilts and the American Trail Movement).

Agritourism projects such as the PA Quilt (and Rug) Trails are a wonderful opportunity to promote community input and development. The camaraderie that comes from participating in creating, supporting, and displaying a piece cannot be underestimated. In this time of isolation, agritourism gives all the chance to reconnect with other community members.

Support the PA Quilt (and Rug) Trail and take agritourism into the future.

For more information please visit or contact these sites. administrator@paquilttrails.org www.paquilttrails.org www.blogspot.paquilttrails.org Like us on facebook (PA Quilt Trail) a

The Tuscarora State Park Trail Rug.

Sights from the valley, our diverse cultures bring the modern in touch with the 18th century.

Get Vocal, Buy Local!

WWT Answers 1.Texas 2.Parsley,sage,rosemary & thyme 3.Nero Wolfe

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The Valley, April 2012

16

Splitting Hares

by Julianne Cahill http://oakridgerabbitry.weebly.com

Meat Rabbits

The USDA promotes rabbit meat as a good source of high quality protein with low fat content. It is a lean white meat with a mild taste, similar to turkey.

Rabbits make excellent backyard projects because they are such efficient producers. One doe can comfortably produce about four litters per year, often consisting of six or more offspring.

In addition to their reproductive capabilities, rabbits require a relatively small amount of space.

Many breeders use multi-tiered cages which allow about three times the amount of breeding animals to live in the same floor space. Both of these qualities make rabbit production possible and worthwhile for both rural and

urban settings.

Choosing a breed to work with can be the most difficult part of beginning a commercial rabbit operation. Important considerations are the number of offspring, growth rate, and mature weight.

I listed the number of offspring as the first consideration because this factor varies significantly between breeds but is an integral part of meat production. Many of the smaller breeds produce an average of 2-4 kits per litter, whereas larger breeds generally produce 6-8 and occasionally more. More offspring yield more meat and increase the efficiency of the breeding program.

A commercial rabbit under the age of 12 weeks is considered

a “fryer” and weighs between 1 ½ to 3 ½ lbs. This is the ideal age for processing because the meat is tender and fine grained.

Of course, the longer you have to wait for a fryer to grow, the more resources (food, time, cage space) are tied up. Meat produc- A pair of Californians at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. tion is most efficient when a fryer can be choices for this purpose, both their ability to raise large litters to processed at a young age. weighing approximately 5 ½ to weaning. If a doe loses condition

Californian and New Zealand 6 lbs. at maturity. Smaller breeds easily while nursing, she will be rabbits are notoriously successful do take longer to grow, so optimal unable to raise the same number commercial breeds. Californians processing age may be as late of litters per year as a healthy weigh up to 10 ½ lbs. at maturity as 14 weeks. However, they still rabbit. Likewise, a doe who loses and New Zealands can reach 12 produce relatively large litters of most of her kits in the nestbox lbs. These breeds grow quickly 4-6 kits. will produce less meat animals and can be processed earlier After choosing a breed to than a doe who successfully raises than many other rabbits. For the work with, it’s time to locate large litters. breeder who isn’t concerned with breeding stock. Starting out with a For those interested in learnraising purebred animals, Calilarge number can quickly become ing more about raising rabbits fornian/New Zealand crosses are overwhelming to a new rabbit for meat, I would recommend known for improving production owner. Instead, it’s best to begin reading Storey’s Guide to Raising even further by combining the with 2-3 does and one buck. This Rabbits by Bob Bennett which is best of both breeds. establishes a small project which available on Amazon. This book

The concern with raising a can be expanded by selecting kits provides more information related larger breed is that they require to keep for production. to housing, selection, health, and more space. For someone with

Selection of these future breeding. You may also find more limited space or smaller cages, a production animals is critical. Pro- information online, through the medium size breed may be better. duction does should be selected American Rabbit Breeder’s AsFlorida Whites or Dutch are good for healthy body condition and sociation at www.arba.net. a

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17

The Valley, April 2012

Homeschooling on the homestead with andy weller

Compost

Spring is here, at least in my neck of the woods. I live out west in the middle of a desert and it’s been in the 80s for the last several days. This means the temp is getting down to the low 40s at night and that, my friend, is sleeping weather. The bedroom window goes open and I sleep like a baby with the sounds of the night coming in and the knowledge that gardening is right behind.

This year my wife and I are taking a different approach.

We’re going to practice an intensive gardening technique, and like square foot gardening we’re going to let different plants share a close space. The taller plants will protect the lower plants and the lower plants leaves will shade the soil, couple the shading with a little mulch and it will cut down on water lost to evaporation. Out

here in the desert where humidity regularly is in the twelve to fifteen percent range and we go ninety to one hundred days without rain, evaporation is a huge issue. This means we have to condition the soil, it should have plenty of organic material, which is also an issue, because things don’t break down out here like they do back east. In the desert, if you pile leaves or garden refuse it dries up and blows away unless you water it like you do your garden. To get that organic material into the garden we compost, not only that, we also nurture the compost. We water it, we turn it, and we feed it until it eventually it breaks down.

To illustrate this, I have a pile that we put together through the course of the last spring/summer season. We didn’t water it much, we didn’t turn it at all, and

it’s sitting out there looking like a dried up pile. This pile is not breaking down, not helping at all, just taking up space. This pile is not being productive, because it hasn’t had the time, attention or stimulus it needs in order to break down. There is a lesson here, a lesson that can be applied to grown people and to kids.

Take a child for example.

Education should be designed to pique an interest and stimulate growth and to encourage the child to be a productive adult. That doesn’t mean drilling into their mind what they need in order to pass the next test. It doesn’t mean rating him and/or her on a national or global scale that puts everyone at the lowest common denominator. It does mean using information to give him or her a slice of information and maybe show him

or her how to get more information about the same subject. It means giving them the information they need in order to live life, it means allowing them to see there are things in this world that they don’t understand. It means cultivating a love of learning.

Educating a child also means transforming a child from a person who is focused on only themselves, their needs and their desires, into a productive part of society. Educating a child means showing them that they can make a difference. It means showing them they have the choice and the freedom to start with nothing and end up with riches. Educating a child means showing them they are not part of a herd, they are individual thinking beings that change as they grow, learn, and think.

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Education of a child should include a set curriculum, so do an internet search on homeschool curriculum. Check out the message boards of people who homeschool and see what they like, hook up with a local group and ask to look at the curriculum and physically inspect the teacher’s manuals and other teaching aids.

In addition to this, understand that learning, educating, mentoring, and nurturing doesn’t end nor begin with a book (unless it’s the Bible). All of these things begin with your relationship with your child.

Even if you’re not homeschooling your child, spend time with him or her, love him or her, nurture and discipline him or her.

Doing the things discussed in the previous sentence will educate your child in ways many children don’t experience in society today.

When a parent invests time, and energy into a child, that child will remember, ideas will endure, and will impact him/her into adulthood.

Remember compost—it started as cast offs and became a useful item. A child is neither useless nor a cast off, yet he/ she needs to be cared for and stimulated to realize his or her full potential. a

The Valley, April 2012

18

Woods, Water and Wildlife

by Wayne Stottlar

The Sweetness of spring!

Making Maple SYrup at “Valley Sugar House” PART TWO

great intensity once again.

John already had the evapora Monday morning dawned tor fired up and steam was rolling cool and sunny, as the lines out of the sugar house. With 43 thawed from the cold night time gallons of sap needed to produce temps, sap began flowing with one gallon of syrup, a lot of water has to be removed, and it moves out as steam.

Bob had left early to do a pick up from all of the collection tanks located in their different operation Bob arrives just in time with a load of sap. areas. Us-

The Sugar House is a general meeting place for those awaking from winter hibernation.

ing a pump and a tank in the back of his truck eliminates the back-breaking work required in times past. Still though, it is the type of business where mother nature dictates when you have to be at full throttle and for how long. You have to watch carefully and be ready to move when she is. John and Bob knew that there was a slight warm-up coming and that the wind was going to shift— this meant that sap would stop running until the next cycle of below freezing nights and warm days would start the sap running once again. In the meantime, they wanted to get as much sap boiled down and collected as possible so

at the entrance to the evaporator; check valves and gravity do the rest. As the sap flows through the back baffles, it makes its way to another check valve and then drops into the front of the evaporator. As the sap is heated, it moves from chamber to chamber and in the last chamber when reaching 180 degrees it is drawn off and triple filtered, finally ending in another heated holding tank. This semi-finished product is then transferred to a finishing tank where a gas fired process takes the syrup to 219 degrees and then checked with a hydrometer before it is dropped back to 180 degrees for bottling.

As we were approaching the bottom of the holding tank, Bob arrived with another tankful of sap

that everything would be empty to start the process all over again.

John was kept busy conContinued on page 31 stantly feeding the fire under their 50 gallon per hour evaporator. Their system is set up so as to allow maximum time producing product.

Outside and to the rear of the sugar house is a 400 gallon stainless steel milk tank that has been mounted on a stand that places it above the roof of the sugar house. Pipes The first of a triple filter process that takes out “sap take the sap from that sand” and other organic impurities. tank to a pre-heater

MEAT. WILSON’S MEATS AND GROCERIES

Fresh Meats, Full Line of Groceries, and Produce

Open 7 Days! 7am - 9pm

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A hometown grocer you can trust.

19

The Valley, April 2012 Beyond Sustainable Agriculture from page 5 a moment and think about that.

For at least nine thousand eight hundred years, EVERYTHING we humans wore or used that was made of plant or animal fiber (with very few exceptions) was spun by human hands (now look at your hands and say “WOW”!).

From every day clothing to the ultra-fine linen wrappings on mummified human remains, from a ship’s sails to headscarves, from cold blocking castle tapestries to delicate silk temple hangings, from boiled wool jackets to the sheerest cotton sari, EVERY BIT OF FIBER was spun by a pair of human hands. We’re talking about exquisitely made, sophisticated stuff here, not just the simple or roughly made items. Next to the production and processing of food, there was no more constant human occupation throughout human history than the spinning and subsequent use of fibers; food and clothing were the driving forces behind the domestication and breeding of both plants and animals (and, by extension, the development of cultures and civilizations).

It’s no wonder that the persons most involved in producing and using spun fiber leapt on any innovation that would simplify and speed up the process. At one stage or another everybody, in just about every social stratum, had a hand in helping with that process, but in most times and cultures the lion’s share of the actual spinning was done by women. Although mechanization as we recognize it, using larger machines for some of the fiber preparation (generally powered by human muscle or water) developed with the Romans, came and went through the Middle Ages and resurfaced during the Renaissance, it did little to change the fact that through the millennia, for the majority of women, the processing and spinning of fiber was a feature of all but daily life.

It’s also no wonder that the first processes to be mechanized out of human hands with the dawn of the Industrial Revolution involved the manufacture of fiber into useable forms. Yet, as efficient and productive as industrialized fiber production has become, let’s not loose sight of the fact that all of the innovations - from the first mechanized carders through cotton gins and mule spinners to the most advanced computer controlled spinning machines of today—are just the most recent variations on a theme begun long,

long ago when someone with a curious mind (and willing hands) picked up a stick and thought “What if…..?”.

The simplest tool for spinning fiber into thread actually IS a straight stick. Catch the fiber at one end, roll the stick between your fingers or across your thigh as you pull out the fiber (pulling the fibers out is called drafting), the twist from the rolling stick travels up the fiber and voila`, you’re spinning thread.

A technical breakthrough came when our ancestors realized that a balanced weight at one end of the stick (called a whorl, which, by the way, works more efficiently at the top than at the bottom) would maintain rotation and allow them to let go of the stick after they twirled it. Thus, thread could be spun more quickly and easily. This stick and whorl is a hand spindle, often referred to as a drop spindle (although not all spindles hang free), a tool still used in many variations all over the world. For thousands of years it was practically the only tool used for spinning; threads thick as a finger or fine as a human hair, were, and still are, made on an hand spindle.

[Here’s an interesting aside; the distaff, an adjunct tool, is used to hold large amounts of unspun fiber, allowing for even more efficient spinning. So constant was the presence of the distaff in the hands of a working spinner that the word has passed into common usage when referring to the entire female gender. Just F.Y.I.]

The next leap forward may have arrived with the development of the wheel. It probably didn’t take long for some enterprising spinner to look at a cart wheel, look at the whorl on her spindle and say “Hey, what if….?” The first spinning wheels took on many forms, but with all of them, one hand turned the wheel and one hand drafted the thread. One type of hand driven wheel, sometimes known as a Great Wheel, is familiar to us from paintings and movies depicting life in American colonial times. Also known as walking wheels because the spinner stands and walks as they work, they have large wheels that come as high as the spinners’ head. At the other end of the spectrum are hand turned wheels that one uses while seated on the ground and, as usual, there are dozens of variations in between.

Good idea number four – the treadle. If the foot is making the wheel go ‘round, BOTH hands are free to manipulate the thread. In addition, you can sit on a seat to

work, which would get you off of the drafty ground or off of your feet, both very attractive choices for a working person over the course of a long day.

Final good idea; while the treadle spinning wheel is many times faster than twisting a stick, it still has to be stopped at regular intervals to wind • Reliable Propane & Heating Oil Delivery the spun thread • Budget Payment Plan onto the spinCall today dle shaft, thus to learn about our • 24/7 Emergency Service interrupting the NEw CustOmER • Heating Equipment Service Plans spinning process. sPECiAls! The solution is a • Safety Trained Professionals contraption called • Over 80 Years Experience a flyer, which consists of two arms with a row of hooks to hold and guide the yarn.

These arms extend Our Business is Customer Satisfaction around a bobbin, which is basically 717-248-5476 • 1-800-PROPANE (776-7263) an oversized spool.

