Portland, OR

I always seem to miss Portland’s coldest weather. Not to say I am sorry about that, but as I am in Michigan, where it is always a snow day or should be considered one, it’s not like I am missing out on the cold and snow. I just really wanted to experience a Portland Snow Day.

First, this is a classic video of another snow day from 2007. It is just too funny.

For all those bundled up indoors, here’s some random weather facts courtesy Oregonphotos.com. Mostly.

The absolute coldest temperature recorded in Oregon was 54 degrees below zero (and yes, that’s Fahrenheit). And get this, that temp was recorded not once, but twice in two different places (Ukiah and Seneca), though the dates were consecutive days, February 9th and 10th back in 1933.

That’s about as cold as Antarctica’s coastal areas get in the winter. Granted, the elevations of Ukiah and Seneca are much, much higher than Portland, so I doubt that kind of cold could come to Stumptown.

However, the lowest temperature on record for Portland is 19 below zero, which occurred on February 2, 1950. That’s more like an Antarctic summer…

And for those of you lamenting the snowfall Portland received yesterday and coming later this week, just be glad it’s not 1892. That winter, Portland received more than 60 inches of snow.

According to the National Weather Service, the heaviest snowfall that Portland received in one day was 8 inches. Gee, that’s not so bad, but it was during the winter of 1950, and in that January, Portland had 22 inches during that blustery blizzard. The NWS has it that Portland had 15 inches as the greatest snow depth that month. My question is what happened to the other 7 inches (ha, that’s what she said — wow, cannot believe I wrote that).

Anyway, Portland, enjoy the snow. At least you are not in Minnesota…for more reasons than just the snow, right. Sorry, Minnesota.

Portland, weather, snow, snowfall, winter, temperature, cold, snow day, Oregon, Antarctica, Ukiah, Seneca, National Weather Service, Minnesota

And what do those two have together? Phytoplankton.

I watched NOVA on OPB last night, an episode called “Ocean Animal Emergency”. It was a very good episode — inspiring if not disheartening — and something that came up in the show was a little something called domoic acid. It is a toxin that is killing sea lions. Naturally, I wondered if domoic acid affects Oregon?

Yes, it has, and could at any time. And domoic acid doesn’t just kill sea lions. You see, domoic acid comes from phytoplankton called Pseudo-nitzschia, and this is what Pseudo-nitzschia looks like (right).

Pseudo-nitzschia is the genus and there are only some species within that genus that produce the toxin. Clam and mussels are filters, if you will, when they eat. The bivalves strain water for phytoplankton, and some of that phytoplankton is Pseudo-nitzschia. Pseudo-nitzschia exists in most coastal areas, and when an algae bloom happens, Pseudo-nitzschia will almost always be involved, but hopefully not dominant, and if it is, hopefully not the toxic variety. The trick is to identify it as toxic or not before humans start eating clams and mussels.

In a quick google search, I found out that the entire Oregon coast was closed to all shellfish harvesting due to high levels of domoic acid as recently as 2005. Currently, the Oregon mussel harvest has been closed due to the toxin.

The problem is that you cannot “close” the harvest for marine mammals that fed on clams, mussels, and other shellfish.

Now, you may be asking, what causes phytoplankton or algae “blooms”? Usually, blooms occur when nutrient-rich waters from the deeper parts of the ocean rise up to the surface. Blooms feed many marine creatures and provide the backbone to the food chain, but there is always the downside…

“Harmful algal blooms are the negative side of coastal upwelling,” [Peter] Strutton [an assistant professor in OSU's College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences] said. “There is growing evidence that these blooms have been increasing over the last 20 years and not only are becoming more frequent, but more intense and with longer duration. We also are starting to record toxic events in places that haven’t had them, so there is a concern that they may be spreading.

“The spreading could be caused by the transport of phytoplankton in the ballast water of ships,” he added.

Strutton said global climate change leading to warmer ocean waters is one theory behind the increasing incidents of harmful algal blooms. Human activity, including the release of nutrients into the oceans from agriculture fertilizers that leech into river systems, may also be a cause. –OSU’s Ocean Air

Hypoxia, or low oxygen levels in the water, occur after big, gigantic blooms. When all that algae dies, it consumes oxygen in the decomposition process. And if the area is hit every year, or several times a year, it can turn into a “dead zone.” Dead zones are present in the Gulf of Mexico, off the Southern California Coast, off the East Coast, and across the world as you can see in the map below.

If you will notice, most dead zones are at the delta of many rivers that flow through agricultural land, picking up nitrogen, phosphorus and other fertilizers. Oh, they are fertilizing something, just not crops. One more reason to go organic…

Related link for Nerds: Coast Watch

OPB, Nova, marine, mammal, toxin, domoic acid, fertilizer, phytoplankton, dead zones, ocean, sea, water, sea lions, seals, Pseudo-nitzschia, Oregon, organism, species, genus, bivalves, algae bloom, clams, mussels, harvest, food chain, hypoxia, oxygen

It is true that I am a nerd that enjoys the study of nature and all of its creatures, and part and parcel of living in Portland, Oregon is enjoying nature. So today, I will bring you the fruit of my research and study. I like bad things, dangerous things, and poisonous things, so today I bring you…

Giant Hogweed — Friend to Neither Skin Nor Eyes

The Giant Hogweed is hard to miss. It can grow taller than you and I. Here’s a picture from the King County, Washington website.

