As I sit by my window and gaze at the snow-covered yard, my mind is on my vegetable garden. After last year's success with pumpkins, Liam is anxious to try his hand with carrots. I am going to try some new techniques; including wider rows and straw mulching.

Are you thinking about gardening this summer? Do fresh tomatoes and basil sound good to you? How about artichokes? Whether you are a gardening novice or a seasoned canner, there are resources available to help you.

The Master Gardener program sponsored by the extension is a wonderful place to start. The Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890 established Land Grant Colleges or Universities to teach agriculture, mechanical arts and home economics, among other things as a practical education resource. Penn State University, our land-grant, predated the Morrill Act, and its charter was used as a basis for writing the act.

Part of the mission of land-grants is community education, called extension. Funding for extension comes from federal, state, and local governments, as well as private research grants.

The Lancaster Master Gardeners, while sponsored by the Penn State Extension, is financially self-supporting. Their garden symposium which is open to the public is coming up March 21st at the Four Seasons Golf Club. They also hold a plant sale May 2nd. The Master Gardeners plant the field trial at Landisville, teach gardening workshops in our school classrooms, are helping to put in a ChildrenŐs Garden at the local library and are involved in many other ways to promote gardening.

The extension writes scads of wonderful publications on a wide variety of topics including fruit trees, vegetables, horses, dairy, beekeeping, and canning. You can pick them up at the extension office in Lancaster, (or West Chester for you Chester Countians) or access them online.

Another wonderful service the extension offers is soil testing. Kits are available for $9.00. Getting your soil tested to know your pH, nutrient content and soil composition is your best first step towards a successful garden. We got our soil tested last fall, and were prompted to spread a load of manure and further amend the soil with some lime. Hopefully my tomatoes will be happier this year.

If these economic times have you worried, there is nothing more soothing to the soul than digging in the dirt. And fresh peas or a juicy red strawberry right out of the garden will always brighten my day. There are lots of people to help you if you want some advice, and a great place to start is the Master Gardener help line at 717-394-6851.