Poor Richard’s Almanac

Today, people around the world honor the Patron Saint of Ireland who, legend has it, immortalized the shamrock in his teaching (he used the three-leaved clover to illustrate the concept of the Holy Trinity) and drove the snakes out of Ireland (actually, they were wiped out in the last Ice Age). Now, our friend Ben is actually fond of snakes, or at least of the benign, non-poisonous types like garter snakes, milk snakes, and the like. And I’ll confess to a fondness for purple oxalis as a groundcover in containers. (If you buy a “shamrock” plant in America, it’s usually a green-leaved oxalis.)

But our friend Ben thinks that St. Patrick’s Day presents us gardening enthusiasts with an opportunity to take the green theme literally, and I’m not talking about green beer. Why not celebrate the day by doing something garden-related and environmentally friendly? Plant a tree, start a flat or pot of seeds, sow your peas, plant potatoes. Buy a birdbath or a container for a deck or patio water garden. Get some real plants for your aquarium, sprout some seeds for your parakeet or cockatiel, grow some wheatgrass or catnip for your feline friends. If you have kids (or are a kid or hippie at heart), plant an avocado seed or carrot or beet top in a pot or stick a sweet potato in a jar of water. At the very least, do a family tour of your yard and see what’s blooming or sprouting or leafing out.

Other ideas: Go to a local garden center and buy a new houseplant, or to a hardware or grocery store and buy some seeds. Get a pot of blooming daffodils and plant them outside later (I’ve had great success with ‘Tete-a-Tete’ and other small-flowered daffs). Treat your current houseplants to a spring repotting. Buy some organic houseplant fertilizer. Go to a flower show. Check out a book on organic gardening from your local library, or head over to a website like Organic Gardening or Mother Earth News or Backwoods Home and read up on organic techniques. (See our blogroll at right for links.) Make a raised bed. Think about buying or building a coldframe or a seed-starting setup. Consider creating a rain garden or growing more of your own food or adding more native plants to your landscape this year. Make a compost pile or an earthworm bin. When you start to think about it, the possibilities are endless!

Silence Dogood reminds me that there are some fun food-related options for St. Pat’s Day as well: You could make Irish soda bread (yum!!!) or look into a modestly-priced kit like the ones offered by Mr. Beer (www.mrbeer.com) and try your hand at home brewing. (We actually found an unopened Mr. Beer kit at our local Goodwill for less than $20.)

Silence especially likes one recipe for Irish soda bread adapted from Cooks.com, though she notes that “real” Irish soda bread has no sweeteners or currants. So purists, be warned! Silence likes the extra oomph that the currants, caraway seeds, and cardamom give this loaf, and we both like the slight sweetness. But she warns not to overmix the batter or overcook the bread or you’ll end up with a hard brown lump. The goal is a loaf that’s dense and rich, not hard. She also thinks Irish soda bread should always be served warm, either hot from the oven or sliced and heated for toast, and slathered with butter. Marmalade or apple butter are excellent but optional. We love hot Irish soda bread for breakfast with a big chunk of Cheddar and a huge pot of tea. Aaaaahhhh…

        Irish Soda Bread

4 to 4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, unsifted

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 cup butter

1 egg

1 3/4 cups buttermilk

2 cups currants or golden raisins

1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds

In a large bowl, stir together 4 cups of flour, the baking powder and soda, salt, sugar, and cardamom until thoroughly blended. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until crumbly. Add currants or raisins and caraway seeds, stirring to blend. In a separate bowl, beat egg slightly and combine with buttermilk; stir into dry ingredients until blended. Turn out on a floured board and knead until smooth (2-3 minutes). Divide dough into halves and shape each half into a smooth, round loaf. Place each loaf in a greased 8-inch cake or pie pan, pressing down until dough fills pan. With a razor blade or sharp, floured knife, cut crosses in tops of loaves about 1/2-inch deep. Bake at 375 degrees F for 35-40 minutes, until a straw or toothpick inserted into each loaf comes out dry. Makes 2 loaves.     

So, what are you going to do for St. Patrick’s Day this year?