March 20, Monday -- Vernal Equinox. St. Joseph. Moon on equator.
March 21, Tuesday -- Johann Sebastian Bach born, 1685. Hatfield and McCoy feud in West Virginia ends in engagement announcement, 1891.March 22, Wednesday -- Stamp Act, 1765. Flemish painter, Anthony Van Dyck born, 1599.
March 23, Thursday -- American actress, Joan Crawford born, 1904. Tennessee bans teaching evolution in schools, 1925. Georgia and Mississippi soon follow.
March 24, Friday -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow died, 1882. Queen Elizabeth I died, 1603.
March 25, Saturday -- Annunciation. Waffle Day in Sweden. Thomas Moore died, 1852.
March 26, Sunday -- Robert Frost born, 1874. Walt Whitman died, 1892. Win some, lose some.
Ask the Old Farmer's Almanac: I'm a vernal equinox baby. Can you tell me others of note? --G.U., Chatsworth, Calif.
Answer: You don't say whether you were born on March 20 or 21, but we'll assume it was one or the other. Do you find yourself on stage a lot? There must be something propitious about the vernal equinox for the birth of entertainers. March 20 is the birthday of Ozzie Nelson (1906), Marian McPartland (1920), Carl Reiner (1922), Fred Rogers (1928) -- better known as Mr. Rogers, William Hurt (1950), and film director Spike Lee (1957). Going way back, March 20 was also the birthday of Ovid, otherwise known as Publius Ovidius Naso, in 43 B.C. The Roman poet and writer was perhaps best known for his "Metamorphoses." The Norwegian dramatist, Henrik Ibsen (1828) was born on this day as well.
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).
Ask the Old Farmer's Almanac: Other than simply drying my fresh herbs, how can I preserve them? I'm planning a bigger herb bed this year. --J.W., Danville, Va.
Answer: Try flavored salts, oils, butters, vinegars and honeys for a different approach. Many of these items make lovely gifts as well. Some herbs retain good flavor when dried -- especially bay leaves, the mints, oregano, rosemary and sage -- but others, like the milder-mannered dill, parsley and tarragon do better when frozen. Basil, fennel, garlic and some others suggest a wet preservation mode, however. If you've got the preparation time to go beyond drying, or the quick herb ice cube, you can reap great benefits in preserving more of an herb's natural taste.
In France, both moist and dry herb salts are offered at the table. The fresh, chopped leaves and stems of fennel, dill or basil, which lose flavor when dried, are layered with salt in a tightly-capped jar. Thus preserved, the herbs stay moist up to a year, and within a couple of months the salt takes on their flavor. The entire mixture is used. Dry herb salts can also be made with previously dried, powdered herbs.
Herb-flavored cooking or salad oils offer a wet preservative for the leaves and tender stems of basil, chives, dill, marjoram, mints, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon and thyme. Add garlic or lemon peel for extra zest. Use a good quality olive oil, an attractive bottle, and store in a cool, dark spot. Pesto recipes are denser versions of herb oils and can be refrigerated or frozen.
Butter balls, rolled in fresh, chopped herbs or in dried, powdered herbs, can be refrigerated for up to 3 weeks or frozen for later use. Try minced garlic, horseradish or the finely chopped fresh leaves of tarragon, basil, parsley or thyme. To preserve large quantities of herb butters, soften the butter and mix with fresh herbs, then freeze in logs or sticks, wrapped in waxed paper.
To make an herb vinegar, bring any good vinegar to a boil, and pour it over fresh, washed herbs. Seal and leave to infuse for two weeks. Try white wine vinegar with tarragon leaves, basil sprigs and leaves, or peeled shallots; red wine vinegar with peeled garlic; sherry vinegar with fresh leaves of rosemary, minced horseradish or chopped, dried chilies. Quantities are open to experimentation.
For baking and sweets, make herb honey using from two to five tablespoons of a washed, dried, chopped herb of your choice (leaves of rosemary, mints etc.) to a pint of honey. Mix, seal in a jar, and set in the sun for a week to let the flavors infuse. Strain and rebottle. These honeys can be used in tea, for baking, on glazed vegetables, in jellies or on hot biscuits.
Ask the Old Farmer's Almanac: I saw that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is noted in Westminster Abbey and had an Oxford degree, but didn't he attend Bowdoin? --L. M., Indianapolis, Ind.
Answer: Right on both counts. Longfellow, born in Portland, Maine, (February 27, 1807) spent his college years at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and eventually taught there as well, but later he received honorary degrees from both Oxford and Cambridge. His poetry was unusually well-received both in America and in Europe during his lifetime, and he was the first American in Westminster Abbey's Poet's Corner. Longfellow died in 1882 and is still remembered today for his works including The Wreck of the Hesperus (1842), Evangeline (1847), The Song of Hiawatha (1855) and Paul Revere's Ride (1863).
Send your questions to: Ask the Almanac, The Old Farmer's Almanac, Main St., Dublin, NH 03444. Every day the editors of The Old Farmer's Almanac answer a question on the Internet. All questions are archived there as well. On the World Wide Web, the address is www.almanac.comYankee Publishing, Inc. Dist. by United Feature Syndicate Inc.