By Tim Marema

Pollen & Pledge Drives Fill the Air

editor — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:30:38 -0700

"The first caller to pledge at the $50 level will receive this dog!"
Photo: Julie Ardery

Spring is in the air. And on the airwaves.

The floral indicators of springtime emerge at different times across rural America. But there is one sign we can all set our seasonal clocks by – public radio on-air fund drives. From Maine to California, the phone lines are open and ready for your pledge, it seems. Small community stations, National Public Radio affiliates, Christian broadcasters … all have roughly the same schedule when it comes to their semiannual fund drives.

Late March and early April are peak season in the Southern Appalachians, which is my neck of the woods. I'm willing to bet the on-air pitches bloom in your area just about the same time, regardless of when the dogwoods blossom (or cactus or tundra or whatever other flower announces spring for you).

At my university-based NPR affiliate, WUOT , which broadcasts from one county over, the precise diction of classical music announcers tells me which classical or jazz CD I can get with a generous pledge. Down the dial at a folk and bluegrass station, WDVX , much twangier voices offer regional flavor and a dandy CD of Americana performers. And elsewhere across the dial, I can get CDs of sacred music or perhaps even a prayer request with my love offering.

Romney's Michigan Revival

editor — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:15:37 -0800

Mitt Romney's bid to be the next Republican candidate for president flared back to life Tuesday as he won the primary in his native state of Michigan. Romney received 39% of the vote, a wide margin over the New Hampshire primary winner John McCain (30%), and Mike Huckabee (16%), who had topped the Iowa caucuses.

Romney ran very strong in the Detroit metropolitan area, pulling in 45 percent of the vote compared to McCain's 26 percent and gaining a nearly 70,000-vote advantage around the Motor City.

Okra Santa

editor — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 19:45:43 -0800

Gardeners Liz McGeachy and Tim Marema's solution to too much of a good thing
Photo: Tim Marema

I don't remember where my wife, Liz, got the idea to make okra Santa Claus ornaments. For all I know, it came to her in a dream. More likely, it came in the back pages of some craft magazine. But I do remember that when she described how to combine two of my favorite things (Christmas and okra) and save money in the process (which is at least my fourth favorite thing), I was sold.

It was late July in eastern Kentucky, months away from Yuletide. That's the time of year when it's impossible to keep up with the output of a healthy okra patch (doubly true if your garden also contains zucchini). Try as we may, some of the okra always turns tough on the plant before we can pick it.

Okra past its prime has the consistency of cornstalks. It's useless. Unless, it turns out, you want to use it to make a Christmas ornament. In that case, the husk looks like a long Santa beard, with a perfect stocking cap on top.
Some paint, white caulk or drywall compound, and string or ribbon are all you need. Mother Nature and the fibrous hull of case-hardened okra do the rest.

Healthy Food Choices Scarcer in Rural Areas, Study Says

editor — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 09:18:12 -0800

Fresh vegetables abound at this farmers market in Nashville, Tennessee. But rural residents in places like Orangeburg County, South Carolina, are far less likely to have good access to such healthy foods.
Photo: Shawn Poynter, Center for Rural Strategies

As rural Americans get ready for another round of holiday feasts, a study from South Carolina shows rural families may have a tougher time putting healthy foods on the table.

That's because rural areas tend to have a greater percentage of convenience stores, which offer far fewer choices of fresh vegetables and fruits (unless, of course, you classify watermelon-flavored bubble gum as a fruit).

The study of Orangeburg County, S.C., found that about three quarters of the county's food stores were convenience stores, and only about a quarter were grocery stores or supermarkets. Studies of urban areas have found the percentage of convenience stores ranges from only 8 to 41 percent.

Live Reports: Democrats Talk Rural on a Saturday Afternoon

editor — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 11:04:16 -0700

Senator Barack Obama addresses the Rural Summit in Ames, IA, Oct. 27
Photo: Tim Marema

(Editor's Note: To see what the Republicans were talking about Saturday, check out the Iowa Independent's coverage of the Reagan Dinner in Des Moines.)

3:20 PM: Obama allows that corn may not be the best feedstock to produce ethanol, suggesting, instead, wood chips, switch grass or pond algae. He says the country needs to figure out how to make money off of food crops. As Obama finishes, he receives a standing ovation.

3:15 PM: Summit participants ask Illinois Sen. Obama about the future of the Social Security program, as they look at the imminent retirement of 78 million baby boomers. "Social Security is not going bankrupt," Obama told the gathering. "It does have problems. We keep using money that should go in the trust fund going to things like fighting the war in Iraq." He offered a strained assurance. "The money will be there. The question is whether we are borrowing it from the Chinese."

His plan is not to cut benefits or raise retirement age, but to raise the ceiling of taxable income. "Most Americans pay Social Security tax on only the first $97,000" of their income. "We need to raise the income threshold on which we tax for Social Security."