WEEK FOUR OF THE NAME THE LAMB CONTEST

Week Four, Name the Lamb Contest

When Sammy’s baby chickens arrived, in what way was he not prepared for them?

He didn’t have—

a.  A place to keep them.

b.  Food and water dishes.

c.  A heat lamp.

d.  None of the above.

e.  All of the above.

I have moved the contest from under the Bookshelf area of this blog to the main section because for the next few weeks.  As much as I enjoy sharing this time with you, for the next few weeks will need to be spend it preparing for our move from Pennsylvania to Alabama.

This involves sorting through boxes that were never unpacked from when we moved to PA, preparing for a Garage Sale, repacking what I did unpack, and the actual move itself.  Anyone who has experienced any of these chores, understands the time and physical energy it will take to accomplish these tasks.  Of course, squeezing into this hectic pace will be ordinary living—you know the mundane of getting meals, doctor’s visits, and just plain living, and maybe a rest or two.

Thank you for your understanding.

There were no winners for week three, so the question will remain open for another week if you want to try your luck in answering it.  It is repeated below.

Again, I apologize for the briefness of this blog.

Week Three, Name the Lamb Contest

What did Sammy do to change Dad’s mind and allow him to raise chickens?

a.  He said CAYC was a dumb club and he was going to quit

b.  He threw a tantrum of crying and screaming

c.  He presented plans, a budget, and pictures

d.  He threatened to go live at Gran’s

e.  He promised to clean Dad’s office for the entire summer

WEEK THREE OF THE “NAME THE LAMB” CONTEST (Check in the Book Shelf column)

TIME TO THINK ABOUT GARDENING!

The other day I received a seed catalog in the mail and it made me realize that it is time to think about planting a garden.  Although I really enjoy gardening,  as well as the canning that follows, I am afraid that this year I again will not be planting.  Our house sold and come near the end of May, we will be heading south again.  That means there is no reason—or time!—to plant up here, and since most of the garden items will be getting harvested when we arrive there, it won’t make sense to plant down there, either.  Hopefully next year we can have a garden.

It is still snowing here—mid April and we have snow!  It has snowed all day today, from lazy, little flakes, to almost what could be termed a blizzard, on to large flakes.  It snows heavily, then stops for a while.  Then it starts up, again.  By that time all the snow that was laying on the ground has melted and the cycle starts over again.

A couple of weeks ago I was in the Dollar General.  It was another day that there had been snow after a week or so of warm weather.  The clerk commented on the fact that he hoped it was the potato snow.  I had never heard of a potato snow, so I asked him what he meant.  He said that the last snow of the season was referred to as the potato snow because it meant that it was time to plant your potatoes.

My friend came to visit me last week and I was telling her about it.  A soon as I mentioned “the last snow,” she interrupted me and said, “Oh, you mean the “onion snow.”  Now, I had never heard of that one, either!

A lot has changed since we moved to Florida thirty-nine years ago!  I did know that one is supposed to plant English peas (green peas) on Good Friday, and garlic is to be planted in September, but I had no idea that there were special days to plant either potatoes or onions.

I also knew that one did not plant tomato or pepper plants until after the thirtieth of May so that, hopefully, there would be no more killing frosts to do them harm.  However, that is no guarantee, because the year we moved to Florida, the farmers and gardeners here in Pennsylvania were hit by a killing frost around the seventeenth of June!  And yes, my gardening friends had covered the plants, but the frost was so severe, it even chilled them through the paper tents and boxes they used.

Now I do know the saying “a frost in the dark of the moon will not kill the plants, but a frost in the light of the moon will.”  And I know that saying is true, for I have experienced it.

Another thing that I experienced was companion planting.  Companion planting is when you plant two different kinds of plants near each other.  I used to have a list I made from the gardening magazines I used to get.  But time has wiped away most of the combinations from my memory.  I do, however, recall that good companions to most everything were marigolds and nasturtiums.  Because the tomato and pepper plants are planted so late, I, like a lot of gardeners, had already planted the crops I would start with seeds.  Therefore, I had saved room in my plot for the plants and just plant them together.  I learned in the companion planting that for the best crops, tomatoes and peppers should not be planted side by side, but the best idea is to plant them either end of the garden, separating them as much as possible.  After I started separating them, I did get better harvests.

So I wish all my gardening friends success in their efforts this coming season.  May you not have cutworms or harmful grubs of any kind, and may the bees and ladybugs be kind to you.  Best of all, may you get a rich and satisfying harvest.  Enjoy the eats!