On Being a
Farm Wife
(and other hazard
Joyce Bupp
A welcome dampness eases in
on the early-morning air.
The earthy smell of fresh soil
floats up from a small patch of
field beyond the lawn. While we
do not plow. The Farmer has slic
ed deep-knife grooves in the field
ahead of planting, to loosen soil
in a narrow band so any moisture
can readily seep through and
seedling roots can easily go deep
in search of more. Even that min
imal opening of soil stirs its
musky fragrance.
As dawn’s light begins to
nudge at the starry sky, it smells
like spring. The soft, damp
breeze feels like spring.
And, before another week is
past, it will officially be spring.
Not that most of us need a cal
endar square to tell us that. Evi
dence abounds just beyond our
doors.
"W RAM'S HORN SOFA AND* N
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■ s2*!ibo.oo I
J Our Price
-Jgt $799&5 1
P DRAWER"DRESSER \
JESI In Pecan Oak Finish Sffßfrrfj |
Our Price I
CLOSEOUT 5 39 04 <
“You Don’t Need The “Luck of the Irish” To Find A Great Deal Here”
inOWAL SLEEPER \
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Our Cash Price $O/1088 .
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FACTORY .
SPECIAL fp7feH.ll 1
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PINE SET ,
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Our Price $49.95
CLOSEOUT $ 39 95 |
Just in case we’d missed the
signs, a robin had been warbling
a chorus about them from high in
the treetops over the house, even
before dawn began streaking the
eastern sky.
Seagulls scream and circle the
meadow, their amazing agricul
ture-radar enabling them to zoom
in on any field in the region
where a farmer pilots a tractor
out across a stretch of ground.
Opportunist birds, they seem to
find it much easier to scavenge
from fast-food parking lots and
fields which might have worms
stirred up, than to go fishing for
their own lunch.
That’s spring.
A few crocus blooms linger at
the southwest corner of the
house, most of them having
poked up their purple and yellow
noses through leaf cover several
f 7 PC. DINING ' \
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aafaggyaS-H H Honey Table w/61
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fp Tnll ffpl Reg. Ret. $799 95*
Cash Price $439.951
CLOSEOUT
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ft fflriuJL/ii Reg - Ret - 1
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IRMMI Our Price
ffPfw $849 - 95 I
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Available in Blue, I
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w/Chrome Base *SSb
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cafea FUTON BUNK ,
in Black Red, zL
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T «279 95
3019 Hempland Road, Lancaster 717-397-6241
( Stores in: LANCASTER • YORK • CARLISLE
STORE HOURS: Mon.-Fri.S-9 • Sat. 9-6;
Sunday 12 to 5 PM
99 •No Refunds For purchases wHh e check, bring FINANCING
final driv * rs Hctnst and phone nurture AVAILABLE
LNol responsible for typographical errors We reserve the nght to substitute gitt items
weeks ago during our stretch of
balmy groundhog-shadow weath
er. Nearby, another prime site for
spring bulbs, early to warm and
conveniently facing a kitchen
window, is dotted with multiple
clumps of husky bulb foliage.
They were yellowish and pale
when the winter leaf cover was
first raked away. Now. the robust
clusters of green promise bou
quets of bright tulips, dainty, red
rimmed narcissus and the heady
perfume of hyacinths.
That’s spring.
This year’s flock of geese and
mallard ducks come and go on
the pond, sometimes a couple of
dozen, then again only a pair or
two. Their seasonal squabbling
over nesting sites has become a
classic part of our spring scene.
We’ll watch to see if they winnow
down as usual to a mere two
pairs at separate ends of the
meadow. Two pairs is actually
plenty, since they usually raise at
least a half-dozen babies per nest.
That’s spring.
Furry gray buds wave at the
top of the pussywillow tree, too
high off the ground to cut bou
quets of the nicest stems without
benefit of a ladder and heavy
pruning shears. More convenient
are the forsythia bushes, their
twigs covered in fat buds begin
ning to show signs of yellow.
Coupled with a few bulbs coaxed
into early bloom and plunked
6 PC. BEDROOM SET \
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tLJ Jj]J $1229.95 1
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into a vase, they make a cheery
picture of freshness and promise.
They, too, are spring.