It kinda looks like a Queen Anne’s lace that grew outside a nuclear power plant, doesn’t it?

Giant Hogweed is a member of the carrot and parsley family, believe it or not. I have to wonder how deep the root grows, if it is more like carrots than parsley, but it looks more like parsley, so maybe it doesn’t have a large taproot. According to Wikipedia (which I hate using but come on, its so easy sometimes to write stuff without proper documentation — but this is a plant we are talking about, so the information is probably just fine), giant hogweed has tuberous roots, like a potato, so maybe it is more like a carrot after all.

Oregon counties where giant hogweed has been found.

Like some invasive species, giant hogweed was brought to Europe by the British and their fondness for flora. The giant hogweed soon escaped, because if you will notice the flowerheads, the plant gives itself an advantage to multiply by producing anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 seeds. And those seeds can survive for up to 15 years, so even if you think you have destroyed the mother plant, new babies can give you headaches for years to come.

Now, what is really all that bad about giant hogweed, you may be asking youself, it’s kind of pretty, and definitely interesting. Well, yes, it is kind of pretty and interesting, but it is also poisonous. Not that you’d eat giant hogweed, but the plant manufactures this toxic sap, that can irritate your skin. But the best part is that if sunlight hits the sap-kissed skin, the irritation will turn into painful, burning blisters that can leave purple scars that can last for years. Neat.

Oh, and if the sap gets in your eyes, you can go blind. Yeah, super. Not so pretty now, huh?

noxious weed, invasive species, poisonous, giant hogweed, carrot, parsley, Portland, Oregon, British, Europe, toxic, toxicity, plants, weeds, sap, skin irritation, blisters, blindness

I just finished watching the Barack Obama 30-minute campaign “special” — not really sure what to call it, but I know how it made me feel.

Of course, I had heard most of it before, but tonight, I spent the last five minutes of the what would you call it, a “simul-mentary”(?) crying. Actually, crying. Sure, the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics made me cry, too, but very few things make me cry like I did tonight.

It was tears of fear. It was during that last little excerpt (about 6:30 into the clip) from the speech Obama made at the Democratic National Convention, about being imperfect, but he will let us know where he stands and he will be honest with us…well, it was at that moment that the crushing frustration suffered over the last eight years of my life all came back to me and welled up inside like hastily-eaten soup.

I am so …startled.

No, but seriously, I am scared. That another republican can win the White House. It would really kill me. It would kill that beautiful optimistic side of me that keeps giving my pessimistic side such a hard time.

For those of you that have always lived in Portland or another fairly liberal city, you don’t know what it is like to live under the oppression of a dominant political party like the Republican Party. I’m sure there is a bad side to living in a super-liberal town, too…I just cannot think of one. But I grew up in the Republican Stronghold of Western Michigan. My older-than-most-kids parents were moderates from Detroit (which meant overall they were rather conservative by my Marxist standards), and upon moving west to Grand Rapids, even they were shocked (and awed) by the ultra-conservative nature of the area. It was uber-religious and the religion of all was the Christian Reformed Church, a very churchy group.

Now, please, don’t misunderstand, I have no gripe against religious people. I know great people of every creed, but what I do have a gripe about is how certain “conservatives” are so keen on imposing religious rules on those who are not of that particular faith. Nor do I have problems with Republicans, either. What I do have a problem with is a tendency to rule by fear. Very Orwellian with a strong Machiavellian undercurrent.

My tears tonight were shed for a frustrated childhood in a conservative city, where anyone who thinks a little differently is a threat. Other schools of thought and points of view are not respected, and we are seeing that in this Presidential election.

My tears tonight showed me just how hopeful I really am.

Please vote… for America.

Obama, 30 minute, special, campaign, ad, commercial, simul-mentary, Barack, presidential, election, vote, America, conservative, liberal, Detroit

I am going to go out on a limb and say that, by Governor Sarah Palin’s definition, Portland is considered to be part of that non-”real America.”

Firstly, WTF? How does this woman get to go around and say things like that? On federal funds, no less. And don’t get me started on Michelle Bachmann.

Seriously? How did this woman rise such a high level of politics in this country? I would drum her out of office so fast for being so stupid. Ignore the bigot in her, she is just dumb. See, gentlemen, this is what you get when you vote with your willy.

Anyhoo, I really don’t ever, ever see Palin campaigning in Portland. Even if Oregon were a bit more of a swing state (it is a swing state, but if you trust the daily polling, you might chalk it up to the Democrats), would the McCain campaign visit Oregon? If so, which cities? Would he come to Portland?

I have referred before to Portland’s Republican-given nickname of Little Beirut. I first heard of the nickname’s origins in Chuck Palahniuk’s Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon (a travel book of sorts). I cannot remember the exact story but it had something to do with George H.W. Bush’s reception in the city back in the early 1990’s. Protesters showed up after eating mashed potatoes dyed red, white, and blue with food coloring (I believe the blue-colored potatoes came up green unbeknowst to the planners — always pays to test things out first) and manually regurgitated those potatoes all over the sidewalks around wherever Bush the Elder was. That is paraphrased, of course, so I may have missed something. But if you haven’t read the source book, you might want to. It’s quite enjoyable, and you definitely learn some things about the city you don’t find in other guide books. And all of that framed with Palahniuk’s wit and sense of the odd.