The flyer (which puts the twist in the fiber) spins more slowly than

Today, hand spinning get a little expensive in the long the bobbin (which pulls the spun continues to increase in popularrun. For farmers and homesteadyarn over the hooks on the flyer ity. While one can have antique ers, raising a few fiber animals and onto itself) Thus a spinner wheels brought into working (sheep, llama, alpacas, etc.) is a need not stop their work until the order, new spinning wheels (and good route to take, but special bobbin, which can hold a lot of hand spindles and all the other fiber critters are not absolutely yardage, is full. We know that bells and whistles) are produced necessary. With a little extra care, people were working on protoby companies world wide. Some the wool from sheep raised for types of this mechanism at least look like “traditional” wheels meat is perfectly usable for warm, by the late fifteenth century when (whatever that means) and some work-a-day socks, hats and mitLeonardo da Vinci was looking at are definitely products of the tens. You can also grow your the mechanics of the device, but twenty-first century (whatever own flax (oh, if only they would it was probably in the eighteenth that means), but all new wheels legalize hemp, then we’d be set), century that the idea was applied focus on being user friendly. For and with some planning, and to spinning wheels and the rest, as the ambitious woodworker, a cooperation from the weather, you they say, is history. spinning wheel would be a fine can sometimes get cotton to pro In spite of changing times, in do-it-yourself project. Speaking duce in Mifflin county – enough, spite of mechanization, in spite of of do-it-yourself, hand spindles at least, to spin as one of those many things, the craft of spinning can be made out of many things; academic experiments. Folks who was never lost and has never died. a dowel attached through an unus- are unable to raise their own can Many of the world’s spinners able CD, a chopstick stuck in a get inventive in their pursuit of probably didn’t even notice much potato (which was, right hand up local fiber sources; try asking at of a hiccup as “times changed.” to heaven, my first, albeit temfarmer’s markets, look in agriIn increasingly mechanized porary, spinning tool)—you can cultural publications -you never countries, pockets of spinners be as inventive as you like when know where a source will show persevered and in these counit comes to hand spindles. Once up. tries, during the late nineteenth you’ve decided on the spinning

Fiber preparation varies with and early twentieth centuries, tool you want to use, you need to the fiber. But just to give you hand spun fibers began to make a locate something to spin. some idea of what’s involved, “comeback.”

Fiber that is clean and ready we’ll take a quick look at wool

In the United States, this pheto use is widely available from since it is the easiest to spin and nomenon was helped along by the fairs, catalogs and online. These usually the easiest to locate. GoArts and Crafts movement and its can be a good place to start, ing from a sheep’s back to wool emphasis on the individual craftssince it gets you spinning all ready to spin is a whole other man; an increasing realization of the sooner. However, except for article, so let’s assume that you’ve the importance of traditional skills small academic experiments with located some clean fleece. Now helped as well - a trend that has exotic fibers like silk, bamboo, or what? Aside from your skill as a gained importance greatly during qiviut (musk ox), purchasing large Continued on page 30 the past five decades or so. amounts of ‘spin ready’ fiber can

Expect More from Your Fuel Supplier!

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The Valley, April 2012

20

Dairy Princess Memories

by Macy Fisher Mifflin County Dairy Princess 2011-2012

Hi, I’m Macy Fisher the Mifflin County Dairy Princess.

We are now up to April. My year of dairy promoting is almost up.

I was crowned last June and that is just around the corner. I don’t know what I will be doing this month. Last month I was running all over the county. I was at the Mifflin County Meltdown every week for six weeks and I was also at the Farm Bureau’s Spring Meeting. I did a really fun promotion with the Huntingdon County Dairy Princess, Samantha Bliss, at the Mount Union High School on March 16th. We did a Hunkiest Milk Mustache Contest with the male athletes.

There were twelve athletes that were randomly chosen who had their picture taken while modeling their hunkiest milk mustache. The student body then voted for their favorite model by

placing money in the coordinating ice cream container. At the end of the week we ended up with a winner in the Jr. High and the Sr. High.

The Jr. High winner was Garret Love, who is a wrestler at the school and the Sr. High winner was Braxton Knable who is a senior football player. We raised over thirty dollars for the Captain Jack FFA Alumni by doing this contest.

This also served as the graduation project for Sam and I, along with the Ag Olympics. This was an assembly where the student body competed in multiple activities, which included the milk chugging contest. This was where teams of students had to race to the other end of the gym with a straw and chug a cup of milk through the straw. It was a really fun day and was a great promotion.

Near the end of the month I had all of my school promotions. I went to five different schools with multiple third grade classes in each school. Each class watched a short clip about farm life. While they watched the movie, they all had a dairy treat,

Go-Gurt. After the movie was over, I played a dairy trivia game.

I think all of the kids had a great time. I know that I did. They asked me some really fun questions about what I do and what qualifies as a dairy product. A lot of them remembered me from the Third Grade Ag Tour from back in September. I just had a really great time with all the kids and I hope that these promotions are ones that will be carried into future years. The recipes for this month have April and Easter written all over them. The first is for a mini cheesecake that, when done, will look like a little Easter basket. The second is for an Easter favorite, deviled eggs. These are actually one of my favorite spring foods. These deviled eggs have a great dairy spin to them. This is a great way to sneak one of the three servings of dairy that your family needs into their day.

I hope that everyone has a great spring season.

Mini Cheesecake Baskets 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened ½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla 2 eggs 12 Nilla Wafers 1 ½ cups flaked coconut, tinted green with food coloring 36 small jelly beans 12 pieces shoestring licorice (4 inches each)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.

Add eggs; beat just until blended.

Place wafer on bottom of each of 12 paper-lined medium muffin cups.

Spoon cream cheese These Mini Cheesecake Baskets are always a BIG hit at Easter dinner. Try these festive treats at your table. mixture evenly over wafers. Bake for 20 ½ cup mayonnaise minutes or until centers are almost 2 tablespoons prepared mustard set. Cool. Refrigerate at least 2 1 teaspoon cider vinegar hours. Top evenly with coconut ¼ teaspoon salt and jelly beans just before serv¼ teaspoon onion powder ing. Bend each licorice piece,

Cut eggs in half lengthwise. then insert both ends into each Remove yolks; set whites aside. cheesecake to resemble the handle In a small bowl, mash yolks. Add of a basket. Store leftovers in the the cream cheese, mayonnaise, refrigerator. mustard, vinegar, and salt and Deviled Eggs Extraordinaire onion powder; mix well. Stuff or 24 hard cooked eggs, peeled pipe into egg whites. Refrigerate 4 ounces cream cheese, softened until ready to serve. a

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The Valley, April 2012

Modern Energy and Alternative Heating

with Curt Bierly

Consumer Interest and Current Technology

Last month I briefed you on the local Home shows that were scheduled for March. The State College Home Show (March 9-11) was well attended by potential customers. The Solar Thermo (Domestic Hot Water) and Solar PV (Electric) Seminar we presented was attended by 25 people at 5pm on a Friday evening. This is the best seminar attendance we’ve had to date. Certainly this is a testament to the growing interest in Solar DHW and PV. There continues to be a 30% Federal Tax Credit available for Solar PV and Solar DHW. Another real selling point for this technology is, once installed, the price of fuel (the sun) is free. Cheap, and you can expect no price increases. Nice!!

There wasn’t any particular product in which the majority of the attendees that visited our booth were interested. Customers signed up for literature to be mailed after the show. Trane and Carrier Air to Air Heat Pump information was the most requested literature followed by Schuco Solar PV and Viessmann Solar DHW (#2), Jotul and Morso Wood Stoves/Inserts (#3), Mitsubishi

offerings. Gas Stoves/Fireplaces/Inserts are moving to a more complex ignition system which automatically lights the pilot each time there is a call for heat; then, the pilot lights the main burner. The objective is to save the cost of the natural or propane gas Appearing very similar to gas grills, the new wood pellet grills allow you to use different wood pellets to enhance used for the taste of your meat pilot. Because the pilot isn’t Ductless Heat Pumps (#4), Kozi burning 24/7 the vent system goes and Enviro Pellet Stoves (#5). It cold and the draft may disappear; isn’t surprising that the least rethen, when the main burner lights quested literature was for oil fired it may pop or ignite in the burner furnaces and boilers. tube, which will sound like a rush The first week in March we ing noise. The new systems allow attended the HPBA (Hearth Patio you to continue burning the standBarbeque Association) Trade ing pilot, which usually eliminates Show in Atlanta. It has been sevthese problems. eral years since we’ve been there,

We noticed there are more so it was time we caught up on the manufactures building pellet newest technologies and product barbeque grills. Also at the show to complement the grills were vendors selling pellets made from different types of wood like apple, cherry, and hickory. They insist these pellets will give the meat you cook a delicious flavor.

Manufacturers of wood stoves are moving toward more efficient units by reducing the smoke produced so as to meet the new phase 2 standards the EPA is considering to impose. Jotul is no exception with the new Rangley Top or Front load wood stove with a 75% overall efficiency and an impressive 3.5 grams/hr rating.

Pellet stoves continue to be at the show in force and we’re beginning to see more European pellet stoves. A number of years ago we traveled to Verona Italy to attend the European Wood and

Pellet Exposition. The only fuels used by the 500+ manufacturers was either wood or pellets.

It appeared to be a 50/50 mix wood burners to pellet burners. I

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21 spoke to a Sales Representative manning one of the many booths at the Atlanta Show who had just attended the same show, but in 2012. He was amazed that the majority of the stoves on display were pellet stoves. I am aware that the emission standards for wood stoves are ramping up in Europe also. Pellet stoves already pass the phase 2 EPA standard. a Curt Bierly is president of the bierly group incorporated of which Stanley C. Bierly is a division. He graduated from Penn State with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and is a member of the Penn College HVAC Advisory Board. You can contact him at cbierly@bierlygroup.com.

The Valley, April 2012

22

Recipes-Crafts-Gifts With Debra Kulp Pizza Pork Chops Serves 4 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms 2 tbsp butter 4 boneless pork loin chops (1/2” thick and about 4oz. each) 1/4 tsp salt and pepper 2 tbsp olive oil 2 cups spaghetti sauce 16 slices of pepperoni 1 cup (4oz) shredded mozzarella cheese In a large skillet, saute mushrooms in butter until tender.

Remove and keep warm. Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper.

In the same skillet, brown chops in oil on both sides: drain.

Add sauce, bring to a boil.

Reduce heat simmer, uncovered for 8-10 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees, turning once. Layer pork with pepperoni, mushrooms and cheese. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Honey Mustard Kielbasa & Potatoes Serves 6 3/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup Grey Poupon Savory Honey mustard 2 tbsp brown sugar 1 lb Kielbasa, cut into 1” pieces 1 1/4 lb red potatoes (about 4) cut into 3/4’ pieces 1 large sweet onion, sliced Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix first 3 ingredients in shallow pan.

Drizzle with broth mixture, toss to coat.

Bake 55 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir occasionally.

Good News from page 31

creation that there is more! The beauty we see in God’s creation is constantly revealing God to us from the changing seasons to the majestic mountains to a tiny flower hidden deep in a forest. Good news of new life is all around us; we just have to take time to look for it and enjoy it.

Living a simple life has been a blessing in many ways for me and my family, because when you work hard for what you have and learn to see beauty in simple things, you enjoy a certain contentment that I fear many people miss out on. I see so many people striving, and struggling with discontentment, I have been there myself and it’s not a fun place to be. I am learning the extravagant, yet simple beauty of Creation is one of the best places to find contentment and relaxation. Even in the midst of sweat dripping off your face and mud caked on your hands while weeding around those veggie plants, you feel renewed and at peace.

So if you are ever tempted to feel overwhelmed with all the bad news, turn off that TV or life’s difficult events for a few

are peeking up from the ground and the array of colors that begin to burst forth is simply breathtaking. If you are a gardener like me, you get excited to get your hands into the beauty. I cannot wait to plow the warming soil and lay out plans for what vegetables I am going to plant—then there is the excitement of watching the first little seedlings pop up out of the soil and the thoughts of fresh produce filling the kitchen soon! Over the past few years I have been working at developing a small orchard. Last year we picked our first apples and I had no idea how exciting it would be to simply pick a few apples from my own backyard apple trees! Last year I put in cherry and almond trees and I cannot wait to reap a harvest from them! My strawberry patch is well established and gives me enough strawberries for the whole year! We have so many strawberry smoothies in the winter it’s a wonder my family doesn’t have a red glow to our skin.

I hope to teach my children that even though life is full of bad news and evil we have a God who lovingly reminds us through

An “Anti-flu” diet tip!

To increase your odds of staying well in the winter, eat more apples, blueberries, broccoli, spinach, lettuce and onions, especially red onions. They all contain Quercetin, a powerful antioxidant shown to reduce the risk of flu & catching colds. Eat them raw or cooked, though cooking makes the antioxidant more easily absorbed.

If you have recipe requests, facts on foods or questions about cooking, write to me through this column. a

Continued on page 10

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23

The Valley, April 2012

Mail Pouch Books

perience and she paints a perfect landscape description!

THE BACKYARD HOMESTEAD

By Carleen Madigan Copyright 2009

This is an ideal handbook for self sufficiency! It is packed with information of both detailed descriptions and illustrations.

Learn how to start your own

by Carleen B. Grossman ONCE UPON A RIVER

By Bonnie Jo Campbell Copyright 2011

This modern-day pioneer novel follows a 16 year old female whose life is anything but beautiful!

Filled with shocking realism from its beginning pages into an unusual lifestyle, the book is a journey with a young woman, obsessed with nature, as she struggles with coming of age while living a difficult family life.

Her self-sufficiency throughout the story is impressive, although grizzly at times as she hunts and lives off the land as the pioneers did. “Fish and turtles and water birds were her family, she

supposed, not humans despite the comfort she might get from food, beds, from hot showers and lovemaking.”

As the reader follows this character into womanhood, it can be observed that having extra gear in life can create more selfsufficiency, yet it actually puts a damper on creativity and mobility.

Here is a frank novel that pushes it to the limit for endurance of the human spirit.

I finished this book in two days....I could not put it down because I just had to know what would happen to this incredible young woman! Contemporary literature has not had as strong a character as this one in a long time! A real modern day pioneer!

homestead and to deal with every kind of food and even food from the wild environs!

