Category: Flora

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Sugar Beets and German POWs in Cache Valley

Abandoned Sugar Beet Factory, Weston near Franklin, ID Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer
Abandoned Sugar Beet Factory, Weston near Franklin, ID
Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer
When I started teaching at Preston High School, one of the first books my English class read was The Diary of Anne Frank. I remember asking the class if they had any family stories of their own to share about those war years. A young woman raised her hand and said her grandparents had a painting on their wall that had been given to them by a German Prisoner of War. This POW had worked on their Cache Valley sugar beet farm in 1945. He’d signed the painting, and had written a few words of thanks on the back for the kind treatment he had received

I was astounded. German POW’s in Cache Valley? This led me to ask more questions.

I found out in 1945 there were close to 400 German POWs living in tents in a work camp at the Cache Valley Fairgrounds. Local farmers contracted with the US Government to hire the POWs to work in the fields for 80 cents a day.

Each morning the prisoners would get loaded into trucks and driven to a sugar beet field. The work day didn’t end until 8 pm when the prisoners returned to the Fairgrounds, damp and chilled, from the ride in the open bed trucks.

Sugar Beet Knives Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer
Sugar Beet Knives
Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer
In 1945, sugar beets were a profitable crop, but labor intensive. In the Spring, the beets needed to be thinned and weeded. This work was done by a short handled hoe. In the Fall, the beets needed to be pulled out of the ground. This was done by a special beet knife with a big fish hook on the end. Once pulled out of the ground, the top leaves were sliced off and the beets tossed into a pile bound for the sugar factory.

At the peak of sugar beet farming in and around Cache Valley, there were 5 sugar factories operating. But by 1945 the factories were down to two – one located in Lewiston, and the other in Whitney, near Preston.

Native Americans came from Arizona to work the beets and set up their colorful teepees in downtown Lewiston. High school students were let out of school for 2-3 weeks in the Fall to work during what were called “Harvest Vacations.”

A friend of mine in Preston told me about a young man who went off the college in the Fall of 1945, but came home after a week. His father handed him a sugar beet knife and told him if he wasn’t going to go to college, he was going to work in the fields.

Everyone I met who once worked in the sugar beet fields told me all the work of thinning and harvesting needed to be done while bent over, and the resulting back pain was terrible.

Of all the stories I heard, my favorite was one of a Logan beet farmer who took his 3-year-old daughter with him to check on the work being done by the POWs he had hired. One day, he looked up and saw one of the German POWs holding his little girl in his arms. The farmer took his little girl by the hand, but the POW didn’t let go. A guard came running over. But both men stopped when they saw the tears running down the POW’s face. Somewhere, many miles away, they realized this German POW had a little girl of his own that he may or may not ever see again.

Today, all the POWs have long gone, as well as the local sugar beet farms. But if you drive north on Highway 89, just before you get to Preston, you can see the remains of the Whitney sugar beet factory. These huge crumbling buildings stand as a reminder that sugar beets were once king in Cache Valley.

This is Mary Heers and I’m Wild About Utah.

Credits:

Images Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer
Featured Audio:
Text: Mary Heers, https://cca.usu.edu/files/awards/art-and-mary-heers-citation.pdf
Additional Reading: Mary Heers & Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah, Mary Heers’ Postings

Powell, Allan Kent, Splinters of a Nation: German Prisoners of War in Utah (UTAH CENTENNIAL SERIES), University of Utah Press, January 1, 1990, https://www.amazon.com/Splinters-Nation-German-Prisoners-CENTENNIAL/dp/0874803306/ref=sr_1_1

Radford, Alexandria, The Old Sugar Beet Factory, Medium, Oct 7, 2021, https://medium.com/mind-talk/the-old-sugar-beet-factory-2e4b26f906d6

Arrington, Leonard J, Beet Sugar in the West A History of the Utah Idaho Sugar Company 1891-1966 University of Washington, 1966, https://www.amazon.com/-/he/Leonard-J-Arrington/dp/029574037X

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Leaves have fallen and are falling- it’s Fall!!

Fallen Leaves Courtesy Pixabay, Ivabalk, Contributor
Fallen Leaves
Courtesy Pixabay, Ivabalk, Contributor
Leaves have fallen and are falling- it’s Fall!! Their beauty, crunchiness, and odors excite my senses.

Consider the leaf, these lovely little solar collectors! How can any device imagined by the human brain collect light energy from the sun and convert it to food and oxygen while sequestering carbon? A tall order, even with AI! Yet, the humble leaf does it all! By capturing photons of light and utilizing the photosynthetic process, magic occurs!

In brief terms, the light excites electrons in the leaf’s chlorophyll which move through the electron transport chain producing needed energy to build glucose (food) from carbon dioxide and water absorbed from earth’s atmosphere. The glucose molecules along with phosphates, nitrates, and other chemicals are used to build infinite numbers of other molecules, essential for life to occur. Hope that was brief enough!

