Daylilies for All

Siloam Double Classic

Daylily season is upon us.  Even those who can’t name many flowers recognize dayliles, those growing in glorious organce by the road side, and those in shades of cream and pink, coral, gold and deep reds and burgundies in cultivated gardens. Some daylilies have the classic simple trumpet shape and some are ruffled.  Because daylilies are so hardy as well and beautiful in their variety, many small growers sell them in full bloom, dug out of the garden right before your eyes.

Richard Willard at Silver Daylily Gardens

I bought some dayliles from Richard Willard at Silver Garden Daylilies earlier this spring. He is having another digging day on Saturday, July 10 from 9 am to 4 pm. The daylily farm is on Glenbrook Road out towards the Greenfield Pumping Station. On July 17 Richard is holding his annual Daylily Festival which will include edible daylily treats dished up by Mary Ellen and Denise of Stockbridge Herb Farm.  Pre-registration for the daylily meal ($18) is required.

Lorraine Brennan's Daylilies

Last summer daughter Kate and I visited Lorraine Brennan on Rt 10 in Northfield and bought a carload of daylilies. She is selling daylilies on July 10 and 11 from 9 to 1 pm, and again the following weekend, July 17 and 18 from 9-1 pm. Lorraine will have a sign out on the road. Don’t drive too fast.

Last year I also bought a small yellow daylily at Shelburne Farm and Garden. It is named Happy Returns. One of my Buckland library patrons gave this daylily to the library. We thought the name was just perfect for a library.

Hyperion daylily

My tall clear yellow daylily is the classic Hyperion. It was given to me by Elsa Bakalar many years ago. We are deconstructing a daylily bed and moving my favorite daylilies to the new Daylily Bank. My husband will no longer have to mow that difficult area.

The beauty of daylilies lies not only in their color and form, but in their hardiness. They are not bothered by extremes in weather. They need only ordinary soil. They are not bothered by disease or bugs. Hybridizers are coming up with varieties that bloom early and late so you can have daylilies blossoms  all summer long.

Hurry to Hawley

Field of greens at Pen and Plow Farm

Who would not like to live on Pudding Hollow Road? It is clearly a road steeped in the history of Hawley, a town settled in 1760, and a unique pudding contest which took place in the late 1770s.  Farms and food have always been important parts of Hawley’s history and culture so I could not resist the opportunity to visit the newest farm and an old established garden, both on Pudding Hollow Road, and both a part of Hawley’s annual Artisan’s and Garden Tour which will be held on Saturday, July 10 from 10 am until 4 pm.

When you turn off Route 8A and cross over the new bridge you are on Pudding Hollow Road, Right across from the tiny town hall is the two year old Pen and Plow Farm, so called because the Velazquez family, Sheila, her son Jason and his wife have all been in the publishing/editorial business , but since early last spring have been turning their creative energies to sustainable farming.

Merlot lettuce at Pen and Plow farm

Sheila, who said she had farmed many years ago and has had varied careers since then, was delighted that her son gave her the nudge (push?) to go back into farming. The family found 21 acres, wooded and clear, with a year round stream. They have planted a large market garden, currently boasting ‘greens’ including reds like Merlot, Red Fire and Red Sails lettuces. These can be purchased among other places, at the new Charlemont Farmer’s Market held on Saturdays at the Hawlemont School.

In addition to the mangelwurzel (for animal feed) corn, squash, and other vegetable fields, they have two Scottish Highland Cows. “They are a good breed for the country,” Sheila said. “ They are hardy and eat brush, poison ivy and wild raspberries.”  I can see that would save on feed bills. They also have chickens and recently added a Jersey milk cow to their holdings.

Jason Velazquez

Jason took time out from his chores to show me how to sharpen and use a scythe, and to talk about his pleasure in being able to return to farming. “Values you learn in a rural childhood are applicable to many walks of life,” and this is one of the reasons he wanted to leave Boston and bring his wife and children to Hawley and to make a farm.