PRECYCLE

By Paul Peacock Copyright 2009

What on earth does Precycle mean? Here is what the book actually states...’Precycling is making the things you need rather than allowing the manufacturers and supermarkets to dictate what you buy. It is doing away with the need to recycle by making it yourself; keeping the bottle and using it again and again.’ Need I say more? That is what this book is all about doing. It is easy to read and filled to the brim with “how to” information. This book should be in every home! a

WE TOOK TO THE WOODS

By Louise Dickinson Copyrights 1942 and 2007

This is a true life adventure story that is a classic! It was originally published in 1942. The author and her husband actually took to the woods of Maine. This tale is her open account of their backwoods living experiences... she covers many questions that one might have about such an ex-

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

--John F. Kennedy

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The Valley, April 2012

24

Buckhorn Taxidermy and Sporting Goods has added a new addition of live pets and pet supplies to the store.

We also have a line of live bait and live crickets year-round for the fishermen and pet lovers.

The Pen and Thread Custom Calligraphy and Weaving

Mary Anna Chenoweth Proprietor

717-248-6079 131 West Market Street Lewistown, Pennsylvania

Tropical Fish Birds Lizards Frogs Snakes Spiders S corpions Hamsters Gerbils Rats Mice

We are a full time taxidermy shop with over 50 years combined experience. Big game, game heads, small game, fish and exotic animals.

316 N. Logan Blvd.

Burnham, PA 17009 Open 7 days a week (717) 242-4490

Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Mon & Fri. 10am - 7pm Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sat - 10am 5pm Sun - 8am - noon

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The Valley, April 2012

Walking on the wild side by julie shultz smith

What a busy weekend Herb and I had again with the animals—this time with the buffalo.

We attended the Eastern Bison Association Sixteenth Annual Bison Show and Sale that was held in Harrisburg PA. It started out Friday March 9, 2012 when we attended a seminar the association had put on at the Holiday Inn. There were a couple different speakers that covered everything from deworming schedules to butchering buffalo. One of the speakers was the judge that judged the buffalo for the show.

He was letting everyone know what he was looking for when judging the buffalo. The bottom line is he was looking for animals that could be productive in a breeding program as well as in the meat pen.

Once the speakers were finished, the association held a banquet. They handed awards out to the best female buffalo along with the best bull. They even had a class in which they judged the best carcass. I thought this was an important class because the bottom line is we raise the buffalo for the meat they give us as well as many other things. After they handed out all the awards, we were served a dinner to die for!

We had the best buffalo steaks along with potatoes, veggies, and a salad—it was a meal for a king.

So yummy!

Saturday morning we got up and headed over to the farm show

Two of our younger buffalo grazing along the run, they have adapted really well and love their life here.

building. The association had 60 buffalo for the sale and there was everything from young stock to bred cows and new herd bulls, if that’s what one needed. These were also the animals that got judged the night before. Everything started out with the judge as he walked through all the buffalo and explained to everyone why he placed the buffalo in their classes the way he did. Herb and I picked our favorite bulls out, for this was one of the reasons we attended the sale—we needed to find a herd bull for our little herd at home. Well, guess who picked the best one. Me! That’s right, the bull I picked out, well let’s

just say he placed very well in the show. He was the overall Grand Champion bull out of all the bulls in the show. But at the end of the day, Herb and I didn’t purchase any of the buffalo. It was a good trip though and we learned a lot about something we both are very interested in and we got to meet a lot of nice people with the same

Continued on page 11

Part of our herd grazing in our pasture. One of our favorite things to do is to sit and watch them.

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The Valley, April 2012

26

thoughts from the Bunker by jared kauffman

The Hobo Stove Project

Hello Valley readers! I hope your preps are going well. If you read my January column on Bug Out Bags and found it interesting, I’d like to thank you. But recently when sorting the contents of my B.O.B.—the usual battery check, throwing away of outdated Clif bars (I recommend the oatmeal raisin!), and the rotation of seasonal clothing—I got to thinking. In my bag I carry a MSR brand Pocket Rocket backpacker stove. This stove runs on 4 oz fuel canisters and has served me quite well over the years. Weighing only 3.5 oz, it adds almost no weight to my pack. But what if it broke in the field? What if I run out of butane? I know, I know, buy a multi-fuel backpacker stove, right? Well, one of the points of trying to live a more self-reliant life is making do with what you already have. Yeah, I could just as easily go out and buy a brand new

stove, but that would take funds away from other purchases that are more of a priority. So I did some research looking for ideas for a backup option for my fancy stove and here is what I found. In keeping with the self-reliant and frugal theme, I’d like to suggest the Hobo Stove Project!

So called because of its wide use among the hobo community during the late 19th century and especially during the Great Depression of the last century, the Hobo Stove still has its place today—from YouTube videos, to backpacker blogs, and even a 1984 article in the March/April issue of Mother Earth News magazine (No, I am not a subscriber.

I do find many interesting articles within, but their blatant left-leaning politics is more than I can stomach, but I digress).

I have found that there are MANY variations of the stove, some more Gathering supplies for the Hobo Stove was easy and elaborate than done without cost by re-purposing objects I already had. others, but I’ve

This is the prototype stove. I originally removed the bottom of the can but decided to leave it in place on the second one I made, which made the stove more stable.

decided to use the simplest design I could find. And, I wanted to use readily available materials and absolutely no electricity so here is how I made my Hobo stove: SUPPLIES NEEDED: Two pound size coffee can (I find that name brand coffee companies have switched to plastic containers, but fortunately generic store brands, which are all I can afford as of late, are still in metal cans) Metal snips Metal clothes hanger Metal punch or a sharp triangle can opener Hammer and nail Needle nosed pliers with wire cutter

Savvy Cents & Sensibility

by JoAnn Wills MBA

Achieve more with less minus the stress...my equation for living well {achieve > with < stress}

The birth of this column was the outcome of a collection of ideas and inspirations that I had as a means to assist people to achieve more (living well) with less (money/resources) minus the stress (anxiety & worry). I have a passion to serve community through a unique blend and integration of my MBA knowledge & learning with frugal finesse, positive thinking, and simple living.

In the current times, we are all trying to stretch our dollars and cents farther. Each week prices creep higher on all regular purchases while incomes remain the same or even decrease. Economic conditions have drastically reduced our purchasing power.

Some of our friends and family may be approaching, or are at, a critical point where changes –

even massive immediate action – must be taken to rectify financial health.

The purpose of this column is to share professional knowledge and practical wisdom so that you may make informed decisions to boost your spending power while cutting expenses. I will share bites of knowledge and theory from some of the great business and financial experts of our time, seasoned with the practical wisdom of frugal living. Some of the topics to be explored in the coming months are: • Opportunity costs – the cost of passing up the next best choice when making a decision • Sunk costs – unrecoverable costs that should not influence future decisions • Time management – a priority-based structuring of time among competing demands • What does your job “cost”

you? – an examination of the costs accrued with employment • Living large at the poverty line – ideas for improving deficiency

We do not have to “accept” the condition of “barely getting by.” We all do have choices.

Sometimes those choices are disguised as hard work and ingenuity but nonetheless choices do exist. Sometimes situations call for hard questions to be pondered, and even harder answers to be courageously enacted. Sometimes plans must be changed, and resilient spirits be set in action.

My intent is to present good food for thought, then you can apply that food to nourish your own personal situation, and take action at the level you feel comfortable with. We are all a work in progress. Let us each use what we’ve

been given as our impetus to live well.

I would like the column to address the concerns of the readers; therefore, if you have a question or situation in regard to saving, spending, budgeting, frugal living, etc. that you’d like to have addressed in the column please share it with me via email at centsable.joann@gmail. com – you may choose to leave your name/contact info or remain anonymous. I look forward to meandering through the journey of financial freedom & frugal living with you in the upcoming monthly columns. ~JoAnn “You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage – pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically – to say ‘No’ to other things. And the way to do that is by having a “bigger” yes burning inside.” ~Steven Covey a

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The first step I took was punching holes with the triangle can opener one inch apart all the way around the bottom and the top of the can to allow for air circulation and proper combustion. Next, I made an opening on one side of the can roughly 3”x5,” just large enough for you to be able to feed the fire, about two inches from the bottom. Metal snips work for this, but you may have to make a hole with your punch or can opener to get started.

A rotary tool with a metal cutting attachment would work also, but I wanted to use no electricity while doing this project. Taking the metal coat hanger and wire cutter, I then cut two pieces approximately 7 inches in length. Make 90 degree bends about one inch from each end of the wire pieces, these will become your pot supports.

Next, at the top of the can along the rim, using your hammer and nail make four holes, two on each side and about 2 ½ inches apart.

Insert your wire pot supports in the holes so that they run parallel across the mouth of the can. Your Hobo Stove is now complete!

TESTING THE STOVE

On a beautiful March day and with the help of my three boys, I put my Hobo Stove to the test. For fuel I used what I could find: dried leaves, cardboard, sticks about the size of my thumb in thickness, and wadded newspaper for a fire starter. I basically wanted to see how long it would take to boil water, and after approximately 5 minutes I had a nice rolling boil.

All in all I would say this stove design was a success! I will be making several of these and placing them in the appropriate locations just in case.

The Hobo Stove Project is a great idea for Boy Scouts, frugal backpackers/campers, and of course HOBOS! a

27

The Valley, April 2012

Grosze Thal Nachbaren

(Big Valley Neighbors)

by Jeptha I. Yoder Ein Grusz in Unsers Schöpfers Namen Es ist der süszen Frühling und die Bedenkliche Ostern-zeit.

Last uns freuen und darinnen fröhlich sein. Wir haben schon Fröschen gehört. Und die Vögel sind am Neschter bauen. Es ist eine gute zeit um Löwen-zahn und andere kräutern zu essen.

Den sechsundzwanzigst Hörnung waren wir in der Gemein ans Unkel Jesse S. Hostetlers.

Von McClur waren Esra S, und Iddo Ms und Familie; Von andere Theilen waren Isaak Rs und Familie, und die (Salomon) Mareily R., alle Hostetlern.

Jacob S. Hostetlers gingen in Ost Lang Leen Gemein ans Jacob Z. Hostetlers Iddo Ms waren ans Jesse J. Hostetlers fürs Abendessen und über Nacht der Gemein gingen Mose R. Hostetlers und Familie zu ihre Mutter die (Jeff) Lydia R. Yoder.

Milroy Nord Gemein war ans Aaron L. Yoders.

Der Viert März war Kirchengasse Gemein ans Salomon C. Hostetlers. West Lang Leen war ans Thomas S. Yoders.

Jonathan Y. Hostetlers und Familie und Rudy C. Yoders waren ans Mose C. Yoders fürs Mittagessen.

Der Elft waren wir in der Ge-

mein ans Esra B. Hostetlers. Von andere Theilen waren (Sam R.) Malinda K. und Frieda L. (Jacob Z.), alle Hostetlern; Mahlon Cs und Familie, (Emanuel B) Franey N. und Söhnen Isaak, Eli, Enos, und Emanuel alle Yodern.

Nach der Gemein gingen meine Eltern ein wenig ans Uria S’s und die (Salomon) Mareily.

Bei die Mareily fürs abendessen waren Jesse J. Hostetlers und Familie, Salomon C. Zugen und Familien kamen auch von McClur.

Ans Urias waren Johannes M. Hostetlers und Jüngste. Dort fürs Mittag waren Isaak Ys und M. Siebers und Familien, alle Hostetlern.

Ost Lang Leen Gemein war ans Jonathan Y. Hostlers. Nord Milroy ans Rudy J. Hostetlers.

Der Achtzeht waren meine Eltern und Schwester Elisabeth in Lang Leen West Gemein ans Isaak Y. Hostetlers. Andere von andere Theilen waren Christ Gs und Emanuel Js, alle Yodern; Ruben Ds, Christian Ss, und Familie und Jacob Zs, alle Hostetlern. Elisabeth und andere waren ans Isaaks fürs Abend-essen und Singen.

Kirchengasse Gemein war bei die (Emanuel B.) Franey N. Yoder.

Milroy Ost ans Eli J. Hostetlers.

Unkel Christ M. Yoders und Unkel Jesse S. Hostetlers waren

ans Eli S. Hostetlers fürs Mittagessen. Eli S. Zugen und Familie waren dort nachmittages. Unkel Christs waren hier abends.

Der Zwanzigst, war Hochzeit ans Yonie N. und Emma S. Speichers fur ihre tochter Rhoda und Witwer Ephraim Y.Hostetler.

Der Zwei und zwanzigst gingen etliche in die Hochzeit ans David S. Hostetlers in Washingtonvill. Auch gingen etliche in eine Hochzeit ans Mose C. Bylers in New York auf diesen nämlichen tag.

Der Funf und zwanzigst waren wir in der Gemein ans Mose C. Yoders. Von McClur waren Daniel V. und Samuel K. (Yost I), Lydia M. und Anna K. (Joseph S), Von Lang Leen Ost war Amos K. (Mose J.), alle Hostetlern. So der Herr Will ist unser Gemein ans Manasse Yoders, nachst mal. Etliche von die Jesse Hostetler Haushaltung waren in Lang Leen Ost Gemein ans Isaak R. Hostetlers. Auch Iddo Ms und Familie von McClur, welche waren auch ans Jesse S. Andere, von andere Theilen in der Gemein ans Isaaks waren Simeon Js und Yost Js und Familien.

Etliche Junge waren dort fürs Abedessen und Singen.

Milroy Nord Gemein war ans

Noah S. Hostetlers.

Greetings in the name of our Saviour. It is sure nice spring weather. Daffodils are blooming.

Fruit trees are even starting to bloom, at this writing - in the middle of March! Much garden and field work was being done lately.

Frogs and peepers are singing at night. It is the dandelion - eating season. In fact, I could have found dandelion greens all winter.

New arrival are a Jonas S. to Uria S. and Esther F. Hostler, on March 7th, joining one sister.

Grands are widow (Solomon) Mary R., and John M. and Naomi F., all Hostetlers. Great - grands are Moses I. and Elizabeth L. Hostetler; Moses I. and Elizabeth L Hostetler; Moses M. and Esther S. Yoder.

