A collection of stories from the life of Michael Burke. He worked for the Forest Service in Alaska, California, and Oregon. He lives in Oakland, OR. His wonderful wife, Celia, passed in May of 2021
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
A BAD DAY ON THE FARM
These pictures taken in 2011 on a small farm near Dillard where the Umpqua Bio Fuel group processed grease collected from restaurants into bio diesel. The processing facility was made up of old water heater tanks, and all kinds of plumbing powered by propane. Lucky we did not blow the place up and nothing was on firm ground in the winter as you can see.
Sunday, January 31, 2021
Biochar
Between storms this last week did my third batch this winter made from 2 to 4 inch material and wet, 22 inches of rain here since 10/1/2020. Used some cardboard boxes to get it started. Crush it by putting it in empty 40 lbs bird seed bags and drive over it. Between me and the neighbor it goes into our compost.
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Prelude to Spring
The first sign of Spring is the arrival of seed catalogs in the mail and all the bags of soil amendments piled in the parking lot of the local Bi-Mart in Sutherlin. This last Sunday our neighbor, Jim brought us a couple of bags of greens from his greenhouse. I have been providing him with biochar to incorporate into their compost and from that he makes a potting soil that beats anything I can buy or put together. Something he learned from his grandmother in his younger days. My gardening abilities are limited by a shortage of water in the summer and an increase of critters eating everything I plant, except potatoes. Last summer my motion camera detected mice climbing the bean supports and eating all the foliage, plus everything else, including what was started in our greenhouse. Even our three cats can't keep up with the varmints. Anybody know of a poison that will not be harmful to our cats?
CHANGING OF THE SEASONS
It is the middle of September as summer still hangs on, but there is a chill in the morning air as I drink my coffee, listen to the radio a...
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The lights from houses along the freeway were mingled through the trees in rural southern Oregon. It made me wonder what these people did ...
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My old friend Arthritis showed up last weekend and took advantage of my right knee. By Sunday afternoon I was confined to my chair in pain...
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Last night I had a wild dream of being lost in Tiller, Oregon. For those of you that have never been to Tiller, it is a small community ne...