Its Spring.....officially

It has been not really winter for most of the winter, I have enjoyed it, for as you all know, there is very little about winter that I like. Since early March it has been Spring-like, not Spring really but like Spring, now into April the weather has become a bit more seasonal, and there is no question, it is Spring.

There is plenty of wood left, waiting for fall. No, I certainly am not waiting for fall.  it doesn't matter that some of the things I had planned to do last winter didn't get done. they can wait too. They aren't eating any bread, and they don't mind the wait.

There are leave on the apple tree, perhaps they are not as tender as I thought as they survived 2 nights of temperatures in the single digits.  Last years apple crop was huge, who knows what this years will be like.   Tiny frogs called peepers, who  shelter in the marshy area near this tree sing for me each warm night, during the Spring.

The last remnants of a tree that came down in a storm last July are standing guard over the sight where the brush pile were burned,   that area that was once a brooder house, then a garage, and later a weedy spot where all sorts of flowers and weeds grew amid the stacked wood.

Next to the picnic table is a heap of leaves ready for the compost, a heap of leaves from the pungent sorta garlic sorta hotter-than-hell, but oh so tasty wild edible the leek or ramp.  True not everyone likes them, but to me they are a true delight.  Leaves diced and fried with eggs or potatoes or the whole leaf, fried crisp, have a smokey flavor. if you were hardcore you could add fresh leaves to a salad.

The garlicyflavored bulb can be carefully fried also and is very mellow.Or raw it can be mixed with creme cheeze or what have you to make a dip, some of us eat them raw. The white portion can be pickled in either your homemade brine or left over brine from commerciallly made pickles.  They can be frozen, especially if you place them in strainer, salt them with uniodized salt, cover them withe ice and let them drain overnight.  Be creative,  use them in ham and potato soup, ham and beans, roasted them with chicken...pretty much anything you can use garlic for.  So these stinky little wonders, that taste oh so good might not make you the most popular person at work, unless of course you bring in some dip and crackers so that everyone can enjoy.

Bon appetite!