MARCH 18, MONDAY: Tornado killed 692 Midwesterners, 1925.
MARCH 19, TUESDAY: New moon. Clear day betides a fertile year. Swallows return to Capi-strano, Calif.MARCH 20, WEDNESDAY: Vernal equinox. Mister (Fred) Rogers born, 1928.
MARCH 21, THURSDAY: Pocahontas died, 1617. Johann Sebastian Bach born, 1685.
MARCH 22, FRIDAY: First women's basketball game, 1893.
MARCH 23, SATURDAY: Fanny Farmer born, 1857. Joan Crawford born, 1908.
MARCH 24, SUNDAY: Fatty Arbuckle born, 1887. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow died, 1882.
Ask the Almanac: We're still feeding the birds here. Any recipes for suet out of leftovers?
- F.B., Caribou, Maine
Answer: You can use almost any seed or grain, mixed with bacon fat, lard or peanut butter. A basic suet combines equal parts of bacon fat and assorted birdseed. Put it in a tuna or cat-food can to chill (or freeze) until it's hard enough to hold its shape, then release it into a wire suet cage or sturdy mesh bag. For a fancier suet, add peanut butter to the mix. You can also bind cornmeal or oatmeal with straight peanut butter and spread it into holes drilled in a post or log. Birds also like dried fruit, so consider adding raisins, currants, apricots or citron. Don't give them the leftover fruitcake, though - the alcohol could be too overpowering.
Most birds also like corn meal or cracked corn, so consider making them their own cornbread, when you're baking some for yourself. For the birds, skip the eggs, milk or sweeteners. Instead, use 3 cups of cornmeal with 1/2 cup of bacon fat or lard. Add 2 teaspoons of baking powder (just to give it some height), and then add water until you get the right consistency - about 3 cups, more or less. Bake until firm, then cool and place in a mesh bag or suet cage, or crumble it into a tray feeder.
Ask the Almanac: I'm planning to turn some lawn into a garden this spring, and I'm thinking of including a compost bin. Do you recommend any particular model?
- S.A., Metuchen, N.J.
Answer: You mean, you want to BUY one? We suspect buying a compost bin is as highly personal and variable as buying a car. Some go for looks, some for speed, some for cost. If you insist on a container, your best bet is to visit your local farm supply store or nursery and inquire. Or call your local county extension office; some even give composting courses. For our part, we're big believers in the passive pile, located in some handy but out-of-the way spot and allowed to slowly mature. Enclose it with a movable chicken-wire fence to discourage dogs. For location, you want to consider whether your composting materials are going to come mainly from the garden or from the kitchen. If it's both, see if there's a spot midway between the two. Some put the compost at the garden's center, so that nutrients that leach out will benefit the soil.
As for the method, we don't add "bioactivators" or yeast or miracle ingredients. We don't take its temperature, and the truth is, we don't even turn it (shhh!) - except when we're looking for some good rich soil to add to a new garden bed. Then we poke a garden fork into it, to check for that good black color that signifies doneness. Virtually any combination of ingredients (except meat and fats, which smell really bad) will compost, if you give it a couple of years. Most stuff looks pretty good in less than that. We've tried wire cages, wooden slats, shipping pallets and stone-walled composts. Most all of them fall down or disintegrate sooner or later, and I suspect the same is true of the store-bought versions. The tumblers sound handy, but they look too small. So I guess our recommendation is to suit yourself, keep it simple, and don't take any of it too seriously. Few things in nature need much encouragement to rot away! There's really no right or wrong, so long as you find a version that you're going to want to keep using.
Ask the Almanac: Is a flannel cake the same as a pancake?
- C.A., Poolville, Texas
Answer: As near as we can tell, although flannel cake recipes often specify that the eggs are to be separated and the whites beaten before adding, so maybe they're a bit lighter and fluffier. Call 'em pancakes, flannel cakes, flapjacks, silver dollars, griddle cakes, sourdough cakes, buttermilk cakes, buckwheat cakes, hot cakes or stacks, they're all more or less the same critter. Even fritters aren't far from the truth of a pancake, although some would argue that a fritter has to be deep-fried. For our money, if you put good old-fashioned maple syrup on 'em, then they're as good as any other pancake.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This week with The Old Farmer's Almanac
March 18-24, 1996
Vernal Equinox, March 20.
That's Entertainment!
There must be something propitious about the Vernal Equinox for the birth of entertainers. Or maybe it's being on the cusp between the creative Pisces (Feb. 20-Mar. 20) and the very social Aries (Mar. 21-Apr. 20) in the zodiac. March 20 is the birthday of entertainers Ozzie Nelson (1906), Marian McPartland (1920), Carl Reiner (1922), Fred Rogers (1928), Willaim Hurt (1950), and Lee Spike (1957). Then on March 21, there's Al Freeman Jr. (1934), Timothy Dalton (1944), and Matthew Broderick (1962). Johann Sebastian Bach (one of at least 52 musicians in his family) was also born on March 21 (1685).
"Hell is a half-filled auditorium." - Robert Frost
Tip of the Week
Panama hats may be cleaned with white soap and water on a clean sponge. Rinse well.
MAPLE CUSTARD
4 eggs
1/2 cup maple syrup
1-3/4 cups scalded milk
pinch of salt
chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Beat together the eggs and the maple syrup, then slowly stir into it the scalded milk and salt. Place 6 custard cups into a pan of hot water, and fill the cups with the custard. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a sharp knife inserted into the custard center comes out clean. Serve warm or chilled. Garnish with chopped nuts, if desired.
Makes 6 single custards.
The Old Farmer's Weather Proverbs
St. Joseph's Day clear (March 19), so follows a fertile year.
Rain on St. Benoit's Day (March 21) means rain for forty days.
A bushel of March dust is worth a king's ransom.
Special Offer:
Handy chart full of interesting weather proverbs. Send $3 to Weather Chart, Dept. UF, The Old Farmer's Almanac, Box 520, Dublin, NH 03444.