Saving Your Summer Bulbs
In most parts of the country, nonhardy summer bulbs, such as gladiolas, dahlias, caladiums, and elephant ears, won’t survive over the winter. But all is not lost: You can dig up the bulbs, store them over the winter, and replant them next spring. A lot of work? Not really, especially considering the money you’ll save.
These bulbs (technically, rhizomes, corms, and tubers as well as bulbs) originate from tropical or subropical climates and will die if left in the ground in regions where the ground freezes. When should you dig them up? Look at the foliage; if the leaves are green they are still working to provide food to replenish the bulb. Once the foliage begins to turn yellow, its job is done, indicating that it’s time to dig up the bulbs. This usually occurs around the first light frost.
Here’s the procedure:
Using a spade or fork, very carefully loosen the soil around the plants and gently lift the bulbs from the ground. Gently brush off excess soil and discard any bulbs that show signs of disease or rot. Leaving the foliage attached, hang or spread out the bulbs is a warm, dry location, out of direct sun, to “cure” for seven to ten days. Once bulbs have cured, trim the foliage down 1/2 inch from the bulb.
Some gardeners protect the cured bulbs from disease by dusting them with a fungicide, such as sulfur, although I’ve never done this and have had continued success over the years. The largest bulbs will perform best next year; you can compost the smaller ones or store them for planting next spring, knowing they may not produce many flowers.
Stored bulbs must remain dry and receive good air circulation. Avoid storing bulbs in sealed, air-tight containers because this can lead to moisture build-up and rot. Most bulbs store best where temperatures remain around 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Cool, dry basements or unheated garages that stay above freezing are often good locations.
There are several ways to store the bulbs. One method is to place the bulbs in a box of peat moss, sand, or sawdust, spreading them out so the bulbs aren’t touching each other. Don’t stack bulbs deeper than three layers. (My father-in-law places his bulbs in plastic mesh onion bags and hangs them in the garage.) Label the bulbs by type and flower color before storing. Check stored bulbs occasionally throughout the winter and discard any that show signs of rot.
Here are some specifics for popular summer bulbs:
Caladium. In all but the warmest regions (USDA zones 10 and 11), dig up caladiums before the first fall frost and allow plants to dry. Cut foliage back to an inch, then pack the bulbs loosely in peat moss. Keep slightly warmer than other stored bulbs—50 to 60 F.
Canna. You can leave cannas in the ground in USDA zones 7 and warmer. In colder regions, cut plants back to 6 inches tall after the first fall frost kills the foliage. Carefully lift each clump of rhizomes and store them in one of the ways described above. Or, wrap rhizomes in newspapers and place in a box.
Dahlia. Dahlias are only hardy to USDA zone 8; in colder regions you’ll need to dig and store the tubers. In autumn, after frost kills the foliage but before the ground freezes, cut the plants back to a few inches in height. Carefully lift clumps, brush off any clinging soil, allow the tubers to cure for a week or so, then put them in a plastic-lined box filled with perlite or peat moss, spacing them so that none are touching. Store boxes in a dry area at 45 to 55 F. Dahlia tubers mustn’t dry out completely; moisten packing material slightly if necessary.
Elephant ear (alocasia and colocasia). These plants must be dug and stored or brought indoors in regions colder than USDA zone 9. Bring container-grown plants indoors and treat them as houseplants. Or, lift tubers, cure, and store in peat moss in a cool, dry place.
Gladiolas. In zones 7 and 8, mulch beds with a layer of hay or straw for winter protection. In colder regions, dig corms before the first frost. Remove excess soil, cut the stalks to within an inch of the corms, and let them cure for 1 to 2 weeks in a warm, airy location. Then remove and discard the oldest bottom corms and store the large, new corms in plastic mesh bags in a well-ventilated, 35- to 45-F room.
Tuberous begonia. Since the tubers are only hardy to USDA zone 9, in colder regions dig them before a frost and let the tubers dry. Store them in a cool (35 to 45 F) location in dry peat moss.
Article reprinted courtesy of the National Gardening Association.
For 11 years Rebecca hosted NBC’s nationally syndicated show Rebecca’s Garden. She’s been the lifestyles and gardening contributor for ABC’s Good Morning America since 1998, is the author of the book Rebecca’s Garden: Four Seasons to Grow On, and now publishes her own magazine, Seasons by Rebecca.
College Football: My, How the Rules Have Changed
Think you’re tough? How long would you last in a college football game playing 1890’s rules?
The first intercollegiate football game—played November 6, 1869, in which Rutgers beat Princeton, 6 to 4—bears little resemblance to a modern version of the game.
This “prehistoric” football was a hybrid of existing sports that combined the rules of soccer and rugby in a more physical, more dangerous game.
Today, we can debate whether modern football is too violent for college students, but there is little question about the 19th century version. Then, it was a harsh, brutal sport which became so hazardous that, during the 1905 season, 18 college players died from injuries sustained on the football field.
President Roosevelt considered outlawing the sport that year. Instead, he ordered colleges to impose rules to make the game less lethal. Since then, football has changed continually. As talk show host Cenk Uygur observes, “There is no tradition of football, outside of change. The game has changed countless number of times. The shape of the ball has changed; the number of people who play has changed; the tackling and blocking rules have changed; the forward pass itself is a change to the rules; and how many yards you needed for a first down changed.
Trivia tickler: How many yards did you need for a first down when the game first started? None, you just had to keep possession; teams were known to sit on the ball for a whole half.
[To read “How Teddy Roosevelt Ended Unfettered Football and Saved the Game,” click here.]
In 1945 James Hopper wrote for the Post about the game he played when he was quarterback for the University of California in 1899. Reading his account, you realize how much more the words “contact sport” could mean.
“I was already playing long before 1899; therefore am I able to describe for you the flying wedge, a play still vaguely famous in men’s minds.
“Unlimbering this heavy gun, we left the ball on the ground in charge of the quarterback and strolled back some thirty yards to get a good start, the joke on the defensive team being that it couldn’t stir as long as the ball remained on the ground and wasn’t put in play. Leisurely we formed ourselves into a solid v-shaped wedge and got going, gradually picking up momentum till we were rumbling along like a juggernaut. At the last, last moment, our quarterback whisked the ball back to us, thus freeing our opponents just as we mightily crashed into them. It was a cute play.