This is what gets me about Palin and her ilk. They seem to espouse these ideals of less regulation and less government interference in people’s lives, and yet they support the government stepping in on the very personal in those same people’s lives — taking away certain rights, like the freedom of reproduction and marriage and religion and education. I just read over the Oregon elections booklet that details the candidates for the upcoming election, and my new favorite presidential candidate is Chuck Baldwin. If you have not read it, I urge you to, it’s hilarious. Same with Michael Marsh, a Constitution party candidate for State Treasurer. Who said elections are dull? These guys are crazy.

From Marsh’s blurb:

Leaders of the Democrat and Republican parties with their Ivy League educations are either incredibly stupid or are deliberately destroying us. It is time to return to Constitutional Government and become once again a land of opportunity for Americans. We have entered, voluntarily, into a slave relationship, with our government masters.

Come on, Marsh, I’d say that if you are a legitimate candidate for a State office, that is a good example of American having opportunity for all.

By the way, he goes on to talk about the microchip that is going to be installed in everyone and used by the banks and the Democrats and Republicans to suspend identifications and ATM withdrawals.

Disclaimer: I have a long history of voting for third parties (voted for Nader twice — always in a state that the Democrats had in the bag, so I am not responsible for George W.), so my little poking of fun at the Constitution Party is not an example of third-party-bashing.

Sarah Palin, Portland, Oregon, Little Beirut, Michelle Bachmann, Chuck Palahniuk, George H.W. Bush, George Bush, McCain, Constitution Party, Democrat, Republican, Nader

Just ran across this in the New York Times…Thought I’d Share.

Steve Friess for The New York Times

A couple of Oregonians won the recent Escape from Berkeley Race, an “eco-race” requiring participants to travel over one thousand miles on anything but petroleum. The winners, Sharon Westcott and Jack McCornack, arrived at the finish line, in Las Vegas ironically enough, three hours before their nearest competitor, a Dodge running on burning biomass driven by Wayne Keith of Alabama. Mr. Keith actually finished the race first, but in terms of total travel time, Westcott and McCornack of Cave Junction were named the winners and received the $5,000 prize for first place. The winning time was 1418 minutes (a wee bit shy of 24 hours). The total mileage was roughly 800 miles. It’s funny that the article mentions the exact number of minutes for the race, but not the exact mileage. Good job, NYT.

Originally, the Berkeley to Vegas race was supposed to be 600 miles, but a snowstorm shut down the Tioga Pass, resulting in the race’s reroute and extra two hundred miles.

Jim Wilson for the New York Times

A little about the cars and their makers from the two articles in last week’s Times:

Jack McCornack, part of the Prisoners team and the owner of Kinetic Vehicles, a maker of alternative cars in Cave Junction, Ore., said his roadster could go 72 m.p.h. — and get 70 miles to the gallon — using nothing but vegetable oil.

“It’s extremely no-frills,” Mr. McCornack said of his car, which has no windows or doors. “It’s everything you always wanted in a sports car, and less.”

And for the guy who came in second, but really first, kind of…

Not all of the racers are Bay Area cognoscenti. Wayne Keith, 59, is a cattleman from Springville, Ala., who decided five years ago that he wanted to be independent from gas.

“When gasoline hit $1.75, I bailed out,” Mr. Keith said. “I’m a hostage to no one.”

His adapted lime-green Dodge Dakota pickup burns wood in a pair of burners in the pickup bed and uses the gases created by the combustion — primarily hydrogen and carbon monoxide — to drive the engine. He said the ready availability of scrap wood on his farm made his energy expenses almost nil.

On Saturday, Mr. Keith’s truck was also towing a table saw, in case he happened on any particularly large branches. “I don’t know if it makes me good or guilty,” he said. “But the wood’s going to rot if I don’t use it.”

Mr. Keith said the truck’s top speed is about 90 miles per hour, making it a favorite to win the race.

The other competitors included a Mercedes also running on vegetable oil, a recumbent bike for two, and a steam-powered carriage.

This part gets me. The race’s sponsor, Jim Mason, of Shipyard Labs in Berkeley, an open-air garage for tinkerers which creates workspaces out of shipping containers, chose the race’s terminus, Las Vegas, “largely out of contempt for the tourist destination, he said.”

“Vegas is a place of excessive spectacle and consumption of other peoples creativity,” he said. “This isn’t a place of production, of citizens making, expressing, creating….Vegas is the biggest contradiction of what we just did.”

Nice, but you are still contributing to Vegas just by being there, so not sure how well that message gets across, but still good for you, Mr. Mason for sponsoring such a race, and congrats to McCornack and Westcott for making it to the finish. Another stipulation for the race was that the racers could not purchase any fuel for the trip. Everything had to be found or donated. Luckily for Team Prisoners, people were more than happy to part with fry oil.

eco-race, biofuels, oil, vegetable oil, recycled fry oil, biomass, cars, racing, Berkeley, Las Vegas, Oregon, California. Nevada, Alabama, Dodge, Mercedes, recumbent, bike, bicycle

If you live in Portland, chances are that you know someone who makes wine, or at least makes their living off of wine. Portland lies in the middle of two rather important wine regions, the Willamette Valley and the Columbia Valley. The Willamette Valley is known for top-drawer pinot noirs and the Columbia, being a bit hotter, produces some truly brilliant syrahs and cabernets, along with pinots. Please note I am generalizing for the purposes of not making this post a two-thousand word essay on Oregon and Washington wine. Both regions produce many other grapes, in addition to there being other regions within both Oregon and Washington that I am not intending to omit for any reason other than brevity.

