When the crocus emerge and bloom it is without a doubt Spring. Ours have been blooming for about ten days now, so naturally I’m already feeling behind. I keep glancing out the windows at my garden, which is temporarily housing our chickens while we build a larger coop.
When your flower opens, we recommend that you reach into the flower and remove the anthers: these are the 6 yellow pieces that surround the sticky, bulb-like pistil in the center of the flower.
You know the saying “a watched pot never boils?” – this year’s numerous “false starts” for spring makes this saying particularly apt. With warm temperatures for a few days, snowdrops, witch hazel and other early bloomers started appearing and it was hard not to get our hopes up and look for other spring blooms.
After the cruel trick of snow that Mother Nature played on the first day of Spring, I thought it would be nice to share a couple of my recipes for bright and cheerful dishes.
The beauty of a holiday table is always enhanced when our eyes are drawn to the center of the table by a “centerpiece”. There are lots of options for table centerpieces!
Today my mother, Sonja Behnke Festerling, and I took some time to look through a few of the thousands of photos my grandmother, Rose Behnke, took and we came across this one! We both started laughing since this was a sight that I remember well and so did she.
We spent a little more time this week making excuses to start sowing some seeds indoors. I am usually too far behind and unprepared to have productive early Spring vegetables such as cabbages and broccoli. But this year I am hoping we planted our bok choy early enough to at least be able to grow some baby bok choy before the weather warms up too much for them.
These recent weeks indoors have certainly allowed time to sharpen my culinary skills. One of our family’s new favorite quick meals is my Cream of Roasted Potato Soup. It’s hearty and filling and complete within the hour from start to finish.
Most of us enjoy looking at furniture or artwork or other decorative items in our living spaces…things that we love for their beauty or sentimental value. How we arrange or display them can make a striking difference in how much we enjoy them!
I just couldn’t take it anymore. Every time I blink, it feels like another blanket of snow has shrouded the layers of already fallen snow and ice. I needed to feel like Spring was in sight; after all, the first day of Spring is only days away. So I warmed up the car, bundled Grayson up in his cold weather gear and we headed to Behnkes’s to start planning our Summer garden.
Remember me, the former Behnkes blogger? Well, I’ve retired but I’m back to announce an exciting project and ask for your support. What is the grassroots media campaign DC Gardens.com? Images of 12 destination gardens in the DC area BY…
The last Full Moon (in February) was, appropriately, referred to as the Snow Moon. We didn’t need the Farmer’s Almanac to guide us on that one. Whether the moon’s origins reside in folklore (Wolf Moon), seasons (Harvest Moon) and/or any other numerous origins, a full moon can be inspirational and insightful.