APPLES: As this winter draws to a close — at least according to the calendar — Penn State University has predicted the impact the winter of 2016-17 will have on the Pennsylvania apple crop in the fall.

The jury is still out, but the unusually warm February was enough to pique some concern.

According to Richard Marini, a professor of horticulture at the university, warmer weather causes apple trees to bloom earlier.

Since the mid-1990s, the blooming dates of apple trees in the state have been happening earlier. Also, the dates are more erratic, Marini said.

Commercial growers are taking steps such as being choosier about what varieties they grow, and they are aiming to plant trees at higher elevations now.

Even if blossoms are exposed to frost, a good crop is possible as long as a portion of blossoms survive, according to Marini, who said only around 5 percent are needed for a good crop.

So, what conditions might help protect blossoms until warm weather comes for good?

“Marini said a seasonally cold March might help a lot,” the university reported.

“If we have a month of cooler than normal temperatures, then the bloom may be close to normal — so things can still change,” he said.

SPACEWALK: Today is First Walk in Space Day — the anniversary of the very first spacewalk by a human.

On March 18, 1965, Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov took that first walk.

It wouldn’t be until June 3, 1965, that the first American, Ed White, conducted a spacewalk, according to NASA.

“The EVA (extravehicular activity) started over the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii and lasted 23 minutes, ending over the Gulf of Mexico,” said NASA. “Initially, White propelled himself to the end of the 8-meter tether and back to the spacecraft three times using the hand-held gun. After the first three minutes the fuel ran out and White maneuvered by twisting his body and pulling on the tether.”

CALENDAR: With all our calendar talk, we had to pass along this joke someone told us this week.

Two men stole a calendar.

They each got six months.