Winter begins It's Departure...Hopefully

Chances are it is going to be a few weeks before anything happens at the picnic table. January and February have been brutally cold with plenty of snow.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The forecasts for this upcoming weekend indicate a warm-up with temperatures rising into the forties and then into the fifties next next.

Today March 5 is the Full Moon often called the Worm Moon or the Maple Moon. Earthworms can generally be seen this month once some rain begins to fall and the snow melts. March is also the month when the maple trees are thawing out in the warmer sun and the sap is flowing. March means the Mud Season and it will likely be impressive this spring.

March 8 is also an important date; the day when we move the clocks ahead an hour.  The photo above was taken several years ago. The sun dial has been buried now for quite sometime but it is under the snow somewhere.

The 12th annual Maple Taste and Tour Open House is scheduled for the weekend of March 14 and 15. It is sponsored by the Northwestern Pennsylvania Maple Producers Association. It's a great time to discover more about maple syrup, how it is made, the history of maple syrup, and much more. There will be plenty of various activities for people of all ages at the participating Sugar Houses; plus free samples of maple products and products for purchase. For more information, Taste and Tour.
It's a sign of winter's Exodus and some new, fascinating, but ancient  things to come soon.

Wildflowers

Wildflowers, those native to a particular region, are a critical link to our natural world.  While native wildflowers produce a dazzling display throughout the growing season, their role is essential to our food supply, medicine, folklore, culture and wildlife. In short, the native plants are essential for our very existence.

Native plants are uniquely related to life on our planetl. Some 3,000 plants are or have been used for human food. However, an estimated 90% comes from only 20 plant species. Three in particular provide much of the world’s food supply: rice, wheat and corn. Forunately, these ancient plants have adapted over the centuries to climate and environmental changes, soil and pests. (source http://www.nps.gov/plants/cw/variety.htmhttp://www.nps.gov/plants/cw/variety) It is estimated that every third bite of our food is the result of insects, or pollinators, and economists estimate their value in the trillions of dollars worldwide.

Amazingly, the vast majority of our medicinal prescription drugs originated from plants.  Medical researchers continue to unlock obscure bits of important information about human health as they probe the unique relationships and characteristics of life and human health of which wildflowers are a key element.

Luckily, the ancient plants have also developed amazing relationships with the pollinators.  The flowers provide a food source, nectar and pollen for the pollinators, and in turn, the seeds of the fowers are fertilized and the plant species is guarenteed a future.

Ongoing research seems to indicate that the flowers also provide medicinal beneifits for the pollinators such as helping bees with dangerous mites. New research is planned to determine the best medicinal and food plants should be planted near and around apiaries http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/flower-pharmacies-help-bees-fight-parasites

And Just for the Heck of It.

Ever notice those lumps of galls on a goldenrod?  The galls are where the female gall fly laid her eggs and where the larvae will hatch and spend about a year. The fly’s entire life is spent on the goldenrod.

Summer's really coming this year.