Baja St. Martin

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Well, the news around here is that crawfish are bringing in $2 a pound to the fishermen and nobody is catching a whole lot. The cold weather slowed things down considerably and the north winds pushed the water down in the spillway. At the Belle River landing, the ridges of the launch ramps can now be seen for the first time in months. And the debris by the trash cans is beginning to accumulate a bit although Toby Ponville keeps things clean.

Two places on the levee between the landing and Morgan City are slumping. They’re marked with caution tape, but nothing has been done about them yet. I suppose the sliding areas don’t pose any threat unless there is extremely high water.

With the current nice, sunny weather, all the dead vegetation looks even more depressing. I’m forcing myself to leave the stuff alone, knowing that pruning now would stimulate new growth which would be vulnerable to any future freeze. I’ll bet the plant nurseries will be doing a booming business in a month or so.

I do have tomatoes, peppers and lettuce seeds planted in a flat in my greenhouse. A heating coil in the soil speeds up germination and a cloche cover over the flats creates a miniature water cycle so I don’t have to do much of anything until the first true leaves appear. Then I’ll put the plants in pots. Some I use myself, others I sell, some I take to Pierre Part Elementary School where a health/wellness project I’m involved in has helped several grades build above ground boxes.
Right now they’re filled with broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, bok choy and lots of other stuff including, it seems, lots of weeds.

It’s been so much fun helping the children plant veggies, maybe I’ll approach the principal, Mary Wyble, at Stephensville Elementary and see if any of her students would like to do some gardening. One year (probably more than one) when Lucille Husband was principal of SES, the school had a nice-sized greenhouse, but I think that was probably paid for by a grant which may have been a one-time thing.

Still, home gardens are becoming very popular these days stimulated by the economy and the back-to-nature movements. Mrs. Obama, some of her kitchen staff and some local school children have a sizable garden on White House property.

When I was young, probably in the mid to late ‘40s., my dad had a victory garden in our back yard. He used a manual tiller to plow up the dirt and it was my job to pick out the rocks and pile them on the side. In Michigan that meant a LOT of rocks. We made fences of them. Somehow I don’t recall eating our produce but I sure remember those rocks!

Linda Cooke

Teche News’ Lower St. Martin correspondent, Linda Cooke, can be contacted via e-mail at lcooke9417@bellsouth.net.