As he showed me all the projects, he explained that they want to learn to do more with less. “Everything we do is rooted in sustainability – what the land can sustain, and the amount of labor we can sustain as a family. We wan to provide our own food, but we plan to farm to a living. We have a commitment to being part of a community that sustains itself.”

As they move towards making a living on the farm they are paying attention to the vegetables that customers prefer. They also sell fresh eggs that have the brilliant yellow yolks that are typical of free range chickens.

Paul Cooper

Paul Cooper, retired neurosurgeon and serious cook, and his wife Leslie have been summering in Hawley since 1981, enjoying the magnificent views of the hills, and tending their gardens.

Cooper toured me around his hillside, showing me new fruit trees, apples, pears, a greengage plum, peaches, and quince. Several years ago they planted two copper beech trees which are still young, but already show signs that they will grow into majestic old trees. There is a special thanks due to people like the Coopers who plant trees that will not come into their noble maturity until they themselves are no longer walking the earth.

There are colorful flower gardens that Leslie tends, daylily borders, and pink honeysuckle vines, not an invasive variety. But Cooper’s favorite garden is the fenced vegetable garden which hints at his passion for cooking.  He grows several kinds of tomatoes, Big Boy, Sun Gold, Early Girl, Celebrity and Donna. Yukon Gold, Corolla and Kennebec potatoes, Fava beans, shallots, leeks, garlic, asparagus and eggplant, “but no peppers, because I hate them,” he said.

Mint is grown in its own circular garden where the lawn mower can keep it under control.  A small herb garden supplies much of the common herbs Cooper needs.

The lettuce was lush and Cooper sighed when he said, “It’s been a lettuce summer,” which is to say cool and damp.

Paul Cooper's lambs

Cooper hasn’t forgotten the main course, He also raises lambs – and he has a large collection of lamb recipes.

The blueberry, raspberry and red currant patches suggest that diners at his table do not leave until there has been a luscious dessert.  Maybe he will find one in The Pudding Hollow Cookbook, written by Tinky Weisblat, another Hawley resident.

Akebia covered pergola at the Cooper's

The Hawley tour includes visits to other farms, gardens and a lunch at one of Hawley’s Great Houses, also on Pudding Hollow Road.

This tour, A Collage of Arts and Gardens Throughout the Town of Hawley is sponsored by the Sons and Daughters of Hawley. Proceeds will help fund restoration of East Hawley Meeting House and the Grove Building. It is hoped that the new bathrooms in the Grove Building will be completed by tour day. For more information about tickets for the  tour call Cyndie Stetson 413- 339-4231.

Betweenthe Rows  June 26, 2010

Gardens Are More Than Plants

Kousa Dogwood - Bonifaz garden

It takes more than plants to make a garden. First, it takes time.

Deirdre Bonifaz  and her husband Cristobal moved to Conway in 1985. For Deirdre it was a return to a part of the world she knew as a youngster. In the 1950s her father had moved the family from New York to a West Whately farm, to be closer to the soil and the essentials of life. ‘He was a man ahead of his time,” Deirdre said thinking of all the back to the landers who would  come to this area a decade and more later.

After graduating from high school she went off to college – and continued traveling  after her marriage to Cristobal.  Her husband’s work as a lawyer took him to many exotic places; her first child was born in Ethiopia.

By the time she and her husband bought their old house in Conway she had satisfied all her wanderlust. The house had been built by an apothecary in the 18^th century, but had other owners including a farmer who built a large dairy barn behind the house. The barn was in serious disrepair and in spite of their heroic efforts to restore it the barn came down in 1995.

The gardens became more expansive at that difficult time for Bonifaz. At the same time they were taking down the barn, her mother was dying.  When the last of the barn debris was taken away she was left with the stone barn foundation. Here she planned a Walled Garden and dedicated it to the memory of her mother.

