Reverse Legislation Allowing Longer Trucks On Route 2!!

I think all Islanders should be severely disappointed with the recent passage of legislation allowing larger tractor trailers to now use Route 2 through the islands. First, who had the idea to use Grand Isle County as a means for large trucks to bypass the weigh stations north on I-89? Did this start from the governor, his staff, or a legislator? Secondly who felt that it should not be made public to the residents of Grand Isle County before it made it into legislation? Thirdly was there any debate of this issue before passage of this legislation?

An extra seven feet on a trailer may not seem like a big deal, but it is. That is extra weight and storage space. Depending on the load being transported, seven extra feet can be a lot more weight bearing down on Route 2. It’s not in that great of shape right now, and more, larger, heavier trucks will only lead to more deteriorated conditions. Did the state allocate more money and time to be spent maintaining Route 2 as a result of this bill’s passage?

Route 2 through the Islands has very narrow shoulders and many chokepoints where it is the only north and south road connecting the towns together. Can you imagine an accident on the Sandbar, Drawbridge, Birdland, or North Hero/Alburg bridge blocking traffic for hours upon hours for cleanup and container transfer? Or having to backtrack around St. Albans to get home or to work by the interstate? Even worse, in summers with the high traffic volumes and use of the sides of the road by bicyclists, pedestrians, horseriders, or fishermen, this is an almost certain recipe for human roadkill. Did the state budget for more money for local responders and law enforcement as a result of this bills passage, or does the burden fall on our shoulders?

Then there’s the amount of extra space that these trailers will have to transport materials. Not really a big deal if god forbid an accident does occur and an extra seven feet of baby diapers goes flying all over Route 2 right? But what if instead it’s hazardous materials, even as seemingly benign as fluorescent light bulbs being transported? Thats an extra seven feet of mercury phosphate powder and broken bulbs that our volunteer emergency personnel will be exposed too, have to work around, and potentially get into Lake Champlain as contaminants. What if something worse is being transported?

We should all be severely disappointed that this legislation made it past, or was snuck by Representatives Johnson, Trombley, and Senator Mazza. This is the very kind of thing we send them to Montpelier to watch out for and keep us informed about. I hope for their future careers as representatives of our Islands community, they did not know about this beforehand. I encourage all Grand Isle County residents to contact their representation and the Governor, and demand that they immediately begin working to reverse this legislation, and make it their priority for the 2010 legislative session. If they continue to fail Grand Isle County, remember in November.

Here's What I've Got Growing On....

....In the garden.

Actually I've got two veggie gardens going on. One traditionally planted in rows at my grandfathers house, the other is raised beds intensively planted at my house.

Tomatoes; Golden Jubilee, Dr. Wyche's, Free Tibet's, Black Prince, Sungold, Strawberry Husk
Hot Peppers; Cherry Bomb, Jalapeno, Habanero, Red Savina Habanero, Bhut Jolokia (first try)
Italia and Black Beauty for Sweet Peppers. String beans in yellow, green and purple. Sweet, Lime and Lemon Basils. Okra, Dill, Sage, Lavender, and Mammoth Sunflower. Super sugar snap peas.
Turnips, Radishes (almost gone by), Nantes Coreless carrots, Parsnips, Three types of heirloom Zucchini, Swiss Chard, Bunching onions, Red, White, and Yellow Onions. Black seeded simpson lettuce, and two salad mixes, Italian and French. A couple of sugar baby watermelons, and a vine peach for good measure.
Lastly I have some horseradish and yukon gold potatoes in five gallon buckets. These have done amazingly well.

Been super busy staying on top of the weeding, top-dressing with fresh compost, and keeping the soil turned up. The work is paying off though. The Tomato plants are knee high and flowering, the sunflowers are waist high. In spite of the almost two inches above average of rain for the month of June, things are proceeding well. Looks to be a lot of freezing, canning, and dehydrating coming up soon!

Almost Forgot....Horse Poop and Roads!!

To The Editor,

I had some interesting events occur in succession a couple days ago and it really got me thinking. I met a person riding their horse down the side of Route 2, so I slowed down till I was past, and kept on my way. Didn't really think about it until I counted six piles of horse poop on the side of the road in one trip to Isle La Motte. The kicker was the following night when I walked past a bulletin board at a local store on which someone had posted a notice saying it was the law to slow down for horses, and photocopied text from some Vermont Statute.

I must admit I was ignorant of this law before. I slowed down out of respect and not wanting to be the cause of somebody being bucked and hurt. I never understood why someone would choose to ride on the road with a horse when there's so many other places. I guess I've always thought of horses as for riding on trails and in fields if they weren't being used for work or competitive events. It must be hard to ride horses though with so much land posted to horse-riders, hunters and everyone alike.

