Cindy’s Mosaics

  • Post published:11/11/2010
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Saturday was a big day in Shelburne Falls, home of the Bridge of Flowers. There had been events at the Buckland Shelburne Community Hall for Cider Day but there was also a dedication of the 12 vitreous glass mosaics created by Cynthia Fisher of Big Bang Mosaics in cooperation with students from the elementary and high schools, as well as members of the community. Ten of the 3 x 3 foot mosaics depict iconographic aspects of the ten…

Winterberry?

  • Post published:10/21/2010
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Driving around town I spotted  a group of shrubs with brilliant red berries growing by the road. In the warm autumnal sun the berries were really beautiful. The shrubs are about five feet tall. Could these be Ilex verticillata, winterberry? Another view. What do you think?

Robert Dane Loves the Blues

  • Post published:08/10/2010
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Bob Dane loves the blueberries Heath is famous for. He also loves the blueberry fields where they are grown which is why he has donated these sweet blueberry bud vases to the Franklin Land Trust to use as a gift for all those who donate $250 or more to the FLT and ear mark that gift "The Benson Place" to support the Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR)  and trail easement that has been awarded to the Benson Place Blueberry…

A Berry Blue Summer

  • Post published:07/19/2010
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Netting the blueberries was the big garden task of the weekend.  Between the heat, the thunderstorms, adventures with visiting grandson Tynan, picking raspberries and preparing to host the  Heath Gourmet Club on Saturday night, this job kept getting postponed. Finally, on Sunday, with the sun shining and a deliciously cool breeze blowing, we set to. The berries are just starting to  ripen here at the End of the Road, but the birds are starting to circle. We planted our blueberry…

Late Boys, Early Raspberries and Runaways

  • Post published:07/05/2010
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All week we had been waiting for our daughter Kate and her family to arrive. We knew they had been at her husband's family reunion at a state park in NY, celebrating his parents 80th and 90th birthday - and their 60th wedding anniversary. I expected them to arrive mid-week, but there was no word. We called Kate's cell phone. We sent emails. We sent Facebook messages. No word. No word. No word. Had they been carjacked? We…

Kids in the Garden

  • Post published:03/04/2010
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I didn't need all the talk about 'nature deficit' to think that children can be entertained, educated and nurtured by spending time in the garden, with and without adults. As a child I spent a fair amount of time watching the bugs on my aunt's black seeded simpson lettuce, while I daydreamed in the sun.  I don't know how that affected my personality development, but I am sure it was in many good ways. Black Dog Publishing also…

My Berry Bowl

  • Post published:12/23/2009
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Yesterday Elizabeth Licata at Garden Rant wrote about Tovah Martin's new book, The New Terrarium. I haven't ever made a terrarium but at least three and possibly four years ago a dear friend gave me a berry bowl for Christmas.  Elizabeth's post reminded me that I hadn't seen it for a while.  I went to look. The berry bowl, planted with moss and partridgeberry (?) has always lived in our Great Room. It is usually not heated in…

Wedding and Work

  • Post published:08/10/2009
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First I have to say the very most important event of the past week was the wedding of my cousin Jay  and his beloved Juliet in a beautiful garden in Manchester by the Sea. It was a glorious day and celebration was in  the air. Our hotel was hosting three wedding receptions and packed to the rafters with SEVEN groups of wedding guests. Juliet is a Nanny in the classic mode. The wedding guest list was filled with her…

Berries Jubilee

  • Post published:07/28/2009
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Summer blues are nothing to weep about.  The low bush blueberries are ripening on Burnt Hill. Anthony, Drew and I went picking over at the Benson Place. You can see forever on that hill, even the spires of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. We picked and picked. For about 15 minutes.  That's as long as it takes two energetic boys with the efficiently designed blueberry rake to pick about 20 pounds of berries, along with a few…

It’s the Berries

  • Post published:07/22/2008
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The raspberries are coming in. I wish I had put up a better trellis. Picking the berries requires some maneuvering. I have learned my lesson. Next year I will have a better trellis and I will have the berries thinned out, for their benefit and mine. I don't have to wait for next year to have delicious berries. You can see that I'm in the process of making jam, but really, one of the benefits is that I…