August News

If only the poor Irish had known. But even if they had known, what could they have done about it when they lived in such abject poverty under the ruthless domination of the landlords, who in turn were at the mercy of absentee landlords in England? Their intermittent 100 year potato crop failures that caused millions to starve might have turned out differently if they could have imported one knowing farmer from Peru to show them the way.

The lands of Peru and Bolivia have a lot of marginal farming soil, as does Ireland in the areas the common wretches were forced to live on, but that area in South America is recognized as the origin of the potato. And do they know how to raise potatoes. They can grow potatoes on top of a mountain or in the dust alongside a donkey trail. Year after year, dry times and wet. One of their secrets to success is variety. Where we have a handful of commercially grown potato types, they have hundreds of variations with perhaps several dozen popular ones that have been developed for a wide range of conditions. The one in the above picture we call Ozette potato, but in Peru it’s known as Makes the Daughter-in-law Cry. Other names for Peruvian potatoes are High Mountain Village, Strong Morning Frost, Guinea Pig Fetus, Ashes of the Soul and so on. Sure sounds more imaginative than russet, doesn’t it?

In 1791 the Spanish, moseying their way up the west coast of South America, stopped in Peru and loaded up on some bumpy yellowish potatoes. The Spanish planted those hardy little potatoes in the garden next to their new fort at Neah Bay, built in 1792, on the north flank of Cape Flattery at the extreme northwest tip of the contiguous U.S. The fort was ill-fated from the beginning and in early 1794 the Spanish beat a hasty exit. But they left what there was of their garden, and the Makah had been watching. These local natives liked the little potatoes and a group from Ozette, a village 15 miles to the south, took some back and began planting them as they had seen the Spanish do it. They figured it out, and when settlers began showing up in the mid-1800’s, the Makah developed a good trade selling their “Ozette potatoes” to Boston Man.

Today you can still get Ozette potatoes at markets featuring organic produce and a number of restaurants in the Northwest U.S. When I began writing When Wolf Comes I had never tasted or even seen an Ozette potato, but I knew their history in the Pacific Northwest and found out they and other special potato types were being grown at Full Circle Farm, an organic farm in Carnation, not far from Seattle. I talked to the co-founder, Andrew Stout, and when he heard what I wanted to do he told me to come out and pick up 5# of planters. I took my bag of Ozette potatoes home and planted them in the back yard. As I progressed with Wolf, the potatoes grew, and I finally had the opportunity to eat some. They’re great. All you have to do is steam them for a few minutes. Eat them any way, even cut up in a salad. The taste is a little different, some call it nutty, but if you can find any in your area I think you’ll find these bumpy little tubers worth driving extra miles to experience, or order them online from Full Circle Farms, Carnation, Washington, U.S.A. The farm itself is an interesting story.

July News

 OK,I'm late getting something up this month, but it's a busy time; this should be of interest to some folks.

When I was a teenager I split my time between my native home­­ in the Pacific Northwest, where I went to school, and summers in Alaska where I worked a lot and learned to play tennis (really) and fished the rest of the time. In those days the salmon choked Alaska’s many streams. The bears and I caught all we wanted and often I would just watch in bliss as 50 pound Chinook fought their way up the current while golden eagles drifted overhead. Those of us fortunate enough to experience those moments will always remember, but it’s different now.

Yet the spirit of those times remain in many of us and this year, despite the decades of terrible waste and greed imposed on our natural resources, six million pink salmon are due to pass through Puget Sound on their way to the streams of their birth. In the old days we seldom kept pinks (humpies), but we appreciate them now and take better care of them so they taste almost as good as a coho. The chinook and coho runs are also supposed to be greater, and if I’m fortunate I may take a few home. It is gratifying that many people, some famous, that did not know those earlier days, are also interested in restoring the salmon runs and the health of the Pacific Northwest to something like it once was.

So how about this Northwest bunch that call themselves Pearl Jam?

ARLINGTON, Wash. - The email came out of the blue in February. It was from Pearl Jam rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard, and he had a question for Arlington's natural resources manager Bill Blake. Could Pearl Jam donate money to Arlington for use in planting native trees along the Stillaguamish River?

Blake fired back a quick reply: "Yes, please."