“But what is really interesting about the wedge, of which exaggerated stories have been told, is the fact that it could be stopped. Sure, you could stop it! All you had to do was sling yourself very exactly at its precise apex. It then went up in the air and shattered like a house of cards. At least that is what you were told had happened when you woke up twenty minutes later.
“There being no forward pass, and hence no fear of a forward pass, the team on the defense lined up tight, its line a solid wall, its backs close up. When you lowered your head- and bucked that, you bucked a fortification. You had help, though. The help was not so much ahead, in the form of blocking, as it is today; it came from behind. As you bucked, your whole team massed at your tail and enthusiastically shoved you through. Through you went like a straw driven through a fence by a Middle West cyclone.
“Once through, even then it wasn’t as it is today. You couldn’t call the thing off by touching one knee to the ground as the modern back does. Touching the ground with the knee didn’t count. Also the ethics of the period demanded that you continue. Even asprawl you went on, clawing the earth for a possible half inch, spinning like a firecracker, twisting like a worm, crawling like a snake, while the fellows on the other side piled up on you one by one, and your own fellows, trying to help, piled up on you one by one, so that when the referee, a skeptical fellow, at last became convinced that your progress was truly halted and blew his whistle, you were established beneath a mountain of pigskin stalwarts with arms and legs sticking out like the guns of a battleship.
“Under there you lay very quiet, knowing that this was the only kind of rest you got in this game, holding your breath because there was no breath to breathe, tucking your hands under you to escape the prowlings of still ambitious cleats, and holding the ball tight in your armpit, for always, at that time, some sly sucker would be trying to steal it from you.
“In my last game we had in our equipment a maneuver that deserves special description. We called it the Kangaroo and it was built about our fullback, a rangy customer named Pete, who was fast and springy. As the center snapped the ball to me, Pete would already be on his way toward the line at a deceptively careless trot whose every step, as a matter of fact, had been carefully calculated. I handed him the hall as be reached a certain spot, also accurately predetermined, and he then leaped up into the air. This was all he had to do—leap up into the air. For at the same moment, I grabbed the seat of his pants, and gave a mighty upward heave while the two halfbacks grabbed each a thigh and gave a mighty upward heave. High through the sky Pete went sailing, to alight well behind the enemy line.
“The only inconvenience about this play was that, landing on the other side, Pete landed entirely alone. Before our protective intentions could get to him, he usually had been well worked over already by an irritated foe who questioned the honesty of this sudden arrival out of the air.”
Read the full article. It’s a fascinating and hilarious account of life on the scrimmage line before modern-day regulations made football both less lethal and more interesting.
Southern Cornbread Dressing Muffins
It’s the season for dressing up, starting with the cornbread.
Southern Cornbread Dressing Muffins
(Makes 12 muffins)
- 3 cups crumbled cornbread
- 2 cups crumbled buttermilk biscuits
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup turkey or chicken broth
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Cooking spray
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Melt butter in heavy skillet; add bell pepper, onion, and celery, and cook over medium-high heat until tender, stirring often. Add vegetables to crumbs in bowl. Combine broth and next 5 ingredients. Pour over crumb mixture and toss gently to mix. Spoon mixture into muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake for 35 minutes until lightly browned. Let stand for 10 minutes before removing from pans.
Recipe and photo courtesy of Glorious Grits by Susan McEwen McIntosh, published by Oxmoor House, Inc.
Do you have a special heirloom recipe to share? The Post is looking for the best family recipes. Send us your favorite to [email protected].
Set Your Clocks, Check Your Stocks
Prepare for the worst, and hope for the best. Like it or not, most of us will change our clocks when daylight-saving time ends on November 1. But health experts say that extra hour is a good time to prepare for unexpected emergencies.
Blizzards, floods, blackouts—even flu epidemics—may leave you and your family unable to go out or without access to food, water, or electricity for a few days.
“We already use daylight-saving time as an opportunity to focus on preparedness by checking batteries in smoke alarms, so it’s a great time to ensure that we have supplies to fall back on in the event of an emergency,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of American Public Health Association (APHA). “Use the extra hour to create a new emergency kit or check your current stockpile for any perishable items that may have expired or canned goods that you may have used.”
Being prepared calls for advance planning. Before disaster strikes close to home, follow the APHA “Set Your Clocks, Check Your Stocks” campaign recommendations listed below. Click here for downloadable fact sheets and checklists.
1. Check your stockpile of food, water, and batteries to make sure everything is still good. If you don’t have a stockpile, take some time to assemble at least a three-day supply of food, with one or more gallon of water per person per day. Flashlights, a manual can opener, a radio, medical and personal supplies, and copies of key documents are also recommended. You don’t need to purchase everything at once. Pick up one or two items every time you go to the store, stock up on “sale” items or split a case of bulk supplies with a friend.
2. If health officials advise you to “shelter in place” because of a flu outbreak, an emergency stockpile of water and foods may be needed for one week or longer.
3. Familiarize yourself and your family with your community’s emergency preparedness plan, including evacuation routes, emergency shelters, and the location of food banks.
4. Develop or update your family communication plan, which spells out how you will get in touch with one another during an emergency.
Classic Covers: Pumpkin Patch
Watch out for little girl goblins! This one is scaring grandpa with her jack-o’-lantern on Norman Rockwell’s 1920 Halloween cover. The dog seems unfazed, however, perhaps because he glimpses a skirt and cute little shoes under the sheet.
Now, we don’t know if the boy on J.C. Leyendecker’s November 1913 cover plans a jack-o’-lantern with his own great pumpkin in a wheelbarrow, but if he does, someone has a LOT of scooping out and carving to do. We suspect some good old-fashioned pumpkin pies are in the works. Perhaps the little girl in Sarah Stilwell-Weber’s cover of 1914 has the same idea. It seems to be more pumpkin than she can handle—she could use the assistance of the boy with the wheelbarrow.
Artist John Falter also illustrated another fall favorite that appeared on the November 1, 1952, cover depicting a man and four children walking away with their pumpkin choices. Nothing says autumn like haystacks and pumpkins.
A witch’s work is never done, and the one on Frederic Stanley’s October 1928 cover is busily carving her pumpkins.
An October 1946 cover of a scarecrow in a pumpkin patch seems simple enough, but the story behind it isn’t. Artist John Atherton searched all of Vermont for a suitable scarecrow and didn’t find it. So he constructed his own, borrowing clothing from a half dozen sources to come up with a sufficiently spiffy specimen, so spiffy in fact, it appears to be attracting crows.
