The Clermont Sun

George Rooks: Greenhouses selling lots of plants

Howdy folks—The weather is starting to warm up and that is good. The green houses are selling lots of plants. The Feedmill here in Bethel has some of the best looking tomato plants and some of them are blooming. They have all kinds of plants, mulch and spray items. The Grant’s Greenhouses, all three places, have plenty of plants to sell. The green house on 131 has one green house with tomatoes and cucumbers. The tomatoes will be over 100 plants. They are blooming with small tomatoes already set on. The cucumbers are blooming and will have cucumbers by the end of May or early June. This goes for the tomatoes also.

George Rooks, The Ole Fisherman.

In roaming around Bethel on my scooter, I see lots of people cleaning their flowerbeds and getting some tomatoes and cabbage plants to set out. One lady, Robin Fuller and her daughter were clearing their flowerbeds so I stopped to visit with them. She said her and her three daughters are working hard to make Bethel a better place with more flowerbeds. She studied to be a Master Gardener in 2008 from Ohio State University, Extension of Brown County. Some of the highlighted seminars she has attended include soil testing before fertilizing; turf management; and the most important, use of pesticides that are harmful to all pollinators. She recommends installing bat houses instead of spraying for mosquitoes. The bats can catch 1,000 mosquitoes per hour. I have built bat houses for myself and other people. I have seen several ladies working on the flower containers along Plane Street here in Bethel. That is good. Now if we can get the roadsides cleaned up that would be great. Robin also said a new generation will be maintaining the flowers in Burke Park.

I talked to Sherry’s Lake and the feller said the people going to East Fork are getting plenty of minnows for crappy. They have another load of fish coming pretty soon. I talked to Cedar Lake and they were like Sherry’s Lake, catching lots of channel catfish and in Cedar Lake a 37 pound blue catfish. So get out and go fishing!

I talked to Boar’s Head Bait Shop in Afton and Mike said they are catching lots of crappy, channel catfish, sauger, stripers and every once in a while a musky. The camping area is doing fine with plenty of campsites. There are 376 sites with electric to each one. There are 2,610 acres of water in East Fork Lake and 4,870 acres of land. East Fork is one of the biggest parks in Ohio with hiking trails of 52 miles and bridle trails of 54 miles.

I talked to the Ellis Greenhouse and they have been busy and have plenty of plants and mulch and other items. Mr. Ellis said he has been stocking up on more plants this year so he doesn’t run out like last year. I talked to the Jarman’s Greenhouse over by Felicity. The lady said they have plenty of plants now. They too are stocking up so they don’t run out like last year.

As I roam around Bethel, I hear mowers running and trimmers running. Folks are keeping their places looking good like I did when I was on Williamsburg-Bantam. It’s important to keep your place looking good. When I was a kid at home, we had a push mower we used to mow the yard. I remember the first power mower I ever used. It was great. I was at the fire house in Newtonsville and I thought that was one of the greatest mowers I had ever seen or used.

I saw in the paper that the Bethel Fire Department has a new fire truck. It cost as much as a home. They got it with a grant from FEMA. The grant was for over $400,000. They have a fine fire house and the folks that work there are so fortunate. Thanks folks, for keeping the community safe!

Start your week by praying and praising the good Lord.

God bless all …

More later …