As soon as winter loses its hold, and temperatures warm just slightly, his telephone starts to ring constantly.

That means spring – and business – soon will be blooming, Jerry Althoff said.

It’s been 25 years now since Althoff and his wife, Jan, first opened Countryside Gardens, at 2440 Baltimore Pike in Gettysburg. The business covers six lovingly maintained acres filled with eight greenhouses, a garden center, plus rows and rows of outdoor plants, shrubs and trees in season.

In celebration of their silver anniversary, Countryside Gardens is offering a bevy of promotions, classes and discounts as their gift to their customers.

“We really like to help people find gardening solutions,” said Jerry Althoff. “A lot of people want to know, ‘When do I plant?’ and ‘When do I prune?’ We can answer those questions and lots more.”

If people buy through big box stores or catalogs, they are not getting the one-to-one personal customer service that is really needed to keep their plants alive and thriving, Jerry Althoff said. Countryside Gardens offers everyday low prices on healthy plants that will thrive when they are planted and maintained correctly, Althoff said.

Many potential gardeners end up losing their desire to beautify their homes due to not really understanding the need to consider soil and climate conditions, or what the plant really needs to survive, Althoff said.

“Sometimes people try something the same way once or

twice, it doesn’t grow and then they just quit,” Althoff said. “But that’s like the quote from Einstein ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.'”

Althoff said it’s important to not only ask customers what they want to grow, but if they are planting in sun or shade, the type of soil the plant will be in, and what will be planted next to it.

The latter issue is often the most overlooked by novice gardeners, Althoff said. Tomatoes, for

instance,

like constant moisture so they won’t dry up or split, while peppers – which are native to Central America – like to grow where it is hot, dry, and sunny, he said.

Often people will plant them side-by-side.

“We are taking plants that grow all over the world and we try to make it grow where it doesn’t naturally belong,” Althoff said. “It can be done – but you have to make all the conditions right for that plant.”

“It takes a little tender-loving care,” Jan Althoff said with a smile. “And then the gardener will have happy plants and we will have happy customers.”

The Althoffs are “locally grown” themselves, both being graduates of Gettysburg Area High School. Before opening Countryside Gardens in 1988, Jerry Althoff retired from Westinghouse after being laid off for a second time.

“Westinghouse said ‘Here are your savings’ and I said I am going to invest it in ourselves,” Jerry Althoff said. “We have always been nature lovers and this was our dream.”

He got his start in horticulture at the now-closed Springhill Gardens near Hanover, where he worked full-time for three years. He said he learned the fundamentals of landscaping by working two more years with Waybrant Landscaping, then widened his horticulture education by taking classes at Franklin County Vo-Tech and at Penn State University.

Countryside Gardens has something for every gardener – literally from A to Z, such as flowering plants from Ageratum to Zinnias, plus huge assortments of vegetable plants including cucumbers, squash, herbs and much more.

The outside sales yard is

located beside the large accessible parking lot, and contains birdbaths, garden benches and other poured concrete innovations, plus bagged and bulk mulches, stone and soils. Delivery of mulch, soils and stone is also available in a 10-mile radius of the store, Althoff said.

Stock includes flowering shrubs, evergreen shrubs, flowering trees and shade trees.

The garden center also offers garden fertilizers, chemicals, tools, landscape fabric, tree stakes and garden novelties.

While customers can telephone with gardening questions, Jan Althoff said questions emailed to countrysidegardens_nursery@hotmail.com often receive a more unhurried and thorough response. People also can visit the nursery’s Facebook page – Countryside Gardens, Gettysburg. Countryside also has a website: www.country

sidegardens-nursery.com.

“We are a full service gardening supply,” Jan Althoff said. “We want to serve our customers the best we can, from their first questions to getting their materials bagged and loaded in their vehicle. Our goal is high quality and friendly customer service.”

Countryside Gardens is located 1 mile south of U.S. Route 15 on state Route 97 (Baltimore Pike). Garden center hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; and noon to 5 p.m. and Sunday only in gardening season.)

Plant sales

In celebration of its 25th anniversary, Countryside Gardens will offer 25 percent off the following items during specific weeks.

April 15 to 21: trees and shrubbery

April 22 to 28: mulch, soils and stone

April 29 to May 5: hanging baskets and containers

May 6 to 12: gardening supplies

May 13 to 19: lawn ornaments

May 20 to 26: perennials

May 27 to June 2: annual flower and vegetable plants

Lectures, demos

Several lectures and demonstrations by the Penn State Extension Master Gardeners are scheduled at Countryside Gardens including.

April 20: Planting and pruning demonstrations

April 27: Lecture on mulches, soil amendments and nutrients

May 5:Make your own hanging baskets/containers (in time for Mother’s Day)

May 11: Basic gardening tools and their uses – tips and demonstrations

May 18: Using accent pieces such as statuary, birdbaths, and fountains in your landscape.

May 25: Perennials – blooming plants for all seasons and what attracts butterflies and hummingbirds

June 1: Create your own edible container garden with annuals, veggies, and herbs

All lectures and demonstrations start at 1 p.m. at Countryside Garden

The conventional wisdom when it comes to putting on a home and garden show is that small and intimate is better than cavernous and crowded.

Mary Schmelzer is banking on that come April 6 when the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce presents the 2013 Home and Garden Business Showcase at the Northfield Ice Arena.

