SUSAN SAYS: Spring is finally officially here and the season is full of things to enjoy

— Well, it’s official. Spring arrived the first of the week and it’s always a lovely time in these Ozark hills. The pastures are covered with a soft carpet of green and we see baby calves and colts running and playing. The flowering almond and forsythia have joined the japonica in bloom and our plum trees and redbud are filled with blossoms. The daffodils have just about faded away, but pink hyacinths are blooming beside the cellar and the early purple iris are displaying fat buds. I bought a spring arrangement of jonquils, red tulips and purple hyacinths toadorn the front porch and its heady fragrance scents the air.

The warmer weather prompts us to get out and putter in the yard. I burned our little brushpile a couple of weekends ago and pulled weeds from the peonies emerging in the back yard and from the strawberry bed. I found a strawberry in bloom and several more only a few days later. I may not have enough for a strawberry shortcake, but surely I can harvest enough to top my breakfast cereal or a bowl of ice cream. Jim mowed the yard for the first time about a week ago and onSaturday bought some landscape timbers and built another raised bed for tomatoes.

We enjoy the sweet sounds of the birds singing each morning. Jim recently rehung and filled the bird feeder that had blown out of a tree behind the house, and our feathered friends were soon flocking to the table again. As I sat on the front porch a few evenings ago enjoying the 70-degree temperature, I heard another spring sound, a cheery chorus of spring peepers from the nearby creek. I pulled the last of the green onions from the garden over the weekend in preparation for getting it plowed again soon.

A friend told us Saturday his asparagus was up. That’s another welcome sign of spring. Although asparagus can be found in the supermarket practically yearround now, the first light green spears of the season seem to have the best flavor. Pencilthin asparagus can be eaten raw in salads or cut into smaller pieces and stir fried in olive oil. Thick asparagus is best steamed and makes a great accompaniment to a light meal of chicken, fish or pasta. Our quilt class met Saturday afternoon, and one of the highlights of our lunch was a springtime quiche topped with stalks of asparagus. The variety of tasty desserts included strawberry pie and a layered strawberry dessert.

School is out for spring break this week, and the timing seems good as the warm weather often prompts a bad case of spring fever. Fred Starr once wrote that it was a malady folks didn’t seem too concerned about, probably becauseit was seldom fatal and could usually be cured by spending a day on the creek bank, feeding worms to the fish. The spring break schedule may not be ideal this year, though, if the heavy rain arrives and hangs on for several days as forecast.

No one enjoys the season’s tornados and thunderstorms, but country folks enjoy the patter of spring rains, bringing much-needed moisture for the gardens and hay meadows. Daddy loved to be out at the barn under the tin roof when a sudden shower came up, and I too love to hear the drops hitting the roof. I’m hoping thecombination of warm days and soaking rains will prompt some morel mushrooms to pop up. It would sure be nice to have a good mess of those little delicacies to fry.

Another seasonal treat, poke greens, are beginning to appear.

The latest issue of “Arkansauce, The Journal of Arkansas Foodways” quotes health food pioneer Euell Gibbons saying, “Young poke shoots, gathered when fat and tender, peeled and cooked like asparagus, could drive asparagus right off the market. Poke salad makes one of the most delicious cooked vegetables of the spinach type I have ever eaten.” It’s delicious alone or combined with some dandelion greens or lamb’s quarter. Or maybe you can go to the creek and find some tangy watercress. Of course they’re all better accompaniedwith a thick slab of cornbread generously slathered with butter.

Susan Holland, who works for the Westside Eagle Observer, is a lifelong Benton County resident.

Opinion, Pages 6 on 03/21/2012