I wonder if the written word can do justice to the following? In light of the recent tornado outbreaks in the Midwest this past week, this event is relatively benign. Last Friday a mini-wind situation must have taken place in my big vegetable garden. I have a large heavy-plastic igloo-type shelter that I use in the fall to house pigs. It is quite large — perhaps six feet long, four feet tall and three feet wide. It will comfortably sleep three 200-pound pigs. I use it to store hoses, rolls of weed mat and shovels over the winter.

When I arrived on Saturday morning I found the pig house tossed so violently that it was impaled on my sprinkler and a piece of weed mat, easily 100 feet long, was dangling from the top of a very tall tree some distance away. Oddly, some empty cardboard boxes were right where I had left them. That pig shelter never moved during Irene and the storms of last winter. I can see how a tornado can tear up one house and leave another next door unscathed.

I do not recall a year when forsythia has bloomed for such a long period of time. The same can be said for the quinces. One would think the unseasonable warmth would hurry them along. At any rate it is certainly enjoyable.

I’ve noticed the ground phlox is beginning to bloom. I love a big stand of it. One year I was so jealous of a large display on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road that I promptly purchased several. They are finally coming into their own and making me happy. The perennial candy tuft and yellow alyssum are about to follow. All spill nicely over a stone or brick edging.

How about the fabulous display of ornamental trees in full bloom at Jardin Mahoney? A trip down Clough Lane along Saint Augustine’s is pretty darned spectacular with the Callery pears forming a white tunnel.

There is no question that we are full-on into spring. I find it distressing that we’ve had so little rain – hello – April showers? I hope this is not a sign for an extremely dry summer. I hate it when all I can manage for garden chores is hauling hoses and watering cans.

A sizeable group showed up for Homegrown last Sunday afternoon at the Agricultural Hall. We spent most of the time discussing chickens. Many expressed interest in raising a small flock of hens. Those of us who have them told of our successes and failures. We will be meeting once again next month on the third Sunday in May. By then everyone should have most seeds and plants into the ground. Hopefully carrots, beets and radishes will be up by then as well as the start of tomatoes and peppers.

May I just say, I love dandelions! My children and grandchildren have blown seeds around for decades so its good that I am fond of them. I don’t know if there is a more vibrant yellow in nature, with the possible exception of the sun. I know the young greens are edible but must confess I’ve never bothered. It’s always handy to know what can be eaten when times get tough. Our ancestors who did not have the advantage of plastic hoop houses and cold frames certainly relied on wild spring greens after a long winter of no fresh vegetables! I imagine cabbage and winter squash could get tiresome after several months.

Wow! What a brouhaha erupted within the right-wing world. Fox News went crazy over the Hilary Rosen comment about Ann Romney never working a day in her life. Now, supposedly, the Democrats are against motherhood. Mrs. Romney was quick to tweet about her “career choice” to stay home and raise her five sons. Lucky for her! Would that other women have that “choice.” No one is denying that motherhood is a demanding, unending, and often thankless job.

Come on, Ann, stop pretending you know what most women have as economic reality. Do you honestly believe people choose as a career a minimum-wage job just to put food on the table for their children. Let’s talk policy. With the Paul Ryan plan firmly in place in a Romney administration, women with children will have to work even harder. Do the Romneys understand at all about food stamps and some other “entitlements” keeping children from starving?

We all know that the Mittster will pull back to the center when the general election is into full swing. How fortunate for him to have coins with so many sides.