Good morning to you all.  I did start a blog yesterday but didn't get very far.  Just didn't see anything I wanted to comment on or link to.  Welcome to April.  The weather people said that if the March temps had occurred in April we would have had one of the warmest Aprils on record.  As it happens,  it was the warmest March--ever.  I finally cut the milk jugs and juice cartons for plant starting containers and checked out my outside plants.  The only one that worries me is the rosemary.  I moved it to a place in the mini-greenhouse and will see how it does.  I also noticed the lemon balm is already close to being pot bound so I plan to transplant them again.  I didn't expect that.  I have to watch the mints and the lavender --they both are doing very well.  I think I saw flower buds on the blueberries.  I don't expect much fruit this year.  I transplanted them last fall and, though they have grown well, they are only half their expected full size.  I think it is about time to plant the rest of my seeds.  And get the rest of my containers refilled with remixed soil.

We just came back from our weekly grocery and other shopping run.  We had to get some light machine oil so Mom could oil her sewing machine so we stopped by our local Ace Hardware.  They just finished putting up their garden quonset hut/greenhouse but it isn't stocked yet.  But the seeds are on full display.  I was rather restrained and only picked up a packet of beautiful red lettuce and marjoram.  Then I broke down and got a hot water bath canner.  I plan to put it to good use over the summer.  We were somewhat bemused by one sign this morning at the gas station: the least expensive pack of cigarettes costs the same price as gallon of gas.  It is sad to not that gas has caught up to cigarettes.  I wonder when it will catch up to steak.

Triplehelix has a post this morning which makes a point we have thought about frequently over the last couple of years: the consolidation in the food industry makes a serious (as in widespread and lethal) contamination event very likely.  When the beef industry, the example the author gives early in the article, is dominated by 22 slaughterhouses (79%) and 4 producers a single contamination issue can reach coast to coast and involve a huge amount of product.