March SKI Tips

Each year March and June end on the same day of the week.

Baby birds learn to sing during the spring. Although they are born with the ability to sing they must learn the specific songs of their species. They often learn their songs within two months of being born.

Potatoes were illegal in France for 24 years. In 1748 the French Parliament forbade the cultivation of the potato on the grounds that it was thought to cause leprosy. This law remained in effect until 1772.

Stanford researchers found that beer bubbles create a gravity-defying loop. Bubbles head up in the center where frictional drag from the glass is less and down on the outside as the top gets crowded.

Plant seedlings of cool season vegetables and flowers as soon as the soil is dry enough to work. These include broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, peas, spinach, lettuces, radishes and beets.

The idea behind “Gardening by the Moon” is that the cycles of the Moon affect plant growth. Just as the Moon’s gravitational pull causes tides to rise and fall, it also affects moisture in the soil. It’s said that seeds will absorb more water during the full Moon and the new Moon, when more moisture is pulled to the soil surface. This causes seeds to swell, resulting in greater germination and better-established plants.

Houseflies don’t like sweet clover. Fill a few cheesecloth-mesh bags with the herb and hang them around the room.

Native Indiana plants are born survivors, hiding 2/3 of their growth underground. Roots and root hairs beneath a square yard of tall grass are said to stretch 20 miles end to end.

The first successful goldfish farm in the United States was opened in Martinsville, Indiana in 1899.

Botanically speaking, a fig isn’t one fruit, but hundreds. Each seed inside—and the flesh around it—is a tiny fruit.