Vermiculture in Schools – and Beyond

  • Post published:11/27/2016
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Verrmiculture is worm farming. Worms are the gardener’s friend. They eat kitchen waste and turn it into valuable fertilizer called vermicompost. You too can be a vermiculturist, one who practices vermiculture and makes vermicompost, and you cannot begin too soon. When I visited Kate Bailey’s first grade last week to read to them, they were all excited and told me they had a thousand new pets in the classroom and could I guess what they were. I could…

Vegetables for Thanksgiving

  • Post published:11/19/2016
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Roast turkey is the iconic symbol of Thanksgiving, but in reality it is the vegetables that fill the groaning board. Sweet potatoes, with or without marshmallows, mashed potatoes, creamed onions, and roasted or mashed winter squash, are essential. I’ve been known to make the elaborate maquechoux, a mélange that includes corn, bacon, scallions, red bell peppers, tomato and thyme and basil. My daughter Betsy is now responsible for a mélange of white and sweet potatoes, beets, squash and…

Wild Rose Flower Farm

  • Post published:11/12/2016
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While shopping at the Greenfield Farmers Market last year I met Danielle Smith at her Wild Rose Flower Farm booth. I found the name of her farm, Wild Rose, irresistible, of course, and she was always surrounded by a bounty of lovely spring bulbs, and later an array of dahlias, zinnias, sunflowers, delphiniums and all manner of other annuals. At the Winter Market I bought a wonderful wreath to hang on our new front door. All this summer…

Wildside Cottage and Gardens

  • Post published:11/06/2016
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The development of Wildside Cottage and Gardens surprised Sue Bridge. She spent an active life learning and working. She earned a Masters degree in Russian and Middle Eastern studies, learned about different worlds while hitchhiking to Morocco, worked for the Christian Science Monitor, and learned how to gather information and pass it on through print and electronic media. She also supported environmental causes because of her belief that future generations would face great challenges. Ten years ago she…