The second thing a garden needs is love.  Over the years, as the gardens grew, other memorial plantings were added. Bonifaz’s garden is a living testament to the love for family. The most notable is the Walled Garden with its magnificent roses.

Nina Newington, a skilled and knowledgeable gardener with a specialty in roses, was still living in our area in the 90s. She worked with Bonifaz to plant hardy antique roses in the protection of the barn foundation walls. Newington liked the roses from Pickering Nursery in Canada because they were so sturdy.  There was never any trouble ordering and having the roses cross the border.

I know that William Baffin is a vigorous climber, but I have never seen anything like the exuberant growth of the one in this garden. “Nina had me put up a support to hold it because she knew it would be needed,” Bonifaz said.  The support is made of sturdy timbers about six feet tall in a kind of pergola that hold the rose bush that climbs over the foundation wall to a height of at least ten feet.

When I asked her how she cared for the roses to get such vigor and growth she said, “I don’t fertilize except to put three or four shovelfuls of good compost around the base of each rose in the fall. In the spring I spread it around the bush.”  She then allowed as how she did fertilize The Fairy during the summer, but not the other roses.

Other roses in the Walled Garden include Madame Alfred Carriere, a large white climber, Madame Hardy another white with a beautiful green button ‘eye’,  the pale pink New Dawn climber and Goldfinch, all white and gold.

A third element necessary for a beautiful garden is variety, which Bonifaz and her husband have provided in their plantings of fruit trees, blooming trees, shrubs, perennials, and built structures.

Bonifaz says she spends a lot of time on the beautifully laid brick patio at the end of the new barn/garage that houses her husband’s legal office. There, surrounded by lilacs, Salvia ‘May Night’, irises, lady’s mantle and other perennials she, her husband, and guests can enjoy meals and talk.

I was taken with the pergola supporting more roses, and the new rustic supports for tomato plants.

Herb Garden

Perhaps thinking of the apothecary who built the house, and all apothecaries who used medicinal plants, Bonifaz has planted a small fenced herb garden laid out with geometric beds that is as useful as it is beautiful. “I was inspired by a medieval garden I saw,” she said.

The Bonifaz garden is just one of the gardens that will inspire visitors on the 22^nd Annual Franklin Land Trust Farm and Garden tour on Saturday and Sunday, June 26 and 27. The event will include six private gardens, five unique farms, two studios, one of which is a fascinating woodworking studio, and the Boyden One Room Schoolhouse in Conway.   The event runs from 10:00 to 4:00 each day.  This year the tour centers on Conway and West Whately. For full information about tickets logon to www.franklinlandtrust.org or call Linda Alvord at (413) 625-9151 or email lalvord@franklinlandtrust.org.

Tomato supports

Between the Rows  June 19, 2010

Delights and Disasters

Ryan and The Major

With the Annual Rose Viewing only a week away, daughter Diane and her son Ryan came to help with preparations. There were big jobs like working with The Major to gett the tractor and wagon operational to fetch wood, and then be put out of the way. Ryan had to mow the lawns using the riding mower while Diane edged and weeded. And weeded.

While weeding we discovered that deer had eaten my beautiful Casa Blanca Lilies that won first prize at the Heath Fair last year. Every single leaf and bud. Too horrible a disaster to photograph.

Richard Willard at the Silver Daylily Nursery

I nipped into Greenfield to buy  some daylilies at the Silver Garden Daylilies from my friend Richard Willard. Beautiful big healthy plants!  The next time he will be open for business is on July 10.  The Daylily Festival is on July 17 which will include culinary treats prepared by Mary Ellen and Denise of Stockbridge Herb Farm.  When I got home Diane helped me plant Dream Date, Beauty Girl, Brookridge and Fairy Tale Pink on the Daylily Bank which looks better every day. This was a delight.

Charlemont Farmer's Market

On the way home from buying daylilies I stopped at the new Charlemont Farmer’s Market held at the Hawlemont School from 10 am to 2 pm. This market has just opened, but I not  only bought greens, radishes and snow peas and sugar snap peas from Pen and Plow Farm, I got some frozen lamb from Barberic Farm. We will eat well this weekend.