A daughter Amanda M., also on the 7th, joining 2 brothers and one sister to Michael L. and Mary B. Hostetler. Grands are Abraham N. and Lena F. (Yoder) and Rudy M. and Leah K. all Hostetlers.

Newlyweds Rudy C. and Franey E. Yoder moved onto the former late Alpha Speicher place in Treaster Valley, this being in our church district.

Friday, the 16th, was a girls quilting at Sam I. Yoders.

As I wrap this up it sure seems like spring has come to stay. I have planted all my biennial root crops (for seed) outside.

Had beets, carrots, celeriac, and turnips stored over winter in buckets of sand. They kept well in their shorter storage time. Now they are ready to shoot out and bloom

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providing nectar for beneficial insects and produce seed. Saw a bat flying around this evening.

Last week (the 13th) word came of the passing of Fronie Kurtz dau. of the late Emanuel and Lomie (Yoder) Kurtz of New York. Funeral was on the 15th.

She was handicapped for some years (from an accident) and very helpless lately.

I grafted some trees this year again but the season (grafting) was short this year due to the early growth of tree buds. Am not really sure - did I forget anyone?

Saturday the 24th, a frolic was planned at Uria S. Hostetlers for zwistert to build a garden fence. Also Aunt Mary (Solomon) planned to have a quilt in frame.

Didn’t hear what got done as rainy as it was.

Gods Blessings wished to all, for a Happy Easter.

Jeptha I. Yoder a

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The Valley, April 2012

Answers in an ad in this issue

28

Bluebonnets, named for their color and resemblance to a woman's sunbonnet, bloom from March to May. 1. Bluebonnets are which state's official flower?

2. The four herbs mentioned in the song Scarborough Fair?

Quiz # 20036

Copyright Š 2012

3. Noted for growing orchids, name the fictional detective of author Rex Stout?

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Deadlines for ads and submissions is the 15th of the preceding month for inclusion in following monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s issue.

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29

The Valley, April 2012

The Chicken AND the Egg!

by Mike Flanagan

Ain’t no Spring “Chicken(s)”

It’s mid-March and I think it’s safe to say that spring has sprung.

Did we even have a winter? Well, maybe a coastal NC winter, but certainly not a typical northcentral PA winter. I bought a new two-stage snow blower just for this winter, and I even got to use it. Once. But this last weekend I finally decided to stop straddling the fence and I jumped down on the side of spring. I hooked up the garden hose that runs down to the chicken half of the back yard.

One of my favorite moments of spring is when I no longer have to carry water down to the chickens every night. ‘Cause I ain’t no spring chicken.

And, the supplemental light has kept the girls laying steadily all winter long. I’ve been getting 18-24 eggs per day from 32 hens,

all winter long. One of my wife’s customers at the bank also keeps chickens, but he had to start buying eggs from her shortly after Christmas because his girls quit laying. He’s still buying eggs, so I guess they haven’t started back up yet. He asked her “what’s the secret?” Ha-ha-ha, she’s got no idea. She can tell you the names she’s given to every one of those hens, and I guess she’s pointing to the right ones. For me, it’s like when I was working in the prison, I only know the names of the main players. But I am the one who knows that the girls need that 14-16 hours a day of light to lay steadily. I may not be any spring chicken, but I’ve learned a thing or two over the years.

There have been times this winter when we’ve had a tough

time getting rid of the eggs. That week that Cindy took vacation, I wound up just taking all of that week’s eggs and walking up the road giving a dozen to each house for free until I emptied the fridge. I have also told the local fire department that they don’t have to buy eggs for their “Opening Day of Trout” breakfast. I’m donating 20 dozen eggs to them for that. So the girls are producing well enough that I decided not to bother with a replacement flock this spring. Yep, no spring chickens.

And that brings me to the subject of spring cleaning. Relax guys, I’m not going to tell you to get a pair of Playtex gloves and help the wife wash the walls. I clean the deep litter out of my hen house twice a year, April 1st and October 1st, or thereabouts. Now is the time to take all that lovely deep litter you’ve been laying down in the hen house and start this year’s compost pile with it.

My compost bins are twin boxes, 4’x4’x4’, or 64 cubic feet. Check-

ing Lowe’s, I find that composted cow manure (which is not as rich as chicken manure) sells for $2.50 for a bag that is not even a full cubic foot. Now, the litter under the roosts is at least nine inches deep and the litter in the “play area” is about six inches deep. I am easily going to fill at least one of those bins when I clean out the hen house. That means I’m going to have about $150 - $200 worth of high quality compost come next spring. There’s a hidden bonus you hadn’t considered as you were wondering if keeping your own birds was worth the money or not! When you add up the more nutritious eggs, the higher quality meat, and the superb compost, you can see that your chickens are indeed paying their own way.

There are some precautions you must take when cleaning out that hen house. I think leather gloves are a necessity. You do not want open blisters, cuts, or splinters in this environment. And you absolutely must wear a dust mask.

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Remember, you are shoveling excrement. And there are dangerous bugs in excrement. People freak out about E. coli outbreaks and salmonella poisoning. What most people don’t realize is that E. coli exists naturally in our own bodies. It doesn’t pose a threat until it gets into an area it doesn’t belong. And despite how cleanly we try to raise our chickens, it’s almost a certainty that we have some salmonella bacteria present.

But in healthy flocks, it doesn’t rise to dangerous levels. (That’s why the FIRST thing I do when I return from the hen house is wash my hands.) And you REALLY do not want this stuff getting in your lungs. I used to use those el cheapo paper masks. Not any more. Now I use a nicely fitted, filtered respirator type. Two years ago the paper mask let me down and I spent several months fighting off the infection and letting

Continued on page 3

The Valley, April 2012

30

”Power Tools” for WomenA Ladies Energizing Day Out! Cultivate Your Vitality With Courage, Clarity, Confidence and Curiosity Saturday April 28th, 2012 Time: 9 am-3:30 pm • Is your energy zapped most days?

• Do you sometimes experience “power” failures in light of the volume of “health” information and advice out there?

• Would you like to discover energizing tools to recharge your battery?

If so, this power-full event is for you!

Join Life Coach Linda Letner and Holistic Nutrition Consultant Sue Burns as they offer A Day of Holistic Renewal That Includes: • Nourishment for your mind –Discover how to unearth clarity, courage, confidence, and curiosity that will help you blossom into healthy, whole hearted living!

• A Feast for your Body- Savor a delicious and nutritious lunch sampling provided by Molly Borg!

• Food for your Soul – Indulge in a dessert and wine pairing with Seven Mountains Wine Cellars followed by the showing of an uplifting Academy Award Nominee Movie!

• Unique Door Prizes!

Location: The Hill Store Event Place, 3849 West Main Street, Belleville PA – A charmingly restored 1853 General Store located in the scenic beauty of “Big Valley.”

Cost: $34.00 BUT if you register before April 4th you will pay only $29.00!!

Final Registration: April 14th. Call Today to Save!!

Register with: Linda@envisionlcoaching.com or call Linda at 717-320-2719 For more information about Linda (www.envisionlcoaching.com) and Sue (www.mynourishingjourney.com) or The Hill Store Event Place (www.hillstoreguestcottage.com) please visit their websites.

Beyond Sustainable Agriculture from page 19 spinner, the one factor that will most influence the quality of your yarn (and what you make from the yarn) is how well your fiber is prepared—a large part of which is organizing the cleaned fibers to facilitate spinning. Always remember, never begrudge the prep time – for anything.

After picking the clean wool apart, either by hand or with a mechanical device, the two basic methods used by hand spinners for preparing wool for spinning are combing and carding. Combs, in their many variations, are basically large, wickedly sharp, polished spikes set into wooden handles and they have been the main tool used to prepare wool for millennia. Combed wool has fibers that lie parallel to one another which allows for the spinning of smooth, ‘worsted’ yarn.

Carding with hand cards, which (in Europe) may have developed somewhere around the fourteenth century, uses wooden paddles – one for each hand - covered with a heavy backing cloth which is studded with thin wires that are bent about three quarters of the way down. Carding produces fluffy rolls of wool, with fibers laying every which way, that spin up into a fuzzy, ‘woolen’ yarn.

One very useful variation on the hand cards is the home-sized carding drum. The bent wire backing cloth is attached to two drums which are then hand cranked to produce a ‘batt’ (a fairly thick rectangular pile of wool about eight by twenty inches) of fairly parallel fibers that can be spun into a good, all purpose yarn. Drum carders, well used, can greatly increase your output of prepared animal fibers, thus increasing the amount of yarn spun; our foremothers would have traded quite a bit to get their hands on one of them. Lucky us!

Whatever fibers you choose to work with, animal or plant,

Chicken Crimes from page 14 what Title VII was intended for.

So, how do we persuade Congress to add an exemption to Title VII specifically for independent, local producers with no ties to big banks or big corporations? Do we have to occupy somewhere or parade around with a sign?

Thankfully, no.

This spring, while we’re sitting around waiting for the ground to

there are tools (and instructional options) readily available to help with preparing those fibers for spinning into your own yarn from which you can create your own clothing (and more) all in the comfort of your own home!

This brings us to that point in the discussion where we once again consider the recurring question, “WHY BOTHER?” Obviously, not everyone is going to learn to spin yarn to make their own textiles any more than everyone is going to raise all of their own food, build their own homes or teach their own children (although, come to think of it, if that were to happen there’d be fewer people unemployed). You’ve got to find the bits of the path that work for your situation and follow them. However, if you ARE interested in learning to spin, here are two thoughts to consider while deciding if that choice may be right for you.

It seems like nowadays, many people complain about tension, anxiety and other such byproducts of “modern” hyperactive lifestyles. Spinners will often praise the relaxing, almost meditative aspects of the craft; once you lock down the basics, there IS something soothing about the movements required to turn fiber into thread. This is, in and of itself, a good reason to take up spinning. Add to that the fact that, while you are relaxing you are also making something useful and intrinsically beautiful and you’re close to understanding part of the attraction self-sufficiency has for so many of us.

Another thought—for most folks, the term sustainability refers to food since that’s where politics, the media and corporations have been mostly focusing their headlights. Feeding yourself, your family, and helping to feed your neighbors is all well and good, but when your clothes start to wear out from all that healthy activity, it makes sense to know how to fix them and make new when you have to - this is

sustainability as well. Learning to make the thread and yarn to do this is not just a step towards self reliance and, hopefully, stretching what’s in our wallets. Spinning also affords us a chance to further develop our creativity and reclaim the enormous satisfaction (and empowerment) that comes from being able to MAKE SOMETHING USEFUL with our own two hands – and that is something we all have a right and a responsibility to aspire to and achieve.

thaw and the grass to start growing, we might just have time to write a letter to Congress or to our local paper pointing out the problems with Title VII. A simple, handwritten letter sent through the United States Post Office will do the trick. Studies have shown that people are more likely to read a handwritten note than a typed one. A handwritten note to a local representative or advocacy group might be all that’s needed to get the ball rolling. It’s time

for homestead producers to go on the offensive instead of reacting to every rogue piece of regulation purporting to guard against some imaginary “event” that might occur. Write a letter. Change the rules. The outlaw chicken you save could be your own.

Editors Note: Re-printed with permission. Countryside Magazine 145 Industrial Drive, Medford, WI 54451 www.countrysidemag.com A “must have” in our library! A perennial favorite! a

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Resources: The Mifflin County Library has several excellent books about spinning. Check ‘em out!

Prehistoric Textiles: the Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages with Special Reference to the Aegean by E. J. W. Barber. Yes, this is an academic work, BUT it is very readable and full of extremely fascinating information, so if you’re really into the subject, give this a read. *Quoted from The Alden Amos Big Book of Handspinning: Being a Compendium of Information, Advice and Opinions on the Noble Art & Craft by Alden Amos. If you’re going to have ONE book on spinning in your library THIS should be it. Practically ANYTHING you need or want to know about spinning (plus a lot more) is in this well written and highly readable book.

For spinning equipment and fiber two good places to start would be: The Mannings Handweaving School and Supply Center, 1132 Green Ridge Road, P.O. Box 687, New Berlin, PA 17316. 1-800233-7166 www.themannings. com. They usually have a number of different spinning wheels (and hand spindles) that they will let you try out.

Halcyon Yarn, 12 School Street, Bath, Maine 04530. 1-800-3410282 www.halcyonyarn.com. a

31

The Valley, April 2012

Good News

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by Sarah Hurlburt

I don’t know if anyone else gets weary of all the bad news that bombards us on a daily basis, but I know I do. So it’s okay to choose to turn it off and look for good news around you. We were not created to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders, so we shouldn’t try. It’s fine to stay “in touch” with what’s happening in our world, but if you let the news on too long, you will begin to feel a creeping sense of despair. Our own daily lives offer enough pain and bad news; we really don’t need to try to process the world’s evils. We need to stay positive and focused so we can make a difference right here where we are with the people in our lives!

Smile, because although humanity seems to be determined to only focus on the bad news, there is still good news:

The sun is still rising and setting, the earth is still turning, the seasons are still changing, the geese are still flying south for the winter, homemade cookies still make your house smell delicious and your kids smile, people still stop to open the door for an elderly lady at the store, babies are still being born and blinking into the bright light of this world, seeds still burst forth from the soil in spring to bring us the bounty of harvest in fall, people still laugh until they cry, miracles still happen every day. God’s love for everyone of us has not changed— it never will—we still have the chance for forgiveness and a relationship with Jesus if we just accept it, and if we have accepted

it, we have a future that is above and beyond anything our human minds could begin to comprehend.

No worries as we see wave after wave of despair wash over this world, no worries as we all feel a sense of urgency that “end times” are near, because if we have the peace that God offers us through a deep faith in Him, we need not fear.

“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.

At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21:25-28.

As spring begins to awaken all around us, I am reminded of all the “good news” that God wants to share with us but often gets smothered out by the media and life itself filling us with more gloom and doom than we feel like we can handle. We all know there are bad things happening all around us and those things will continue to happen, but how exciting to think about some good things.

