Most hardy vegetables can be planted directly in garden

■

far in the year. On March 13, the chances for highs above 50 climb to 45 percent, and they remain near that level until March 22, when they rise even higher. Frost strikes the early garden 60 percent of all the nights, however, and there is still a five to 10 percent chance each day this week for a high only in the 20s. Odds for rain or snow are about one in three most days of the period; the 10th is the wettest day with a 50 percent chance of precipitation.

The Natural Calendar

Maple syrup season, Snow- drop and Aconite season, and Pussy Willow season continue. Daffodil budding season and Crocus blooming season commence. Migration season reaches its apex for Canadian geese. Walleye, Sauger, Saugeye, Muskie, Bass and Crappie feeding seasons get underway. Earth- worm mating season starts in the warming rains. Junco season usually ends at bird feeders as those birds fly north for breeding.

Horseradish leaves are typically an inch long today, their length announcing the appearance of Virginia blue- bell sprouts on the hillsides and the blossoming of the earliest jonquils in the gar- den.

Countdown to Spring

Just a few days to the beginning of the morning robin chorus before sunrise.

One week to daffodil season and silver maple blooming season and the first golden goldfinches.

Two weeks to tulip sea- son and the first wave of blooming woodland wild- flowers and the first but- terflies

Three weeks until golden forsythia blooms and skunk cabbage sends out its first leaves and the lawn is long enough to cut

Four weeks until Amer- ican toads sing their mating

in the dark and corn planting time begins

Five weeks until the Great Dandelion and Violet

Bloom and the peak of wild- flower season begin

Six weeks until all the fruit trees flower

Seven weeks to the first rhubarb pie

Eight weeks to the great warbler migration through the Lower Midwest

Nine weeks to the first cricket song of late spring

Ten weeks to the first orange daylilies blossom

In the Field and Garden

This is the earliest date for planting most hardy vegetables directly in the garden. Farmers also put in oats, spring wheat, and ryegrass for quick vegetative cover. Only 11 weeks remain before the most delicate flowers and vegetables can be planted out- side, four weeks until most hardy varieties can be set out. Fertilizer spread on lawn and field will have a month to dissolve in the ground before April or May planting.

Most bedding plants should be started in their flats. Only nine to 10 weeks remain before the most delicate flowers and vegeta- bles can be planted outside. Four weeks until most hardy plants can be set out.

Remove old rhubarb and asparagus stalks, cleaning out around the beds, dig- ging in well-rotted manure. Uncover and fertilize straw- berries. Cut off tips of young black raspberry branches, and remove old canes.

The S.A.D. Stress Index

Cloud cover and inclem- ent weather continue to keep index readings relatively high during March. The day keeps lengthening, however, and improved meteorological conditions toward the end of the month push the num- bers down into the middle 40s after equinox.

Key for Interpreting the S.A.D.

Clouds: Refers to likely cloud cover. Weather: Likely weather Day: The length of the scale

Totals of:

75 - 65: S.A.D. Alert: Severe Stress

64 - 50: Severe to moderate stress

49 - 35: Moderate stress 34 - 25: Light to moderate stress