I spent my Sunday sorting grapes at a winery out in Yamhill County. In the picture to the left, I would have been standing on the left side of the table from the point of view of the camera, but obviously, I am missing as I am taking the picture. The others in the picture include (from left) Bob, Chris, Mike and Andrew. Andrew, a Brit, is one of the interns working this harvest, or crush, as they call it in the wine-making biz, with the rest of the sorting crew being volunteers, working for the sheer pleasure of being involved in the process. Also, as the winemaker is our friend, it is also a pleasure to help out a friend. As the winery is a smallish one (producing approximatiely five to six thousand cases of wine a year, depending on the year and the amount of grapes coming in), the extra hands are usually only needed the days that the grapes come in.

This is the time of year that many of my friends are either paid employees of a winery or a particular winemaker working at a “studio” or winemaking facility, or day-volunteers working for wine and food. It really is a fun process, although getting up early in the morning on a Sunday may not sound like a whole lot of fun. And of course, it is actual work, but work in a very good, honest way. You know, getting back to our agrarian roots, becoming more acquainted with the land and its bounty, and any other cliche about farming you can think of.

We had a full day yesterday, processing about nine tons of grapes. The morning started with chardonnay grapes, and then we moved onto the pinot noir grapes that took up the rest of the day. Sorting grapes means picking out underripe and damaged grapes, leaves, stems, sticks, and stones. White wines are generally easier when it comes to the grapes, as the white grapes tend to be less finicky and fragile, whereas pinot noir grapes are very fragile due to their think skins, and they are more susceptible to water damage. And as it is the beginning of the rainy season, it is crucial to pick the grapes before too much water causes them to burst. Some years, rot plays more of a role in damaging grapes, but the “veterans” at the sorting table were happy to see so little rot, if any at all. Rain is a major factor in rot, but even with the rains we had in the last two weeks, a rainy day was usually followed by a dry day or two, thus allowing the grapes to dry out and avoid rotting on the vines.

We did have a longer-than-intended lunch break, as the last batch of grapes, about four or five of the nine tons, were late in arriving. This is what happens when the grapes are late. I love this picture. It’s Leonardo (another intern, from Argentina), Andrew, and Bob, catching a few z’s in the afternoon sun.

If you are interested in volunteering at a winery, you should contact a winery and offer your services. Obviously, this year is taken care of, and I would recommend contacting a winery during the summer, maybe in August. You can also check out craigslist. Not all wineries need the extra hands, as some of the larger wineries already employ pretty big staffs, but you never know unless you ask. It is a interesting process that can illuminate the winemaking process that perhaps many of us boozers take for granted.

Portland, Willamette Valley, Columbia Valley, wine, winemaking, Oregon, Washington, harvest, crush, sorting grapes, pinot noir, pinot, pinots, syrah, cabernet, white wine, red wine, chardonnay, intern, volunteer, Argentina, winery

A friend of mine, an almost recent transplant from Salt Lake City, told me an alarming tale. She had flipped her mattress found spots of mold on the side that had been on a floor. She scrubbed the spots with bleachy water, and decided to keep the mattress off the floor now. She’s 28, and finally bought her first bed frame when she found the mold. She joked that she’s finally an adult. No more college decor schemes using cinder blocks, either.

This isn’t my friend’s place. I just really dig this picture. Gross.

Anyway, it underscores the problem of mold, a spore-borne growth, in our homes. Some of us are quite sensitive to our little green, orange, and black friends, and my friend reported that she had been really lethargic lately and prone to sleeping all day, uncommon for her normally.

Personally, I cannot breathe out of my nose due to severe congestion, and I have totally lost my sense of smell since moving here to Portland. Also, when I moved here, I ended up in the hospital within ten days of my arrival due to a severe asthma attack (not having health insurance, the most awesome people at Legacy Good Samaritan took excellent and generous care of me — another post, another day). So yeah, I would think it is safe to say that Portland has it’s fair share of allergens.

My last summer in Chicago was also a tough time for me and my nose. I pretty much stayed inside an air-conditioned apartment for an entire summer. Lame. My doc there said that a mild winter failed to kill off the molds and the counts were astronomical that summer. Super.

Well, guess what? I moved to Portland, and it is always a mild winter that fails to kill off molds. If I am wrong about that, please correct me. I am simply using logic to develop this hypothesis.

When I look back on my life, I see a pattern. I lived in Southern California, twice, for a touch less than a year each time. I didn’t like it the first time, but thought maybe it was just my bad attitude, so tried it a second time — no, it just sucks. But one thing I never had a problem with while residing in that dry Mediterranean-like climate were allergies nor did I have any issues with my asthma. Even on the really smoggy days, but then I lived in the hills, close to the Pacific, and most of the smog seemed to settle inland in the valleys.

No matter. I am not moving back to SoCal. Ever. Ever.

I really love Portland, don’t get me wrong, but come on with the mold and fungi and lichen and moss everywhere. It is really, really lush here. Is that why my darn allergies are crazy here?

I did meet someone recently who told me that she had bad allergies for her first year here and then got over them…so maybe I just need to be patient. Or move closer to the ocean…

mold, spores, fungal growth, allergies, asthma, Portland, Oregon, Chicago, Southern California, Pacific

So maybe I am just really out of touch with the news and all (at least on the local level), but did you know that alfalfa sprouts have been recalled and taken off shelves in some stores in the Portland area?