Spring is such a vivid reminder of new life and beauty. The buds are bursting forth anxious to reveal their splendor. The flowers

The Sweetness of Spring from page 18.

promised syrup delivered early in the process. Locals driving by also start stopping by the Sugar House as soon as they see steam rising to inquire as to when the first batch will be bottled for sale. Be sure to get yours early, I am sure they will probably sell out this year judging by the taste I sampled as the first bottles were being filled.

John and Bob stress quality as a first priority, and they go above and beyond in their efforts to give you the best quality syrup possible. They measure and remeasure during the process so as to bottle the syrup at the perfect time. Once you taste it, you will

on the back of the truck, which he immediately pumped up to the big stainless tank. John stoked the fire again and the race was on to get as much sap processed as possible before the weather changed. Bob figured they would be at a little over 1,000 gallons of sap for the first couple of days of collection.

John and Bob planned to keep collecting and boiling until the sap stopped flowing and allowed them some time to bottle up the new 2012 syrup. They already had orders to fill and wanted to get the

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Continued on page 22 be able to taste the quality right away. Boiling sap is run up to a precise temperature and then double checked with a hydrometer to ensure that the sap is now syrup of the highest quality.

The finishing tank is also made of stainless steel, but is gasfired so as to allow for precise temperature control at the critical time when sap finally crosses that threshold to become syrup. After all the work to this point, it would be disaster to scorch the product at this stage.

As I mentioned earlier, once the boiling sap reaches 219

degrees and checks out with a hydrometer, the temp is lowered to 180 degrees for bottling. This is a dangerous part of the operation, since spilling 180 degree syrup on bare skin isn’t pleasant.

Bob and John work through the process effortlessly with Bob drawing off syrup into a pitcher that is used for filling the jugs.

John then caps the jugs and lays them on their side so that the special caps will vacuum seal.

Syrup is kept at the Sugar House for sale as well as at John’s residence at the entrance to the Reedsville Youth Park (you will

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see the maple syrup sign.) There couldn’t be any easier way to support our local economy than to purchase locally made products and maple syrup is just one of them. It is the sweetness that welcomes spring, so be sure to stock up now. Since they keep very well, they would make fantastic gifts for those from away. I know I love getting syrup gifted in the mail or under the tree at Christmas, I bet a lot of your friends would be just as delighted to receive a sweet maple gift from Mifflin County Pennsylvania. It’s local, and it is GOOD! a

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The Valley, April 2012

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33

The Valley, April 2012

Back Talk

by Dr. Joseph Kauffman

DTaP Let me start this month’s

column by apologizing for my absence last month. My father had to have open heart surgery to remove a tumor inside his heart.

The surgery was successful and he is recovering nicely. I appreciate all of the prayers from those close to us. I didn’t finish this article in time for publication. The topic for this month is a continuance of my articles telling the other side to vaccinations. We usually only hear the one-sided debate vaccinating your children because it is recommended by the pediatrician and the CDC (Center for Disease Control.) I thought the best way to give information about the vaccines is to go in order that they are given. Hepatitis B is the first one that is administered at birth and again at one month old and was the topic of February’s article. The next vaccination administered, and this month’s topic, is on the DTaP vaccine. DTaP stands for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis.

I may combine some of the vaccines in the articles because there

are so many and it would take me a long time to devote each article for one vaccine.

The DTaP Vaccine is injected into the patient five different times. It is given at two months old, four months old, six months old, fifteen to eighteen months old and again sometime from four to six years old. According to the CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/ vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/visdtap.pdf): “Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis are serious diseases caused by bacteria. Diphtheria and pertussis are spread from person to person. Tetanus enters the body through cuts or wounds.

DIPHTHERIA causes a thick covering in the back of the throat.

It can lead to breathing problems, paralysis, heart failure, and even death. A confirmed case has not been reported in the U.S. since 2003. It has been reported to have occurred in approximately 0.001 cases per 100,000 populations in the U.S. since 1980. It is spread by air and direct contact.

TETANUS (Lockjaw) causes painful tightening of the muscles, usually all over the body. It can

lead to “locking” of the jaw so the victim cannot open his mouth or swallow. Tetanus leads to death in up to 2 out of 10 cases. During 2001--2008, a total of 233 cases were reported from 45 states; 26 (13.2%) of 197 cases for which outcome was reported were fatal.

The average annual incidence was 0.10 per 1 million populations and showed a slightly declining trend.

It is spread by exposure through cuts in the skin.

PERTUSSIS (Whooping Cough) causes coughing spells so bad that it is hard for infants to eat, drink, or breathe. These spells can last for weeks. It can lead to pneumonia, seizures (jerking and staring spells), brain damage, and death.

Pertussis is an endemic (common) disease in the United States, with periodic epidemics every 3 to 5

years and frequent outbreaks. In 2010, 27,550 cases of pertussis were reported. It is spread by air and direct contact.

Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine (DTaP) can help prevent these diseases. Most children who are vaccinated with DTaP will be protected throughout childhood. Many more children would get these diseases if we stopped vaccinating. DTaP is a safer version of an older vaccine called DTP. DTP is no longer used in the United States.”

“Vaccinations nearly wiped out whooping cough more than 30 years ago. But it has made a vengeful comeback in California and other highly vaccinated communities around the U.S. While public health officials and scientists agree that vaccines are still the best available tool against pertussis, they argue over how effective they are with time and in the face of a possible increase in virulence. Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health, said health officials expect to see a certain percentage of people who have been vaccinated contracting whooping cough. He says no vaccine is 100 percent effective, and those who are immunized and getting sick are likely to be people for whom the vaccine did

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not work or whose immunity has waned. ‘That’s no surprise to us,’ he said, ‘nor is it a reflection on the efficacy of the vaccine.’ Mooi, who heads the Pertussis Surveillance Project at the National Institute of Health in the Netherlands, said an epidemic in 1996 in his country gave the need for research more urgency. ‘And we found really a kind of new mutation in that bug,’ Mooi said. In tests, Mooi’s lab found the mutated strain produced more toxins, which could make people sicker. See: http://www.nctimes.com/news/ local/sdcounty/article_1e57b3db8302-5313-99b3-f15d48b8829f. html#ixzz1nJpKe1oh

“The debate about whether vaccines can cause regressive autism began in 1985 with the publishing of the landmark book DPT: A Shot in the Dark by Harris Coulter and Barbara Loe Fisher. Among the more than 100 cases of DPT vaccine induced brain inflammation and immune system dysfunction detailed in the book were children who had developed regressive autism after suffering a brain inflammation and encephalopathy following DPT vaccination.

When Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine

Continued on page 39

The Valley, April 2012

34

Joanne Wills’ Contentment Quest Renew your Art...

As the season of new beginnings and renewal is upon us, I ask that you take a moment to view renewal in a different light – in light of your unique “art” that you create and offer to the world.

When we think of spring, we think of new life, colorful vibrant life, and new beginnings.

As we move about our spring days, enjoying the warm sunshine on our faces, the crisp breeze in the air, and the birds in sweet song, let us also be mindful for the opportunity for a unique personal renewal and celebration – the celebration and renewal of our art, our personal flair that we bring to the world. Yes, I said “art,” that mysterious little three letter word that carries a palpable power equivalent to the power in the word “yes.” Art is so much more than painting and sculpting.

Art can be much broader than what we have been conditioned

to think. We all practice art in some way, big or small. Do you know what your personal art is?

Have you ever thought about it, or searched for it? Do you know how to find it? Would you even recognize it if was staring back at you? Well, come along, let’s embark on a tiny journey to uncover the mysterious implication of “art” and what importance it could have for you.

First, let’s explore what it means “to work like an artist.”

When artists are at work they are motivated beyond what we can see, doing more than what is required. In other words, they reach deep down inside and contribute from their entire being. When artists are at work they contribute with purpose not mediocrity.

What are some of the things that you contribute with purpose? To what do you give more than is required?

Art can be as simple as the scrambled eggs you make with loving care. It’s more than eggs... it’s art when you carefully create delectable scrambled eggs by contributing with purpose to feed and nourish your family – because you gave it your all. Art can also be the lullaby that is quietly sung to the infant held in one’s arms late in the night. Art can be the colorful flower garden created to bring peace and relaxation to the weary, and nourishment to birds and butterflies. Art is in the living of everyday life. It is in the feeling of renewal one experiences when one does more than is required. Art is in the awareness and purpose of the present moment.

So, what art do you create?

Is your art apparent in the eggs you scramble for breakfast? Or, can your art be softly heard as you whisper a lullaby? Is your art in the baskets of laundry you fold for your family? Or, in the smile you give to a downtrodden stranger? Leo Tolstoy understood

what art is. He said “Art is human activity having for its purpose the transmission to others of the highest and best feelings to which men have risen” and “Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced” (Tolstoy, L., n.d.).

As you move through your days, what transmission of feeling are you experiencing? What transmission of feeling are you sending – in all that you do? Is the transmission of the highest and best feelings?

As the season of new beginnings unfolds, won’t you join me in creating art? Let’s live mindfully, and give more than is required. Let’s reach deep down and contribute in purpose from our entire being – in all we do.

Let’s create that which makes our hearts sing and our souls happy – our unique and personal art. I’ll

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leave you with a few more quotes to get the creativity flowing so that your art may color your life...

“The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation.” ~Auguste Rodin

“Art is unquestionably one of the purest and highest elements in human happiness. It trains the mind through the eye, and the eye through the mind. As the sun colors flowers, so does art color your life.” ~John Lubbock Sr.

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” ~Pablo Picasso.

How’s your grace list or Eucharisto coming along? Are you still counting the ways grace has touched your life? Check out my grace list on the blog: http://abundantliving-joann.blogspot.com and while you are there, see what we are doing this month for our Earthly Endeavor. a

35

The Valley, April 2012

Life in the East End

by Rebecca Harrop

It looks like spring is finally here. I just hope it’s here to stay.

I prefer hot weather to cold. My Mom doesn’t mind the cold. She says you can always put more layers on but you can only take so much off. Another reason I like the warm weather is because there are more things to do outside, and I love to be outside.

For the last couple of years, Mom and I try to walk every evening after supper when it is nice. I suppose we will start pretty soon. Last year we were walking about a mile at a time.

Dad says we should walk back the lane to the mountain instead of on the road. Mom used to do that, but we have some bear back there now and she doesn’t like them and says she is not walking where she might run into one.

My brother has trail cameras back there and he got several pictures of bear and their cubs.

Of course Dad said bear are more afraid of us than we are of them and Mom responds she is not taking any chances on getting eaten by a bear. She hunts back there in deer season but has a gun then so that’s different.

Walking is a good outdoor activity that most people can do, and it’s a good way to see the world around you and maybe spend a few minutes talking to your neighbors you might see. One of our neighbors, Glen Shank, who has passed away, used to say “you have to be a good neighbor to have good neighbors.” Stopping to say “Hi” and chat a little is one way to do that. If you have elderly neighbors, you can check on them while you are out walking. I think it keeps the world a little smaller when you know your neighbors.

Another spring time activity is pruning our fruit trees, grape vines, rose bushes and planting our gardens. My brother, Ernie, prunes the fruit trees. We let them get a little out of hand a couple years, but he cut them back pretty hard two years ago so they should be ok now. Mom prunes the grapes and roses. I like to see the grape vines at Brookmere Winery along RT. 655 after they prune them. They look so neat and uniform. Maybe Mom should take some lessons on pruning. Ours aren’t quite that uniform.

I’m looking forward to start-

ing the garden this year since last year’s was a bust. I have to go to Agway yet to get seeds, but I know pretty much what I’m planting.

I saw the Siglerville ball team starting practice the other afternoon so Siglerville will soon be busy with ball games. We always have to be careful moving farm equipment through town when there is a ball game going on. The Siglerville Store will be busier than usual with the extra traffic Last month, I got the opportunity to help my neighbors, Esh’s Orchard, with their stand at the Belleville Sale. I had a great time helping them. I like waiting on customers and helping them find what they want. I had lots of experience talking to people as Dairy Princess, so that is helpful when I help Esh’s. Most people are very nice.

I got to try an apple that I’ve never had before. It is called Cameo. It’s a smaller apple and reddish in color. It really has a good flavor for eating and it’s crisp and crunchy. I now have a new favorite apple. If you want to try a really good apple, you need to get some Cameos and see what you think. I think I might have eaten too many though because I made the inside of my lip sore from biting them. Can you eat too many apples? I bet Dave and Janie don’t think so.

I helped Esh’s once back in November also. When I first got there, Dave Esh asked me if I knew my apples. Of course I didn’t, other than red and yellow delicious, but now I’m getting pretty good at telling them apart.

I learned that some apples are good for eating, while others are better for baking or making cider.

Granny Smiths are good for pies, although Mom likes to use Yellow Delicious. I have to admit she has won some pie contests, so I guess she has reason to like them.

Mom made a bunch of applesauce from yellow delicious apples last month because Rachel had her wisdom teeth out and had to eat soft foods for a week. It was pretty good applesauce. I’m just glad I don’t have wisdom teeth. Rachel looked like a chipmunk for a couple of days. Our dentist always told us not to let anyone tell us we had big mouths because our mouths were really

small. I guess that’s why I don’t have wisdom teeth and Rachel’s had to come out.

Things are going to get really busy on the farm right now.

Uncle Bob has been getting the equipment ready to go. David and Ben are finishing up cleaning the calf and cattle pens. Dad and Bob have been going around to the different farms and deciding what to plant where.

Our crops are usually on a rotation, but sometimes they have to change a little so they were figuring that out. They always alter-

nate planting corn and soybeans in the same fields because corn takes nitrogen out of the soil and soybeans put nitrogen in the soil. By doing this, we don’t have to put as much nitrogen on the corn later.

We will also be planting oats and a few new fields of alfalfa.

Easter is also coming up.

Dad used to tell my sister and I that if we didn’t behave, he would shoot the Easter Bunny.

Mom says one year on the way to church we saw a dead bunny on the road and we asked her if Dad shot the Easter Bunny. She said

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no, that someone ran over a bunny. We thought she said someone ran over the Easter Bunny, so we were very upset and started crying. She got us calmed down before we got to church.