Are We Ready for Another Martian Invasion?
Washington Irving created the first great American legend of Halloween in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” In his short story, a vain, superstitious schoolmaster is so terrorized by a prankster disguised as a headless horseman that he flees his village and never returns.
When actor, writer, and director Orson Welles planned a Halloween broadcast for 1938, he knew Americans weren’t going to be impressed with an imaginary horseman from hell. Instead, he presented horror with a modern tone. His adaptation of H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds was scrupulously planned to give the impression of an unscripted radio broadcast, with panicked announcers, realistic sound effects, and careful editing. (At one point, a “reporter” at the landing site describes the Martians firing a lethal heat ray that is moving toward him, closer and closer. Suddenly his microphone goes dead and eight seconds of stunned silence pass before a shaken station announcer comes on the air.)
Welles had unlimited faith in his dramatic abilities, but the success he achieved that night was far beyond anything he would hoped to have reached.
“The most puzzled people in the United States on Sunday night, October 30, 1938, were the traffic policemen of New Jersey. There were plenty of frightened citizens in America at that time, but the most confused ones were the motorcycle cops on the highways between New York and Philadelphia. At about 8:15 or 8:20 P.M., most of the traffic over those roads suddenly went wild.”
The account comes from a Post biography from 1940, “How To Raise a Child: The Disturbing Life — to Date — of Orson Welles.”
“Hundreds of automobiles began to flash along at speeds which normally indicate gangsters leaving scenes of assassination. But there were family parties in most of the cars: the women and children couldn’t all be gun molls and child racketeers. When a motorcycle man tried to overhaul one speeding auto, he was passed by two or three others. The stampede was in all directions. Nobody would stop for a policeman’s hail. Now and then, a traffic man would catch an incoherent shout that there was an ‘invasion’ or that ‘the world was coming to an end.’
“There were puzzled policemen in station houses all over the country, as demands came over the telephone for gas masks and information as to the safest places to hide from the enemy. The second most puzzled group were the switchboard operators, as the telephones suddenly went crazy and began to rave deliriously. Next came the clergy; priests were startled by the rush to get confessions under the wire, and Protestant ministers astonished at the interruption of their sermons by demands for prayers to avert the impending doom of the world. Fourth in the order of puzzlement may well have been hospital attendants who were called on to handle the nervous wrecks and falling-downstairs cases.
“Welles had nearly finished the broadcast before he detected that something was wrong. Through a glass partition in the studio he observed the entrance of several policemen, and he also notice unwonted activity at a battery of telephones.
“As soon as the broadcast was over, attendants hurried over to inform him that there were long-distance calls for him.
“The first message was a threat of death from a chamber-of-commerce official of Flint, Michigan, who asserted that the population of Flint had scattered far and wide and that it would take days to reassemble. The next message offered statistics on the number of broken tibias and fibulas in people from Western Pennsylvania. Hundreds of dollars were paid to A.T.& T. that night for the privilege of swearing at Welles. The thing grew serious as the death toll mounted. It was around twenty at ten P.M. Later research indicated that there had been no fatalities, but at the time Welles regarded himself as a mass murderer.”
Irving meant us to smile at his fear-ridden schoolmaster. Welles only wanted to make the flesh creep among his listeners. He never intended to make the broadcast an illustration of how easy it was to stampede Americans.
Much of Welles’ effectiveness, according to his biographer, came from his mixture of the fantastic and mundane.
“His success in scaring the nation resulted from the capable handling of the old familiar earmarks of credibility. He gave names, addresses, occupation and other minute details; identified each farm hamlet, turnpike, knoll, swamp and creek in the terrain which the Martian monsters swept over; christened every cop and village loafer who got mixed up in the interplanetary unpleasantness.
“It was this change of pace from the particular to the cosmic that paralyzed the reasoning powers of his listeners. The seasoning of little facts of geography and personal identity cause Welles’ public to swallow his wildest absurdities.”
In fairness, though, we should consider how the atmosphere of the times contributed to the panic:
• The year was hardly one of reassuring calm. Hitler had taken over control of the German Army, seized Austria and Czechoslovakia, and just a week before Welles’ broadcast, issued his first threat against Poland. Meanwhile, fascist armies were making steady progress over the countrysides of Spain, China, and Africa. Americans could see the next world war over the horizon, and it was moving faster than they thought possible.
• It was hard to confirm or deny rumors. On Sunday evening, when Americans began hearing about Martians, the next newspaper was about 12 hours away. Most Americans couldn’t telephone to confirm the rumors: Only a third of households had phones at the time. Many did tune their radio to the NBC system and The Chase & Sanborn Hour as usual, but for some, this wasn’t enough reassurance.
• The time of year was also important. Autumn seems to awaken a sense of the macabre. Cool days, unexpected twilight, the rustling of dry leaves, and the roar of wind through bare tree limbs have always inspired thoughts of the fantastic and supernatural.
• Lastly, we should bear in mind all the changes Americans of 1938 had seen. The country had lost many of its old certainties, which had insulated prior generations. Americans were living with ideas and technology that wasn’t just impossible when they were young, but unimaginable. If our great bull-market economy could fail, if the government was attempting to repair the market, if Prohibition could be repealed—why wouldn’t we believe that Martians landed in New Jersey?
Where the Wild Things Were
Maurice Sendak, author and illustrator of the 1963 children’s book Where the Wild Things Are, is back in the spotlight as his classic, imaginative illustrations transform from picture book to picture show. The 2009 film version, directed by Spike Jonze, is an obvious manifestation of how visuals affect the mind—considering the original story falls short of a mere 350 words.
During a recent interview for a New York Times article, writer Saki Knafo quotes Jonze’s own memories of the children’s book. “ ‘It’s amazing how few words there are but how strong the sentences are,’ he said, slowly turning the pages. ‘You can just stare at the drawings and take in all the detail.’ ”
Sendak has written over 80 books and spent his career bringing life to stories with his distinctly “wild” art, including one for The Saturday Evening Post, first published in 1968—and again in 1982. Yash, the Chimney Sweep by Isaac Bashevis Singer and illustrated by Maurice Sendak is the story of a humble chimney sweeper, Yash, who fell and knocked his head. The injury left him with the ability to read the minds of the townspeople. Sendak’s drawing, depicting a community baffled by Yash’s phenomenal new craft, strikes a familiar resemblance to the illustrations from his classic children’s book. See for yourself.
