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March
1st is Ash Wednesday. This means we are on the downside of winter and
Spring is just a couple of weeks away.
I
hope you’re ready to start your seeds! Since the average last frost date
for us is April 15th, you can start your flower and vegetable seeds now
and your plants will be ready for the garden by next month.
First
get your germinating medium ready. If it’s bone dry, I like to place it
in a tub of water for a couple of hours to soak up water. I then break up
any chunks and pour the mixture onto a window screen and let drain for an
hour or two. This will re-hydrate your mixture. You wouldn’t want to
place your seeds into a germinating medium that was bone dry. Before you
could get the mixture wet enough to be uniformly hydrated, you would have
washed most of your seeds away.
Place
your moist medium into your germinating trays (egg cartons will do) and
sow your seeds. Remember to lightly cover most vegetables with soil,
however petunias and begonias require light to germinate. Sprinkle them on
top of the soil and mist them lightly to activate them. I like to cover my
trays with clear plastic to create a greenhouse effect. Any popular cling
film will do. If you can place these in a fairly warm place, it will speed
up germination. Remember to remove the plastic after most of your seeds
germinate. This will allow ventilation and reduce the chance of damping
off.
Now,
on to other March topics.
St.
Patrick’s Day has been celebrated in the United States since about 1737
and is now considered the day to show off your green of spring! Folks wear
shamrocks, but do you know why? The shamrock became the symbol of St.
Patrick to represent the Holy Trinity: The Father, The Son and The Holy
Spirit.
There
were a lot of accepted falsities about St. Patrick, who, by the way, was
the second Bishop in Ireland. My favorite story is about how St. Patrick
was responsible for driving the snakes out of Ireland.
Well,
any scholarly herpetologist will tell you that there have never been any
signs of snakes indigenous to Ireland. Some theologians believe that the
tale about the snakes came from driving the pagans to Christianity.
St.
Patrick died on March 17 in AD 461 and there you have it! We can now
justify drinking green beer on March 17th!
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