We would always have Easter egg hunts at our Gram’s house with our cousins. We don’t have those anymore because we have all gotten too old. So now Mom just gives us all some candy on Easter.

I hope everyone has a Happy Easter and don’t forget the reason why we celebrate this holiday. a

The Valley, April 2012

36

Home-Grown!

A Homeschooler’s Perspective

By Mary Eck Dash The Doubt

So many homeschooling moms—and those in the considering-it camp—lament to me how they just do not feel competent to teach their children, and agonize regularly over the possibility that their students are getting jipped out of a good education. And truthfully, even the most confident of homeschooling parents has those days when that thought just permeates their entire being.

Obviously, the standardized test is the conventional method for capturing an academic snapshot of each student, but is hardly the tool for getting the whole picture.

Some parents fret so over the “PSSAs,” which can really put pressure on students. Some students, for whatever reason, struggle with test-taking despite their aptitude.

And there is the “teaching to the test” debate that has raged for years, and will no doubt rage to infinity. Testing does have its place, of course. But when it comes to really assessing a child’s full academic strengths and weaknesses, there’s just no substitute for the one-on-one exchange homeschool parents get to share on a regular basis. You know your student best, what makes them rally to clear the expectation bar in one subject, what tends to spark a despairing free-fall of frustration in another, and all the nuances in between—the potent parentometer at work!

By the way, just so we are clear, there is NO rule that says all homeschool students must be solid “A” students and boast the highest of standardized test scores, no matter what the naysayers try to tell you via mantras that are as cliché as they are lame. So relax. As a breed, I think homeschool parents tend to (understandably) obsess over a child’s academic prowess in order to justify their decision to homeschool. Don’t do it. Public school parents feel no such compunction when their cherubs miss the mark performance-wise, mostly because public school is the defacto choice. Regardless, they HAVE made a choice, and we’ve made ours. Do not allow your critics any voice in the matter. They have no standing…unless you give it to

them!

There will always be those folks who spout off about we “wanna-bes” not having a teacher’s certification or the right college pedigree. But aside from all the fandangled teaching methodologies and super-duper “new math” strategies and the like, I would venture to say we are not missing much. So, I may never really understand weighted test scoring, know the latest discipline techniques, or embrace any number of the controversial theories teacher programs are pushing these days. I, like many of you, do not hold a teaching degree, but I and my husband have the biggest stake in seeing to it that our children graduate from high school with the solid academic foundation that propels them toward their dreams and becoming successful, God-honoring adults.

If we fail, so do they. And that simple truth can result in the so-called boomerang syndrome that has adult children returning to the nest for more than just a visit.

What powerful motivation we have, right?! Seriously, though, traditional school teachers, kind and competent as most of them are, are not nearly as invested in their students’ long-term success as homeschool parents are. There is absolutely no comparison; what a powerful distinction!

As for those very real issues regarding an academically advanced child or one who needs remedial work, remember that you are a parent first and a teacher/ facilitator second. Incredible resources abound for the parent who wants to step back and allow a third party to serve as instructor for one or more subjects. I so enjoy the weight that is lifted from my shoulders when my children thrive under the expert teaching of another, and those precious moments I can come alongside them and help solve, sort or just plain brainstorm…well outside the confines of that tricky teacher-student dynamic. What joy!

The beauty of homeschooling is just that…the freedom to pick and choose what works best for you and your child(ren). The homeschool industry offers a veri-

table smorgasbord of curriculum options, and I am still sampling this and that, tweaking my high schoolers’ programs according to their strengths, weaknesses and fledgling career goals. Many parents find the sheer number of homeschool vendors and their products to be overwhelming.

Yet, if we had just a few to choose from, we’d be lamenting that predicament! That’s human nature for ya!

I’d rather thank God for the industry’s growth and the standard of excellence that is so evident across a homeschool product market that continues to swell with solutions for just about every situation or challenge a parent might face. Then I pray heartily for wisdom!

I encourage you (and remind myself) to cast those feelings of inadequacy aside and muster the courage to homeschool with confidence…not in you, but in Him who has called you to this arduous labor of love. And do not forget that those nagging, negative, doubt-filled thoughts that seem to “coincidentally” bombard you when you are at your weakest are none other than spiritual battles that are best fought on our knees.

The homeschool season that is all of eighteen years will one day pass, and a new season will be upon us as we, Lord willing, enjoy the blessing that is watching a grown child become all that God has intended him or her to be.

Look upon the season you are now in, and revel in the fact that you need not be a “brainiac” to successfully homeschool your children; you need only be a willing vessel. Lean on Him, and find your strength, your purpose, in Him alone. a

Mifflin County Library from page 12 also needed.

Library services have been funded by a combination of state, county, and local municipality contributions, United Way dollars, fines and other fees, and private donations. Government dollars are shrinking in this difficult economic time. Since 2008 Mifflin County Library’s funding from

Caving Mifflin County from page 39 is the downstream passage. The water is a few feet deep so empty yer pockets! The first room you come upon has a hole in the ceiling. This is the room that I mentioned earlier with the pit. The stream splits and both eventually end in breakdown (an area that the ceiling has collapsed).

If you go upstream from the entrance of the Stream Passage Room, it’s a long crawl on your belly. FYI, the water is COLD! The stream can be followed in this direction for over 100 feet. It also ends in breakdown.

Back to the entrance to the Stream Passage Room once again, stay to the left through low crawls and uneven mud floors that resemble the mountainous landscape that surrounds this area. In about 60 feet, you will notice a circular hole in the wall on your left. This is the entrance to Smittys Passage. It is recognized as the muddiest passage in Pennsylvania. A few dozen feet in, there is a tight squeeze over some breakdown that opens into a small room. Then a few dozen more feet through another muddy passage, down a small grade and into a fissure. Here you will notice two small holes at floor level. This is the entrance to MILROY 1 ½ (this cave will be highlighted in a future issue.)

Back at the entrance to Smittys Passage, continue to the left for another 40 feet. You will come to government sources has been cut by $128,865/year. The reality is that those government dollars will not be coming back.

During the Ridge years, Pennsylvania was ranked well above average in state funding for public libraries but near the bottom of the list in local governmental support of public libraries.

The state’s goal appears to be a more balanced funding approach while still having state level standards for library service.

The shift in funding streams places a heavy burden on rural counties like Mifflin and Huntingdon which have high unemployment rates and an everincreasing burden of state and federal unfunded mandates. It is not going to be easy to find a new balance of county, municipal, and private funding to meet the state’s expectation for local funding.

MCL’s 2012 budget is based on a very different mix of revenue to provide quality library service.

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a fissure that intersects your path at about 90 degrees. Here you can either duck under the wall at floor level and work your way up into a large room around 90’ by 70’ with an average ceiling height of about 8 feet, or you can climb the fissure and come into the same room.

There is a small opening between a large bolder and the fissure wall.

The passage is choked with sediment. At one time, it continued for a little ways through two small rooms before it was too small to continue.

That pretty much wraps up the tour of the passages and chambers in Milroy 2. There isn’t much formation to speak of in this cave. At least not what you would see in the commercial caves. No stalactites, stalagmites or columns. It does however have cool roof pockets, a piece or two of flowstone, calcium buildup on the floor that formed hundreds of little pools of water that are the size of your thumb print, mud sculptures from decades past, and water droplets that cover the ceiling when lit up with an LED light, look like stars. On certain occasions. The Stream Passage room is shrouded in fog. A very unique experience!

If this type of sport interests you, give me a shout. There are a few locals who share a love of caves that get together every once in a while and go exploring. There is plenty of room for more.

Cave safe, Todd Karschner

a

Less reliance is being placed on government funds and more on private funds raised by the Friends and the library’s annual appeal.

Paul Bryan, President of the Friends of Mifflin County Library had a column in The Valley last month about the Friends organization. The Friends group offers memberships and conducts its own fund-raising activities to support specific library services.

In April, the MCL Board of Trustees will be mailing their 2012 fund appeal to patrons, businesses, organizations, and others asking for donations to meet the ongoing costs of library service.

If we could receive even $1.00 from each man, woman, and child in Mifflin County, the library would have $46,682 to keep library doors open and provide the services you have come to expect from your library.

For more information, visit the library at their website: www. mifflincountylibrary.org Carol J. Veitch, Library Director a

37

The Valley, April 2012

Ed’s Railroading News

by Ed Forsythe

Hi everyone. For this month’s article I decided to do a followup on last month’s feature story about Todd Treaster’s “N” gauge layout and collection. Since we were only able to have one picture in the story, my space will be

devoted to pictures this month so please enjoy these. If you’re a new reader to this article, pick up a copy of last month’s issue or go online and enjoy it. Also look for next month’s article on local excursion railroading attractions to

enjoy. The East Broad Top narrow gauge railroad and the Rockhill Trolley Museum are both great historical riding opportunities.

Happy Railroading to all, Ed a Todd standing in the middle of the NYS & A3 layout. The attention to detail is amazing.

The Lonestar Case

Another small section of Todd’s layout.

Home Brew U

Adventures in Homebrewing

by Kevin Morgan

Hop to it!

If I’m not at least the fifth writer to mention in their article that the weather is unseasonably warm, I would be very surprised.

All sorts of perennial plants are already poking their heads out of the ground and the time to plant hop plants and other herbs that can add a unique character to your brew is now. I have five hop plants and an herb garden on my property that supplies me with some of flavorings that I toss in the brew pot.

Hops, or Humulus lupulus, are a very hardy perennial vine that has many different varieties.

The plant is monoecious meaning some plants are male and some are female. As brewers, we are only concerned with female plants because their reproductive cone is what we toss in the pot. This cone contains a yellow powdery substance called lupulin. Lupulin is what provides the bitter resins and essential oils that give beer its

with three inches of compost and throughout the summer toss grass clippings around the base of the plant. Feed them good and feed them often.

Now that you have picked out your location you need to get some plants. Hops are planted as rhizomes. A rhizome is a small portion of the root system of a preexisting hop plant. Once planted, it will begin to produce hops within a couple of years.

You can purchase hop rhizomes on line at this time of the year or

distinct flavor.

So you want to grow some hops. What do they require?

Hops need major amounts of sunlight. At least eight hours a day during the summer months. The soil needs to drain well. Hops need lots of water, but they do not like to have wet feet. Being that hops are a vine, they need something to grow up. I have seen everything from trellis systems installed to hops grown below a fence. The point is getting them off the ground. Many people recommend a wind break to prevent vine damage.

Finally, hops are heavy feeders. Every year in the spring, I cover my hops A nice home garden set-up for hops!

if you know someone growing hops you could ask for a rhizome from them. Once you get ahold of a rhizome, you can store it in the refrigerator in a plastic bag until a good planting date, but place a wet paper towel in the bag to add moisture for the rhizome. When planting conditions are good, dig a hole about 8 inches deep and 12 inches in circumference. Now work in a lot of compost with the soil removed from the hole and place the soil back into the hole.

You at this point should have a mound of dirt/compost. Plant the rhizomes about 4 to 6 inches deep in the mound. Plant them horizontally with the white shoots pointing up and rootlets pointing down and cover.

I have about three varieties on my property. They all have different bittering rates but I think the best grower for the region has been my Williamette hop plant.

It produces well and is one of the more common varieties I ran across in recipes. Water them when they are dry. Remember you are not going to get anything the first year but by the third year you should get between 3 to 5 ounces per plant a year. Cut the vines off after harvest and add some more compost to the mound.

You can either dry the hops or you can put them in Ziploc bags and store them fresh in the freezer.

It’s your choice—both work well.

Starting an herb garden for brewing is a great way to add some real zest to your beers. Many are easy to grow and add some interesting character to brews. I have used sage, oregano, thyme, lavender, rosemary, and bee balm in my homebrews. Each one adds a different aroma and taste to the brew and many times it’s not what you would expect. If want to know

Continued on page 42

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The Valley, April 2012

38

I gained 50 pounds ...and love it! www.families4kids.org 800-568-6449

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39

The Valley, April 2012

Notes

with Todd Karschner

Lewistown Hospital Announces Keynote Speaker and Other Highlights for Women’s Wellness Workshop Lewistown Hospital’s Wellness 4 Women Group will host a Wom-

en’s Wellness Workshop on Saturday, April 14, 2012, at Calvary Bible Church in Lewistown from 7:00am -12:00pm. The event will feature several presenters including keynote speaker, Tammy Miller.

Tammy Miller is an international speaker, author, presentation skills coach, and auctioneer. She loves to help people achieve their goals in life and have fun along the way. Her speaking topics relate to Humor and Healing, Presentations Skills, Motivation and Leadership. She is a past International Director of Toastmasters and a member of the National Speakers Association.

Miller is the President and CEO of Tammy Speaks, LLC, located in central PA, and is the author of three books, The Lighter Side of Breast Cancer Recovery, about her personal experience with breast cancer, My Life is Just Speech Material, and So is Yours, a guide to what to say and how to say it and her newly released compilation book, Pink Ribbon Stories: A Celebration of Life. You can learn more at www.tammyspeaks.com.

Other speakers include: “Your Weight Problem is All in Your Head: Overcoming Mental and Emotional Obstacles to Achieving and Maintaining a Healthy Weight,” presented by Virginia M. Wray, DO, CNSP, Medical Director for the FHA Weight Management and Nutrition Center at Lewistown Hospital.

“Advocacy: Making our Voice Heard from the Doctor’s Office to Congress,” presented by Ann Marie Potter, MA, OTR, breast cancer survivor and advocate for the National Breast Cancer Coalition.

“Understanding the HPV Virus and How to Prevent it,” presented by Barb Miller, RN, Mifflin County OB/GYN Women’s Health Practice in Lewistown.

“Breast Health & Taking Care of Your Bones,” presented by Robyn E. Smith, RT(R)(M) and Kathleen L. Spigelmyer, RT(R)(M)(BD)(QM), Lewistown Hospital’s Imaging Services technologists.

