Signs of spring are everywhere

Spring nears in all its glory

Spring begins next week. The frogs down by the creekbank have been celebrating and serenading the coming event for more than a month and so have the robins on the lawn every morning. The painted golden glow of the jonquils have their colors on the landscape and the pastels of the hyacinths have added their sweet fragrance.

As spring arrives, the days are getting brighter and longer by one minute each evening. With all this extra daylight and the arrival of spring, the time to set out the Irish potato row is now in our midst. They need to be set out in the days ahead because this vegetable has a long growing season of over 90 days and setting them out now will assure a harvest before the Dog Days of July begin. This will also allow time to succeed the potato harvest with a warm weather vegetable crop in their place. You can choose from Yukon Gold, Irish Cobbler, Red Pontiac, or Kennebec. Do not cut eyes of potatoes or cut them in pieces. Cutting potatoes promotes mold, rot and mildew and it attracts rodents and groundhogs.

What happened to the days of kite flying?

When we were kids, one of the signs of spring and its arrival was a kite flying and bobbing on a spring Saturday. About the only place you see them now is at the beach. The art of kite flying and kite making has became a thing of past childhoods. We need to regenerate the days and therapy of flying kites.

We remember on Saturdays during March, almost every boy and girl had a kite; vacant fields became fields of colorful kites. In early spring, almost every neighborhood grocery store had a display of kites and balls of twine. The kites cost a quarter and balls of twine a dime.

A real experience was that of making a homemade kite with dogwood limbs, comic pages from the newspaper, glue made from flour and water and string to frame out the kite. Our mom and dad became kite-makers every spring. The dining room table was covered with newspapers, sticks, glue, string, and scissors. Kites needed plenty of March wind, but too much wind caused kites to flip and crash. To solve this, long strips of cloth would be tied to the tails of kites after someone traced down the kite by holding onto the string and a parent tied a long strip of cloth on the tail of the kite and let it go again into the wind.

Another fun activity was writing a note on a piece of paper with your name and address on it and placing a slit in the paper and attaching it to the kite string and allow the wind to propel it to the kite and then shake the note off the kite to travel on to some far distant place. It was interesting to discover where these notes traveled to.

The magic of peat moss

A cubic bale of peat moss is a magic potion for the spring garden soil in every season of the year, it serves so many purposes as it improves every type of soil and improves texture, moisture retention and promotes germination. A 3.5 cubic foot bale costs around $13. It is a totally organic product and adds to the soil instead of taking away like many additives to the soil do that are on the market. Use a layer of peat moss in the furrow before sowing seed or setting out plants and also apply a layer on top of seeds and plants.

Making good use of those coffee grounds

Perked coffee is so much better than instant coffee and makes the kitchen smell like a home-place and wakes you up to a fresh aroma. Always remove the coffee grounds from the peculator after the coffee is brewed because when the grounds go back through the peculator, it makes black and bitter coffee. Keep an empty coffee can handy with its lid; empty grounds into the can and place the lid on them. Acid-loving plants such as tomatoes, roses, and azaleas love coffee grounds and so do most flowers.

Paving the path to lush, colorful azaleas

As spring begins, the bright green of azalea bushes are brightening up. Next month, they will burst into colorful blooms. You can now apply some Miracle-Gro liquid azalea food around the base of the azaleas along with some spent coffee grounds for a quick boost.

Planting the flowering bulbs of summer

Spring heralds the time to set out the flowering summer bulbs of glads (also named corms), dahlias, clematis, bleeding hearts, and roots of peony. They will provide plenty of summer beauty. The bulbs, corms, roots and plants can be purchased at nurseries, garden centers, and hardwares. Start them off with a layer of peat moss ans several handfuls of Black Kow composted cow manure and keep them watered each week.

Making a red slipper frosted pound cake

This is a great recipe to celebrate the arrival of spring and it is very easy to prepare. You will need one box of red velvet cake mix, one three-ounce box of Jello instant pudding mix, one cup (eight-ounce) sour cream, two large eggs, one teaspoon vanilla, one half cup water, and one three-ounce box of strawberry Jello. Combine cake mix, sour cream, water, instant pudding, eggs, and vanilla. Blend well and beat for two minutes or until creamy. Spoon on half the batter into a tube pan sprayed with Pam baking spray. Spread half the cake mixture in the tube pan and half the strawberry Jello over the top of the batter. Pour the rest of the batter over the Jello and add other half of the Jello on top of the cake. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes and remove from pan. Cool completely and frost with a can of cream cheese frosting.

Contending with a wild onion harvest

Early spring is the season for the wild onion spike-up on the lawn. It is the unwanted green of the spring lawn. The only positive thing about the wild onion is the fact that they are green! They are almost impossible to deal with because they have bulbs that go deep down into the soil like a drill bit. The best method to control the wild onions is to use a weed trimmer and cut the wild onions down to ground level in the barren moon sign of Leo, the Lion on a dry spring afternoon. The process will not get rid of them, but will actually stunt their growth and improve the appearance of the lawn.

Hoe hoe hoedown

“Wishful thinking.” A bald man wishes for one thing-dandruff!

“Hawk eye.” Flo: “I didn’t know that Janie had taken up bird watching.” Joe: “Yes, she watches her husband like a hawk!”

“Strawberry ripple.” The farmer placed a sign in his strawberry field that read, “There is no trespassing. This is not a strawberry shortcut!”