1. Plant spring-blooming perennials with your spring bulbs. Many people forget about spring blooms until the season has arrived. When purchasing spring bulbs, buy spring perennials to complement the show, such as hellebores, blue stars (Amsonia spp.), iris, bleeding hearts, and poppies. This type of interplanting makes every hole you dig do double duty.
2. Shred fallen leaves with a lawn mower and add them to the garden as a compost or mulch. Shredding the leaves helps them break down faster and releases many of the nutrients in time for spring growth.
3. Visit apple orchards. They usually have great deals on baskets of apples for cider, pies, fritters, baked apple pancakes, and other tasty treats. Many places allow you to pick your own. This is a fun family outing and a good chance for kids to learn about farming and where food comes from.
