Agriculture

I managed to get through the whole season eating only our store of potatoes from the garden only because of the generous offerings of sweet potatoes from two other gardeners. I love it when I can go from harvest to planting and still have a few potatoes left in storage.

Home-grown potatoes, even the old ones in their slightly shriveled state, are far superior then the kind that come in a plastic bag. I am really ready to get my hands in the soil, and planting potatoes is just the thing to get the season rolling.

Fruit orchard grower session set for Mulberry Orchard

The University of Kentucky Horticulture Department will present a fruit grower orchard meeting on April 11 at Matt Gajdzik’s Mulberry Orchard.  

This program, is being put together by John Strang, UK Extension specialist in fruit and vegetable crops, tentatively will address a variety of diseases and pests. It would include specific sessions and then a roundtable discussion among growers, moderated by Jeremy Hinton.

In a fit of gratitude, I made a list of the things I loved about my life the other day. I managed eight solid things. None was frivolous, and one prompted the whole exercise: I love warm February days.

This beautiful February day set into motion a very productive weekend. It felt so good to get some good-old-fashioned garden clean up done with my husband by my side and the sheep grazing freely about. It makes you feel optimistic about the rest of your life.

I suspect most of you have no idea about the person and the saintly episode that is commemorated each Feb. 14 by friends, family and, most importantly, lovers. In fact, there are several versions of how the most romantic saint became a commercial success.

One story about St. Valentine has its origins in third century Rome, where the Emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage for young single men because he valued them more as young warriors. A priest by the name of Valentine defied the law and continued to marry in secret the young soldiers who were in love.