I went to the Sellwood QFC, a generally pleasant store, and I was looking for alfalfa sprouts or whatever else they call them nowadays — onion sprouts, salad sprouts, radish or broccoli sprouts, I can’t keep up. I stood in front of the little area with the rest of the lettuce and salad stuff, and starting thinking I was just blind as I didn’t see them. Luckily, there was a QFC staff member nearby. I asked him if they had sprouts. He informed me that all sprouts had been removed from the shelves due to a recall.

Huh…didn’t hear about that one. Maybe I have become so numb to constant produce and meat recalls that I missed this one.

For anyone else who missed this story…copied from KOHD news, the ABC affliate in the Bend area.

09/04/08

Oregon State Public Health Division and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials today announced a recall of Sprouter’s Northwest brand alfalfa sprouts due to a Salmonellosis outbreak. Also, Public Health officials said that while most cases of salmonellosis do not require medical treatment, people who have eaten sprouts and develop severe symptoms should check with their doctors.

“These alfalfa sprouts have been identified as the cause of an ongoing outbreak of salmonellosis,” said Dr. Paul Cieslak, an epidemiologist with the Oregon Department of Human Services State Public Health Division. “Consumers who have them in their refrigerators should discard them immediately and if you develop severe symptoms call your doctor. ”

As of Tuesday, 13 outbreak cases had been identified in Oregon and Washington. All cases reported becoming ill since August 1, 2008.

The recalled sprouts were distributed through a number of wholesalers to grocery stores, restaurants, and other retail outlets in Oregon and Washington.

The recalled sprouts were sold in packages labeled “alfalfa sprouts,” “salad sprouts” or “onion sprouts” or were sold as mixed varieties that contain alfalfa sprouts as an ingredient.

“Sprouter’s Northwest has agreed to voluntarily recall its alfalfa sprouts and is cooperating fully with our ongoing investigation,” Dr. Cieslak said.

State and federal agencies are working with the Kent, Wash.-based grower to remove potentially contaminated sprouts from distribution. Retailers and wholesalers who hold any of the recalled sprouts should segregate them from other produce and contact their suppliers for additional information. Restaurant and delicatessen operators should check their stock immediately to identify and pull any of the recalled products.

Salmonellosis is an acute bacterial infection that can cause diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Symptoms usually develop within one to five days after eating contaminated food. Most cases resolve without the need for medical attention, and antibiotics are not recommended for persons with uncomplicated diarrheal illness. The risk of severe illness is particularly high among the elderly, the immunocompromised, and the very young.

People who have eaten sprouts and developed severe symptoms should discuss this exposure with their doctor. Some persons with salmonellosis develop serious illness that can lead to hospitalization and even death.

Raw sprouts have been repeatedly identified as the cause of outbreaks of salmonellosis, Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections, and other diseases. This is at least the seventh sprout-caused outbreak that has sickened Oregonians since 1996.

Oddly, this KOHD story is lifted verbatim from an Oregon Department of Human Services press release. So, KOHD didn’t even bother writing a story on this, just passes along the recall announcement as if it were their own. The site has a video option, but it doesn’t play. I may have too many things going on on my laptop. So perhaps before I start calling anyone out on plagiarism or lazy reporting, I should simmer down and give the station the benefit of the doubt. Still, they could have cited the press release on the report…

That being said, this is what the KOHD article left out from the press release:

The following is a list of package sizes of the affected Sprouters Northwest, Inc., products: •Alfalfa Sprouts 5-ounce cup •Alfalfa Sprouts 4-ounce clamshell •Salad Sprouts 5-ounce cup •Salad Sprouts 4-ounce clamshell •Onion Sprouts 5-ounce cup •Onion Sprouts 4-ounce clamshell •Alfalfa Sprouts 1-pound bag •Alfalfa Sprouts 2-pound tray

I highly doubt that anyone would still be using any sprouts from a week ago much less two weeks ago when the recall was reported, but just in case, you may want to toss any sprouts you have around. If you have any questions, I would recommend contacting your doctor or county health office. As the Sprouter’s Northwest brand comes from Washington, it is likely that a store near you is out of sprouts, whether you are in Portland or not.

Also, may I put in a plug to grow your own sprouts…You can buy a kit for around thirty or forty dollars. I saw some in Territorial Seed Company’s catalog this last winter, and thought about getting one. But sometimes, I get lazy and forgetful. I guess I will view this latest recall as a wake up call to finally order one. I love me some sprouts on my sandwiches.

alfalfa sprouts, recall, salmonella, salmonellosis, e coli, Oregon, Washington, Portland, Bend, food safety, health, onion sprouts, salad sprouts, Sellwood, QFC, Territorial Seed Company

Scientific name: Araucaria araucana.

This is a picture of a Araucaria Araucana that can be found on 39th Avenue, south of Hawthorne in the SE. I took this picture from underneath the huge tree that is missing it’s tip-top.

I had been told that the tree was the Umbrella Pine, which it most definitely is not. The Umbrella Pine is a Japanese pine that looks very much like a pine tree. Unlike the araucaria aruacana. Which is a far removed relative from the pine family, despite the rest of the Araucaria genus does look rather pine-like.

When I moved into the Reed neighborhood, I noticed this tree on SE Schiller between 35th Ave and the Trader Joe’s on 39th Ave. It is a striking tree. Instead of needles, the tree has these terrifying scales with razor-like tips. I have kind of fallen in love with these seemingly prehistoric trees.

