Deep Roots

There is a first time for Saturday afternoon. This everything (or so the saying was going to be a first for goes) and I experienced a them and they were unsure first last week. I was part of of how much adult help a chicken butchering squad. was going to be needed. I would not say it is the most fun thing I have ever done, but I also would not turn down the opportunity to do it again. DEEP ROOTS I agreed, knowing that I too at times employ the help of family members for less-than-thrilling jobs. I suppose my thought pro-

Over the years I have By Whitney Nesse cess involved some quid pro heard my parents and quo. They had the use of grandparents tell stories of their another neighbor’s chicken butchering chicken butchering days. What I equipment as well as his expert help. remember them exaggerating most So the four of us, along with some adowas how terribly hot it always seemed lescent helpers, started the process. to be and how plucking the birds was tedious and terrible. I also remember my grandma saying how delicious fresh, never-frozen chicken was. As a kid, I sincerely thought I had sorely missed out on the chicken butchering days of old. By the time I came around, my grandparents had a friend With the help of our seasoned chicken processing neighbor, we set up an assembly line-style operation. The kids gathered chickens, one person killed, another scalded and two people at the greatest invention since sliced bread: the plucker. from whom they would get home- Had it not been for the chicken grown whole chickens, already pro- plucker, I doubt that you would ever cessed and frozen. For a kid, there was see me at a butchering exhibition no fun in that! again. It is no wonder the previous Well, the Lord had an interesting way of giving me the desires of my heart — a good old-fashioned chicken butchering! My brother and his wife (who live a stone’s throw away from me) asked if I would help them butcher their flock of 30 or so chickens on a generations spoke so loathsome of plucking. Giving a chicken carcass a ride in the plucker is the most extreme wardrobe change in the history of wardrobe changes. It goes from looking like a feathered friend to looking more like dinner in a half a minute.

Midsummer garden checklist

ALEXANDRIA, Minn. — For gardeners, this year has been particularly challenging. The Extension Horticulture Team has created the following checklist to assist gardeners in caring for their plants.

Container care — Don’t let your containers dry out! Water when the soil feels dry at one inch down, this could mean you need to water daily. Fertilize your containers every 2-3 weeks.

Maintain your lawn — With our hot soil temperatures, avoid seeding lawns until the weather cools in mid-August. Conserve water by extending the time between waterings. Instead of watering daily, water once a week deeply. This will encourage healthy root growth. Raise your mower height to 4 inches to shade and cool the soil.

Avoid spraying herbicides in hot weather — Herbicides containing 2, 4-D or dicamba can vaporize in hot weather and damage sensitive garden plants. Wait until prolonged cool fall weather to spray.

Identify insect pests — If you suspect plant damage is from insects, identify that pest prior to spraying insecticide. Once identified, you can select a pesticide that targets that particular insect.

Vegetable care — You may be seeing blossom end rot in your first tomatoes due to the hot weather we’ve had. Just remove the fruit with symptoms so the plant can put its energy into new, healthy fruit. Garlic scapes (the flower buds) are starting to appear. It’s worth taking the time to remove the scapes so the plant will put its energy into the bulb.

This article was submitted by Robin Trott, University of Minnesota Extension. v

I am not sure what exactly my expectations were. I suppose I thought it would be a loud, boisterous, feathery mess — which it really was not. The entire process went along rather quickly and quietly, with minimal amounts of plumage floating about. I quite enjoyed getting to work alongside my brother again, as we had not done so in many years. I also enjoyed the silly banter, kindly teasing and the sense of accomplishment from a job well done.

Maybe my youthful thought of missing out — having never butchered chickens — was not too far-fetched. Had I turned down the opportunity, I would not have been able to enjoy the sense of community I felt when neighbors help one another. No matter how hot or loathsome a job, good hearted, neighborly company makes it tolerable.

Some folks of my generation have traded the opportunity to genuinely gather — for any reason at all — for a false sense of community found on a screen. Maybe the older generation had the right idea: even if the job was miserable, they at least had company. I wonder if it’s time for us to start butchering more chickens.

Whitney Nesse is a sixth-generation livestock farmer who is deeply rooted in her faith and family. She writes from her central Minnesota farm. v

New features on Market app

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced that additional commodities and features are now available on the free USDA Market News app, which provides instant access to market information about conventional and organic products.

Version 2.0 includes access to three additional commodity areas: cotton and tobacco; dairy and specialty crops; as well as the ability to filter searches by commodity area and market type, the ability to add reports to favorites, an improved way to manage subscriptions, and a calendar feature which provides access to previously released reports.

The updated version offers greater access to market information by increasing the total number of market news reports available on the app to nearly 1,500.

Users can search for markets based on their location, by state, or by commodity. They also can share reports via text or email, subscribe to reports, and receive real-time notifications when a new report is published. For additional data analysis, the app lets you share the source data behind the reports.

The free USDA Market News app is available in both iOS and Android versions and may be downloaded through the Apple and Google Play stores. Search for “USDA Market News Mobile Application” to download the app.

This article was submitted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. v

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