A Season Comes Alive

 There was a surprise snowfall April 11 after a mild and somewhat balmy March. Snows in April are fairly common but this has been a rather unusual winter with very little snow during the traditional harshest months.

Last week of the first of the dandelions emerged. They are amazing spring wildflowers; they are nutitious to eat, make a great wine and provide early spring nourishment for the pollinators especially the honeybees. The mild winter created some headaches for the beekeepers of northwestern Pennsylvania, for more information, Honeybees.

Dandelions are also a traditional sign that the time is ripe to begin planting potatoes in the garden, according to some country legends. However, here, the ground is entirely too wet and soggy; it needs to dry some. The ground is perhaps too wet for other early spring crops such as peas and will likely remain somewhat soggy for another week or so. While the weather will warm considerably, there is a chance of rain nearly every day.

The Mayapples (pictured) have emerged in the woodland areas, as have the trillium. It won't be long before they begin to bloom.

As mentioned in the last post, the wild leeks were up and ready to dig in mid-March. They are larger and more flavorful a month later. They will be around for the next several weeks and are plentiful.

For the Heck of It....

If your reading this today, Happy Friday the 13 ! There are only three such days of “fear and terror” for some in 2012; the first was back on January 13 and the next will be on July 13, 2012. It is a mysterious superstition of unknown origin but plenty of people refuse to fly, travel, etc on any Friday the 13.

Most sources ten to agree it started back in ancient times, maybe with the Vikings, Romans or any number of ancient civilizations.

Really, I'm not planting potatoes today because the ground is too soggy...