So today I bring you what I have discovered about this very unique tree.

The Araucaria araucana is native to Chile. It is in fact the national tree of Chile. And yes, it is indeed prehistoric, tracing it’s origins back to the The Araucaria araucana’s home range also spills over into western Argentina. The tree likes to live in temperate rainforests. And yes, you can say that Portland, Oregon is a temperate rainforest. Additionally, it likes acidic and volcanic soils. No wonder the monkey puzzle enjoys it here.

It was in botanically-obsessed Victorian England that the Araucaria araucana got its common name, Monkey Puzzle. The story goes that someone looked at the tree and commented on how the tree would be a puzzle for a monkey to climb. Good thing that monkeys do not live in the same area as araucaria araucanas. Another common name is the Chilean pine. The native people in the habitat range, the Pehuenche, that have a long history with these trees and their delicious pine nuts call the tree the Pehuen, with an accent over the second ‘e’. The tree’s pinones, the seeds contained in the female cones that grow upright on the outer ends of the tree’s branches, are a valuable source of carbohydrates for the Pehuenche.

Due it’s odd and striking appearance, the monkey puzzle has become a cultivated garden species in Europe and here in the US. In it’s native habitat, the monkey puzzle can be in mixed deciduous and evergreen forests and also in stands by themselves or even alone along cliffs like in these images. The monkey puzzle can live up to a thousand years, and can provide valuable information about the climate during the trees lifetime.

The Araucaria araucana is listed as a “vulnerable” species by the Global Trees Campaign and other conservation groups. The problem is loss of habitat due to logging and also increased pressure from fires. Fires have destroyed large portions of the forests and some say that the fires were started intentially by loggers trying to get protections lifted. The tree produces really strong wood that is naturally resistant to fungal decay in its straight trunk that can reach 50 meters or over 160 feet in heighth.

As the monkey puzzle belongs to the Araucaria genus, I checked out the 18 cousins spread across the Southern Pacific, especially in New Caledonia, and there doesn’t seem to be any other tree that quite looks like the araucana. Maybe the Araucaria hunsteinii when it is a young sapling, but most other Araucaria species have more exposed wood instead of being covered in the scales. However, when I first noticed the trees, I thought they rather looked like Norfolk pines (which my mom used to decorate around Xmas) in the tree’s shape. Wouldn’t you know it, the Norfolk Pine is a species of the Araucaria genus.

Most species of the Araucaria genus are vulnerable, threatened or endangered. It’s trade and export are regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). You can find responsible sellers of seedlings if you would like to preserve your own part of prehistoric flora.

monkey puzzle, araucaria araucana, araucaria, pine, Chile, Argentina, Oregon, temperate rainforest, Norfolk pines, Chilean pine, endangered species, genus, species, vulnerable, threatened, tree, trees, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES

Or October 4 if you are a Washington resident.

Women have only been voting in national elections since 1920…chew on that.

Many thanks go out to an especially astute reader, Geeba, who suggested that I remind people to get registered to vote by the appropriate deadlines. Oregon is Tuesday, October 14, 2008 in person or by mail. To vote in Oregon, you must by a United States citizen, as well as a resident of Oregon, and 18 years old by November 4th. I registered to vote back in March or maybe February before the primary, and it was really easy, so you have no excuse not to vote. Especially because in Oregon, you don’t have to go to a polling place, you simply mail in your ballot. Strange, I know, but true. Oregon only votes by mail, so really even the laziest of us have absolutely no excuse to not vote. You don’t even need a stamp…

All I did was print out a voter registration form, provide the last four digits of my soc, and signed it. I did have to use a stamp for that, but I wonder if the elections office would “return to sender” if you didn’t put postage on it. I wonder.

If you fill out the online registration form, you can also give your drivers license number or state ID number, but I still have my Illinois ID, so I had to go with a valid social security number. If you are ID-less (like me) and you don’t have a social security number, there are other ways. This is from Vote411.org, a great website to check out for the easiest way to find out anything you need to vote.

* Valid photo identification
* A paycheck stub
* A utility bill
* A bank statement
* A government document
* Proof of eligibility under the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee voting act (UOCAVA) or the voting accessibility for the elderly and handicapped act (VAEH)

Now, here is a funny story. The year was 2004, and I just happened to be visiting my parents in Lowell, Michigan. I go to the fire station to vote with my mom, and for some reason, I am not in the register as a registered voter. Like I wrote before, I am an enthusiastic little politico, and I always vote. I had also always kept my parents address while I apartment hopped during school. Long story short, I had accidentally changed the address when I renewed my license plates on my car, and was no longer register in that county. Oopsy. I had a registration card, but not a valid ID to show my actual address. I was not allowed to vote. Luckily, Kerry won Michigan in ‘04, so my vote was not necessarily needed in that race.

Anyway, long story short, if something comes up when you go into vote and they cannot confirm that you are supposed to be voting (I didn’t get to vote because of my little mishap), then you can file a provisional ballot. I doubt this comes up in Oregon, but maybe in Washington.

Yep, I just checked. In Washington, if your name is not in the register or you don’t have ID, you can cast a provisional ballot.

Use a provisional ballot if you go to a polling place and find one of the following.
Your name is not in the poll book.
Your name is there but records show you were sent an absentee ballot.
You have a question about the people or issues on which you can vote.
You did not bring identification.
Then:
Vote.
Put your ballot into the security envelope.
Put the security envelope into a provisional ballot envelope. Your ballot will be counted if you
are eligible to vote. To find out if
your provisional ballot will be counted, contact your county elections department:
www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/auditors.aspx

Here’s a link to Washington State’s official elections and voting information.

