I sure wish this weather would straighten out. It needs to warm up, dry up, and in general, just shape up! The farmers need to get into their fields and I need to get into my garden. There is going to be an absolute frenzy of tilling and planting going on if we get more than two days of warm, sunny weather in a row.
    We have a nice arrangement of gardening books on display at the library. At least we can read about gardening and gather some new ideas while waiting to get our hands into the soil. So far, I’ve only planted onions- 240 of them. Why so many onions? Well, Noah and Jake and I love green onions. We munch on table onions dipped in a bit of salt at every meal except breakfast in late spring and early summer. We also enjoy radishes. My folks even eat radish sandwiches for a quick lunch.
    Peas are another tasty early garden treat. I taught the boys early how to find plump pea pods and pick them. We eat all our peas raw right out of the garden. When the boys were little, they would each pick a small bucket of peas, take them into the house, and shell and eat them in front of the T.V. Now that’s a healthy snack. They also love green beans, raw of course. In fact, I’ve about given up trying to get them to eat a cooked green bean. Instead, I just clean the beans, snap the ends off, and put them raw into a bowl at mealtimes for the boys. Gordy and I like ours cooked but still a bit crisp.
    I’m glad the boys love fresh produce. We are all looking forward to sweet corn, new potatoes, and even zucchini. We love zucchini cake, zucchini bars, chocolate zucchini bread, fried zucchini, and zucchini lasagna. Whenever I think of these amazingly productive squash, I hear the old saying “Zucchinis terrific! Like bunnies, prolific!” Happy planting, everyone.

NEW ITEMS

ADULT: Duma Key; Miss Julia Paints the Town; Compulsion; Mudbound; Winter Study; Growing Up Country; Memories of an Iowa Farm Girl; Kabul Beauty School.

TEEN: Firegirl; Breathe My Name; Slam; River Secrets; Freak; Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian; Midnight Games.

CHILDREN: Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls; Cirque du Freak; The Hanna Montana series; The Belly Book; Franklin Rides a Bike; Outcast.