Community

Retired teachers from around the state gathered in Baton Rouge April 23 for the Louisiana Retired Teachers Association spring conference. Delegates in attendance included District VI President Ivy Mouton and Jeff Davis Parish President and District Treasurer Frances Byler. Submitted photo

Spring is here and the plants are booming. Plants perform best when they are getting the optimum amount of sunlight, appropriate amounts of water and plenty of essential nutrients for good growth and production of flowers and fruit. Optimize plant growth by knowing how and when to fertilize.

Once the weather warms and the patio beckons, it’s time to break out the grill for home-cooked meals in the great outdoors. When your family tires of baked dishes and stovetop recipes, the smell of fresh flavors on the grates offers the reprieve of something new.

Since my vast realm of work responsibilities includes reading most of the words that appear within a newspaper twice a week, I admit that I face some words with more enthusiasm than others.

Pecans are tasty offerings that are ideal in both savory dishes and desserts. Like fruits of other members of the hickory genus of trees, pecans are not truly nuts, but drupes. A drupe is a fruit with a single stone or pit surrounded by a husk. With pecans, the outer husk dries out and splits open, exposing the “nuts” inside.