NEWS
Ripley Bee
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Julia bakes a chocolate cake BY Gloria Yoder The Amish Cook
RULH NHS students deliver Valentines to OVM
Provided/THE RIPLEY BEE
Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington National Honor Society students made Valentines for the residents at the Ohio Valley manor and delivered them even though parts of the Manor were under quarantine for the flu. Precautions were taken to protect everyone, and yet allow the students to share their messages of love and caring with the folks at the facility. Congratulations to the NHS members for serving their community. (Shown from left, front row are Morgan Jodrey and Maranda Thompson, (back row) Brittany Royster, Jacob Castle, Elliot Fryman, Shallyn Mussinan and Hana Schwierling.
Spring feeding for plants
As cold as it’s been, veteran gardeners are itching to get out and plant. We’re only a few weeks away from the “spring thaw”. It’s easy to ignore plants you already have when there are so many tempting new things to try in your garden. Before you add to your garden population by adopting the latest new varieties, you might want to make sure the plants you have already are properly nourished. People tend to “set it and forget it” when it comes to perennials, shrubs and trees; in fact, one reason perennials are so popular is that you don’t need to re-plant every year. They just get bigger and better. That’s true up to a point, however your existing plants will perform much, much better if you simply feed them early each year with a good multi-vitamin, multi-mineral formula time-release fertilizer. As plants grow, they gradually deplete all the nutrition in the soil. They compensate by expanding their root systems, searching for food, but eventually they will slow down and fail to thrive if you don’t replace the vitamins and minerals they use up. How long could you, yourself, survive if you didn’t eat regularly?
The best way to feed plants is gently and gradually, so they won’t burn. This is one reason why we recommend time-release granules or pulverized fertilizers instead of liquids like “Miracle-Gro”. Another reason is that plants won’t feed unless the soil is warm. Liquids will quickly wash away unless they are absorbed by the plant, whereas time-release granules stay in the soil until the plant needs them. We particularly like the Espoma Organic “Tones”, like Plant-Tone, HollyTone, Bulb-Tone, TreeTone and so on. These are old-fashioned, fertilizer mill, powdered plant foods, specially blended with the “right stuff” for each category of plants. They can be applied right now, simply scattered on the ground around the base of each plant. The spring rains will soak them into the ground and your plants will start to feed as the soil warms up. Liquid fertilizers tend to be very high in Nitrogen but low in trace minerals. Your soil is very likely lacking key trace minerals like Boron and Zinc, which are very important for healthy fruiting and bloom. Fertilizer blends like Espoma
Tones will restore depleted soils, which is magic for any kind of plant. Complaints like “blossom end rot” and premature fruit drop are often caused by malnutrition. Simply adding nitrogen doesn’t really help, because the plant needs trace minerals and soil microbes in order to absorb nitrogen properly. “Tone” fertilizers include soil microbes, called mycorrhizae, which are essential for digestion. Healthy root systems are the key to survival in the long run. We always mix powdered fertilizer into the soil when planting, but yearly feeding will help a plant build strong roots and stems that will see it through drought and cold winters. Now is the time, as you clean out your garden and before mulching, to scatter a quality plant food on the bare soil around your perennials, shrubs and trees. Be generous. Your plants will thank you later. Steve Boehme is a landscape designer/installer specializing in landscape “makeovers”. “Let’s Grow” is published weekly; column archives are on the “Garden Advice” page at www.goodseedfarm.com. For more information is available at www.goodseedfarm.com or call GoodSeed Farm Landscapes at (937) 587-7021.
