Hello! Happy spring! Happy Spring – according to the calendar and according to that spring equinox! It’s not a happy spring according to Wicked Mother Nature. And, give me a break, give us all a break! Tomorrow is Easter! SIGH!

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!

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 almost the end of March! This is actually the backside of winter, although it feels more like the middle 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 indoors for later transplanting. We’ll get into all that another time. In the meantime, you can 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 may have to test your germination rates for your old seeds.

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.

But for this week – do keep in mind that spring is really coming – winter really is wrapping up! One sure sign is the return of the ladybug invasion. Yes, those wonderful ladies – actually there are lady bug men out there – so I guess that you could say lady bugs and gentlemen bugs.

At any rate – these invasions are occurring in many houses out there even as we speak. This is one sure sign that winter is wrapping up. These lady bugs are waking up from their winter hibernation and they are hungry and starving. There is only one bug gigantic problem – there are no tiny bugs around yet to feed them. So literally – they are hungry and starving, and they are dying! So – not to worry – place a few of them on some of your houseplants, just in case your plants have any tiny critters like spider mites. I don’t think that it’s warm enough for aphids yet.

The rest of them – oh well! Either open up the window where they are congregating and swoosh them outside where they will freeze their little black spots off, or use a vacuum cleaner to suck them all up and dispose of them. Don’t worry! There are plenty more where they came from. There is never a shortage of lady bugs (or gentlemen bugs)! This is simply a case of a real beneficial insect becoming a royal pain in your Easter Bonnet! Yeah, right, more like Easter toque!

Hey - Happy Easter!

Remember – Eat Smart New York!

And – Bye – Talk to you soon!
D