"May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of St. Patrick behold you."
       - Old Irish Blessing

Full Moon: March’s Full Moon will occur on March 23rd. It has often been called Sap Moon by many Native American tribes because sap would start to rise and run at this time. It has also been referred to as Worm Moon because the warmer temperatures in March tend to soften the frozen earth just enough to allow earthworms to begin appearing.

Special Notes: Daylight Savings begins on Sunday, March 13th at 2:00 AM EST. Don’t forget to ‘spring’ ahead and set your clocks ahead one hour. The Vernal Equinox will occur on Saturday, March 19th and signals the arrival of Spring (at last!).

Holidays: Be sure to wear something green in honor of St. Patrick on Thursday, March 17th. Palm Sunday is on the 20th of March, Good Friday on Friday, March 25th, and Easter Sunday falls on March 27th.

The Garden: Get started early if the weather allows. Test your soil for pH to see if any amendments are necessary. A general rule of thumb is to add 4 lbs. of lime per 100 sq. ft. of garden for every pH point below 6.5, or 1 lb. of sulfur per 100 sq. ft. for every pH point above 7.5. Sawdust, composted oak leaves, wood chips, peat moss, cottonseed meal, and leaf mold lower the pH while ashes of hardwoods, bone meal, crushed marble, and crushed oyster shells raise the pH. If you did not do so in February, apply a pre-emergent herbicide (that prevents crabgrass) to established lawns before March 15th.

If you plan to seed fescue lawns, do not apply a pre-emergent. It will prevent the grass seed from germinating. Begin pruning early-flowering shrubs, roses, fruit trees, grapes, and raspberries. Start an all-purpose spray regimen. Be sure to feed well and use supplementary nitrogen in early Spring, in addition to yearly feeding. Spray fruit trees with a dormant oil when temperatures exceed 40 degrees and before they leaf out. It’s time to start tomatoes, lettuce, and many other vegetable seeds indoors. Try and plant your peas on St. Patrick’s Day. For best selection, buy summer bulbs like gladiola, cannas, irises, dahlias and lilies. Wait until mid to late April to plant. Houseplants will react to longer days and brighter light at this time by putting out new growth. The end of this month is a good time to pinch them back to generate new growth and to thicken them.

J. Gruber’s Thought For Today’s Living

"Never let a day go by that you don’t more to your fellow man and for your community then you receive."