"April showers bring May flowers," the old saying goes, but so far we haven't had enough moisture in April to encourage the flowers much. We got a little shower Sunday night, but we're still badly in need of rain. The high winds we've had recently dried out the ground in a hurry. Reminds me a bit of some of the winds we saw in west Texas that piled up the tumbleweeds against the fence.
Since the weather's been so dry, I hooked up the hose over the weekend and watered our strawberries. Several are blooming already and a few are beginning to set on berries. I also used the hose to fill the fish pond.
I was delighted to get a call early last week saying that the farmers' market is opening this weekend. Folks had been asking about it already. I went to the senior center on Friday, signed up and got our senior produce coupons, so I'm all set to go shopping. I'm not sure just what the offerings will be so early in the season, but I'll definitely be looking for some green onions to add to my scrambled eggs. Wild greens will be available soon, too, as I've seen the first stalks of poke emerging in the back yard.
Despite the dry weather, some folks have already started their gardens. I visited a lady on Wednesday who had garden plants, bags of mulch and potting soil on her front porch. She was all ready to go to work. A couple I visited on Saturday out west of Decatur were setting out tomato plants. When my sister Nancy called that evening, she said her husband had already planted broccoli, cauliflower, onions and tomatoes and she had a couple of tomato plants to bring us. Hopefully, we'll get a good shower soon to get their plants off to a good start and prompt some morel mushrooms to grow.
A recent letter from my friend in Florida brought the sad news that she had suffered a fall when she started to sit in her wheelchair and it rolled out from under her. Fortunately, no bones were broken. Good news came a few days later from a friend in Tulsa. She's been released by her doctor after shoulder surgery and three months of physical therapy. Now she'll be able to pick up her new little grandson and carry him around. She's looking forward to babysitting him on Tuesday afternoons now that the doctor has removed her restrictions.
We received good news Saturday morning when we got a call from nephew David in Connecticut. We have a new great-nephew! David's wife Stephanie had her baby earlier that day and she and little Robert Grandon were both doing well. He was a big boy, almost 8 pounds, and 19 inches long. David said little Savannah, 18 months old, was quite tickled about her little brother. The baby is named after David's dad, my brother Robert, and it's nice to have a new little one to carry on that family name.
We're almost half way through April. Georgia writer Celestine Sibley described it as "a month for lying on a hill in the grass and looking at the sky, for smelling flowers and listening to the birds."
Sibley, a longtime columnist for the Atlanta Constitution, was a big fan of Thomas Jefferson. Today, April 13, is Jefferson's birthday. She admired him because he was an avid gardener, eager to try all kinds of things, from olive trees to rice. He thought of seeds and plants all year and much of his correspondence with friends all over the world centered as much around the exchange of seeds as it did about matters of state.
Sibley recommends Jefferson's Garden Book, which covers the years between 1766 and 1817, and says she reads it and rereads it with the greatest of pleasure. She says you can have a fine time reading of Jefferson's accomplishments, but in April it is good to read what he wrote of his days at his beautiful and beloved Monticello, which reflects his love of gardening. After he retired there from public life, he continued to advise and consult with both Madison and Monroe in their terms as president.
With Earth Day coming up in a little over a week, I've been planning a program on recycling for our local Lions Club. A speaker from the Benton County Solid Waste District will be coming to our April 19 meeting to talk to us about Gravette's recycling program and bring handouts to educate us about what items may be recycled and how to prepare them before adding them to the bins. We are so fortunate to have a recycling program available to us 24/7, and I encourage everyone to follow the motto: "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle." We invite all in the community to join us at our meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, at Imagine Before and After School Care to learn more about how we can help keep our earth clean and green.
Susan Holland is a longtime resident of Benton County and a reporter for the Westside Eagle Observer. She may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 04/13/2016