And Oregon’s elections website.

But seriously, Vote411.org is a great site to check out or point your friends to.

vote, Oregon, Washington, deadline, register to vote, registration, voter registration, election, elections, presidential, Vote411.org, online registration, ballot

I think it is safe to say that living in Portland, Oregon, or just Oregon in general, usually includes more than just a little political activism, and so today I bring to you news of impending changes to the Endangered Species Act.

If you remember as far back as your HS civics/government course, or even a US history class or two, you may have heard the term, Lame Duck. If I am going a little too elementary for you right now, I apologize, I am simply trying to add some context to what is happening in our federal government right now and for the next few months (as of this writing, that’s 133 days, 19 hours…courtesy the Official Bush Countdown clock). Lame ducks can be either of the benign and benevolent variety, a la Bill Clinton, or of the ignorant and downright irresponsible variety as we are seeing in George Dubya Bush.

By the way, has anyone seen this yet? I love it. There are others, but I think this one is really well-done, for the most part.

Back to the subject, as the issue of endangered species and their protection has come in in regards to our newest, extremist Vice presidential candidate (if you didn’t hear, she doesn’t think the polar bear should be listed as endangered since it would be inconvenient for oil and gas companies in the Arctic), I come to you today with a little advocacy. It would not be a Portland blog without some advocacy.

There is one week left to comment on proposed changes to regulations pertaining to interagency checks and balances within the Endangered Species Act. Here is a paragraph from a letter drafted by the Center for Biological Diversity for their members to send to the Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne.

The regulations you recently proposed would eliminate interagency consultation on thousands of federal projects that pose a risk to endangered and threatened species each year. The changes will almost certainly result in detrimental impacts on endangered and imperiled species and a higher propensity to overlook opportunities to avoid such impacts.

The problem with this change in particular is that the Department of the Interior or Bureau of Land Management can lease out mineral rights to the highest/lowest but someone’s friend’s coal-mining company so that public lands can make someone rich with kickbacks to whichever congressman got the company the job. Well, as the rules stand now, the BLM would have to consult with other agencies, like the Fish and Wildlife Service in order to approve mining or digging operations. That interagency “checks and balances” is a great way to ensure that a mine doesn’t open up upstream from a rare species of salmon’s spawning grounds. But if these new rules do go into effect, that requirement for multiple agencies to weigh in on what could be environmentally-devastating projects is thrown out the window. Other rule changes would limit and re-define what “effects” may be deemed harmful as well as reducing the scientific input period from 90 to 60 days. If scientists cannot or do not give an opinion in that 60-day period, the project is automatically greenlit.

This may not seem to be a big deal, but then you are living in a fantasy land if you think that oil, gas, gold, coal, silver, and anything-else-that-can-make-someone-a-profit companies would stop raping the earth because they may be harming or killing a rare and endangered bird or fish, mammal or reptile.

If you want to add your email to what should be a flood of emails to Kempthorne’s office, visit the Center for Biological Diversity here. By the way, Kempthorne cut the usual 60-day comment period to only 30-days, and he said emails wouldn’t be accepted. Why does he hate the Earth so much? Screw that guy. Email him over and over. Copy the letter from CBD and re-send it again and again.

Portland, Oregon, politics, advocacy, activism, Endangered Species Act, Department of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, Bureau of Land management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Center for Biological Diversity, lame duck, Bill Clinton, George Bush

I was trying to find out what percentage of Oregon farmland is organic, and I stumbled across the recent report from the Oregon Department of Agriculture. It’s law in Oregon to report commercial use of pesticides, and Oregon is trying a new system for reporting. More than 5,000 reporters submitted counts of almost 300,000 pesticide use.

Hmm, I wonder what the most popular pesticide is? Metam-sodium takes number one with 42 percent of all pounds used. The next two came in with nine percent and seven percent, glyphosate and copper naphthenate respectively.

Applying Metam-sodium.

Metam-sodium is a soil fumigant, which means that the chemical creates a gas that kills pests living in the soil. That’s right, a gas, like a bug bomb. The last time I checked gas doesn’t usually stay in one spot, so that leads to a fumigant being dangerous to those applying the pesticide or anyone working in that field, as well as anyone living nearby.

Checking on the toxicity of Metam-sodium, the Pesticide Action Network lists Metam-sodium as highly toxic. In fact, the PAN uses a skull to categorize Metam-sodium. The Environmental Protection Agency lists Metam-Sodium as a B2, probable cancer agent. Oh, and Metam-sodium is volatile enough to completely dissipate into the air and soil, which means no residue on your food, but that stuff is going somewhere. Metam-sodium has been in use since 1975, so I assume it is safe, right?

The weeds are fighting back!

Glyphosate is RoundUp, from our good friends at Monsanto. The patent has expired, so the glyphosate is the generic name for it. It is mostly used in forestry management. The problem is that glyphosate is non-selective (same with metam-sodium), which means that it is not selective about what it is killing. And we are using this stuff in the forest?!

This is what copper naphthenate looks like. Good thing we don't eat it, just breathe it.