I also bought some broccoli and pumpkin plants at the Farmer’s Market. I wanted to try and experiment by planting seedlings in haybales.  Long ago I planted seedlings in cold compost beds made of autumn leaves pressed into wire frames. I’d make an indentation in the leaves, pour in about a quart of soil and the seedling.  Leaves are very porous so the plants did well, but they needed to be kept watered.  Planting in haybales in similar. I kept the twine around the haybales to hold them together, but managed to pull out enough hay to make planting holes for the seedlings.  I used enriched soil for the planting hole and watered everything well.  The theory is that the plants will gain all the nutrition they need from the rotting hay as the roots spread during the growing season. Next year the really rotten hay will make good mulch.  I have never done this before so we will see. It is fun to experiment.  Watering will again be essential. I’ve placed these bales against the south stone wall of The Sunken Garden.

Ryan preparing to dive

It was hot work, and everyone was devoted to duty, so as the Sunday afternoon temperatures climbed we all headed out to Mohawk Trail State Park where there is swimming in the Cold River. Ryan and The Major were the only ones who got wet. The river is cold! But they had a great time, diving, swimming and sitting in the rushing water of small waterfalls. Diane and I read in the shade, chatted and enjoyed the cool breezes. Multiple delights.

Designing with Thought

CSLD students prepare

Last week I was privileged to be invited by Paul Hellmund, Director, to the Conway School of Landscape Design for the presentations of term projects by this year’s class.  I was particularly interested in two of those projects: a feasibility study for the Davis Street School site and plans for a Botanical and Geological Garden at Greenfield Community College.

I have long been an admirer of the Conway School of Landscape Design with its emphasis on environmentally sound and sustainable principles and design, and its belief in learning by doing. This means that each semester of this ten month accredited Master’s program is devoted to a project carried out by teams of two or three.

The projects given to the students are real projects. Municipalities, non-profit organizations and homeowners can contact the school with an idea for a project, whether it is landscaping for a house or a Master Plan for a campground or street.  If chosen, those projects, residential in the fall, and municipal or organizational in the spring, are given to the students to form the vehicle for the curriculum.

Those who propose a project to the school know that they will get more than suggestions by an untested and inexperienced novice. Many of the students bring various educational, professional and life experiences with them when they begin, Then, from the start with client interviews, site visits for assessment and analysis, understanding of client goals and desired outcomes, Conway students work with skilled faculty who teach and guide, helping them find solutions to each site and design problem.

While clients may have or state a single goal, the educational process requires that each team come up with three options, based on that goal, for each site. At the end of each term the students present their projects to judges who critique the project and the presentation. Walt Cudnohufsky who founded the school in 1972 believes strongly in the necessity for students to be able to clearly articulate their plans orally, and in writing, as well through drawings.

The buzz at the school was electric when I arrived last Friday as students were putting up their drawings, and greeting guests which included clients for their projects. If I was excited to see the presentations I can only imagine how the students felt.

The range of projects was fascinating, with very different challenges. One team had to come up with a Master Plan for the Tully Lake Campground in Royalston administered by the Trustees of Reservations, and another was a Master Plan for Marble Street in West Rutland, Vermont.

I was particularly interested in the Davis Street School Administration Property Feasibility Study because that two acre site, about a five minute walk from Main Street, includes the ten year old community garden with its 36 plots – and a waiting list.

This is not the place to go through the three options that Josiah Simpson and Annie Cox presented, but from my own perspective I will say that if I were choosing I would work with the option that included retaining the community gardens, and landscaping the rest of the lot as a park. The truth is that the community, drawn by the gardens, already use the land as a park, walking dogs, and visiting.

Cox and Simpson were told that Greenfield already has sufficient housing so the old school building should not be renovated to that purpose. For myself, I think the cost of renovating that building for any use, as historic as it might be, is prohibitive. What the town does not have is a sufficiency of green space for public use.