“Language That Lightens Stress: Declarations, Requests, and Promises,” presented by Life Coach, Linda Letner, from Envision L Coaching.

The event will also offer health screenings for blood pressure, blood sugar, stroke, sleep, and bone density as well as Zumba demonstrations and a Spa Therapy and Massage Room. Vendors will be on hand with information as well as a variety of products for sale. Enjoy a complimentary coffee bar and buffet breakfast, door prizes, and giveaways.

Event is free and open to women ages 13 and older. Pre registration is required by April 6, by calling (717) 242-7703.

Back Talk from page 33 Injury Act of 1986, which created a federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), the first awards for vaccine injury and death were given to children who had suffered a brain inflammation/ encephalopathy after DPT vaccination and died, or were left with a variety of brain and immune system problems such as medication resistant seizures, mental retardation, learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD and other develop-

Caving Mifflin County

mental delays. Since then, federal compensation has been awarded to children who developed brain inflammation/encephalopathy after DPT or DTaP vaccination and whose permanent disabilities include autistic behaviors. (In 2008, the federal government conceded that a girl who had received multiple vaccines on one day and regressed into autism was entitled to compensation for her injuries.)”

See http://www.nvic.org/Vaccinesand-Diseases/Autism.aspx

Part Two next month! a

Exploring Milroy #2 Welcome back spring! Warmer weather means caving season is just around the corner. When Wayne asked me to write about the caves in the area, I was speechless. I have never really written anything before. But with some supportive words and a

Third, most caves here are wet caves, MILROY 1, MILROY 1 ½ and have standing and/or moving and MILROY 2. It is located in a water, so be prepared to get wet, limestone bluff on the outskirts of muddy and at least a scratch or town. two. Wear old clothes. They will The entrance is in a recess never look the same again! Don’t where an oval shaped sinkhole wear something that would restrict meets a limestone cliff. Entry is movement, and it is not a good a climb down 15 feet through idea to wear a roughly two foot square gate anything opening. It can be done freehand, around your but it is much easier with the help neck. Footof a rope. Once at the bottom, you wear should will be in a crevace with three have good passages leading from it. One tread and fit goes a few feet and gets too narwell. A pair row to continue. The second goes of leather into a small room just under the gloves and entrance, and the third goes down some sort of to the main cave. A crawl on your protective belly for about 20 feet opens into headgear, a large room with a sloping mud and you are floor. Two passages lead from this ready to go. room. To the right, follow the Fourth, floor upward to where it meets One of the many passages of Milroy #2 take at least the ceiling. You will find a crack three forms just wide enough to wiggle up nudge, I agreed. So please bear of waterproof light per person. through. Once through, you will with me on this new adventure.

Headlamps, Before I get started, I would flashlights, like to stress a few important pocket lights points. First, all caves in Mifflin and even County are located on private those glow land. Exploring any cave requires sticks come permission from the land owner. in handy Please do not trespass. to mark an Second, caving is a safe sport exit in large with experience, and in groups of rooms. LED three or more. NEVER go caving lights are alone, and always tell someone brighter, responsible where you are going. lighter and Also, give them a time when you more duraexpect to return. Remember, cell ble. phones and GPS units do not Finally, if Entering Milroy #2 through the locked steel gate, work underground. There are a you intend to ladies, you are welcome too. few vertical caves in the area. Do take up cavnot attempt these caves without ing as a sport, I strongly recombe in a semi-circle shaped crevace training. There are drops of 100 mend joining the NSS (National two feet wide by 15 feet or more feet or more!

Speleological Society). This fine high. This leads to a large room organization is with a pit that opens up to the stream below. Beyond the pit are full of informaa few small crawls and one more tion, educational small room. opportunities and Back in the first large room, thousands of cave the passage to the left ducks under lovers all over the a low hanging ceiling. Its another country. belly crawl for about 30 feet or so.

With that said, This opens up in the Stream PasI invite you to join sage Room. Just inside this room me on a walkand to the right, the ceiling height through of the first is in places over ten feet high. But highlighted cave: to the left, its mostly crawling on MILROY 2. Its hands and knees. A stream passes part of the Milroy Yours truly wiggling through one of the tight cave system which through here along the right and spots on my back. consists of three Continued on page 36

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The Valley, April 2012

40

POOR WILL’S VALLEY ALMANACK for April of 2012

The Sun advances, and the Fogs retire: The genial Spring unbinds the frozen Earth, Dawns on Trees and gives the Primrose Birth.

--Poor Richard’s Almanack, April 1742 THE STARS At ten o’clock tonight, the twins of Gemini are almost overhead.

To their west, almost directly above Orion, the brightest star is Capella. Along the southwestern horizon, the most prominent star is Sirius, the Dog Star of middle summer. Hercules is rising in the east. Before dawn, the sky looks like early August. Hercules has moved to the center of the sky.

The Summer Triangle, which includes Vega, Altair, and Deneb, is just a little behind Hercules, that is, to his east. The rich band of the Milky Way passes through the Triangle, separating it from autumn’s Pegasus, the Great Square.

THE PLANETS Still the giant evening star, Venus graces April evenings as it lies in Taurus. Mars remains in Leo through June, overhead after sundown, setting after midnight in the far west. Jupiter moves retrograde into Taurus this month, but that is not enough motion to keep it from disappearing into the western horizon by the 15th. Continuing to move with Virgo, Saturn rises at dusk and is visible throughout the night as it follows Leo across the sky.

THE LYRID METEORS The Lyrid Meteors reach their best on April 21-22, and the moon will be dark at that time, favorable for watching these shooting stars. Look in the southeast after midnight. The meteors will appear near the Summer Triangle, espe-

cially in Lyra.

THE SUN On April 20, Cross-Quarter Day (the halfway mark between equinox and solstice), the Sun Enters Taurus.

APRIL- WEEK 1 THE FIRST WEEK OF MIDDLE SPRING LUNAR PHASE AND LORE The Cabbage Butterfly Moon waxes throughout the first week of April, becoming completely full on April 6 at 2:19 p.m. Lunar phase encourages planting of flowers and of vegetables that will produce their fruit above the ground, especially when the moon lies in Cancer on April 1 and enters Scorpio on the 7th.

Rising in the afternoon and setting before dawn, the moon moves overhead late in the evening this week, making that the best time for April fishing. Angling should be most productive as the barometer falls in advance of cool fronts due to arrive around April 2 and 6. Full moon is expected to make the weekend especially troublesome for healthcare workers and public service employees. If you are having a troubled relationship with pets, livestock or lovers, the weekend of April 7 - 8 may be the roughest of the month.

WEATHER PATTERNS Two major weather systems, one arriving on the 2nd and another coming in on the 6th, usually dominate the first quarter of April, and these fronts bring each day of the period a 40 percent chance for precipitation. April 3rd and April 5th are some of the wettest days of the month, carrying about a 60 and a 70 percent chance for precipitation respectively. Snow is most likely to fall (but only ten to 20 percent of the time) on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th.

There is a 20 percent chance for a high in the 80s this week, and there is more than a 50 percent chance of an afternoon in the 60s

or 70s. Still, the first quarter of the fourth month is its coldest quarter, and daily chances for frost remain steady at an average of 40 percent throughout the period, peaking around the full of the moon on April 6.

As the April 6 cold front approaches, the chances for frost briefly diminish, and possibility of highs in the 70s or 80s increases dramatically across the country.

Precipitation, however, often puts a stop to field and garden work.

After the front passes east, the possibility of damage to flowering fruit trees increases in the Appalachians APRIL - WEEK 2 THE SECOND WEEK OF MIDDLE SPRING LUNAR PHASE AND LORE This week’s waning moon will move overhead after midnight and enter its final quarter at 5:50 a.m. on April 13. Rising late at night and setting in the morning, the moon will encourage fish to bite and dieters to eat powdered sugar doughnuts around breakfast time, especially at the approach of cold fronts around April 11 and 16. When the moon lies in Scorpio on the 7th through the 9th and in Capricorn between the 11th and 13th, it will favor the seeding carrots, onions, beets, turnips and radishes directly in the soil, and for planting shrubs and trees. The fading moon should make working with family members a little easier this week than last.

WEATHER PATTERNS Rain is the rule for April’s second quarter. After the third major highpressure system passes through, however, a brief mid- April dry spell typically occurs on the 11th and 12th, chances for precipitation falling to 25 percent. The 11th is also the brightest day in the first half of April, bringing an 80 percent chance for sun, the best chances since the 7th of March.

As for temperatures, chances for

highs below 50 degrees fall to less than ten percent on the 11th where they remain until they drop to five percent on April 22nd. Milder highs above 60s occur better than half the time on all the days of this quarter except on the 10th, when cooler conditions typically prevail. Frost strikes an average of 30 percent of the nights.

APRIL - WEEK 3 THE THIRD WEEK OF MIDDLE SPRING LUNAR PHASE AND LORE Waning through its fourth quarter throughout April’s third week, the Cabbage Butterfly Moon becomes the Frog and Toad Mating Moon on April 21 at 2:18 a.m. Rising after midnight and setting in the afternoon, this new moon is overhead in the morning, making breakfast through lunch time the most favorable time for fishing and the least promising time for staying on your diet, especially as the barometer falls in advance of cool fronts due to arrive in Pennyslvania around the 16th and the 21st. Planting of root crops, flowers, and vegetables that will produce their fruit above the ground is very promising this week, particularly if you seed or set sprouts in Pisces on the 16th through the 18th and in Taurus on the 21st through the 23rd. The moon’s fourth quarter is the best lunar period of the month for ridding your homestead of insects (and termites will be swarming - alerting you to their presence). Law enforcement officers and emergency room personnel might expect a higherthan-average number of problems over the weekend of the 21st.

WEATHER PATTERNS The chances for a high above 50 degrees are 85 percent on almost every day during April’s third quarter, and temperatures above 60 come at least half the time.

Cold 20s are rare (just a five percent chance on the 17th and 18th), but frost still strikes an average of one night in four. The likelihood

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of frost on or about April 21 is increased as new moon coincides with a cool front due near that date. On the other hand, b eginning on the 20th, the chances for an afternoon high in the 70s or 80s jumps from an average of 25 percent way up to 45 percent. Beginning on the 16th of the month, a major increase in the average daily amount of sunlight takes place: a rise from early April’s 50/50 chance for sun or clouds up to a brighter 70 percent chance for clear to partly cloudy conditions.

The second major tornado period of April starts on the 20th — lasting in most years until the 27th.

APRIL - WEEK 4 THE FIRST WEEK OF LATE SPRING LUNAR PHASE AND LORE The Frog and Toad Mating Moon waxes throughout the final week of April, entering its second quarter at 4:58 a.m. Rising in the morning and setting in the evening, this moon will move overhead, calling all frogs and toads to mate and fish to bite in the afternoon, especially as cool fronts of April 24 and 28 approach the area. Planting of flowers and vegetables that will produce their fruit above the ground is favored in Taurus on the 21st to the 23rd and in Cancer on the 26th through the 28th. Lunar stress on humans and animals should be relatively light as the moon moves into its second quarter.

WEATHER PATTERNS Late spring arrives this week, the warm weather creating unmistakable markers in the progress of spring. Among those landmarks: The 26th and the 30th record freezing temperatures less than five percent of the time, the first time that has happened since late September. After the 22nd, chances for snow drop below five percent. Chances for a cold day in the 30s or 40s fall to only ten percent on the 22nd, then plummet

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The Valley, April 2012 another eight percent on the 26th.

Beginning on April 27th, highs in the 90s become possible, and the chances for a high in the 80s pass the 20 percent mark. The chances for a high above 70s degrees are now 50/50 or better for the first time this year. April 29th and 30th are usually the mildest days this week, with the 30th bringing a 90 percent chance for highs above 60 degrees for the first time since late September. The driest days this time of year are April 26th and 27th, each with just a 20 percent chance for rain. The wettest days: April 29th and 30th both carrying a 55 percent chance for precipitation.

A DAYBOOK FOR APRIL ​ pril 1: Seven major cold fronts A move across the nation in April.

Snow is possible in northern areas with the arrival of the first three fronts. Average dates for the weather systems to reach Pennsylvania: April 2, 6, 11, 16, 21, 24, and 28. Although the intensity of the high-pressure systems moderates after the 22nd, be alert for frost at least two days after each system pushes through your area.

Most precipitation usually occurs during the first two weeks of the month.

April 2: Allergy season comes to the whole nation with the last front of March. During the weeks ahead, trees are in full flower throughout the Central Plains, the Northeast, the Northwest and the Rocky Mountains. In the southeastern coastal plains, all the grasses are blooming. Pollen from whatever is blossoming to the west of you will arrive at your homestead every two to three days. Cold fronts bring northern allergens to southern areas. Low pressure in advance of the cold fronts brings up allergens from the South.

April 3: Between April 1 and June 1, up to dozen frosts occur at lower elevations along the 40th Parallel during a typical year. Of course, in some years, frosts end with March. Normally, however, the approximate chances for frost follow a regular and steadily declining trajectory through the end of May. Chances for frost per night at average elevations in Pennsylvania for the month: April l: 98%, April 20: 75%, April 30: 50%.

April 4: Japanese beetle grubs move to the surface of the ground to feed. Carpenter bees become active in your siding and outbuildings. Remove mulch from roses.

Complete spring transplanting of berries, bushes and trees.

April 5: When oak leaves are the size of a squirrel’s ear, watch for weevils building up in the alfalfa.

When you see cabbage butterflies at your garden greens, morel mushroom season will be opening and tent caterpillars hatch.

Barn swallows arrive in the hills as barred owls hatch and grape hyacinths bloom.

April 6: Passover is celebrated between today and the 14th Passover. The Jewish market typically is best after religious holidays come to a close. Milk-fed lambs and kids below 60 pounds are favored for the Passover market.

April 7: Yesterday’s full moon and Middle Spring’s second major cold front bring heightened chances for severe weather today, but odds for milder conditions increase in two or three days.

April 8: Today is Roman Easter: Save your newly weaned, milkfed lambs and kids, weighing about 25 to 45 pounds and not older than three months, for this market. Light-colored meat is best, a sign of the suckling animal.