Click here to download Yash the Chimney Sweep.
Pumpkin Muffins
Let your Halloween candy cravings RIP. A hot cup of chai tea paired with these tasty, fiber-packed muffins will put those temptations to rest. They’re so easy, it’s scary!
Pumpkin Muffins
(Makes 12 muffins)
- 1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 1/4 cups wheat bran cereal
- 2/3 cup milk
- 3/4 cup raisins
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine, soft
- 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans (optional)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside. Measure cereal, milk raisins, pumpkin, and 1/2 cup sugar into large mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Let stand about 2 minutes or until the cereal is soft. Add egg and butter. Beat well. Add dry ingredients and nuts, stirring only until combined. Portion the batter evenly into 12 greased or lined muffin-pan cups. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar. Bake about 30 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.
This recipe is from The Saturday Evening Post Fiber and Bran Better Health Cookbook by Cory SerVaas, M.D., Charlotte Turgeon, and Fred Birmingham. To order a copy of this cookbook, visit ShopThePost.com.
Do you have a traditional family recipe you’d like to share with us? Send your letter and recipe to [email protected].
Six Tricks for Kids with Diabetes
Halloween Fun for Kids with Diabetes
Tricks (and treats) can help parents make sure that kids have fun, stay safe, and enjoy their Halloween candy—even when diabetes is a part of their lives.
To make the most of the upcoming festivities, here’s a checklist from experts at Fit4D, a personalized diabetes coaching service:
1. If your child is invited to a Halloween party, find out when it starts, how long it lasts, and what food will be served. Then adjust your child’s meal and medication plan accordingly.
2. Discuss the meal plan with your child. Also talk with the party hosts to address any of their questions or concerns.
3. Is your child going trick-or-treating? Do some homework. Review nutrition labels in stores, or go online to sites such as jdrf.org and calorieking.com to learn the carbohydrate amounts in pieces of popular candy treats. The information will help you appropriately include candy in your child’s meal plan.
4. Instead of taking away your child’s hard-earned candy, play “Let’s Make a Deal” for a nonfood item. For example, five small candy bars and four pieces of gum could “buy” a stuffed animal or music download.
5. Should your child’s glucose level drop too low, consider letting them choose a safe piece of nonchocolate candy from their loot that you know is equal to 15 grams of carbohydrate. Retest your child’s blood sugar to ensure that it has come up to a safe range.
6. Most importantly, be safe and have fun! Children with diabetes can participate in the same activities as those without the diagnosis; it just takes a little more planning.
Here, Marc Wolf, pharmacist and CEO of Diabetic Care Services, offers more ways to make Halloween fun for children with diabetes.
Classic Covers: Trick or Treat!
Saturday Evening Post covers through the decades have creeped us out with witches, goblins, and even a scary neighbor or two. They’re all in good fun, but you might want to keep the lights on as you observe the talents of some of our favorites.
A parade of trick-or-treaters is walking by on artist John Falter’s 1958 cover with even Mom wearing a scary mask. Or, as the Post editors put it at the time: “Mrs. Oldwitch and five little creeps are out on a shakedown cruise.” Editors are nice people. Really.
There’s one of these guys in every neighborhood: Artist Amos Sewell shows a homeowner who decided to don a creepy mask to freak out the neighborhood kiddies. (Maybe he’s an editor.) The flashlight focused on the mask provides early special effects, and it works on the neighborhood goblins who flee in terror. We secretly hope the old guy gets his windows soaped. But on the other hand, being scary is what Halloween is all about.
Talk about scary! Artist Edgar Franklin Wittmack (Halloween 1926) shows us a dapper young man on his way to a Halloween party. But he’s terrified of a very large, very sinister shadow, and we don’t blame him! Just what is that creepy shadow, anyway? Perhaps it’s the deliciously creepy witch from famous cover artist J.C. Lyendecker’s October 1923 cover. But wait—there are more witches! It’s Witches Night Out on artist Eugene Iverd’s 1927 cover—they’re flying everywhere! Trick-or-treaters: beware!
Save the Seed!
If you didn’t use up all of the garden seed you bought this year, much of it can be stored for use in next year’s garden, depending on the plant species. Seeds of some plants, such as corn, parsley, onion, viola (pansies), verbena, phlox, and salvia, are not very long lived, lasting only one or two years at best. Other seeds, including beans, carrots, lettuce, peas, radishes, snapdragon, cosmos, sweet William, and zinnia will remain viable (capable of germinating) for three to five years.
Seeds need to be kept cool, dark, and dry so that they retain stored carbohydrates and minimize fungal infection. You can keep the seeds in their original packets to preserve their labeling information. If you transfer the seeds to another container, be sure to label them with at least the plant name and the year the seed was purchased. Either way, be sure the seed is as dry as possible before placing in storage.
One of the more practical methods for storing small quantities is to place leftover seed in sealed jars or other airtight containers and store in a cool, dark area such as the refrigerator (not the freezer). A layer of powdered milk or uncooked rice at the bottom of the container will absorb excess moisture. Use a paper towel to separate the seed from the absorptive material.
These days, many seed packets only contain a few seeds so the germination test may be a moot point! On the other hand, many seeds are pricey, so saving even a few seeds can make a big impact on next year’s gardening budget.
The following chart listing storage life for common garden species will help you decide which seeds are worth the trouble. However, the conditions in which the seeds are stored dramatically affects how well they will germinate next year, as much or more so than their species.
Vegetables*
Plant | Expected Storage Life (Years) Under Favorable Conditions |
Bean | 3 |
Beet | 4 |
Carrot | 3 |
Corn, sweet | 2 |
Cucumber | 5 |
Kohlrabi | 3 |
Lettuce | 6 |
Muskmelon | 5 |
Okra | 2 |
Onion | 1 |
Parsnip | 1 |
Pea | 3 |
Pepper | 2 |
Pumpkin | 4 |
Radish | 5 |
Spinach | 3 |
Squash | 4 |
Tomato | 4 |
Turnip | 4 |
Watermelon | 4 |
* Knott’s Handbook for Vegetable Growers
Annual Flowers**
Plant | Expected Storage Life (Years) Under Favorable Conditions |
Ageratum | 4 |
Alyssum | 4 |
Aster | 1 |
Calendula | 5 |
Celosia | 4 |
Coleus | 2 |
Cosmos | 3 |
Dahlia | 2 |
Dianthus | 4 |
Geranium | 1 |
Hibiscus | 3 |
Hollyhock | 2 |
Impatiens | 2 |
Lobelia | 3 |
Marigold | 2 |
Nasturtium | 5 |
Nicotiana | 3 |
Pansy | 1 |
Petunia | 2 |
Phlox | 1 |
Poppy | 4 |
Salvia | 1 |
Verbena | 1 |
Vinca | 1 |
Zinnia | 5 |
** Hill Gardens of Maine,
hillgardens.com/seed_longevity.htm
B. Rosie Lerner is the Purdue Extension Consumer Horticulturist at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.
The Recipe Exchange
For some it’s the tradition of holiday cookies; others say it’s the raspberry drizzle atop the freshly baked pound cake; and then there are those that are already looking forward to savory leftovers.