Time is moving on, many times the clock’s hands go faster than mine. Whether it makes me glad or causes me to wipe tears, life just merely brings with it changes. More changes than I could name or even count. Everyone says: “Enjoy your children while they’re still so young, they’ll be grown up before you know it.” Here I am, a busy mother of five little darlings and things happen faster than I can keep up with at times. Why Elijah, almost one, is already running all over, trying to keep up with his four active siblings, all older than himself. We love him to pieces, it’s just that he isn’t the little baby we had but yesterday. Transitional stages for children come and go so gradually. In reality, I will probably never even exactly know when I am holding a child for the very last time or when the last time is that I scrub their hair or even have them snuggle into bed with us after having had a scary dream. With all the dirty faces I get to wash these days, I can’t imagine life without that dimension or not have little ones to bring me a storybook to read a story and another and another. At any rate, I want to make the most of each moment, in spite of the challenges that may go with some of them. After all we all have sacrifices to make, regardless where we’re at, right? While in the past, I have tended to pull back on the reins of time, my Daniel says he can’t wait to see the children grow up. His optimistic outlook keeps having me recalculating my perspectives on life. Indeed I have to come to enjoy and even savor those times when I see that our children
really are maturing and spreading their wings. In some aspects they learn to depend less on us; on the other hand, as they grow older and need more instruction on a more deep level, it does have a way of creating tighter bonds and connections on a heart level. Recently I told Julia, “No one ever told me it would be this fun having a sevenyear-old daughter!” As she keeps blossoming, we can see more of who God created her to be and what talents He has given her. We were all completely impressed yesterday when she made a chocolate cake on her own! (I helped her take it out of the hot oven.) I almost couldn’t believe that I actually have a daughter old enough to go and bake a cake for the family. I copied the recipe down that we used when I was growing up, making it as simple as possible. Step by step she read the instructions and baked a delicious cake for all of us to enjoy! As I look at friends older than myself who are looking into releasing their children to get married, I just shake my head and wonder how I could ever get ready for THAT stage! You can only imagine hubby thinks it’ll all be okay. And you know, if it’s in the Lord’s hands it will be good. As I think back to the time Daniel and I got married I just marvel at how well my parents did to completely release me to my new husband, reassuring me that I now belong to him, not to them anymore. This was perhaps the most significant gift they could possibly have given me. I was completely thrilled to be his wife and have him as my leader. As the years rolled on, there were changes and new responsibilities. With it came challenges or their own, but at the end of the day, there is
S U BS C R I BE TOD AY !!
Ripley
Provided/THE RIPLEY BEE
C L A S S IF I ED S
Before mulching, scatter a quality plant food on the bare soil around your perennials, shrubs and trees.
Community Announcements
A UC T ION S R EA L ES TAT E
FEBRUARY 21, 2019 TO FEBRUARY 27, 2019
Birthdays
• Thursday, Feb. 21 - Mia Swan Turner, Brittany Crews, Collin Flannery and Phillip Watson • Friday, Feb. 22 - Charles Lynch IV, M. Alexander Mussinan and Nicole Ferris • Saturday, Feb. 23 - Joseph Maxwell, Randy Pendland, Gladys Mosley and Joy Crews Gainey • Sunday, Feb. 24 - Kaelyn Black, Holly Whitt and Betsy Billingsley • Monday, Feb. 25 - Carolyn Franklin, Christian Prather, Adycen Williams, Kirsten Watson Grant, Michael Darnall and Lynne Lundergan • Tuesday, Feb. 26 - James Amyx, Aryanna Adams and Logan Plummer
In Memory
• Friday, Feb. 22 - James E. Rogenstein Sunday, Feb. 24 - Marie Wilson and Clarence Payne Sr. • Monday, Feb. 25 - Jimmy Steward and Kathy Frebis • Tuesday, Feb. 26 - Roger Day • Wednesday, Feb. 27 - Terrence Myers
Upcoming Events
• Thursday, Feb. 21 - Community Fellowship Dinner • Monday, Feb. 25 - Ripley Fire Department • Tuesday, Feb. 26 - Ripley Village Council
LO CA L N E W S L E G A LS
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nothing like the profound, rich blessing of simply trusting God and entirely resting in my husband’s leadership in our home. Now as time keeps ticking ever onward let’s keep our eyes on the only One who really knows and understands all the in and outs and ouch-es of life How about joining Julia in the kitchen as she whips up a chocolate cake?
JULIA’S MOIST CHOCOLATE DOUBLE MOCHA CAKE 2 cups flour 2 cups white sugar (We use only 1 cup) 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 teaspoons soda 3/4 cups cocoa 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup applesauce 1 cup milk 1 cup coffee 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and beat well. Pour into a greased 18- by 12-inch pan or make a half batch and use a 9-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. When cooled, spread frosting on top. MOCHA FROSTING
1/4 cup butter, melted 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup milk 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 2 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee granules 1/3 cup cocoa sugar
3 1/2 cups powdered
Combine melted butter, salt, milk, vanilla, and coffee, stir until coffee is dissolved. Add cocoa and powdered sugar. Beat well and spread over cake.
PUBLIC NOTICES
Phone: (800) 404-3157 Fax: (937) 444-2652 E-mail: legals@browncountypress.com
THE VILLAGE OF RIPLEY 123 Waterworks Road, P. O. Box 219. Ripley, Ohio 45167 The Village of Ripley is currently soliciting bids for the mowing of Maplewood Cemetery for the 2019 mowing season. Interested parties must provide proof of insurance and BWC, and provide their own equipment. For additional information contact Administrator Pete Renshaw at 937-392-4377 or at pete@villageofripley.com. Bids accepted via regular mail or in person to the Village Office until 4:00 pm Monday, March 8, 2019.. Bids will be sealed and marked “Cemetery Mowing”. The Village of Ripley is an Equal Opportunity Employer RB 2-21-19, 2-28-19, 3-7-19 -----------------------------------------
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