Here comes the sun, but...

I've been getting outdoors a little bit more now that temps are rising above freezing and the snow is shrinking (slinking?) away.  It's very springlike today. I can see the tips of my crocuses and daffodils peeking above the soil as if to ask, is it time yet? Of course the back yard is still a great sucking pit of mud.

The disaster in Japan continues to be frightening and overwhelming, but as always, life goes on.


ACTION ALERT!  The latest assaults on our environment and attempts to poison us (aside from the radioactive chemicals from Japan that will be making their way into fish, farm animals, and farming soil, and therefore, plants) come locally from Sealand Waste with a typically shortsighted plan to greatly expand their landfill in the Frewsburg area for disposal of construction debris. Never mind that there is already a landfill  in Ellery that can handle this kind of waste.  Never mind that runoff from the proposed site is likely to contaminate the Conewango Watershed with chemicals like arsenic. What's a little arsenic in your fish and drinking water?


The NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation will soon decide whether to issue a permit to Sealand for the landfill, and they need to hear from many of us why this is a very bad idea (and there are many reasons) before the deadline of MARCH 25.   Send letters to David Denk, Regional Permit Administrator, NY DEC, 270 Michigan Ave., Buffalo NY 14203-2915 or phone 716-851-7165.   More information for making your case is available on the Carroll Concerned Citizens website.



I filled my bird feeders the other day and the word got around quickly. The feeders were soon emptied.
The herd was moving away from the house by the time Tom got the camera, but they were close to knocking on the back door when we first saw them.  (Maybe they wanted to say thank you..)  Today I'm refilling with a different blend, safflower seeds with hot chili peppers--which birds are supposed to love, other animals not so much. We'll see if this reaches its intended recipients this time.

I'm thinking more about this year's garden, which I'm going to have to buy plants for because I don't have room right now to start seedlings indoors. I'm wondering if I'll be able to get heirloom plants--certainly not from the "big box" stores--the kinds that produce seeds that will in turn produce plants like the parent plants. It's something I feel I have to learn to do (seed saving) in order to save "real food" in the age of Monsanto. There is definitely a cold frame in my future, maybe even a small greenhouse.