by Keith Bancroft
According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on Groundhog Day (February 2—this Saturday!), then spring will come early; if it is sunny and the groundhog sees its shadow, it will retreat back into its burrow, signaling that winter weather will continue for six more weeks.
In many areas of the U.S., early morning celebrations are held where people gather to watch the groundhog emerge from its burrow. The most famous of these events is in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania (setting of the 1993 movie Groundhog Day), where “Punxsutawney Phil” is the resident rodent prognosticator. However, many areas have jumped on the furry bandwagon and have adopted their own marmot mascot—Dunkirk Dave, Susquehanna Sherman and Wiarton Willie to name just a few. And for those towns where alliteration just isn’t their thing, we have the likes of Gus, Uni, Spanish Joe and, of course, Jimmy the Groundhog.
Few people know that our local groundhog, Marin Mortimer, is the star of his own annual festival and proudly emerges from his burrow every February 2 under the watchful gaze of curious onlookers, eager for news of what weather the next six weeks will bring. His last appearance was, unfortunately, not his proudest moment. For just after Mortimer fully emerged from his burrow, he realized he’d left his “Save Your Green, Save Our Blue” coupons on the kitchen table, and hastily retreated into his burrow to retrieve them, inadvertently signaling to the collected crowd the advent of six more weeks of winter. By the time he’d re-emerged from his cozy den, coupons in hand (rather, in paw), the crowd had disbanded, leaving Mortimer alone to rejoice at his lack of shadow and the imminent arrival of spring.
Moral of the story: Don’t forget to grab your coupons before leaving the house. Visit MMWD’s “Save Your Green, Save Our Blue” coupon page to get discount coupons from local retailers and plumbers on leak repair, high-efficiency toilets, smart irrigation controllers, rainwater harvesting tanks, mulch, native plants and more.
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On a more somber note, we wish to extend our sympathy to our favorite retired gardener and blogger, Charlene Burgi, on the recent passing of her mother. Our thoughts are with Charlene and her family. We look forward to hearing from Charlene when she returns.
for charlene, a favorite voice in my day: i wish to extend my sincere sympathy on the loss of your mother. my prayers are with you at this time.
your help plz: my new baby meyer lemon tree is putting out lemons profusely and they are yolk colored, the color instructions tell me they’re ready to pick, but they are also very hard, the condition instructions say “not yet!”. confused, and wanting to do it right could you advise me the best time/condition to harvest and the best method to remove them, and anything else that you may think will help me love and best treat this new joy. t.y. sara schulist
Sara,
First, thank you for your kind words.
Lemons are a favorite fruit of mine. I usually pick lemons when they are evenly colored. They can be firm to the touch. I would suggest picking one, cutting into it and see if it meets your specifications. Meyer lemons are milder and slightly sweeter to the taste than Eureka. If you find the first picked fruit too sour for your liking, wait a few more weeks and try again. Lemons will hold their fruit for a long time before falling to the ground. Enjoy!
Always,
Charlene
Charlene, so sorry for your loss. Sending you and your family love and strength. xo melanie
Thanks Melanie. She was a great mom and blazed a path for our family that taught us so much about life. I am grateful to have call her mom.
Always,
Charlene