Agriculture

Did you know that azaleas and rhododendrons are essentially the same thing? They are both members of the rhododendron genus; they have similar blooms and similar cultural requirements. Some say the primary difference between the two is the number of pollen-bearing stamens: rhods have 10 or more per flower and azaleas have only five.

Congratulations to Lilli Hanik of Fisherville, Liz Walker of Mount Eden, and Courtney Jeffiers of Taylorsville for receiving the 4-H Middle School Award at 4-H Teen Summit on Saturday, March 17th at the Kentucky Leadership Center in Jabez.

Without looking at the calendar, Kentuckians might easily be fooled into thinking it is early June; but in fact, spring has just begun. After the warmest winter on the record books in the Bluegrass state, spring has sprung very early causing some University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension specialists to gaze eerily back on a similar weather pattern in 2007.

It’s time to start it all over again, thank goodness. I had to buy some potatoes from the grocery a few weeks back because we had finally finished all that were stored in the basement. Homegrown potatoes, even the old ones in their slightly shriveled state, are far superior to 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.