Here, staff members share their favorite holiday recipes with you, but we suspect you have a few to add to the collection. We invite you to send them along with your name and hometown to [email protected] so that we may post them to our Web site.
Staff Picks:
“Spiced” Cider
“On a wintery night, the cider with a cinnamon stick with the Tuaca is delicious.” — Jack Huber, Advertising Director
Spritz Cookies
“This recipe is from my Grandmother, Margaret Peche. I have fond memories of baking these cookies with her every December as a child. My favorite job was decorating them with red and green sugar—and of course eating as many as she would allow!
“Today, Grandma’s metal cookie press and hand-written recipe are treasures that bring back warm feelings of her every time I make spritz cookies with my family during the holidays. Enjoy!” — Julie Santiago, Circulation Manager
Sweet Potato Casserole
“My mom always makes this on Thanksgiving. This recipe reminds me of my childhood. I love the way the marshmallows get caramelized on the outside and gooey on the inside—reminds me of smores.” — Alyssa Yano, Managing Editor
Turkey Potpie
“This is a staple in our family around the holidays. It tastes like you spent all day in the kitchen, but it’s very easy to prepare. It’s also a comforting, warm treat on a chilly day and a great way to enjoy leftover turkey.” — Tamatha Crist, Controller
Lemon Pound Cake with Raspberry Sauce
“I have so many excellent holiday recipes, but I’ll share this one with you.” — Jeff “Bake Me a Cake” Slavens, Personal Assistant
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake with Spiced Glaze
“This recipe was originally prepared by my aunt Andy Lyons who made it for me each year as I was growing up in Concord, New Hampshire. It became an annual Thanksgiving tradition that I always looked forward to. As I grew older, married, and moved away, I began preparing it for myself and then for my own children. I’ve adapted the recipe a little over the years adding a little more pumpkin for a moister texture and, as a chocoholic, adding both white and semisweet chocolate chips. I also like to microwave a slice for 15 seconds before serving so the chocolate is warm and melted.” — John LeBrun, Chief Marketing Officer
Irish Soda Bread
“Some people don’t like soda bread, but I do. This recipe is from my talented little baker, my daughter.” — Patrick Perry, Executive Editor
Cranberry-Orange Corn Muffins
“These muffins are my favorite during the holidays. I’ve been known to cheat and buy them at Whole Foods, but it’s nice to prepare a homemade batch for friends and family. And they’re perfect for breakfast, lunch, or the big holiday dinner.” — Heather Ray, Copy Editor
That’s Crafty!
Check out these easy homemade gifts you never knew you could create!
Make Your Own Candles
Turn an ordinary gift into a sentimental one by making it yourself or with your family.
Exclusive Magdalena Crochet Pattern by Mia Zamora-Johnson
Now you can crochet this adorable Magdalena doll created exclusively for SaturdayEveningPost.com readers by designer Mia Zamora-Johnson. (http://owlishly.typepad.com and http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Mia)
Download the instructions (PDF).
The Gift of Fudge
Did you know this divine all-American dessert was the result of a fudged-up batch of caramels in the 1800s. Nevertheless, these fudge-proof recipes are easy holiday gifts for your friends and neighbors.
Cookie-Cutter Soaps
When finished cutting out the cookies, get out the soap! These handmade, scented soaps make even sweeter gifts.
Faith in America
Thomas Jefferson didn’t mince words when he gave his view on religious freedom: “It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God,” he once wrote. “It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
Jefferson’s no-skin-off-my-nose attitude is so thoroughly modern that it’s hard to remember just how radical his view was in its day. Despite the fact that America was colonized partly by settlers looking to practice their beliefs without discrimination, the Founders still lived in a world where government-sanctioned and supported religion was the norm, where differences of faith and conscience could lead to seizure of property, bodily harm, and worse. By guaranteeing freedom of worship as a basic Constitutional right for all Americans, Jefferson and the rest of the Framers were attempting something entirely new. Almost miraculous, in fact.
Consider that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were written and ratified by a group composed exclusively of white, male landowners (many of them slaveowners), most with ties to just one specific religion — more than 50 percent of the Founding Fathers were affiliated with the Episcopal church, according to some historians. Not exactly the diverse dream team you or I might have chosen to safeguard the religious freedom of a new nation.
But that’s exactly what they did, and in the first lines of the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …” Known forever after as the Establishment Clause, this pronouncement — and the entire amendment — has over time proven to be a versatile tool that does more than separate church and state. It protects America’s faithful and faithless alike, providing both freedom of religion and freedom from it, as appropriate.
To be sure, the Founding Fathers couldn’t foresee how their efforts would one day help to make America the most religiously diverse nation in the world, nor anticipate how the Establishment Clause would come into play on future issues, from the teaching of evolutionary theory in schools, to the displaying of the Ten Commandments in public buildings, to the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance.
For more than 200 years, the balance between religious liberty and the rule of law has been constantly renegotiated. To understand how that balance has been maintained both then and now, we need to look back at the influences that shaped the Founders and the documents they created to serve their country and — ultimately — us.
Founding Faith
The traditional idea of the Founding Fathers as conventionally pious Christian gentlemen is a myth, of course. But neither were they actively hostile to religion. John Adams, to pick one, remained a regular churchgoer throughout his long life. Jefferson, meanwhile, was skeptical of religion, yet revered Jesus as a great moral philosopher, even assembling a personal edition of the New Testament with scissors and a glue-pot, retaining the ethical teachings of Christ while editing out the miracles. (You can see the Jefferson Bible today at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.)
