Dayton "Dirt" - March 23, 2012

Strange weather just continues here in northeast Ohio. According to local weather records that go back to 1886 this past winter was only the ninth warmest. The weather record that was broken was the 65 inches of precipitation we received in 2011.

At the nursery we had to accelerate our potting of bareroot trees and shrubs although I would much rather have cold to cool weather so that the plants would be able to push out some new roots before growth would break out.

Last Saturday with the “What’s New” seminar I was astonished at the turnout as when weather warms work in the garden beckons.

Tomorrow our seminar will be “Cooking With Herbs” that should acquaint many of us with this sometimes strange pallette of plants.

I remember visiting the United Kingdom in 2000 and thinking how expensive was the food in London and the food’s blandness. Then off through the Chunnel to Calais, France and then to Paris. At the time the French franc exchange rate with the dollar made France so much more affordable than the UK and the food was delicious! Sauces, creams and herbs seem to be a hallmark of French cuisine.

Maybe on Saturday, our expert will give everyone a few pointers on the “art” of herb use even if no one aspires to become an expert chef.

Plants in the greenhouse have gone “wild” with the warm, sunny weather so that we’ve had to do more trimming than normal to keep the growth in check.

See you Saturday.

Tom