Kate Snyder (R) and Gareth Crosby (center)

As a former member of the Greenfield Community College staff I was also very interested in the plans put forth by Gareth Crosby and Kate Snyder for a Botanical and Geological Garden behind the building.  Professor Emeritus  Richard Little has already arranged geological specimens from the Pioneer Valley in this space which include a greenhouse but the goal was to organize the space to provide adequate sun for a net-zero greenhouse, teaching space, and water/drainage management on the sloping site.

I liked all three of the options that Snyder and Crosby presented, but if I were the client I might very well want to combine elements from each. I was told this is what many clients do.  It then became clear that a presentation to a client is not the end of a project, but probably a mid-point, as the client reacts, not only approval, but with questions and concerns.

We all got to see all nine presentations, and hear the judges comments, but the clients will meet privately with their team for discussion.

The client will take possession of the project.  I know that Heath asked the Conway School for a plan for the town center including a park next to the Community Hall. I remember a large drawing hung in the Town Hall for a while, for comments.

I could not find that drawing or report, but I did track down a mention of it in the 1992 Annual Report. I will keep looking.

It’s hard to think that after so many long days, so many meetings, and so much hard work to provide multiple solutions, a project report may ultimately be lost in some dusty file and forgotten.

Maybe that’s just another lesson in reality for the students.

Conway School of Landscape Design

Rose Season on the Bridge of Flowers

When I crossed the Bridge of Flowers the other day I was surprised by the number of roses – now in glorious bloom. I did not remember there were so many.  There are pink roses . . .

and red roses . . .

and pale pink roses . . .

and yellow roses.  There are many shades of pink and red roses, and white roses and  . . .

peachy apricot roses, a particular favorite color of mine.  Unfortunately, I do not have the names of these roses and I am going to have to search for the name labels. Most of the plants on the Bridge are labeled, but the growth is so lush right now that I couldn’t find them. I will go back.

Of course there are many more flowers than just roses. Pink poppies . . .

and pink astilbe. I think this is ‘Rhineland.’  Spring certainly is a pink season – or maybe pink  is what I particularly notice. I don’t trust myself.  The Bridge does have yellow daisies, and purple foxgloves and iris and many more flowers including . .

the flowers of our heart – children.  The kindergarten class was visiting the Bridge to learn a little about plants and to decide where to plant some coleus. They were told coleus like shade, and given a plant to put in a pretty spot.

This boy and girl were very happy with their choices, and one little girl is still fine tuning the location for her plant. I didn’t even see her there when I took the photo. The Bridge is a joy for the whole community. If you go to the Bridge of Flowers website you will find out how you can become a Friend of the Bridge. We all need friends in this life.

Local Heroes Honored

My bumper sticker

I was so pleased to get this notice from CISA, an organization I support and applaud – not to mention all the Local Heroes in the region, those noted, and those who labor devotedly without applause.  At least not so far.

Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) is pleased to announce that it has selected Belle Rita Novak of Springfield, J & J Farms in Amherst, and Dan Rosenberg of Real Pickles in Greenfield, to receive its prestigious Local Hero Awards for 2010.

“We applaud our 2010 Local Hero Award recipients and we honor their efforts to sustain local agriculture and enhance the unique character of their communities,” says Philip Korman, executive director of CISA. “Our Local Hero awardees are individuals who can serve as role models for all of us and can help us to create and nourish long term change.”