Yes, I have fallen in love with leaves- from waving grasses to majestic tree leaves. While raking leaves in my yard, I’m smitten by their beauty and functionality, and hope not to strain my back! Leaves from our Freemont cottonwood tree offer pyramids of gold with undulating leaf margins- exquisite! One can easily make a teepee from them, or other possibilities depending on where your imagination takes you. Our aspen trees sprinkle gold coins in between.

Aspen leaves have a special designed petiole, or leaf stem. Rather than the usual round shape, it is flattened which allows it to flip upside down when struck by wind. This makes it doubly efficient at capturing sunlight with both top a bottom receiving light. Chlorophyll is also found in the bark, hidden behind the white dust covering. Wet the bark and the green chlorophyll become visible.

We have many conifers in our yard, whose specialized leaves in the form of needles perform the same function. Their tiny surface area and wax-like coating are excellent adaptations for reducing transpiration (plant evaporation). This allows them to maintain their leaves through the extreme drought of winter’s cold temperatures and frozen ground, whereas broadleaved trees would soon dehydrate if their leaves were not dropped.

We have many other broadleaved trees on our landscape- box elder, green ash, rocky mountain maple, cherry, and river birch. Thus, we are blessed with a myriad of leaf shapes, colors, and texture. I enjoy all varieties- an artist’s delight! One we’re missing is Gamble oak, which was abundant in our N. Ogden backyard. These are a subspecies of the eastern white oak, as the Rocky Mountain bigtoothed maple is a subspecies of the eastern sugar Maple.

Utilitarian uses of leaves add more to the enjoyment, excellent mulch, compost, and piles for the grandkids to frisk in! Leaving some of them on the lawn in a shredded (mowed) condition is good nourishment for the grasses.

A healthy medium sized maple tree has around 100,000 leaves. That’s a lot of solar collectors! How many blades of grass in the average lawn? I leave that one up to you dear Listener!

Jack Greene for Bridgerland Audubon Society, I’m wild about every leaf I know- even poison ivy!

Credits:

Images: Courtesy Pixabay, ivabalk, contributor, https://pixabay.com/photos/autumn-fallen-leaves-the-fallen-2882733/
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright Friend Weller, https://upr.org/ and Anderson, Howe, Wakeman.
Text:     Jack Greene, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading Links: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading:

Wild About Utah Pieces by Jack Greene, https://wildaboututah.org/author/jack/

Hicks-Hamblin, Kristina, Composting Autumn Leaves: How to Use Leaves for Compost and Mulch, Gardener’s Path, Ask the Experts LLC., August 30, 2020, https://gardenerspath.com/how-to/composting/leaves/

Yard & Garden Updates, USU Extension, https://extension.usu.edu/yardandgarden/updates/

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When Pumpkins Become Boats

Pumpkin on Center Street - Daybreak UT Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer
Pumpkin on Center Street – Daybreak UT
Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer
The Ginormous Pumpkin Regatta began in Daybreak, Utah on Oct 18 with eight 600 lb pumpkins lined up on the edge of the community’s lake. The action began at 8:30 am when a forklift driver picked up Pumpkin #1 and eased it into the water. The pumpkin slid off its pallet and floated away from the shore.

Lying in wait was a small motorboat. The woman in the front of the boat leaned way out over the bow and put her hands on the pumpkin.

“Got it!” she called. This was the cue for the man in the back of the boat to fire up the outboard motor. Together they pushed the giant pumpkin around the nearby pier and into a shallow holding area.

Here, three people in hip waders were waiting in the water. Two steadied the pumpkin while the third cut a big square hole out of the top of the pumpkin. The cut-out square was tossed aside and all three reached down into the pumpkin to pull out handfuls of seeds and stringy pulp.

This is how they turned the giant pumpkin into a boat.

By now Pumpkin #2 had been delivered, and the work continued.

It wasn’t long before the announcer called the youth racers to come forward. Three brave competitors under the age of seventeen stepped up. They each chose a pumpkin and climbed in. Someone handed each of them a kayak paddle and pointed to the start line. Just how unwieldy these boats were was immediately obvious as two veered off in opposite directions while the third turned round in circles. But with a little practice, the teens were able to get the “boats” going in a straight line –more or less.

By then some serious new competitors were beginning to gather on the pier in elaborate costumes – a long haired mermaid, an Indian with a feathered headdress, King Neptune with his trident.

The day’s Grand Finale would include all eight giant pumpkins in a hundred yard all out sprint for the golden pumpkin trophy and the title of Gourd’s Man of the Year. I didn’t get to see this race. I had to get back to Logan.

But I had gotten to see Logan’s Giant Pumpkin festival a few weeks earlier. Here, giant pumpkins lined both sides of Center Street. One by one they were brought to the stage and weighed on a giant scale. The last six all weighed over 1,000 pounds. The big winner that day weighed in at 1,917 pounds.

