Crocuses, Peepers, and Spring Cleaning

Spring is here at last! We haven’t had any snow fall in a week. The only places that still have lingering snow are on the north sides of the highest hills and along the edges of the woods. Along the roadsides, the yellow coltsfoot is in bloom. In our yard, the crocuses are at their peak. All of the colors – yellow, purple, white, and my favorite striped ones are in full bloom. The little blue flowers called glory-of-the-snow (chionodoxa) are blooming on the edge of the front flower bed among the snowdrops. The lawn is starting to turn green. And the dandelions have appeared – just the leaves for now.

Crocuses.

More crocuses.

My favorite striped crocuses.

Snowdrops.

Glory-of-the-snow.

Blue squill.

I like dandelions as long as they stay out of my gardens. Some people like to eat dandelion greens. I don’t. They have to be eaten before they start to bloom or they turn bitter, or should I say more bitter because they are pretty bitter to begin with. They are really good for you because they cleanse the liver. I know my Aunts Esther and Eleanor ate them every year as a “spring tonic.” I suppose if I was starving and suffering from rickets after a long, hard winter, I might be tempted to eat them, but I’m not there yet. People who like them always tell me that it’s all a matter of how you cook them. Most recipes I’ve seen say to cook them in several changes of water and then smother them with hot bacon and vinegar dressing. I think just about any greens would taste good if you did that to them. Dandelions are not on the menu at our house.

Another of our wild spring edible greens has also appeared. Wild leeks (Allium tricoccum), also known as ramps, have come up in the woods. They are not like the leeks (Allium ampeloprasum) found in gourmet produce aisles. Wild leeks have a very strong garlic taste and aroma with slightly skunky overtones. Lots of people around here go crazy for wild leeks. On Friday a girl brought a bundle of leeks to school in her backpack and caused a big stink – literally. It took us a while to figure out what smelled so bad. Many of our local churches and fire companies host ham and leek dinners in the spring. Lots of people have their favorite leek recipes, the most popular of which seems to be a sour cream and leek dip. I’ve eaten leeks, but I’m not crazy about them.

Last week Josiah and I built a raised bed in garden #1. My old strawberry bed was worn out, so I tilled it up last fall and ordered new plants, which arrived last week. These new plants will give us a good crop this year, and an excellent crop next year and for several years after that. I’m planting them in a raised bed this time hoping it will make it easier for me to tack down netting to keep the birds and chipmunks out. We’ll see.

On Friday Josiah went with some of the band members from school to the annual Band Fest. This year it was held in St. Marys, down in Elk County. They were there all day practicing with students from Intermediate Unit 9, which includes schools from Potter, McKean, Cameron, and Elk counties. In the evening Stacey, Hannah, and I drove down to attend the concert and bring him home. The concert was great. We drove home through dense fog, which was pretty scary at times.

Saturday was a gorgeous day. It was sunny and breezy. The temperature rose into the 70's. It was perfect day for working outdoors and we did just that. I cleaned off the front porch, scrubbed down the walls, moved the wood pile, swept away all the winter debris. Then we tackled the back porch. The back porch is a dumping ground. All winter the things we don’t want to deal with get dumped there. Hannah and I unloaded everything off the porch onto the lawn and then we spent the afternoon deciding what to with it all. Some things went to the dump. Some things went to the burn pile. Some things went to the thrift store. Now the porch is clean and it’s a good thing because it’s almost time for me to move some of my seed trays out there.

Josiah tending the burn pile.

After we finished the back porch, we planted strawberries. Because I hurt my back last week, I couldn't do much more than supervise. Hannah and Josiah put down the plastic mulch. Then Hannah cut the holes and Stacey planted the plants. Somehow I ordered twice as many plants as I needed, so this week we will make another bed and plant the rest. You can’t have too many strawberries.

The strawberry bed.

Last night we heard spring peepers for the first time. We’ve been listening for them for a week. They finally thawed out and are filling the nights with their music. I love to hear them.

Today was Branch Conference at church. Stake leaders came down and ran all our meetings. It was nice. With all those visitors, our congregation doubled in size. After church, because it was lunch time and all the stake people had traveled so far, we provided lunch for them. Really Kurt and Julie did all the work. They had sandwiches and chips and cookies for them so they could make up their own sack lunch before they headed north again.

The weather is beautiful today. It’s 76°, which is very warm for this time of year. The sun is shining and a soft, warm breeze is blowing. When we got home from church, I took a walk around the yard noting in my mind all the things I need to do this week. We’ll be cleaning the barn, planting clover in the new part of orchard, and planting onions, peas, and lettuce out in the garden. I love springtime.