Background on 2010 Local Hero Awardees

BELLE RITA NOVAK (The Farmer’s Market at the X, Springfield):  As market manager of the Farmer’s Market at the X in Forest Park, a busy urban Springfield neighborhood, Belle Rita Novak’s job includes planning and promotion, writing the weekly newsletter, selling tokens to customers, as well as cooking and serving food samples.  Novak’s passion for fresh local food is no doubt key to the market’s success. “It’s a labor of love,” says Novak.  With the support of friends and help from the Department of Agriculture, Novak organized the market in the fall of 1997 opened it in June 1998 with five vendors. At the time, there were a total of ninety-eight farmers’ markets in Massachusetts; that number has since doubled to more than 200. Considered the largest urban market in western Massachusetts, the Farmer’s Market at the X attracts a diverse customer base, including many shoppers who pay with their electronic benefit cards. “Farmers’ markets have become popular because the food is so fresh,” says Novak. “People love the vendors and every single week someone thanks me for having the market – it’s so important to them.”

JOE WASKIEWICZ (J & J Farms, Amherst):  When Joe Waskiewicz was growing up on Meadow Street in Amherst in the 1930s, every household on the street farmed the land. Today, Joe’s farm is one of just two that remain. Joe’s grandfather, Dimitriou, began the farm in 1909. These days, most of the farm work is done by Joe’s sons, Mike and Butch (Joe Jr.), though Joe can still usually be reached in the barn during chore time. The farm grows top quality sweet corn and other vegetables; equally important is its dairy operation, the only one remaining in Amherst today. The farm sells to wholesalers and retail stands, and they have their own farm stand by the road. J & J Farms has a reputation for diligence, quality, and innovation, and were early supporters of integrated pest management.  Reflecting on his farm’s celebration of its 100th anniversary last year, Joe commented that it’s hard to imagine another period in history when farming changed so much — there have been great improvements in the variety of seeds available, as well as crop yields, and mechanization has made farming much more efficient. At the same time, he recognizes that farmers face new challenges and expresses pride that he was able to see the family farm over the century mark.  J & J Farms cultivates their own eighty acres, and rents an additional eighty from neighbors. “It’s important to keep the land productive,” says Joe, “I think it will be essential to food production in the future.”

Dan Rosenberg DAN ROSENBERG (Real Pickles, Greenfield):  How does a 24-year old from northern New Jersey get into the business of making pickles? For Dan Rosenberg, it started with his interests in social change, ecology, and the food system, and his experience on an organic farm. A workshop at a farming conference inspired Rosenberg to try lactic acid fermentation, which is considered the original pickling method. Rosenberg launched Real Pickles in 2001. “It was another way to put up local food so that the harvest could be enjoyed during the winter, and to make available a traditional food that has kept people healthy for thousands of years,” says Rosenberg.  The company’s products, including dill pickles, sauerkraut, and kimchi, have quickly gained a loyal customer base throughout the region. Real Pickles uses only organic vegetables, which it purchases from seven farms within fifty miles of Greenfield. Last year, Real Pickles purchased and renovated a century-old industrial building in Greenfield to accommodate its growing success.  Rosenberg credits his business success to staying true to his principles: investing in the local food system, promoting minimally-processed healthy foods, and being as ecologically conscious as possible, and is proud that Real Pickles has proven to be economically viable, while finding and filling a niche in the local food structure. The Local Hero Award is given to individuals, institutions and businesses that are committed to promoting and strengthening local agriculture, and have demonstrated long-term vision, social responsibility, and/or an environmental ethic in their work. Past recipients include: John LaSalle/LaSalle Florist in Whately; The People’s Pint in Greenfield; Seeds of Solidarity Farm in Orange; writer/activist Mary McClintock; Amy Klippenstein and Paul Lacinski of Sidehill Farm in Ashfield; Gardening the Community, a youth-centered community-based urban gardening project in Springfield; Cooley Dickinson Hospital; Joe Czajkowski of Czajkowski Farms in Hadley; the Franklin County Community Development Corporation; Nuestras Raíces in Holyoke; Doug Coldwell and Dewitt Thomson of Full Bloom Market Garden; Dan Kaplan from Brookfield Farm in Amherst; and the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.

To learn more about CISA and become a member click here or call (413) 665-7100.

