Walter Cudnohufsky – Cultivating the Designer’s Mind

  • Post published:03/29/2019
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Walter Cudnohufsky says “Design is Optimism Personified.” I saw Cudnohufsky’s design and optimism myself, one day about 11 years ago. “Keep talking. Keep talking,” Cudnohufsky said as my Heath neighbors, Lynn Perry and Rol Hesselbart, brought out all their concerns about the landscape surrounding their new garage. I was invited to watch Cudnohufsky at work. It was a lively consultation and I was amazed at how patiently he listened, how carefully he observed the area. Lynn visited me…

Culinary Herb Garden – easy to grow for flavor and thrift

  • Post published:03/22/2019
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A culinary herb garden is almost a necessity for gardeners, because so many of us enjoy cooking. Even if cooking is not our first love, it is hard to make meals without some basic herb for almost every dinner. It can be expensive if we have to buy our parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, but a small culinary herb garden, preferably not too far from the kitchen door is a thrifty answer. Fortunately for me the area by…

Western Massachusetts Master Gardeners Spring Symposium 2019

  • Post published:03/16/2019
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There may be snow on the ground, but the Western Massachusetts Master Gardener’s Association knows it is time to get ready to garden. The WMMGA Garden Symposium at Frontier Regional High School is scheduled for Saturday, March 23, from 8:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. with a lunch available at noon. The symposium title this year is Healthy Gardens, Healthy Gardeners. If you want to learn about healthy soil, trees for the garden, butterfly gardening, ergonomics and injury prevention,…

Beverly Duncan and Her Books

  • Post published:03/08/2019
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“Ever since I officially retired from Mohawk Regional High School, I’ve just exploded with new ideas,” Beverly Duncan said as she gave me a tour of her studio in Ashfield. One wall  is covered with framed botanical paintings that she had done in the past. Other paintings-in-progress were pinned to a bulletin board; other smaller paintings of flower blossoms were pinned to a different bulletin board. Surrounded by these works, finished and unfinished, she told me about recent…

Views of Winter From the Office Window

  • Post published:03/07/2019
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The idea of taking photos of the view from my 'office', the only room in the house that gives a full view of the backyard garden,  is intended as a record of  the vagaries of the weather.  My dates sometimes are a bit off, but this is the first photo taken in 2016. This is the beginning of the first full year in our Greenfield  house. Surely, this isn't the end of snow season.  Alas, no photo of…

Fragrant Flowers for the Garden

  • Post published:03/02/2019
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My new low maintenance, pollinator garden is full of fragrant flowers that bloom over the course of the season. I confess I did not choose these flowers on purpose. However I am really happy that so many fragrant plants have additional benefits. My fragrant flowers require little care and welcome pollinators. Some fragrances, like lilac, take me back to my early childhood on a Vermont farm. When we moved to Heath in 1979 there were already old fragrant…