I went home that day with a packet of giant pumpkin seeds in my pocket. I was warned that they were hard to grow.

But why not give it a try?

This is Mary Heers and I’m Wild about all things bright and beautiful in Utah.

Pumpkin Regatta - Daybreak UT Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer
Pumpkin Regatta – Daybreak UT
Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer

Credits:

Images Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer
Featured Audio: Vince Guaraldi’s Great Pumpkin Waltz, Courtesy & Copyright Concord/Craft Recordings https://craftrecordings.com/
Text: Mary Heers, https://cca.usu.edu/files/awards/art-and-mary-heers-citation.pdf
Additional Reading: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah, Mary Heers’ Postings

Ginormous Pumpkin Regatta, LiveDAYBREAK, Daybreak Master Planned Community, https://www.mydaybreak.com/live_news_detail_T16_R550

Upcoming Events, Utah Giant Pumpkin Growers, https://www.utahpumpkingrowers.com/events.html

How Giant Pumpkins Grow so Big, The Associated Press, https://youtu.be/gRUNB3YA2FI Duration: 2:19 minutes

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Chokecherries

Chokecherry Fruit Prunus virginiana Courtesy US National Park Service
Chokecherry Fruit
Prunus virginiana
Courtesy US National Park Service
Chokecherry in Bloom Prunus virginiana Courtesy US Fish & Wildlife Service
Chokecherry in Bloom
Prunus virginiana
Courtesy US Fish & Wildlife Service

Chokecherry Flowers Prunus virginiana Courtesy US Fish & Wildlife Service Chokecherry Flowers
Prunus virginiana
Courtesy US Fish & Wildlife Service

Certain plants were considered sacred by many native tribes. Chokecherry made the list. This versatile plant was highly prized for food, medicine, implements, and building material. And you could rightfully say it changed the history of our nation.

Legend has it that the young Shoshoni girl Sacajawea was gathering choke cherries when captured by the Hidatsa tribe and later traded to Lewis and Clark on their voyage of discovery. Without this very young mother, it is highly doubtful they would have completed their journey as she saved them from starvation, was a translator/mediator with many potentially hostile tribes and retrieved some of their precious journals from being lost to the Missouri River when their boat capsized in a rapid.

These stories ran through my mind as I gathered massive quantities of the fruit in preparation for the Stokes Nature Center “From Forest to Fork” wild foods banquet on August 24th of this month. It also channeled images of a black bear in the Tetons, gorging on choke cherries in preparation for its winter big sleep. Picking several pounds of these delectables, I decided to take a broader perspective looking for other virtues of this remarkable plant.

In addition to the above, chokecherry’s tough, springy wood was used for fabricating both bow and arrow, digging sticks, and fish spears. Native people across America routinely smashed the fruits, dried them thoroughly in the sun, and added them to rendered fat and dried meat to produce pemmican, which provided all essential nutrients in one’s diet.

Chokecherry makes a very useful natural dye. To make a dye, pulp the fruit and create a mashed mix of juice and berries. Placing fabric in this mixture will take on the beautiful pinkish red color of the dye. For lighter stains, leave the product in for shorter periods.
Due to their quick and abundant growth, chokecherries have been planted in tree rows for wind protection, for wildlife habitat and for erosion control. Today they grow in a variety of climates and regions around the country.

Nutritionally, the dark purple, red, or almost black berries are high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. They can be used in vinegar, syrups, jams, juice, and make excellent wine. This small yet potent fruit provides an array of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, which contribute to its health benefits.

Chokecherry has a variety of medicinal uses. Dried berries were used to treat several bowel conditions, from diarrhea to loss of appetite, and those suffering from ulcers and other conditions. The bark is reported to be a remedy for respiratory ailments, such as a bad cough. The fruit’s high antioxidant content, particularly anthocyanins, is linked to a reduced risk of chronic diseases including cancer, heart disease, and age-related cognitive decline. Additionally, chokecherries have anti-inflammatory properties and are believed to have a positive effect on the immune system.

This is Jack Greene for Bridgerland Audubon Society, and I am Wild About Utah’s wild choke cherries!

Credits:

Picture: Courtesy US FWS and US NPS
Audio: Courtesy & © Anderson, Howe and Wakeman.
Text: Jack Greene, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading: Lyle W Bingham, Webmaster, and Jack Greene, Author, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading:

Jack’s Wild About Utah pieces.

Jack Greene writes: “Legend has it that the young Shoshoni girl Sacajawea was gathering choke cherries when captured by the Hidatsa tribe and later traded to
Lewis and Clark on their voyage of discovery.”
Sacagawea: The Shoshone Woman Who Guided Lewis and Clark
Full History Documentary | History Revealed @History_Revealed01
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xssko2bJfNM

 
Chokecherry Prunus virginiana, iNaturalist (Courtesy Wikipedia), https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/54835-Prunus-virginiana

Chokecherry Prunus virginiana, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, The University of Texas at Austin, https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PRVI