U'-Lancaster Farming, April 7,2001 & On Being a Farm Wife (and other hazards) Joyce Bupp Spring. Spring up. spring forth. Spring out. Spring open. And, everything is. “Spring ing,” that is. Right now. I went looking for a little bit of some of the springing stuff one misty morning last week. Fresh tossed salad was on the menu for lunch, along with barbecued spareribs and baked potatoes. To add a little spring-tonic interest to the greens was my intent. It wouldn’t hurt to wipe out a few pre-blooming dandelion plants anyway. They’d probably not be missed when the bulk of these “weeds” start springing wide their sunny-yellow blooms. With a sharp, pointy-tipped kitchen knife, I dug into the soggy soil, made a quick circular Affool For The Control Of • Starlings • Pigeons • Sparrows • Crows Avitrol Is A Pesticide For Control of Pest Birds *29s°° +6.00 Shipping * Restricted use pesticide must have current applicators license Blain Supply Rt. 1, Box 117 H, Blain, PA 17006 (717) 536*3861 motion around the root and came up with a delicate rosette of the jagged-edged leaves, just unfurling and still tender and mild in flavor. Dandelion greens are a rather costly delicacy when purchased at specialty markets. These cost me about five minutes of my time. As an added bonus, the ones scattered around the yard and flower gardens are purely or ganic no chemicals and only manure fertilizer. Applied at random whenever heifers or cows split from a pasture or feed lot to go carousing around the yard. In search of the dandelion leaf tidbits, we (the dog, cats and I) took inventory of other “spring ing stuff” around the yard. Oo dles of daffodil clusters dot the Make That* Rodtnl packs EHDI\ Dttratf Tracking Powder* • Kills Rats & MM 6 lb. Bucket ' *49.95 Shipping i Sr RAISE PERFORMANCE AN The new Bobcat® D-Series Compact Excavators Offer More Value Than Ever • Stronger Body • Smoother Hydraulics • Easier Servicing • New Instrumentation and Electronics • More Comfortable • Climate controlled cab and convenient operation available on some models Stop By Your Local Dealer and Check Out The New D-Series Mini Excavators Reading, PA BOBCAT OF READING Div. of Reading Kubota 610-926-2441 Bethlehem, PA Martinsburg, PA CSI ENTERPRISES INC. Hir H WAY* FOUI PM FNT BURCHFIELDS, INC. 610-868-1481 HIGHWAY EQUIPMENT 814 . 7 93-2194 Carlisle, PA CUMBERLAND BOBCAT 717-245-9981 # See the excitement at www.bobcatsook.com Bobcat flower beds, some already push ing open brave yellow flowers in defiance of the lingering chill and persistent winds. Daffodils are the rebel plants of the season, determined to bloom on schedule and refusing to hug the earth for protection. Instead, they stretch their foliage and stems high, unfurl those stunning cup-shaped blossoms and occasionally get snowed on for their effort. Three smaller bloomed, species-daffodil blos soms beckoned from the perenni al border, just about to spring into fully display. A few hours of the kitchen’s warmth coaxed them wide open. Their glow-yellow fit right in with a small bouquet of forsythia stems, most of them knocked loose from their mother-plant moorings as I raked leaves one short, sunny stretch of afternoon a few days earlier. The forsythias also spring to life early, dotting slender stems with swelling buds of yellow blossoms, then follow ing with more somber green leaf garb. Ever notice how the earliest flowers springing open are in in tense shades, stunning yellow daffodils, brilliant red tulips, deep blue violets? It’s almost as if Nature is trying to make apolo gies for the bleakness outdoors of the preceding many weeks. We made a quick pass through the bare stretch of vegetable gar- i .K Chambersburg, PA CLUGSTON AG & TURF INC 717-263-4103 den, just in case some precocious stalk of asparagus was getting ahead of itself and poking a ten tative spear up through the ma nure The Farmer applied some time ago. None was. And before any do, someone had best attack a few perennial weeds scattered there and request a load of calf pen straw bedding be dumped there for mulching. On a sheltered bank where a matted layer of dead leaves had been raked away, chips of bril liant blue dotted the damp earth. These tiny Siberian scilla plants are far hardier and durable then you could ever imagine from handling their tiny bulbs. The en tire plant and its bloom stalk, a slender stem with star-like indi vidual flowers in stunning, al most neon blue, is a bare few inches high. Mine have been in the ground for about 30 years and just keep spreading. Someone should dig some of them and spread them around the garden a little more. Fuzzy “kittens” have sprung out all over our towering pussy willow, somber gray fuzzies as soft as a baby cat’s fur. This “bush” was planted a year or two before the minuscule scilla bulbs, but is as hardy and durable as those tiny little things. The nicest stalks of soft, kitty-blooms are way, way over my head and im possible to cut for forcing. But the birds love it for nesting, so we’ll leave it alone. TO NEW Litltz, PA KEYSTONE BOBCAT 717-625-2800 Mifflinburg, PA BS & B REPAIR 717-966-3756 Shrubs are pushing buds and need to be pruned. The garden plastic must be yanked off for tillage, so we can start the whole process again. Twigs and bits of small dead limbs are waiting to be raked and there are those end less patches of matted leaves to be cleaned off. Of all the stuff “springing up” right now, none is growing faster than my “to do” list. Free Leam-At-Home Series Available For Parents COLLEGEVILLE (Montgomery Co.) Are you wondering how you can get your toddler to try new foods? Looking for ways to get your toddler ready for the arrival of a new baby? Or maybe you’re looking for new ac tivities to try with your 2-year-old. There are many parenting tips, recipes and activities for parents to try in Toddler Topics. This is a free leam-at-home series offered by Penn State Co operative Extension for parents of preschoolers. To request your free copy of “Toddler Topics,” call the Montgomery Coun ty Cooperative Extension Office at (610) 589-4315. Muncy, PA BEST LINE LEASING, INC. 717-546-8422 800-321-2378 Quarryville, PA GRUMELLI’s FARM SERV. 717-786-7318
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