Hello! And Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Yeah, I know, I know - all of that St Paddy’s green is now covered with snow! How depressing! What a wicked turn this weather has taken!! I think that Mother Nature has a lot more tricks up her sleeve before we’re officially done with winter!

Sigh! For a really short while there, it finally was going to be March – as in mud month! But now all of the uneven mush mud has frozen solid and is now covered up with another unwanted layer of white stuff!

But, are we going to continue to let ourselves to be victimized by this Mother Nature person? I say – NOT! I say we rise up and throw off those long johns that chain us down!!! I say we roll up our woolen sleeves and cast aside our insulated gloves!!! I say we take up our pencils and start planning our gardens!!!

Yes! Because after all, this is already the middle of March! This is actually the backside of winter!
This is the time to start planning and planting those garden seeds! And consider this - vegetable and fruit producers in those other warmer states like Florida and California have suffered some major hits from weird weather this past winter.

Please be advised that store prices for fruits and vegetables have always dramatically risen because of any weather related losses. Please be forewarned that these food prices will continue to go up. And rising gasoline prices are always added to trucking costs that are always added to the food costs. Please be reminded that you can plan now to grow more of your own food.

Why spend $2 or more for a humble head of lettuce when a whole packet of lettuce seeds costs less than $2? And that seed packet has the potential for lots and lots of lettuce heads. So - use your head – to grow your own lettuce heads!

And, while you’re at it, you can also grow all your other veggies. But you must plot and plan now! And some of these garden things can soon be started from seed. Vegetables such as onions, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts, and flowers like lobelia, asters, marigolds, zinnias, petunias, can be started from seed around now if you have the time and the room and the proper lighting. A simple sunny windowsill is not enough light for seedlings!

And, come to think of it, most of the vegetables we eat can be started indoors from seed in the coming weeks and months and then get transplanted outside later when the weather settles and Spring actually does come. And Spring will come…I think…I hope!

Keep in mind, there is a timetable to follow when it comes to starting seeds indoor for later transplanting. We’ll get into all that next week. In the meantime, you can stay inside today and start your garden planning now.

Take an inventory of all your old garden seeds that you have left over from last year. Hopefully they were all stored properly in a nice, cool, dry place. Check those dates on those seed packets. If they are too old, they might not be any good anymore! They might not germinate, or they may lack growing vigor. So you might want to do a germination rate test on them.

Also keep in mind – March is National Nutrition Month! So plan a garden chock full of delicious, nutritious vegetables. We’ll talk more about seed starting next week.

Hey – for this week - have I got a good deal for you! Some gardeners out there grow lots and lots of extra veggies and put them out to sell in front of their houses. And some of you gardeners out there might even consider planting more stuff this year either to donate to food pantries or to start your very own roadside stand for some extra cash. Gees, maybe some of you have even considered selling at a farmers’ market. And maybe you are interested in selling baked goods or crafts either in front of your house or at a farmers’ market. What do you have to do to do this selling legally???

Well – good news! This coming Monday, March 19th, Cornell Cooperative Extension here in Lewis County is sponsoring a terrific workshop for those very folks who are interested in selling at markets and roadside stands.

Some of the topics include:

• setting up your display

• pricing strategies

• adding value to products

• legal hurdles

• entertainment and attracting tourists and consumers

So – Monday – March 19th – from 1-4 pm at our CCE conference room. Four northern counties will be connected by polycom for this session. If this workshop sounds like anything that you might be interested in – call me at CCE – 376-5270. Let us know that you are coming, and we’ll throw on a big pot of coffee!

Remember – Eat Smart New York!

And – Bye – talk to you soon!

D