February 2013 Newsletter

Web site: www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com
E-mail: jc@jimcasadaoutdoors.com

February Figurin'

Although I haven’t looked back to check, I would almost bet that I’ve used the same title in previous February editions of this newsletter. That’s because this time of year my Grandpa Joe was greatly given to what he variously called “figurin’,” “dreamin’ and schemin’,” or just “looking down the road.” One thing about Grandpa—he may have had an overly healthy streak of paranoia (he didn’t trust much of anyone and in particular had no truck whatsoever with the government or bureaucrats), but he was also an eternal optimist in certain ways. He always looked ahead to coming spring with eagerness, and by this time of year, no matter how miserable the weather, he would be talking about planting by the signs, getting his garden spots “laid off,” ordering a bunch of biddies (baby chickens) through the local Farmers’ Federation, and fishing experiences to come.

I find myself similarly enthused about coming spring, partly as a way of beating cabin fever but also as a means of preparing for the many and varied rites of spring. I’ve got the seed catalogs piled up four or five inches deep, never mind that I buy most of my seeds from bulk supplies at the a local feed and seed store or, in one or two cases, rely on those I’ve saved. For example, I am growing a variety of green beans which, according to the fellow who originally gave me the seed, have a history dating back over a century. They are Nantahala climbers (Nantahala is a Cherokee word meaning “land of the noon-day sun” and there’s a wonderful trout stream and a community by that name in the area of western North Carolina where I grew up. Similarly, I raise a kind of crowder peas (also variously known as field peas, clay peas, and zip peas) which someone gave to my wife at least three decades ago. They are prolific and easy to shell.

Along with thoughts about planting a garden, there’s plenty to be done in the interim. I’m still cutting side shoots of broccoli, have a few cabbage heads left from fall planting, and can still pick kale and mustard greens. Within a month it will be time to plant some early seeds and sometime in March new Heritage raspberry plants will arrive. I finished pruning my muscadine and scuppernong vines last week (I have about 30 varieties) and I’ve got a couple which I rooted still to transplant and other rooted ones to be dug up and given to friends for them to plan. Rooting them is the essence of simplicity—just cover a long runner at pruning time, rather than cutting it off, and give it a summer. It will be well rooted by the time of the first killing frost.

Presently, I need to catch a dry spell to run the tiller, take the ashes from a huge burn pile where I took care of the debris left from removal of a bunch of sweet gum trees and spread it on the garden (poor man’s lime just as a good snow used to be known as poor man’s fertilizer—along that line, that bloated hypocrite named Al Gore might think about poor man’s fertilizer next time he opens his onerous pie hole), spread and plow in some leaf mold, and generally get things ready for spring’s greening-up time.

Incidentally, mention of the jack-leg loggers removing those sweet gums brings to mind the question: “Is there any tree more useless than a sweet gum?” If you ever tried splitting one for firewood you have an inkling of how my thought process is running, or maybe you’ve tried dealing with sweet gum balls beneath a tree where you mow. I don’t know of anything better designed to “throw” a belt on a riding mower. On top of that, in this part of the world they are THE succession tree and tend to outgrow and crowd out all other contenders. Trying to kill off their sprouts is a losing battle with Beelzebub, and as far as I know they provide nothing in the way of wildlife food. In short, I detest the darned things!

On the indoors work front, as I indicated last time, I’ve finally plunged headlong and with great enthusiasm into my long planned biography of the most prolific of all 20^th century outdoor writers, Archibald Rutledge. Let me know if you want to be notified when the book is ready, although it’s well over a year in the future. Beyond that, in recent weeks I’ve done a profile of Rutledge for a dandy new magazine devoted to the wonderful heritage of quail hunting, Covey Rise; completed a feature on my thoughts about the state of turkey hunting today for Outdoor Life; prepared an article on woodsmanship for the National Wild Turkey Federation’s Turkey Country; and gotten up to date on assignments with my columns and features for Turkey & Turkey Hunting. Most recently I did a piece on Zane Grey for a special angling issue of Sporting Classics (you will see mention of some reading connected with that in my list of “Recently Read Books” below), the magazine with which I have been affiliated the longest. Also, if you haven’t done so, I’d urge you to check out my books blog on Sporting Classics Daily. It appears once a week. The most recent one was on Charlie Elliott and the next will deal with my good buddy and unrivaled master of turkey-hunting tales, Tom Kelly. Throw in my regular newspaper columns and I’ve got enough to keep me occupied at the computer on a pretty regular basis.

I need to do a lot of that in coming weeks, because once we reach mid-March, as is the case with me every year, turkeys take most of my time and consume what saner souls would consider an inordinate amount of my time and thoughts. But then few folks have ever argued that turkey hunters are sane or that we act in a rational manner during the season. Maybe that’s why I anticipate the last day of the season almost as much as I do the first, because a steady diet of early risings, ample doses of defeat at the hands of a bird with a brain the size of a marble, irregular and unhealthy meals, and lots of travel leave me worn to a frazzle. All in all it’s a glorious mess.

This Month’s Special Offers

Several years ago I received a somewhat mysterious call regarding a research/ghost writing assignment. The caller asked a number of questions about my credentials, said I had come highly recommended, and all the while studiously avoided the exact focus of the endeavor.

After a time and given the nature of the questions, it was clear to me the project involved the National Rifle Association. At that point I said as much and indicated I had written for some of their magazines and knew something of the organization’s history.

The upshot of all of that is that I was hired to serve as the lead researcher and something of a ghost writer for a big, impressive history of the organization, The NRA: An American Legend. You won’t find my name on the book’s title page (the author is Jeffrey Rodegen, who has made an impressive career out of doing histories of this sort), and in fact I’m only mentioned in the small print of the Acknowledgments. Yet I had a great deal to do with the book, spending considerable time researching and interviewing folks at the NRA’s headquarters, and it was an assignment I greatly enjoyed.

While doing some much-needed organizing and dusting recently, I discovered I have a few copies of the NRA history. It’s a beautifully illustrated, hefty book of the type sometimes described as “coffee table,” but the depth and research take it beyond the status of a “pretty picture book.”

 I’m offering the books, new, for only $27.50.

A decade or so ago my wife and I edited a cookbook for the S. C. Outdoor Press Association entitled Wild Fare and Wise Words. It comprises favorite recipes from dozens of South Carolina outdoorsmen along with narrative material introducing each section which I wrote. While the contributors are numerous, Ann and I provided more than half the recipes.

The book, although a nicely done hardback with a striking cover image, traveled a rocky road from the outset. I won’t go into detail other than to say it was a cooperative project in which cooperation proved to be in short supply. As a result, the book never sold particularly well and recently I have been able to procure a bunch of copies inexpensively.

My good fortune can be yours, because I’m offering signed, inscribed copies of the book, which retailed for $20, at a dramatic reduction of only $8.50 (and that includes the postage).

If you want to stock up with a bunch for gifts, I’ll do even better—buy five or more copies and I’ll reduce the price to $6 a copy (again, I’ll pay the postage). All of this month’s recipes come from the cookbook.

Order online now by using the "Add to Cart" buttons above, or just send a check to me c/o 1250 Yorkdale Drive, Rock Hill, SC 29730.

Tel.: 803-329-4354
E-mail: jc@jimcasadaoutdoors.com