I’m not sure how much faith one should put in an Internet search for “National ___ Month,” but I recently did just that and was surprised to discover that April is all of the following:
- International Guitar Month (Rocktober is 6 months away and you need to study up!)
- Keep America Beautiful Month (because, normally, we want to keep America filthy and roach-infested?)
- National Poetry Month (check out Poets.org for ideas on how to celebrate this one)
- National Garden Month (mmm, farm-fresh veggies)
- National Anxiety Month (OMG, is there something on my face?!)
- National Humor Month (is this to make up for the anxiety, or to further encourage it?)
- National Welding Month (no jokes, because welding is serious business), and
- Uh-Huh Month (no, seriously… wtf?)
That’s a mighty full basket to choose from, but personally I’m most interested in National Garden Month.
It’s spring in Austin, which means it’s allergy season and everyone is sneezing, coughing, snorting and hacking like they’re about to keel over and die. (BTW: Here’s a great article with tips on how to fight allergies with food at AchooAllergy.com, and if the store-bought drugs aren’t working, you may want to give the homeopathic methods suggested at Republic of Austin a whirl.) It may not be pretty, but I guess this is the price we pay for having roughly 300 days of sunshine a year and only 2 weeks of winter, while the rest of the nation is buried under 3 feet of snow, right?
Anyhoo, being that it’s spring, the wildflowers are popping up in vast fields across the state, and ordinary Texans are pulling over on the side of the highway to snap pix.
Like these:
"Wildflowers in Austin" (photo by Flickr user The 4/30 Murders)
"Wildflowers" (photo by Flickr user spyderella)
Dubbing April National Garden Month, then, just makes sense. Anybody with a bit of yard space can plant some sweet veggies (along with the wildflowers that will inevitably sneak in), and even if you’re an apartment dweller like me, if you get a bit of sun you can whip up a mini herb garden or sprout some tomatoes to enjoy throughout the growing season.
The National Gardening Association has tips and tricks on how to get started with their article 101 Ways to Celebrate National Garden Month, as well as suggestions for their project of the month, building a terrarium. Be sure to check out their article on starting seeds indoors and get ready for spring with some awesome edible or decorative plants!
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Tags: AchooAllergy.com, allergy season, building a terrarium, fight allergies with food, Frugal Fun, growing a mini herb garden, homeopathic allergy remedies, International Guitar Month, Keep America Beautiful Month, National Anxiety Month, National Garden Month, National Gardening Association, National Humor Month, National Poetry Month, National Welding Month, Poets.org, Republic of Austin, spyderella, starting seeds indoors, The 4/30 Murders, Uh-Huh Month, wildflowers, Wildflowers in Austin