The time was ripe for change. This was the Age of Enlightenment, when advances in the sciences forced philosophers to reconsider humanity’s place in the universe. Educated men of the day, including Jefferson and other Founding Fathers, were attracted to Enlightenment ideals and beliefs, including Deism: the notion of a Creator whose existence could be deduced from His handiwork, but who took no active part in human affairs — God as absentee landlord.
Another Enlightenment ideal that exerted a powerful influence over the Framers was the social contract. “Social contract theory holds that government doesn’t descend from on high, but from voluntary agreements among ordinary citizens,” says Gary Kowalski, author of Revolutionary Spirits, an account of the philosophical foundations of the Constitution. This all but flew in the face of conventional wisdom, which held that government derived its authority from God, from the top down.
As if that wasn’t enough to lay the ground for revolutionary change, there was also an upswell of religious devotion among the colonial populace, with Evangelicals preaching that all men are created equal, and that each person’s value is determined not by social class, but by moral behavior. Sound familiar?
The Declaration of Independence, then, served not just as the founding document of the American Revolution, but as a balance of the influences of the Founders and the average citizen. It asserted our unalienable rights, endowed by our Creator. But this truth was not handed down in a mystical vision; rather it was self-evident, revealed by rational observation.
The declaration makes no further mention of God. The Founders strove to emphasize that separation from England was an expression of human rights, rather than Divine Right. “The Founders believed that religion could be a healthy force in society — if it were exercised within a zone of personal autonomy,” says Kowalski.
There were practical reasons, too. Different Christian sects held majorities in different colonies — some as established churches, with taxpayer support — and religious language that appeared to favor one faith over another might have jeopardized the early union entirely. “In some respects, we bungled into religious liberty,” says Charles Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Center and author of several books on religion in public life. “Early on, the religious divisions in the colonies gave us little choice. So, in a way, we have religious diversity to thank for religious liberty.”
Footing the Bill
Timeline of American Faith |
1620 Mayflower arrives, carrying Puritans seeking religious freedom-for themselves if no one else. |
1635 Roger Williams banished from Massachusetts for advocating religious freedom, founds Rhode Island. |
1739 The Great Awakening comes to America as Evangelical preacher George Whitefield tours colonies. |
1776 Declaration of Independence asserts our unalienable rights. |
1786 Virginia adopts Jefferson’s Statute for Religious Freedom, the model for the First Amendment. |
1791 Bill of Rights ratified, First Amendment Establishment Clause cemented in Constitution. |
1833 Massachusetts outlaws state requirement that citizens must belong to a church. |
1864 “In God We Trust” first appears on U.S. currency. |
1868 14th Amendment secures equal protection for individuals at state and federal levels. |
1919 Driven by Protestant sects, Prohibition enacted. Repealed in 1933. |
1925 The Scopes “Monkey” Trial challenges state law that prohibits teaching evolution in schools. |
1943 Jehovah’s Witnesses win as Supreme Court overturns earlier ruling requiring Witness children to salute the flag. |
1954 The words “under God” added to Pledge of Allegiance. |
1963 Madalyn Murray, founder of American Atheists, files a lawsuit that leads to a Supreme Court decision ending enforced prayer in public schools. |
1971 Supreme Court rules about public funding in religious schools in Lemon v. Kurtzman, establishes the three-part test for government actions with respect to religion. |
1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act passed, preventing laws that may burden free exercise of religion. |
2005 Federal judge rules that “under God” addition to Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional. |
2007 Kansas board of education rejects findings of Evolution Hearings that allowed teaching of intelligent design in public schools. |
Like the declaration before it, the Constitution is also relatively free of religious-speak. It does not solicit God’s blessing; instead, it begins with an invocation of “We, the People.” Indeed, the Constitution’s only mention of religion is negative — in Article Six, where it expressly commands that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”
“The lack of God-language in the Constitution is not an oversight,” Kowalski says. “It provoked protest among more orthodox Christians, who thought that government needed some divine sanction.” But in the end, a majority voted to keep the Constitution faith-neutral. Meanwhile, some signatories felt that the Constitution did not go far enough to guarantee basic human rights. In response, James Madison proposed a number of amendments; of the ten that comprise the Bill of Rights, the First demarcates our religious freedoms in the plain language of the Establishment Clause which, incidentally, only applies to the federal government. Several states still had established churches, while others prided themselves as havens of conscience. The Establishment Clause split the difference by throwing the issue back to the states. Those with established churches could continue to favor them, while disestablished states were free to remain so.
The true vindication for the Establishment Clause came over the years, as a sense of common American identity began to grow, and states with official churches began, one by one, to disestablish them by acts of legislature.
Moving the Frontier
Since its beginnings, America has been extraordinarily religiously diverse. Although it’s true that, as of 1800, the majority of white Americans were Protestants of some kind, that formulation misrepresents the religious landscape of the time and the strained, even hostile relations between various congregations. The American Protestant identity — the tendency of many mainline denominations to downplay their differences and to think of themselves as “Protestant” first and foremost — only developed as immigration and expansion allowed for growth among minority faith groups. The years 1800-1850 saw U.S. population quadruple as Catholics, Lutherans, and Jews arrived from Europe, and as the country acquired territories from France, Spain, and Mexico, making their inhabitants — mostly Catholics — into newly minted U.S. citizens.
Today, as then, the country is experiencing a boom in immigration; and again, immigrants are bringing their faiths with them. Islam is considered to be one of the fastest growing religions in America. According to at least one survey, there are more Buddhists in America now than Evangelical Episcopalians. Some projections indicate that by mid-century, Protestant Americans will be the ones in the minority, a notion that makes many anxious, even now.
Over our country’s history, different groups have been singled out as threats to national unity. In the 1800s, Catholics were the bogeyman of choice. Anti-papist preachers warned that we were losing our country to those who did not share American values. Catholics, they claimed, could never be real Americans; they owed their true allegiance to a foreign tyrant and alien laws, and were too superstitious and backward to ever blend into our society.
If that rhetoric has a familiar ring to it, it’s because those same words have been used recently against other immigrant religious groups, particularly Muslims in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. “Every time we come to a period in our history when we are traumatized, when we are afraid, this anxiety returns us to the idea of recovering the America that’s been lost,” says Haynes. But Catholics managed to assimilate within a generation or two, and the American Catholic Church proved to be a different sort of institution than the European church, simply because of the cultural and political conditions on the ground. Just so, there’s reason to believe that Islam in our democratic, pluralistic society will be unlike Islam practiced elsewhere.