Goldthread Herb Farm

William Siff, co-founder of Goldthread Herbal Apothecary

“I have a good imagination,” William Siff told me as we sat in the shade overlooking the new Learning Garden in the midst of fields of medicinal herbs. He said he didn’t imagine the Goldthread Herbal Apothecary with its farm, workshops and national speaking engagements all at once, “But they are all a part of the same focus.

“As a move towards sustainable living herbal medicine is a powerful vehicle. As a society we know a lot about complex things, but we’ve lost knowledge of simple things, like providing health care without running to the doctor or to the drugstore. Herbs can provide one element of our self sufficiency and they can have an enormous ripple effect,” he said.

Certainly the ripple effect is evident in Siff’s life. Trained as an herbalist and acupuncturist, he and his wife Sarah founded Goldthread Herbal Apothecary in Florence seven years ago, then bought a house and land in Conway to grow organic medicinal herbs for the shop.

“When we started growing herbs we just jumped in. Friends and family helped us in the beginning. In exchange we taught them about herbs and health. As that teaching became more popular we developed the Farm to Pharmacy program. Last year we ran it for the first time as a formal entity with a detailed seven month curriculum.  We look at herbs from various perspectives. As grower we look at propagation, cultivation and harvest with some hands on processing experience, but also from the botanical perspective and from the clinical perspective.  We charge tuition for this program,” Siff explained.

Goldenseal in the shade

A tour of the farm includes fields of 150 to 160 herb species. Some, like goldenseal and American ginseng grow in shade, but most others grow in sun. On the day I visited the garlic was about to send out graceful scapes that can be used in cooking, hop vines were artfully arranged on supports and Siff was setting out rosemary plants. “One hundred and fifty in, and another hundred and fifty to go,” he said with a smile. “We treat rosemary as an annual and will harvest every plant in the fall.”

Goldthread Farm Learning Garden

Rosemary and every other herb that Siff grows will be represented by at least a single sample in the handsome large circular Learning Garden that is on the site of a huge dairy barn. The barn was taken down by hand in the fall of 2008 so that the wood could be reused.  Stones from the foundation now take their place as the bones of  the garden.

The rosemary field, like the others, makes use of raised beds. “We use raised beds because it is easier on the back. They are permanent, but we primp them each year – after harvest they are reshaped and reformed. It means lots of work up front, but less work over time.”

Sarah Siff who was active in the business when they began is now concentrating on their two young children, and on earning a Masters degree in education.

Goldthread classroom/herb drying loft/distillery

After taking an intensive herbal workshop Thomas Schieffer stayed on to be Siff’s ‘right hand man’ putting his engineering and construction skills to good use. The derelict garage is now attractive and energy efficient, housing a classroom, a drying loft for herbs and a distillery. Schieffer redesigned the base of the wood fired distillery and noted that “when you’re around fire, it’s fun. This is just another element that makes the whole process more intimate.”

The business in the shop and on the farm now uses five other employees.

Siff hopes Goldthread Herb Farm will be a model for others. To that end he speaks at national conferences, and has instituted three one week intensive workshops, in June, July and August, that focus on fundamentals. The goal is for attendees to take the ideas and information away with them to use in a variety of ways, for their own health care, in the operation of school gardens, or to grow marketable crops.

Siff is currently working on building a consortium of organic herb growers. He is contracting with Conway’s Natural Roots CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), Mountain View Farm CSA in Easthampton, and Nuestras Raices in Holyoke to grow organic herbs for them so they will have a larger local supply.

When I asked him if herbs helped give him energy for all these projects he hesitated. He said he used lots of herbs, but then mentioned ashwaganda withania somnifera which “gives a healthy dose of energy, but keeps you relaxed.”

If you visit the farm, maybe you will see it and learn more about becoming energetic but relaxed yourself.

The Goldthread Farm (www.goldthreadapothecary.com)  is just one of the five unique farms and six private gardens that are on The Franklin Land Trust’s 22^nd Annual Farm and Garden Tour scheduled for June 26 and 27 between 10 am and 4 pm.

