The White Pole Road Marathon and Three Crazy Goofballs

Every summer here in rural Iowa we have a day-long event that spans five towns, many miles, and lots and lots and lots of sales. The Old Great White Way is now known as White Pole Road. Originating just to the east of Dexter, in Dallas County, the road meanders through Stuart, Menlo and Casey, in Guthrie County, and ends in Adair, in Adair County. Part of one of the original cross-country roads, our quiet little piece of history was once a busy thoroughfare.

If you've ever seen the Disney movie Cars, then you'll understand the fate of The Great White Way. Once the interstate was completed, traffic chose the higher speed roadway, and the little towns, the motels and hotels, the restaurants, the gift shops, the gas stations.........one by one began to close their doors. New motels and restaurants were built on the interchanges. Big truck stops replaced the old style service station. A little piece of Americana was lost forever.

The White Rose Gasoline attendant stands at attention in Menlo.

Don't tell that to those of us that live here! We embrace our scenic little byway and celebrate its history by paying homage to the old name- lining the highway with white-painted phone poles and calling it The White Pole Road. Every year the towns along this historic road pick a date and hold the White Pole Road Marathon Sale- basically mile after mile of garage, yard and rummage sales. And it's fun! Every town has loads of participation. Some folks set up the traditional tag sale, others hold bake sales, hot dogs and cold drinks, churches get involved- it's a great day and an event unique to American small town life.

So anyway......what's more fun than two goofy sisters and a nephew getting together for a road trip, town to town, sale to sale, winery stop along the way? That's exactly what we did! Got an early morning start and hit the highway. What does a carload of lake residents do for entertainment? Hang on- you're about to find out.......

We started our adventure in Dexter. Fueled by caffeine, we were ready to hit the road and do what former city people do in the country- whoop it up. Well.....calmly, it is still morning, after all. 

Our big plans for a day of bargain hunting and fun turned south very quickly. The few sprinkles on the windshield as we left Dexter quickly turned into a torrential downpour that lasted the better part of the day. We planned to tough it out anyway, after all, sales in garages should stay pretty dry. However, many of the sellers didn't agree. Garage doors closed, plastic tarps covered yardfulls of goodies, and we headed to Carver's Ridge in Stuart. What better way to wait out the rain than in a store that sells wine! 

A few of the goodies Carver's Ridge offers

Carver's Ridge is so much more than that. Tyson and Anne Greenwalt are the owners of this company and what they do is just awesome. Besides landscaping, they engrave- everything from custom glassware and little rocks for wine bottle stoppers to huge boulders in your yard. The retail shop also carries a great selection of gourmet foods and mixes, like baking mixes made just for them, and WINE. Wonderful Iowa wines! Bet you'll never guess what I bought.....

Menlo is next on the hit list. By the time we got there many of the sales had given up. We stopped at one but most of what this man was selling was well outside of the garage sale price range, and I really didn't need a camper.......

Casey, Antique Country. You got that right! I'm starting to feel a little like an antique right about now! A wet antique...... by the time we arrived in Casey, well, the day was pretty much a bust.

And finally, Adair. We never made it this far. Too much rain, too much disappointment, we figured we might as well look at the weather radar and find some non-rainy towns. We headed over to Earlham, in Dallas County, and had a little more success. After Earlham we drove back to Stuart and with no garage sales having reopened,we gave up on the garage sales and hit the winery.

The Dale Valley Vineyard and Winery it just north of Stuart near the old ghost town of Daly City. The tasting room is in the old Daly City school, which was moved to the winery site and restored by the owners, Ed and Tracy Mahlstadt. It's a fantastic place with rolling hills of vines,a beautiful outdoor covered patio, and delicious wines, many of which have school-theme names,such as Recess. The gift shop offers lots of fun wine-themed items and of course, you can taste the wines!  We bought some- no surprise there.

After that we headed further north to Panora and Britches and Bows Country Store. This adorable little shop is out in the country, on a farm, and is brimming with cute crafty items, unique clothing and jewelry and antiques. I found a couple things I could use for food props and wished I had a lot more money to spend in there.

Arriving back the lake we decided to see if any lake sales were open and we hit the motherload! I scored several gorgeous vintage chianti bottles, dishes, and a sweet little sign for my garden. So, in spite of the rain, the day turned out quite good. The busy day turned into a quiet evening with The Chef and a bottle of wine. Yes......us country girls (and boy) know how to have a good time!

