Its official; groundhog or not, spring is here! More and more regions are warming up past their last frost date and the ol’ potting benches are starting to see some action.

April is a month of celebration for both Passover and Easter signifying freedom and rebirth respectively. This seems to coincide with the month of April as well – finally freedom from winter’s grip, and the rebirth of nature emerging from the warming soil.

And even though we all know that April showers bring May flowers, April has its own flower show. Some of the first welcoming signs are the spring bulbs, particularly crocus and all varieties of narcissus from paper whites to daffodils. In the perennial herb gardens don’t be surprised to see the various mints starting to pop up pushing the soil aside reaching for the sun.

Old beneficial friends like the ladybug are making their appearance too, ready to gobble up those pesty little, soft bodied aphids, scale and mealybugs. Give the local ladybugs a hand and supplement your garden with more ladybugs from the garden center as soon as they become available. Since beneficial insects mean less pesticides, it makes even more sense to do it this month if they are available as the 22nd is the annual Earth Day celebration; let’s all try to give Mother Earth a break.

Since mints are making themselves visible, and if you didn't plant any last year, be sure to check your Home Depot for some VIVA! Herbs and take advantage of planting your choice of various flavored mints into your garden or your favorite containers. Likewise it is a good time to check out the VIVA! Veggies for those cabbage crops like cauliflower for a summer harvest. Some milder areas may be getting ready to harvest their VIVA! cauliflower (that was planted in the fall) pretty soon so be sure to check out our feature recipe for April!

Whether you were reminded by an accidental glance at the calendar, or if a mysterious, revealing crop circle showed up in your lawn or patch of baby salad greens, April means Daylight Savings Time is here too - and earlier this year than in years past! Daylight hours are naturally becoming longer, but never long enough, so we really appreciate that bonus extra hour of daylight that gets tacked on starting this month. All of this extra daylight can be used a lot of ways but what better way than one more hour in the garden!
 

Mints, all of the family Mentha, are natives to the Mediterranean and western Asia. All mints have the volatile oil 'menthol' which gives mint that characteristic cooling, cleansing aroma and feeling.

Few people know that Mint played an important dramatic role in Greek mythology. According to legend - "Minthe" who was originally a nymph, became Pluto's lover. This angered Pluto's wife Persephone, who in a fit of rage turned Minthe into a lowly plant to be stepped on. Unable to reverse the spell on his lover, Pluto was able to soften it by giving Minthe a sweet scent which would perfume the air when her leaves were stepped on – so now we have Mint!

Mints cross pollinate and interbreed very easily which has given us the tremendous variety of flavors and fragrances available. The most notable and frequently used varieties would be peppermint, spearmint, lemon mint, chocolate mint and pineapple mint.
Use mints freely in drinks, desserts, and even savory ethnic meat and vegetable dishes. Mint also has a medicinal past with uses still applicable today. As with any herb used medicinally, be sure to consult reputable, reliable sources before administering.


In French: Chou-fleur, Norwegian: Blomkaal, but no matter how you say it, it still translates to “Cabbage Flower”! It’s that wonderfully delicate and tasty Cauliflower, or Brassica oleracea var. botrytis in botanical terms. Hard to believe but true, all cabbage family members are actually the same plant starting with a wild cabbage a couple thousand years ago. Through natural plant variations, different cultures selected the varieties of the wild cabbage they preferred to enjoy as a vegetable. By saving and planting the seeds of their favorite plants, they were concentrating the gene pool so that each new crop had more of the features they preferred. In various places it became a tight head like cabbage, or thick flowering stems like broccoli, or a loose leaved, stem-less, gargantuan flower cluster – the cauliflower.

Cauliflower is believed to have been selectively developed on the island of Cyprus. It lends itself to endless recipes, and approximately 4ozs. of cauliflower is only 25 calories, provides 100% of your daily vitamin C requirement, and only 5 grams of carbohydrates.

Ladybug Magnet
An easy-to-make ladybug magnet for your fridge - a perfect activity for little hands. Mother's Day is just around the corner... Make several to send as gifts!