Tickets are limited, please e-mail or call to reserve: lalvord@franklinlandtrust.org or 413-625-9151. Tickets are also available from the World Eye Bookshop in Greenfield, and any remaining tickets may be purchased at the registration tent located at the Greenfield Savings Bank branch on Rte 116 in Conway the weekend of the event, which will be open 9:30-4:00 each day. Tickets are $20 for non-members, $15 for members. A pre-paid lunch at the Holly Barn in Conway is also available for $15.

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The Franklin Land Trust Farm and Garden tour will show you the beauties of our landscape.  Together on the Land: Options for Ecological Living in Community is a tour co-sponsored by the Cooperative Development Institute, Equity Trust, Franklin Land Trust, Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust & Valley Community Land Trust scheduled for Saturday, June 12 from 9 to 5. Do you know the difference between a coop, condo, and cohousing? Logon to www.vclt.org for full tour information. Maybe you will find a new way to get your dream home.  ####

Between the Rows    June 5, 2010

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The Green in Vogue

Perennial Vegetables by Eric Toensmeier

In preparing for a Fashion in the Garden posting I have been reading the spring issue of Vogue magazine. Strictly business you understand. Besides, Tina Fey was on the cover.

Although I wasn’t looking for it, there was a little feature on page 370, The Green List, with John Patrick’s (whoever he may be) five latest (fashion everywhere) faves.  There is seedlibrary.org for heirloom seeds; Emiliano Godoy, an industrial designer who focuses on sustainability; Magnus Larsson, a Swedish architect working to stop the spread of the Sahara!; Ecocradle for shipping materials made of mycelium, —  remember you heard it here first; and Edible Forest Gardens by Dave Jacke with Eric Toensmeier.  Well, Dave Jacke is headquartered  right in our own green county. I hope to catch up with him this spring.  I met Eric Toensmeier when he spoke at the local Master Gardener’s Spring Symposium a couple of years ago and bought his book.  I am going to plant perennial Good King Henry (Chenopodium bonus- henricus) in my Henry garden.

Who knows who I’ll meet at this year’s Spring Symposium. Check out the full schedule and info.

Fish and Flowers

Barton Cove Ice Fishing

The sky was blue and the ice was thick. I did not see any fish being harvested, but the fisher folk looked pretty happy and relaxed.  I peeked at them on my way to the Greenfield Garden Club Annual Meeting, this year at the French King Restaurant.

There was a good crowd. The room buzzed with the happy chatter of frustrated gardeners. The food was good and the conversation even better. The Greenfield Garden Club is a terrific organization of gardeners who put their enthusiasm for plants at the service of the community. Their fundraising events like the Plant Sale Extravaganza in May and the Garden Tour in July fund grants for area schools including a pizza garden at Frontier Regional, school gardens at Holy Trinity, Whately,  Greenfield Center School, and Erving Elementary, and a mushroom garden at Buckland Shelburne Elementary. That’s just for starters. The sponsor the Barrel Contest to encourage the beautification of the town, maintain the Trap Plain garden at the corner of Silver and Federal Streets, and prepare a beautiful exhibit for the Franklin County Fair.

Marie Stella of Kirin Farm Enterprises

Marie Stella, a landscape historian and designer, was our featured speaker. Her topic was Responsible Gardening for the 21st Century: The Sustainable Landscape. It was clear to me that as much as I already do along these lines, there is always room for improvement. It is easy to manage one’s one property responsibly, but it takes a little extra gumption to tell a nursery that if he doesn’t stop selling burning bush, or any other invasive plant you see on his plant list, you will not shop there – and you’ll tell all your friends not to shop there either. Still, it is something we can and should do. Businesses are more likely to respond to economic incentives than altruism.

For more information about the Greenfield Garden Club click here. You could have fun like this too. And maybe you’d win a flower arrangement like this at the next Annual Meeting.  That John LaSalle!  He is a Master of Flowers – and he supports the Garden Club – and other plant loving organizations.