Most seasonally entertaining,
though, is the sudden conversion
of our resident turkey from a
staid and serious overseer of the
guinea trio to a noisy show-off.
Carrying buckets of milk to the
calves one morning last week, 1
rounded the corner of the nursery
to the surprise sight of this big
guy all fluffed up, his wings out
curved and dragging on the
ground, bronze-burnished feath
ers gleaming in the sun, his head
the bright blue of the amorous
season.
And gobbling at the top of his
lungs.
“A sure sign of spring,” 1 fig
ured. mentally noting that it was
time to acquire him a mate. Mere
minutes later, she showed up,
having arrived as a surprise a day
before while 1 was away at a
meeting. Smaller, demure, a love
ly, feminine friend, Ms. Turkey
seems to have hen-packed our
big-feathered farm mascot over
night. She isn't quite as smitten
with him. Yet.
He faithfully arrived early
every morning at the calf barn,
for a drink of water and corn
snitched from the calves buckets.
This morning neither he nor
his new friend were anywhere
in sight. Guess I’ve been jilted.
That's all part of “the birds
and the bees."
In spring.
$
4
%
%
$
Easily improve the vitality of your turf.
• Available in 4', 5’ & 6’ widths
• 3/4" Hardened steel spoons
• Grease zerks on each spoon gang y fl
• Each gang is mounted independently
• Storage stand on each corner for stability
• Optional water tanks for additional weight
Deerfield Ag &
Turf Center, Inc.
RR 2 Box 212
Watsontown, PA 17777
570-538-3557 |
Detlan
Equipment, Inc.
141 East Mam St
Silverdale, PA 18962
215-257-5177
Thomas L. Dunlap
Rt 220, Mam St Exit
Jersey Shore, PA 17740
570-398-1391
Eckroth Bros
£fo m p Eq ,T- M.S. Yearsley
Rd 2, Box 24A • e nn c
New Rmgold, PA 17960 D .
A7n oii oiii West Chester, PA
U J <njl 610-696-2990
Eckroth Pikeville Warren County
Equipment Co. Equipment Inc. Service Center
4910 Kernsville Rd RD 2, Oysterdale Road 228 Route 94,
Orefield, PA 18069 Oley, PA 19547 , Blairtown, N J
610-366-2095 610-927-6277 '9OB-362-6916
Xand^gide.
Pennsylvania
Hines Equipment Stoltzfus Farm
RT 220, Belwood, pa Service
814-742-8171 Cochranville, PA
610-593-2407
Keller Brothers
R 7 Box 405
Lebanon, PA 17042
717-949-6501
and
1950 Fruitville Pike
Lancaster, PA 17601
717-569-2500
Lehigh Ag
Equipment, Inc.
6670 Ruppsville Rd ,
Allentown PA 18106
610-398-2553
800-779-3616
Antique Apple
Grafting Seminar
LANDIS VALLEY (Lancaster
Co.) The 10th annual Antique
Apple Grafting Seminar is sched
uled Saturday. March 23, from 1
p.m. to 3 p.m. in the visitor cen
ter of Landis Valley Museum.
Grafting is the process by
which a shoot or bud of a plant is
inserted into another where it
grows permanently. Participants
will learn to graft stems from an
tique apple trees onto roots from
another tree, a common practice
among fruit growers.
Bring a scion from an old
apple tree or choose one from a
variety offered by the Heirloom
Seed Project of Landis Valley
and graft it onto their rootstock
to make your own “antique"
apple tree.
The seminar focuses on hands
on instructions for grafting apple
trees. The afternoon session will
include personal grafting train
ing, written instructions on plant
ing and more.
The Heirloom Seed Project of
Landis Valley Museum and the
Backyard Fruit Growers who
work together to preserve historic
varieties of fruit trees in Pennsyl
vania German orchards will host
the seminar. The seminar fee is
$2O.
Landis Valley Museum is lo
cated off Route 272/Oregon Pike,
a marked exit off both Route 30
and Route 222.
■
www landpnde com
Stouffer Bros Inc.
1066 Lincoln Way West
Chambersburg, PA 17201
717-263-8424
Valley Ag Turf
817 Tobias Road
Halifax, PA 17032
717-362-3132
Rodio Tractor Sates
North White Horse Pike
Hammonton, N J 08037
609-561-0141