Sustainable Living in the Hills

  • Post published:01/29/2011
  • Post comments:2 Comments

Nancy and Haynes Turkle have been concerned about the environment and the ways we affect it for a long time. Nancy’s graphic design company even worked for the Department of Environmental Protection for 15 years creating educational recycling materials. During their 20 years living in Groton they were involved in many community activities including helping to found a community garden. As the garden thrived so did  cooperation between the members of the garden and the wider community. They…

Worms in the Kitchen

  • Post published:01/21/2011
  • Post comments:1 Comment

You have to look really close, but the worms are more than surviving in my worm bin, which I said I would never keep in my kitchen. I was afraid of fruit flies. When it was time to bring the worm bin in from outside  in September I put them in the Great Room which is not heated except for lots of solar gain during the day, that kept temperatures above 50 at night. That did not last.…

En Francais – s’il vous plait

  • Post published:01/18/2011
  • Post comments:7 Comments

With all the trouble we bloggers can have with scrapers stealing our stellar images it is good to know that there are honorable people all around the world.  I received an email from M. Frederic Douard from a French bioenergy company asking to use my Hawley firewood image on their website. Permission was given, d'accord! And I am the photo du jour!  You can't really see it on this screen shot, but when the cursor hovers over the…

Jere Gettle and Comstock, Ferre Seeds

  • Post published:01/17/2011
  • Post comments:7 Comments

Fourteen years ago, at the age of 17, Jere Gettle put together his first list of heirloom seeds and mailed it to 550 gardeners. Now he oversees a veritable empire consisting of the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company, the Bakersville Pioneer Village complete with seed store, bakery, restaurant, jail, herbal apothecary, music barns with monthly festivals and more in Missouri, and the Petaluma Seed Bank in California, which opened last spring. Most recently he bought the Comstock, Ferre…

Winterfares Coming Up

  • Post published:01/10/2011
  • Post comments:2 Comments

Have you been longing for fresh greens and the chance to meet the farmers in our area?  Long no more. It is time for Winterfares!  This Saturday the winter farmer's market will be held at the Smith Vocational School in Northampton on January 15 from 10 am to 2 pm.  Fresh greens, apples, honey, yogurt, root veggies, local grain, bread, the Soup Cafe (bring your own cup) and workshops.  This is a delicious and healthy event - pure…

Review and Renew in 2011

  • Post published:01/08/2011
  • Post comments:8 Comments

Janus, the Roman god whose two faces could look backward to the past, and forward to the future, gave his name to the month of January. He is a god of doorways, and the special patron of all new beginnings,  a perfect symbol for the new year, when all things seem possible and sure of success. The month of January is a good time for the gardener to look backward to review the events of the past year,…

Energy-Wise Landscape Design

  • Post published:12/18/2010
  • Post comments:1 Comment

On a day like today I bitterly regret the lack of a windbreak to the northwest of our house where the wind roars down the hill. Only a single white pine, the sole tree to survive a windbreak planting more than 20 years ago, impedes the blast.  My husband and I have been studying that pine and thinking it is time to try again. Therefore, it might not be pure coincidence that I arranged to meet with Sue…

Hen House #3

  • Post published:12/14/2010
  • Post comments:4 Comments

My friend Bob is a jack of all trades, and most irritatingly, a master of most. His building skills are very useful here in the country and since he is always building something, here - or there - he has lots of left over materials. He used those leftover materials, lumber, metal roofing, door and windows, to make his hen house. I was most fascinated by his use of a shower door to make a large frosted window…

Hen House #1

  • Post published:12/02/2010
  • Post comments:3 Comments

With so many people interested in keeping a backyard flockof chickens for eggs, and maybe even for meat, I've been visiting local henhouses, partly to be able to assure potential hen farmers that a henhouse doesn't have to be a Palais de Poulet, and to show you some of the clever designs hen farmers have come up with to make their own work as easy as possible. Emma is the youngest hen farmer I know. She is an…

Garden Technique Mash-up

  • Post published:11/29/2010
  • Post comments:4 Comments

One of  the best ideas I had this year was to put a small vegetable garden right in front of the eastern end of our house which faces due south. The soil here drains very well and thaws out very early in the spring. If you want to see the 'lasagna garden' method I used on April 4, click here.  The planting bed next to the house included a yellow loosestrife and 'Terra Cotta' achillea next to the…