Homegrown Hallelujahs
In the 19th century, new denominations founded in the United States would prove vital to the cause of religious freedom — both for their minority status and for doctrines that brought them into conflict with the legal system.
In 1879 the Supreme Court ruled that civil laws trumped the Mormon doctrine of polygamy as a religious duty. Nasty lawsuits and countersuits raged for years, threatening the continued existence of the church itself. In the end, American identity proved so important to the Mormon church that it officially revised its religious doctrine to bring it in line with U.S. law.
But there have been times, too, when the law favored the dictates of religious conscience. In 1943 the Supreme Court reversed a ruling that originally upheld a Pennsylvania school board’s expulsion of Jehovah’s Witness schoolchildren who refused to salute the flag, but not before the controversy touched off a firestorm in communities across the country, where Witnesses were beaten, run out of town, or even jailed for sedition.
In recent years, the Mormon Church has cast itself as a defender of traditional marriage laws, leading the opposition to marriage rights for gays and lesbians. And by their very unwillingness to engage in secular politics, Jehovah’s Witnesses have done the nation a great service in helping strengthen the protection of religious practice from government intrusion.
Moving Backward, Moving Forward
While the First Amendment keeps government out of religion, it also protects against the flip side: the injection of religion into government, using the political process to pursue essentially moral goals. To be sure, many of our great social movements — abolitionism, temperance, women’s rights — had religious foundations, beginning with the idea of inalienable, God-given rights. But in trying to reform American society, some movements misstepped, promoting a particular, and even particularly extreme, religious viewpoint under government auspices. Prohibition, for instance, was enacted in 1920 under pressure from a movement led by Protestant sects. Many of the measure’s opponents were also people of faith, who believed that government shouldn’t meddle in moral issues.
We’ll probably never see Prohibition return; but other battles keep flaring up. In 2004 atheists challenged the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools as an unconstitutional endorsement of religion because it contained the words “under God.” (The motto “In God We Trust” on U.S. currency has recently come under fire for the same reason.) The Scopes trial of 1925 challenged a Tennessee law banning instruction in evolutionary theory. Eighty years later, the Kansas Board of Education voted to return creationism — calling it “Intelligent Design” — to the classroom. (The vote was reversed in 2007.)
Today, many Americans are confused and angered about the principle of separation, Haynes says. “For people afraid of losing our identity, it only pushes them to be more hostile to the First Amendment. That’s dangerous because that principle is the core condition for religious freedom that protects the rights of all.”
Proper understanding was just one of the areas addressed at a recent conference on the future of religious freedom in America, cosponsored by the First Amendment Center. There, policy experts identified several concerns for the future, including the consensus that free exercise of religion needs more protection still — especially for minority faiths; ways to prevent future backlash against certain religious groups — especially Muslim Americans in the wake of 9/11; and the need to provide more First Amendment education.
“The challenge is to reaffirm our commitment to religious freedom in a way that allows us to address our differences,” says Haynes. “It will take a real engagement, as individuals and communities, to find a way to protect the rights of people of all faiths and no faith. I think we can do it, but we can’t do it just by hoping for it.”
Or praying for it.
‘Tis the Season for Giving Back
Heather Jack and her family spent the Christmas holidays preparing a feast — for others to eat.
Last Christmas Eve, Heather and her family, including her two children, ages 3 and 7, prepared a full-course dinner for an elderly housebound neighbor and her son, who has muscular dystrophy. Heather made a rack of lamb with green beans and potatoes that her kids helped mash. They stayed for an hour and chatted before heading home to prepare for a visit from Santa.
“I think it’s that kind of direct experience, where you can sit down and talk to people, that many find so meaningful,” says Heather, president and founder of The Volunteer Family (thevolunteerfamily.org), a Boston-based organization dedicated to matching families with volunteer opportunities, both during the holidays and year-round. “It’s a great way for parents and grandparents to involve the kids.”
In a holiday season that stretches from before Thanksgiving to just after the New Year, it’s nice to hear stories about people giving instead of receiving, especially when Christmas isn’t even a holiday they celebrate. Last December Gary and Debra Danoff and their two teenage sons drove to the Washington, D.C. Jewish Community Center (JCC) and spent Christmas morning in the Center’s kitchen preparing a feast for homeless shelters. Everyone pitched in to cook large quantities of lasagna, chicken, and vegetables for delivery to area shelters.
The Danoffs were in good company. Across the city, at least 1,000 volunteers fanned out across the region to provide food and gifts to the Capitol’s neediest residents as part of the D.C. JCC’s annual “December 25th Day of Service,” now in its 22nd year.
“It’s a great feeling to watch volunteers come in and out of the building,” says Erica Steen, director of the Morris Cafritz Center for Community Service at the D.C. JCC.
“We draw an amazing smorgasbord of people from all ages, backgrounds, and races. We get grandparents and grandkids, entire families, young professionals, senior citizens. Anyone can participate.”
By choosing to prepare meals for the homeless, the Danoffs bring together a belief in community service with their love of cooking. “It’s gratifying to prepare food for other people,” says Gary. “We want our kids to understand the full range of living conditions in this world. We want them to know that many people don’t have the ability to go to the supermarket and pick the foods they want to eat and pay for them.”
Secret Santas
Sometimes, the joy of giving is that much sweeter when the gift is anonymous. That’s what Linda Forte-Spearing has learned.
On Christmas morning, she wakes up with her husband, Tony, and tries to imagine the wide-eyed surprise of children in another household as they unwrap the presents she carefully chose for them. Linda has never met the children or their parents, but that’s all part of the joy of giving, she says.
“It’s an incredible feeling to buy gifts on an anonymous basis,” says Linda, a freelance writer. “It brings a whole new meaning to the holidays.”
Linda and Tony are an American couple living in Toronto, and Linda got involved in charitable work as a member of the American Women’s Club of Oakville in Ontario. As the name suggests, members are U.S. citizens living in Oakville, who join together for fellowship and community service.
To find her “adopted” family, Linda goes to the local schools and requests a wish list for a family that’s struggling to make ends meet. Last year she and Tony helped a single mother with three children, ages 8, 10, and 12. The mother, a Jamaican immigrant, works as a cleaning lady in a nursing home.
“The list is always heartbreaking. They have an opportunity to ask for anything and do just the opposite, asking for basic clothing articles or simple toys like puzzles or crayons,” she says. “We always buy the kids a new winter coat, hats, gloves, and a scarf.” She also buys gifts for the parents, including a gift certificate for the grocery store.
