The Applegater

24 Spring 2016 Applegater Look who's reading the Gater Take us with you on your next trip. Then send your favorite "Reading the Gater"photo to gater@applegater.org or mail to Applegater, P.O. Box 14, Jacksonville, OR 97530. Photos will appear as space allows. Photos, clockwise from top left: —Famished, Diana Coogle searched the Gater for the best place to dive fo r t ro u t a t L a g o d i G a rd a n e a r Verona, Italy. — J o h n Tay l o r fo u n d t h e b ro n z e l a n d m a r k , M a n n e k e n P i s , i n Brussels, Belgium, with help from the Applegater's GPS. —Linda Yates wisely chose the Gater over Paris's Louvre Museum in her quest for world-famous antiquities. Add to this community and place while you are here the ground, and all your neighbors have their straws in the same pool. Nobody likes it when wells run dry—just ask the folks up Humbug Creek. While we are on the subject of water, please make sure you leave plenty of space between your grow and the riparian habitat to keep your overpriced soil amendments from soaking into the creek. Seriously, nitrogen and creeks don't mix well. If you did plant too close to the creek, don't cut down the riparian trees that are "blocking your sun." It's rude, illegal, and those trees are now serving an important function in filtering up your fertilizer before it gets to the water. If you're building an irrigation pond, don't put it along the creek or river—are you sensing a theme?—as it will inevitably become a breeding ground for invasive plants and animals that don't play well with the local aquatic species. And your irrigation pond could wash out in a high-water event like we have every so often, causing a lot of erosion, not to mention the loss of your investment. If you are concerned about rodents, erect raptor poles around your grow instead of using d-CON or any other anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs). Simply drive three- to six-inch wood poles into the ground with a height of around 15 feet. Add an 18-inch crosspiece at the top for a perch, made from two-inch thick wood, and orientate to an east- west direction so that it's more visible in low light. ese artificial raptor perches are used all over the world to help keep rodents out of large-scale plantings. You provide a safe vantage point for the hawk, and she eats your mice and voles. What a deal! e problem is, if any of those rodents have tasted an AR in the last nine days, your hawk will die, too. So get your neighbors to pack up the poison, too. F i n a l l y , s o m e g e n e r a l suggestions for getting along: Don't call yourself a farmer. It's hurtful to the people actually growing food in this valley for a thousand times less money. Pay your "trimmigrants" a fair wage, but be aware that many local businesses can't afford to offer the same under-the- table $30 an hour. You are making it harder for everyone else to find labor during the fall. Tip the person serving you at the café, and buy a Britt Festival ticket instead of trying to cut through the fence. We all know you have a wad of cash in all four pockets, so don't be stingy. Your buying power is supporting local farmers and small family restaurants. In closing, welcome to the Applegate. It's a beautiful place to live, with a diverse community of residents. Whether you plan on sticking around and growing some roots, or just making some money and moving on, I invite you to add to this community and place while you are here. Jakob Shockey • 541-890-9989 jakob@apwc.info ■ RESPECT Continued from page 1 HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

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