A HOMESTEAD IN OREGON'S HIGH DESERT

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LOOKING AHEAD

As this article is being written, we're eagerly awaiting the results of a soil sample to determine the amount of fertilizer we'll need to raise next year's food supply. (Our nearest neighbor, who lives two miles away, received a soil test indicating a 91% deficiency in nitrogen, due to the absence of humus in this virgin soil.) The extension agent advised us to work in compost (which is readily available from winter-rotted haystacks) to boost both the humus and, with luck, the yield of our gardening efforts.

The high desert's 4,200-foot elevation keeps the summer temperatures in the comfortable 70's and 80's, and a list of vegetables recommended for this region's growing season includes an astonishing array: asparagus, beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, sweet corn, cucumbers, eggplant, endive, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, onions, parsley, parsnips, peas, peppers, radishes, rhubarb, rutabagas, spinach, squash, tomatoes, and turnips. (Unfortunately, a midJuly freeze occasionally wreaks havoc with eastern Oregon garden plots.)

The county agent also recommended strawberries, apricots, Bartlett pears, plums, pie cherries, and Yellow Transparent or Golden Delicious apples.

"But don't plant your fruit trees on the south slope," he cautioned, "because our late frosts will frequently damage an early bud break. The best thing you can do is preserve as many fruits and vegetables as you can during the good years, since you may lose your fruit setas well as most of your vegetable garden-as often as two years out of three."

As you can see, homesteading in eastern Oregon has its share of problems . . . and the region's whirling dust devils, freak frosts, and persistent alkali may discourage some wouldbe back-to-the-landers. But to us, the high desert offers a chance to step back into the past andperhaps-to help build a saner future.

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