Gardening at the Little Lake House

Well, I'm more than a month in and things are really starting to take off! I have baby plants and larger plants, have been picking lettuce and kale already, and a few herbs. Garden season is off to a nice start in 2014. We have been getting plenty of rain- which is a huge help. And sunshine, loads and loads of warm, sunny days, humidity, warm breezes. Let's take a look at what is growing. Almost every summer I try something new and this year it is almost exclusively container gardening. With a very large wraparound deck, I have plenty of space for plenty of containers and I love growing my own food.

Cherry tomatoes and peppers are thriving in the sunshine.

Tomatoes- They are doing fantastic so far. The cherry tomato plants have been in the soil the longest and are the biggest plants right now. They are looking great! I see baby tomatoes in there too! So exciting! My four San Marzano plants are off to a good start, have settled into the soil well, they love the rain, and are loving the sunshine. Still a little on the small side so I haven't caged them yet, but that will happen soon. A growth spurt is coming, I can feel it. The Mr. Stripey single plant I got it is doing so/so. It's a little "stemmy" having suffered some leaf loss. The other two that I thought for sure were goners have had a sudden resurgence so I'll probably plop them in the flower bed and call it good!

Mixed baby kale plants

Peppers- The serrano chilies are growing like crazy as well. They loved the hot days we had recently. Little flower buds are starting to form and it won't be long til I have baby peppers! The habanero peppers are also doing ok- they are not quite as big as the serrano plants but I'm sure they will catch up. Their leaves look glossy and shiny and very healthy. A few more weeks of sunshine and they will be standing tall.

A couple weeks ago the plants were noticeably smaller

Sweet corn- Yes, I know I said I'd never grow sweet corn but I heard of people growing it in containers and I have to try everything at least once. It's doing great! I did have to add tomato cages to their containers because the wind was beating them up a little but now they are doing great. Leaves are nice and bright green, strong stalks, getting close to a foot tall.

The tomatoes have overcome the slight frost damage from early May

Lettuce and kale- I've been picking! They are growing beautifully. I have Black Seeded Simpson lettuce and mixed organic kale and both are doing awesome. Lots of salad and nibbling has been going on! It won't be long and the lettuce will bolt, but having never grown kale before I'm not really sure if I can grow it all summer- I'll find out!

Today these corn plants are nearly a foot tall and supported by cages!

Herbs- This year I am limiting the herbs that I am growing. I haven't had a very good basil crop for a couple summers so I have tons of basil planted, lots of pots of thyme, and my old chives that come back very year. Also new this year is a Japanese herb called red shiso. I've never tried it but I've done my research and it's going to be a great addition to salads, Asian dishes and sushi. It will be interesting to see how it grows. 

I keep picking that lettuce and it keeps filling out

Zucchini- Boy oh boy did I plant zucchini! Ten plants to be exact. I might live to regret that....... but I have some relish recipes to try (maybe some winners at the fair?) and I can always throw some zucchini bread in the oven. Last summer I found myself with leftover tomatoes and a couple zucchini, so I cubed everything and tossed with a little garlic and canned and it turned out delicious. I've used it for pasta sauces and smothered steak recipes.

I love chive blossoms. This particular plant is over 30 years
old and has been transplanted in gardens at several houses.
It came from my mother's garden years ago.

Other vegetables- I have a large shallow Rubbermaid-type container filled with soil for growing things in shallow soil. I'm trying a crop of Parisian Market carrots- they are small, round carrots, maybe the size of a big radish. These are also a new vegetable to me so we will see. Mexican Gherkins are also something new I have planted- these cucumbers grow on small vines and produce cucumbers that look like  teeny tiny watermelons. I think they will be wonderful pickles and hopefully a blue ribbon winner at the fair!

Not the best backdrop but a little fire in the chiminea is so nice

Flowers- I don't normally plant a lot of flowers, but I do have a few. Marigolds and zinnia, started from seed, are growing nicely in pots that will fill the bakers rack and nestle among the vegetable plants. And since we all know a gardener is never truly done......I just might find a few more interesting things to plant. But for now, it's time to kick back and relax by the fire.......