“We think our show is the perfect size and has everything people are looking for when it comes to home and garden shows,” said Schmelzer, the chamber’s executive director. “Here, there is opportunity for exhibitors and show-goers to have meaningful conversations and tap into the expert advice. In the world of trade shows, smaller really is better.”

Schmelzer said the showcase will offer homeowners a variety of exhibitors and options, from home remodeling and flooring options to tree care service and landscaping.

“There will be plenty of choices for homeowners,” she said. “You can really do comparison shopping during the show. The beauty of the show is being able to have conversations in one day. This is a show full of experts and it’s very important to get questions answered by these folks and really to shop locally.”

Jane Pausch has helped organize the event all three years the chamber has been involved (including this year) and says the showcase continues to get bigger and better. A member of the Northfield Chamber staff, Pausch is excited about this year’s prospects.

“We’re growing all the time,” she said. “We’ve been doing it now for three years and we want there to be continuity. We’ve been very pleased with the turnout and the results.”

Pausch said the first year the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce took over planning the event, about 600 people came through the ice arena doors. The next year saw an increase, as 850 to 1,000 people attended the show in 2012. Pausch is hoping that number goes even higher this year.

Besides what they calls the obvious reasons, both Pausch and Schmelzer hope that pushing the show back one week — which means one week closer to spring — more people will be in the right frame of mind.

“The ice will have been off the arena floor for three weeks (compared to two weeks normally) so it won’t be as cold,” Schmelzer said. “And hopefully the temperatures will be going up and spring will be in the air.”

While the showcase will feature more than 50 exhibitors whose representatives will be there to answer questions, explain processes and to give tips, there will be an added bonus, according to the executive director.

Some of those tips will be provided by the four featured speakers – Leif Knecht of Knecht’s Nurseries and Landscaping, Emily Custard of Schmidt Homes, Sherry Morgan of Northfield Olive Oils and Vinegars, and Tim Franklin of Culligan Water Systems of Northfield (one of the showcase’s big sponsors for the second year).

“This year we will feature interactive speakers,” Schmelzer said. “It’s not all lecture-based.”

And for the exhibitors, the Home and Garden Business Showcase is a way to, well, showcase their businesses.

“There will be many vendors there to show off their wares and to talk about their businesses,” said Pauline Kes, an owner of KES Equipment/Ben Franklin Plumbing and a committee member. “We love the showcase and we’re expecting an even larger turnout this year. It will be a great show.”

The Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) rolled out six new patrol cars in February. But it wasn’t the flashing lights or fresh paint jobs that were turning heads. It was the 47 mpg, gas-electric, hybrid motor under the hoods.

In a sign that environmental consciousness is becoming the norm across campus, HUPD is converting its entire fleet of marked patrol cars to hybrid and electric vehicles, in part to address growing concerns about climate change and public health. The move is expected to cut costs for the department by increasing the fleet’s fuel economy by a factor of 10. The switch also will dramatically reduce the amount of greenhouse gas pollution released into the air by HUPD vehicles.

“A core tenet of community policing is to be a responsible community partner, and one way we can do that is by taking steps to reduce our impact on the local environment,” said HUPD Chief Francis “Bud” Riley. “By moving to hybrid vehicles, we have also identified a reasonable solution to address community concerns about emissions, such as from idling, that will also save us money on fuel.”

In a sign that environmental consciousness is becoming the norm across campus, the Harvard University Police Department is converting its entire fleet of marked patrol cars to hybrid and electric vehicles, in part to address growing concerns about climate change and public health.

Six new Ford Fusion hybrid patrol cars are replacing the oldest and least fuel-efficient cars in HUPD’s fleet (some of which have more than 100,000 miles on them). The Fusion was chosen based on research findings provided by the New York Police Department’s Fleet Services Division, which tracks the performance of vehicles used by the NYPD.

HUPD has also directed its officers to reduce idling when possible, and has already reduced its vehicle fleet by increasing walking and bicycling patrols.

One of the most visible changes will occur around Harvard Yard and on the Allston campus, where HUPD officers will use fully electric, three-wheeled vehicles to maintain public safety during regular patrols and special events. The smaller, more agile electric vehicles will increase visibility and allow officers to respond to emergencies more quickly than they would in standard cars.

The fleet conversion was funded by a Harvard Green Revolving Fund interest-free loan administered by the Office for Sustainability and Campus Services. The fund supports cost-effective, environmentally beneficial projects on campus. So far, the fund has loaned more than $16 million, supporting nearly 200 projects that have yielded more than $4 million in energy savings annually.

“It will take a full-scale change in the culture of how we work and live in order to implement Harvard’s aggressive sustainability goals,” said Heather Henriksen, director of the Office for Sustainability. “That means action from everyone, at every level of the University. And with this step, HUPD and Chief Riley have proven they are serious about being an active partner in our effort to combat climate change on campus.”

In 2008, Harvard set a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by 2016, including growth. The goal covers emissions from University-owned and operated vehicles, prompting efforts to green the fleet. Harvard began using biodiesel fuel for its shuttles and passenger vans in 2004, a practice that has been expanded to more than 50 service vehicles, from mail and dining services to solid waste and recycling. There are five hybrids in the campus services fleet, and landscaping services is expecting the delivery this spring of four new fully electric utility vehicles for use in the Yard.

Harvard’s Schools and administrative units are focused on improving public health and reducing the environmental footprint of campus operations through a wide range of initiatives, including totally organic landscaping and certified green cleaning services, community gardens and farmers markets, the Harvard On the Move fitness and wellness program, and local food purchasing and sustainable seafood initiatives in student dining halls.