As part of Arlington's Arbor Day celebration Saturday, volunteers worked to plant more than 500 native shrubs and trees in the city's new Country Charm Recreation and Conservation Area, the former Graafstra dairy farm. To the tune of $8,000, the members of the Seattle-based, internationally acclaimed band bought the native plants to help offset the pollution Pearl Jam members figure they produce when the group goes on tour.

Pearl Jam, which is celebrating its 20th year, donated $210,000 in 2010 to the Cascade Land Conservancy to plant 33 acres of native trees throughout the Puget Sound area. About seven weeks ago, Gossard wrote to Blake asking if Pearl Jam could help out in Arlington.

"Every tour we do a carbon offset to mitigate the thousands of tons of carbon we release with our planes, trucks and cars. We thought maybe Arlington might be a great city to partner with to do our next one," Gossard wrote to Blake. "We pay for trees to be planted, hopefully restoring wetlands and critical areas. Any thoughts?"

Where Gossard got the idea for donating trees to Arlington, Blake doesn't know, except that he picked up from Gossard that the guitarist likes the river. During March, Gossard and Blake continued to correspond by email.

"We worked it out that they needed to help plant about 4.6 acres of trees to mitigate for their 2011 summer and fall tour carbon footprint," Blake said. "With the help of the Stilly-Snohomish Fisheries Enhancement Task Force, trees will be planted this spring and again in the fall." Other groups helping to plant trees, establish a public garden area, improve access for kayakers, put in an off-leash dog area and build a campground at the park include the Arlington Rotary Club, Boy Scouts, church groups, William's Pipeline Co., Don Tillman, Snohomish County and the state.

The city and the task force plan to supply training, tools, snacks and beverages. People need to wear boots and gloves and bring rain gear and extra food if they need it.

"We would like to preserve the land to go to a 150-year forest harvest rotation instead of the normal 40- to 50-year rotation," Blake said. "This should help with ... impacts on climate change, reduce flooding, improve wildlife habitat and secure some level of sustainable forestry jobs and products we'll all depend on 150 years into the future."

Gossard has been participating in ecological and philanthropic efforts for many years. He and his family live in Seattle, where he grew up.

"I offered to take Stone and his family on a float trip down the Stilly this summer," Blake said. "Arlington is very fortunate to have Pearl Jam offering their assistance. I hope that someday they can come play some songs down at Country Charm and the citizens will figure out a way to show their appreciation."

 JUNE NORTHWEST NEWS

EBOOK SOUP

The Northwest Folklife Festival is a celebration of ethnic arts and cultures and is held every Memorial Day weekend at the Seattle Center. This is a sprawling, festive, interactive event for all ages. I have attended every year since 1989 and yes, it's over for this year, but if you are in the area around Memorial Day next year I encourage you to attend - it's free! A donation is appreciated, but you can always buy a commemorative t-shirt or other clothing to do your part. Folklife is a little different now than it was in the early days, thanks to the creeping greed of our beloved keepers of the city, but it's still a great place to experience many kinds of ethnic food, art of all kinds, different types of dancing, and watch performers from all parts of the world. There aren't as many crafts people as there used to be, but there are still as much as you can take in in a day, and there's even a lady that is still there, right outside Center House, still sketching folks of all sizes and colors, and still doing the excellent work she did 16 years ago when she sketched my wife and I.
You can't help but have fun.

Wildlife in the suburbs is a growing problem in the Northwest as it is in other areas. We encroach into the areas where wild animals live and they don't want to leave, sometimes the animals learn to find food more easily around human habitation, and this often leads to a sad situation such as happened recently in Lynnwood, Washington:

Lynnwood Police shot and killed a bear that they had been tracking overnight. "They said it was being tranquilized and then they said it was being shot and killed; they shot it twice," said a woman who lives nearby. "I was in tears."
Ted Peterson saw the bear run across his back yard. “I just got in the house, I heard shot and the bear ran right by here through the yard,” he said. “It was really moving.”
Officers and witnesses say the bear charged and began growling. “It was a wounded bear, it may have charged at them and I think they did what they had to do without a doubt if I was their shoes I would do the same thing," said a man who lives nearby.