Copper Naphthenate has been used since the late 1800’s as a wood preservative, in that it kills off fungi and bacteria that can destroy lumber. So again, it’s got to be safe, right? If you check out Scorecard for copper naphthenate, it is listed that four or eight basic tests have not been conducted on the chemical in order to determine safety. Also, there are gaps in coverage and data in studies on copper naphthenate. It’s moderately toxicity to humans, and very toxic to aquatic creatures, and it does contribute to indoor air pollution, as wood treated with it can release it into your home.

Just wanted to brighten everyone’s day!

Oregon, farms, organic, pesticide use, metam-sodium, glyphosate, copper naphthenate, toxicity, EPA, PAN, Scorecard, indoor air pollution, cancer agent, RoundUp, Monsanto, fumigant

Oh, heavens to Murgatroyd, I have found some ants in my metaphorical pants. I refuse to use poisons around my place, as I have cats and another person to worry about. Also, I tend a small vegetable garden so the idea of spraying something out of New Jersey around my peaceful and organic Oregon garden and yard fills me with abject fear.

So, I have done a little digging and this is what I found.

Did you know that Queen Elizabeth I used borax to bleach her skin to she could be/stay so virgin-ly white? I learned that on Jeopardy years ago.

There is a good reason that no plants are growing here.

But also and more to the point today, borax can be used as an ant killer, or deterrent. However, please note that too much borax can be just as dangerous as any other pesticide, so use wisely.

Borax is the salt of boric acid, and boric acid is known as a great way to kill things like roaches. Borax and boric acid does kill plants, so this borax trick shouldn’t be used directly in the garden.

If you mix equal parts borax powder (20 Mule Team brand borax is 99.5% straight borax and thus a good choice) with sugar, you can make a clever little drink for ants that will kill them and drive them from your house. This is the basis of the Terro ant bait/killer that is available commercially.

You can also sprinkle a little borax around the door frame to be even more uninviting to ants, but obviously, if you have kids or pets, this may not be a good idea.

There are other variations on this Sugar and Borax recipe. I found some of these tweaks on the Garden Web forum here.

Obviously, if you take care, you can avoid having to go so far as to kill ants. Keeping your kitchen clean is the best way to avoid an ant problem. Also, when you do clean around your house, use white vinegar and borax. Both options are great little cleaning agents, so this is an easy way to “go green,” per se, but also, ants don’t like the acid in vinegar and the borax will kill them. So, you see how this works. Use cleaning products that ants hate and the ants won’t hang out at your house.

Ants in the actual garden? Remember borax is technically an herbicide (that’s what makes it such a kickass cleaner, kind of like bleach — also technically an herbicide). You can try my coffee ground trick. Or go with diatomaceous earth (which is just crushed up seashells) which will kill the ants by dehydrating them from the inside. Gruesome, I know. Don’t they say that most serial killers start out by killing insects or small animals?

Ants are also adverse to other smelly things like cloves, cayenne, mint, lemon or orange oil, so you can always experiment and discover your own recipe for keeping those ants at bay.

Or plant herbs like mint or tansy to further make your garden and home uninviting.

Whatever you do, don’t buy and use products like Raid or any other pesticide that clearly states that whatever is inside the bottle is extremely dangerous to your health, your child’s health, your pet’s health, your soil’s health, the water’s health, the air’s health…

Ants, Oregon, house, borax, boric acid, organic, natural, deterrent, pesticide, herbicide, sugar, diatomaceous earth, mint, cayenne, tansy, 20 Mule Team, Terro, Raid, health

If you did not know, Portland, Oregon is or should be a destination for all “cork dorks” out there.

Oregon is an ideal spot for growing wine grapes, in particular spectacular pinot noir, which is considered the hardest grape to grow and grow well. Don’t get me wrong, other grapes are grown here, including chardonnay, pinot gris, and very good rieslings, but in the world of wine, pinot noir is the crown prince. Cabernet sauvignon may be considered the king, but only in that Henry VIII sort of way. Big, fat, better marketing.

Some people out there may think that Oregon is a little too far north to grow wine, but oh, how wrong you would be. In fact, the northern part of Oregon sits on the famed 45th parallel. That’s latitude, people. Did you know that the Bourdeaux region in France is also along the 45th parallel?

And yes, the 45th parallel is the half-way point between the Equator and the North Pole. Also, the South Pole if you are at 45 degrees South, but if you were at 45 degrees South, you could only be in Argentina, Chile, or New Zealand, and each of those countries also produce fairly tasty grape juice in their own right.

Oregon pinot noir is something special though. There is such a great micro-climate for growing this particular grape, with the Pacific Ocean providing both warmth and rain, but the Coast Range of mountains protecting the vineyards from too much rain. Also, having a nice big river like the Willamette doesn’t hurt either.

So even though I hear many people lament that Oregon never gets hot, you can thank that temperate weather for producing awesome grapes which in turn produce awesome wine.

Portland lies about an hour away from the heart of the wine country out in Yamhill County. There are other areas to the south as well. In addition, you also have the Columbia River Valley wine country within a couple of hours with Walla Walla at the farthest reach.

So, if you are a wine geek, you really should think about an Oregon vacation with Portland as your base. Or if you live here, and have never been out to the seemingly gazillion wineries in the area, I cannot urge you enough to plan a day or a weekend and head out to Yamhill.

Portland, Oregon, Wine, pinot noir, vineyards, wineries, Columbia River Valley, Walla Walla, Yamhill County, Willamette River, Bourdeaux, 45th parallel, south pole, north pole, equator