April 9: Pasture plants can have an unusually high water content in April and May, and sheep may not get enough nutrition from this forage. Silage and hay supplements can take up the feeding slack.

Fresh water, minerals and plenty of exercise will help your young animals (and children) fight off disease and keep them growing on schedule through the warmer months of the year.

April 10: The rising temperatures of the spring months will influence the amount of food your animals and children will need, since metabolic rate rises with the thermometer.

April 11: The April 11 high-pressure ridge almost always means grass-cutting time around the farmhouse and in the city.

April 12: The mild spring months can be some of the year’s best for transporting sheep to feeding facilities. When possible, move animals when the weather is cool and dry in order to reduce shrinkage and stress related problems.

Movement after the passage of a cold front usually provides more pleasant and more stable weather than transporting prior to the arrival of a front - with the possibility of an accompanying thunderstorm.

April 13: Throughout Middle Spring, increasing numbers of cabbage butterflies parallel the increase in the number of insects available to birds and amphibians.

Well fed and warming in the sun, toads and frogs now begin their breeding cycles, calling out for their mates day and night.

April 14: Black and gray morel mushrooms come up about he same time that orchard grass is ready to harvest.

Most weeds (poisonous or otherwise) have sprouted by the middle of April. Walk new pastures looking for unfamiliar plants. Take samples of any you can’t identify to your local extension office.

April 15: Today is Greek Orthodox Easter: Like Roman Easter kids and lambs, Orthodox Easter animals should be milk fed. They can be a little bit bigger than the Roman Easter lambs (between 40 and 60 pounds), though, and should be nice and fat.

April 16: Beginning with the mid-April cool front, a major increase in the average daily amount of sunlight takes place: a rise from early April’s 50/50 chance for sun or clouds up to a brighter 70 percent chance for clear to partly cloudy conditions.

April 17: Consider marketing kids to the popular Hispanic celebration of Cinco de Mayo (May 5th). A 20 - 35 pound live weight milk-fed lamb or kid is favored.

Animals born in February, March or April may be suitable for this market. The number of Hispanics currently exceeds 30 million in the United States.

April 18: When the clovers bloom, flea season has already begun for dogs, cats, and sheep.

And flies are infesting the barn!

The juniper webworm emerges, and eastern tent caterpillars may begin to weave webs on flowering fruit trees.

April 19: Prepare soil and seeds for new moon planting two days from now. At this time, start exploring the possibility of marketing to consumers who are celebrating the graduation of a child from high school or college.

Kids and lambs born in late winter and spring may be suitable for this market.

April 20: When the tree line starts to turn green, weevils appear in alfalfa, and the big field corn planting push begins all across the central states. The second major tornado period of April starts now — lasting in most years until the 27th.

April 21: This is new moon day, time to put in field corn and even soybeans in southern counties.

April 22: The water in farm ponds is warm enough for pan fish breeding to begin. Make rhubarb pie. Mosquitoes bother livestock.

Butterfly season is in full swing as gold finches turn gold. Remove mulch from roses. Complete spring transplanting of berries, bushes and trees.

April 23: Spring rains and humid-

ity, especially in southern states, can increase the risk of internal parasites. Make use of stool sample analysis to ensure that drenching has been effective.

April 24: Bass move to the shallows to feed and mate.

April 25:The high leaf canopy is beginning to fill in, casting shade on the flower and vegetable garden. Scarlet tanagers appear in the woods; meadow parsnip, wood betony, honeysuckle, buckeye and red horse-chestnut flower.

April 26: Antlers are growing on deer as the commercial radish harvest begins in northern states.

Almost all of summer’s seeds have sprouted. Ducklings and goslings are out on the lakes and rivers. Orchard grass is being cut in the south. Dandelions go to seed. Farmers are setting out tobacco plants.

April 27: Average high temperatures reach 70 along the Ohio River as cutworms and sod webworms work the cornfields all across the central and southern parts of the nation.

April 28: Today brings the first cool front of Late Spring, the season during which the canopy closes over most of the yards and woods of the United States. When the mercury climbs after frost, consider shearing the ram’s scrotum in preparation for even hotter weather ahead. Air temperatures in the 80s can lower fertility in all mammals, and 90s can make the ram infertile for weeks..

April 29: As you mulch your new garden plants, consider recent scientific findings that suggest the color of the mulch or soil can influence the development of your crops. Ground that is brick red – or bricks themselves – seem to encourage growth. Red also discourages nematodes. Orange mulch is associated with bigger turnips.

April 30: Keep an eye out for bloat as you let your goats and sheep enjoy the new greenery. Cut some lush pasture and let your animals get used to the taste before you let them out in it. Or just let goats eat hay before heading out to the field. Sunflower seeds with the grain may help to stop enterotoxemia from overeating.

If you feed the herd twice a day, they don’t get so hungry, and then if you let them out in the pasture they won’t be so likely to overeat.

Of course, that is also true for children and dieters!

SPRING FEVER

At this point in the year, everything is out of control. The lessons of February and March are useless: lessons of patience,

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lessons of waiting and watching.

Everything was slow and easy when the weather was cold.

It was easy to find only one or two things to add to the week’s inventory. It was easy to be lazy, to stay indoors, to watch the fire. The signs of spring were almost the same from one day to the next. It would probably be gray and rainy one more day, I often told myself.

Why hurry?

Now, nothing waits for me.

My winter skills have backfired.

All through February, I kept thinking that I had plenty of time.

In March, there was always one more day. The good life and the good times were coming. They were not coming soon enough, but they were not coming too soon, either.

When the leaves came down in November, I conditioned myself to accept stasis as the norm.

I wallowed in looking forward and backward instead of looking at the present. I learned to relish the glow of anticipation. I did the languid work of fantasy and remembering. Against the quiet landscape, I took heart in resignation.

Becoming wonderfully sluggish, I sank deep into schedules and inventories. I indulged sinfully in plans and lists, fattening them for the distant feast of action. I fell in love with what might have been and still might be. I put off until tomorrow, and I found the truth therein.

And now that everything is blooming, I discover I’m not prepared. Things are moving too quickly. How could I possibly keep up? Betrayed by fulfillment, I lie back in sweet bewilderment.

After all, it’s much too late. By the time I’m ready, everything will have disappeared, gone in the twinkling of eye. It’s much too late. Why should I hurry? The tide will turn again.

Bill Felker Copyright 2012 – Bill Felker

Listen to Bill Felker’s weekly “Poor Will’s Almanack” on podcast any time at www.wyso. org. And Bill’s website, www. poorwillsalmanack.com, contains weekly updates and a sizable bank of information about nature. His organization of weather patterns and phenology (what happens when in nature) offers a unique structure for understanding the repeating rhythms of the year.

Bill lives with his wife in Yellow Springs, Ohio. They have two daughters, Jeni, who is a psychologist in Portland, Oregon, and Neysa, a photographer in Spoleto, Italy.

The Valley, April 2012

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Dave Wilson

Coins, Precious Metal and a Little of this and That

Asset Preservation

“Save for the Future!” This was a phrase that my parents drilled into my head, and that of both of my sisters, beginning in the late 1950s when we were all finally old enough to understand the theory. Work hard, be frugal, save, pay your bills on time, be honest, and NEVER borrow money (at interest) for ANYTHING you didn’t absolutely need! In the 1950s and 60s...even into the 1970s, this was a simple formula that helped many (dedicated and disciplined) people build an estate that would allow for a “reasonable” planned retirement. With almost “0” inflation during those decades, interest earned on savings plans actually INCREASED your money’s purchasing power!

“Saving” was very much encouraged, and people back then were justified in NOT being concerned about the future value of the “dollars” they were stashing away “for a rainy day.”

Times have changed..and that is a definite understatement!

In early 2000, I remember having a conversation with a good friend about his savings plans. He was earning just a bit over 6% on his CD’s (Certificates of Deposit), and it looked like rates were headed lower. This was upsetting to him, as he had children that would soon be of college age and he would need all the extra income he could get. Imagine,

Home Brew U from page 37

what each one brings to the table, I would suggest the book The Homebrewer’s Garden. It is an excellent read and even contains some recipes in it. Speaking of recipes, I promised I would dish out one of mine this month.

Oregano Pale Ale is an earthy beer with lots of a malty mouth feel. It has a reddish brown color and the oregano comes through in flavor more than the hops. This is a one gallon recipe.

Start off with one gallon of spring water. Add 4 ounces of

if you will, how he feels today, with ALL of his children now in secondary education, and his CD’s providing almost NO HELP at all.

With CD’s, savings accounts and interest-bearing checking accounts paying virtually NOTHING, and with the latest announcement by the Federal Reserve that near “0” interest rates would continue through at least 2014, many people (disgusted and unhappy with current pitiful returns) are searching for different, hopefully more productive, ways to invest their savings.

For the past several years, the influx of new customers “inquiring” about gold, silver, rare coins and other precious metals as an alternative to standard savings plans, has been significant, especially in the past two years since interest rates have bottomed out.

Buying a one-year CD with a less than 2% interest rate, when real inflation according to everything we read is well in excess of 9% annually, is NOT particularly pleasing to most investors. The outflow of cash from bank savings accounts and CD’s has been substantial.

When we are asked about investing in precious metals, we are VERY careful to point out that, yes, those folks who have purchased gold and silver since 1990 have enjoyed a wonderful return on investment. However,

precious metals are not FDIC insured, and there is ALWAYS the possibility that losses could occur.

Precious metals have strongly outperformed traditional savings plans for nearly 20 years, and, in our “opinion” will continue to do so. There are, unfortunately, no “guarantees” that are associated with tangible investments, and any company that suggests otherwise should definitely be avoided!

Normally, when we discuss new clients’ specific needs, we suggest that “income,” at present, is much less important than ASSET PRESERVATION. The United States has a current national debt in excess of 15-TRILLION dollars. The Obama administration has announced that just this year’s planned deficit will exceed one-and-a-half trillion dollars.

(This is $1,500,000,000,000.00!)

With all the Off-Budget expenses, this figure will likely end up being higher than 2-Trillion. These numbers are simply CRAZY! With China, Japan and Russia presently net “sellers” of US debt, the buyer of last resort, the Federal Reserve, has no choice but to step in and print the money our Government needs to operate.

When massive amounts of “dollars” are created (as they say) “out of thin air,” all of the dollars currently in existence, including the newly created cash, will lose purchasing power. We have all

Crystal Malt and 3 ounces of Munich Dark Malt and bring up to a temperature of 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the grains by using a strainer. Add 1 ¼ pounds of Plain Light DME (dry malt extract) and bring to a boil.

After a slow boil is established, add 2 TBS (tablespoons) of Kent Golding hops and 2 TBS of Williamette hops for one hour. I am referring to the pellet form of hops. If you are using fresh homegrown hops double the amount 2 TBS would be 4 TBS.

The last 15 minutes of the boil add 2 TBS Williamette and 4TBS of fresh oregano or 2TBS

of dried oregano. Separate hops and herbs with a strainer. Reduce temp to a least 80 degrees and pitch yeast. Two weeks in primary fermenter and one week in the secondary then bottle the brew with just under ¼ cup of priming sugar. Condition in the bottle for 2 weeks and enjoy.

Next month I will be discussing dandelion beer and wild foraging. If dandelions come early out due to the warm weather and you want to use them store them in the freezer until next month’s article.

Until then may your brew pot never boil over, and Happy Brewing. a

seen this manifested in the price of gasoline, groceries, medicine, appliances, entertainment and even clothing and household goods, especially in the past two years. These price increases, in our opinion, are just the beginning as real inflation is poised to exceed double digits.

One unfortunate consequence to a US dollar with falling purchasing power that most people don’t think about is how our foreign trading partners feel about all this money creation. The dollar is presently the world’s reserve currency, but if our major foreign trading partners (especially China and Japan) decide that they are no longer interested in selling their goods in exchange for less valuable US dollars, then many of our larger super-marts, presently jammed with products from overseas, will end up having plenty of room to build in-store professional wrestling arenas.

Precious metals (gold, silver, platinum and palladium) are respected and valued hedges against the ravages of high inflation.

“Income” is nice, but preserving (or even increasing) your money’s “purchasing power” is MUCH more important. Lately, precious metal prices have been extremely volatile, but they still remain, in our opinion and in the opinion of many very respected economists, to be an important addition to any investment portfolio.

Nearly all of the world’s central banks are buying GOLD! They know what has REAL value, and they are preparing for the time that fiat currencies (those paper currencies that are backed by nothing tangible) become worthless.

That process is happening right before our very eyes. a

Find us on The Valley Newspaper NOTICE Reedsville Farmer’s Market

Spring time is here, a time of renewal and planning. Over the winter, I have been thinking about the spring. I have also been reflecting about the attempt to bring an artisanal farm market to Reedsville. At the time of start up, the conditions were in favor of a market outside of the Reedsville Seafood Restaurant. The two organizations had just begun to create a synergy.

My role in keeping that synergy was to feature items purchased from farmers in the restaurant. As we know the restaurant closed and I found work elsewhere, which made it difficult to appear at the market and fan the flames of your passion for untreated local produce. I am still very much a fan of untreated local produce but I also am a fan of my current job, so I do not see how I can serve as a manager of the market any longer.

I have run an ad in The Valley newspaper, asking the community gardeners (pros and amateurs) to think about setting up a stand at the market. I have also been spreading the word that the Reedsville Famer’s Market needs some people with some time and dedication to the local farmers to help out with managing. To date, I have not had any responses.

I do realize that the farmers that attended the market last year are resilient and strong willed people and could most likely manage their own market. My intention in finding a replacement manager is to complete off farm tasks, while you have the maximum time to create your best products.

I am always available to speak to you about market related situations as they arise so please do not hesitate to contact me.

Very sincerely yours,

thevalleynewspaper@gmail.com

Matt Yoder 562-480-3127 i.mattchew@hotmail.com

The Valley, April 2012

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The Valley, April 2012

thevalleynewspaper@gmail.com