Last year Linda asked the principal to go back to the mom and ask her for a second wish list — one that didn’t involve the basics. “Every child should have a Christmas that sticks with them for a lifetime.” She purchased iPods for the two older children and a Nintendo DS video game system for the youngest. “I have learned a very valuable lesson in all of this,” says Linda. “Pay attention to what’s going on in your own backyard — no matter where you live.”
Linette Laureano would second that emotion. For the past six years, this single mom of three has been working hard to make sure that poor kids in her Orlando, Florida, community don’t miss out on the joys of Christmas morning.
Last year her toy drives and a partnership with Toys for Tots brought Christmas morning magic to more than 400 children. To pull off such a large toy exchange, Linette sets up a temporary toy “store” within the Protestant church, where her mother is senior pastor. Linette and her family work late into the night, then curl into sleeping bags on the church floor in anticipation of the day ahead.
Parents arrive at a pre-arranged time to shop for three free gifts per child, plus stocking stuffers. “It’s humbling,” says Linette. “You learn to be grateful for what you have. So many people have so much stuff that they don’t even appreciate it, while others have lost all of their belongings or can’t afford nice things. Those are the people I want to help.”
At St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School in Cleveland, Ohio, you’ll find a similar “store,” but this time it’s the kids who get to do the shopping. And these are schoolchildren who know what it’s like to do without. At least 91 percent of the 225 students at this K-8 elementary school live below the poverty line. Many students come from single-parent homes.
Times are undeniably tough. But one day a year, students get to shop like millionaires let loose on Rodeo Drive. That’s when parishioners from Holy Angels, an affluent suburban Catholic church in nearby Bainbridge Township, set up a Christmas boutique within the school and sell upscale gifts to students at below bargain-basement prices. Nothing costs more than a quarter for the cash-strapped kids, not even Lenox crystal or a warm designer sweater.
But the children aren’t buying presents for themselves. They’re buying gifts for their parents, grandparents, siblings, and other family members. Selections are taken
to the gift-wrap station, where they’re wrapped and tagged by volunteer teen workers from Holy Angels, who also
help younger children carry overstuffed bags of presents back to the classroom.
“The day is just amazing,” says Principal Sister Michelle Kelly. “Parishioners at Holy Angels collect all year for this sale so that our children can buy nice gifts for their families.”
Ringing the Bell
For some, charitable giving is a private matter. But for many, volunteering is a family affair.
Five years ago, Christian Millman, a media manager in Des Moines, Iowa, and his wife, Michelle, started a family tradition of ringing the kettle bell for the Salvation Army. In split shifts, they bring one or more of their three children for an evening of bell-ringing, hot chocolate, and neighborly greetings in front of a local supermarket. Lucas, 15, brings his clarinet and plays Christmas carols to serenade passers-by.
“I’ve been impressed by how much they enjoy it and look forward to it each year,” says Christian. “It also gives me precious one-on-one time with my children during
a busy season.”
Many people stop and say “thanks,” adds Lucas. “They’re sometimes surprised to see a kid ringing the bell.”
Sometimes, people also share stories about how the Salvation Army helped them through rough patches in their lives. “It’s really moving for me and the boys,” Christian says. “All of the sudden, they’re not such disaffected young teens. They stop being tough and cool and realize that this really matters.”
Holiday giving made simple
Want to spread holiday cheer but don’t know how? Here are a few ideas:
Warm Up America! Volunteers create handmade afghan blankets, clothing, and accessories to help those in need. Call 704-824-7838 or visit warmupamerica.org.
Trees for Troops. From December 4-6, buy a tree at participating farms for the troops and their families. Call 636-449-5060 or contribute online at treesfortroops.org.
Soles4Souls. Donate new or gently used shoes to this charity that distributes footwear to the needy. Call 866-521-SHOE or visit soles4souls.org.
SALVATION ARMY. Ring the bell and collect donations in that trademark red kettle. Contact your local Salvation Army office or visit ringbells.org.
One-on-One with the Author: Gary Svee
Spur Award-winning Western writer Gary Svee was born to be a cowboy. But maybe he was a century too late.
His fiction — such as Sanctuary, hailed as 1990’s best Western Novel by the Western Writers of America — often takes you back to an earlier time, when men rode horses, wore six-shooters, and traversed the sagebrush trails.
Gary shrugs at the description. “I write about Montana. I guess that makes me a Western writer, but I don’t know what that means. It reminds me of a reviewer writing that one of my books is an allegory. I had to look up ‘allegory’ to understand what I’d done.”
True to form, his original short story in this issue has a Western setting, but it’s actually set in the 1950s. And it’s a poignant Christmas story, not a blazing shootout in front of a corral.
“I stepped outside Montana in the books I read,” he says, explaining how he came to write this particular story. “And that led me to step outside a world with signs on saloon doors, ‘No dogs or Indians allowed.’ That’s what drove me to write ‘Henry’s Christmas,’ a Native American mother trying to shield
her son from the hatred that palled the Big Sky in the earlier years and resists closure.”
How did he come to be a writer? “I was raised in a family of storytellers,” he grins. “Stories feed stories, like the time a man shoved a pistol into Dad’s back and said, ‘I’m going to blow your guts out.’ When the assailant woke up, he was in jail. My big brother fly-fishing the Madison with a rattlesnake wrapped around his leg.
Going down a talus slope with my younger brother, hoping we would make it across before we went off the cliff at the bottom. Tough, soft, mean, glorious, bright, dim, people set like gems in a setting of sego lilies and dizzying mountains and sunsets that shade any artist’s palette. How could anyone resist writing?”
Among his more recent novels are Single Tree (1994), The Peacemaker’s Vengeance (2003), Showdown at Buffalo Jump (2003), and Outcast (2005).
His mentor was Dorothy M. Johnson (1905-1984), known for such classic Westerns as The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, A Man Called Horse, and The Hanging Tree. Many of her short stories were published in the Post back in the ’40s. Svee says, “She was a premier Montana writer, my teacher at the University of Montana School of Journalism, and a friend.”
Gary Svee serves as a fiction advisor to the Post, feeding us ideas, critiquing our selections, and helping us to keep you entertained.
Does he have more Montana stories to tell? You bet. “I’ve been mired in a screenplay,” he reports, “but short stories keep popping into my head.” We’ll share them with you from time to time.