Still, those piles of horse poop really got me thinking. It wasn't just because they have the potential to spread the seeds of invasive plants, or be vectors of disease. I'm a bicyclist in addition to being a motorist, and those piles of poop take up a good portion of the bike lane. The reality is you have four choices on a bike; swerve left into traffic, swerve right and risk the ditch, try to jump the pile, or plow right though. Not really a lot of options, but the question is, why should a bicyclist have to choose?

So I found horse manure catchers for sale online, they go by all sorts of names. They use them for horse drawn carriages, and events like parades, fairs, birthday parties, etc. They were a bit pricey ranging from fifty all the way up to eighty-five dollars. More spendy than I thought but worth the price to help keep Island cyclists from risk. Would those horse riders who choose to share the roads with motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists please consider purchasing some? You're friends and neighbors in the islands would sure appreciate it.

Anyone Like Free Stickers??

I know I haven't sat down and written for awhile, just haven't really had time......soon though!
Been going full tilt now that Spring is here, getting all the gardening done. Weather has just been SOOO difficult. Almost frost the AM of June 1!!

So got a juicy something to hold everyone over for a bit.

Not all these e-mails work, but copy them inot an e-mail list and send away. Ask something liek if they send out stickers? Above all be polite, but like 3/4 of them will send some your way. Probably about 1/4 will ask for a SASE, but who cares, you'll be inundated by the rest!!
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Spring Is Here, Busy, Busy!!

Wow, this month flew by! Been hunting Wild leeks and fiddleheads, in addition to trying to get a garden going. Tried some trout fishing (no luck), did a bunch of Bullhead fishing (lots of luck).

Spring has sprung! The grass has turned green, the bloodroot are blooming, the trillium are almost there. The crabapples outside the office at work have leafed out, and are about a week from blooming, and tomorrow a bunch of camoflaged hunters take to the woods in search of turkeys.

I love spring. I'll write more soon, got some interesting stuff going in the garden this year (a sneak preview; the two hottest peppers in the world!!).

Know Your Island Neighbor

Spring has finally arrived, and once again the Champlain Islands are alive with the sounds and sights of migrating birds. Soon maple sugaring season will draw to a close and neighbors will open their homes to welcome the warm weather. Eventually various sizes and shapes of flowers will burst forth on the landscape. The change of the seasons is an exciting time, and also one for reflection.

For some Islanders this was certainly a hard winter. It’s on everyone’s faces and minds, and evidenced further by the foreclosure and auction notices in this very paper. Now is the time to talk to neighbors and see how they faired, especially the elderly. Did they have enough heat, food, help with chores, or rides to the doctor?

Ask now, and talk things through while it’s still fresh in the memory. A little foresight can make a big difference in the lives of fellow Islanders. We all like to think things will suddenly get better, but it will most likely be a more gradual transition to good economic times. By talking to each other and finding out issues now, we have a lot of time to work through them, as solutions don’t come quickly.

By knowing the challenges our fellow Islanders faced this winter, we can better plan how to help them during the next. Every little bit helps, and little things go along way. Could be you have a friend or co-worker who’s cutting down a tree and is looking to get rid of the wood. Maybe you have some extras from the garden to can or dry. If you’ve got some extra freezer space you could even freeze some fish you catch in a block of ice. It could be as simple as clipping coupons to give away, or sharing a trip to the grocery store with an elderly neighbor.

Not so long ago it was our sense of community that set us apart. A time when neighbors helped neighbors, whether it was getting in the hay before the rain, watching the kids so someone could run a few errands, or an electrician offering to wire a town building. In your own way, do what you can to help your neighbors and make our Islands a better place.

Holy Smoker!!

So on a recent trip to that mecca of low budget consumer spending K-mart, I bought something that thoroughly excites me to use, and totally worth the $5 I paid for it. I love to grill and finally bought myself a smoker box. It’s awesome, just a small metal box with holes that sits on the grill while you’re cooking. It works phenomenally!

So I started using a box of mesquite chips that I bought in the store, and it imparts a wonderful smoky flavor into the meat. You just soak the wood chips in water for about a half hour before putting in the box on the grill, and voila; smoke. The best part though, is I can make my own chips to use in the smoker. My father cut down an apple tree in his yard, so I can take a couple of the smaller pieces and use my hatchet to make chips. Way cheaper than buying them for $5 a bag!

Even better though, I can also make my own hickory and alder chips, and experiment with other types of wood to see what I like best. I know where there’s a Butternut that just dropped a branch, and suspect that might have a good flavor to it as well. Not bad, a $5 investment, that I can refill for free……pretty happy about it.