We will have more salads during the winter, but this is the last of the lettuce from our own garden. The seeds were a sample from Renee's Garden, Ruby and Emerald Duet, a combination of a small ruby leaf lettuce, and baby butterhead. They were among the very first lettuces I planted in spring and then throughout the season, and obviously the very last to be harvested. This is a wonderful combo of hardy lettuces with such good flavor!…
We are fortunate to live in an area where our children know where their food comes from. We have farms that grow vegetables and fruits, and sheep, beef and poultry. These farms mean there are barns and tractors - and an autumnal hayride. These hayriders came back to the Charlemont Federated Church to make lunches that included local cider and home made pumpkin cookies. The cookies just looked like pumpkins, but real pumpkins were ready for carving. Parents…
Governor Deval Patrick visited the Heath Elementary School today. He met the staff and students for a brief All School Meeting before he went to the gym to meet with various officials and townspeople. School Superintendent Buonicanti gave a short civics lesson and asked the students if they knew who Deval Patrick was. One boy instantly piped up, "He's going to be elected next week!" The Governor said he certainly hoped so. A sixth grader wanted to know…
“I do everything wrong,” Rol Hesselbart said as we looked over his garlic harvest. And, he pointed out, he did everything wrong in Michigan and Virginia before he started doing everything wrong in Heath. Hesselbart, naturalist, educator and retired national park ranger, is known locally for the size and quality of his garlic bulbs. I am one of the lucky few who scored a few to plant myself this month. His growing techniques have evolved slightly since he…
Did you know that growing and exhibiting giant vegetables is a popular competitive sport? I don't have photos of Art Kaczenski's 2010 Second Place Winner at the Big E's Giant Pumpkin competition, but once again he took second place with a giant pumpkin weighing 993 pounds. His wife Amanda Kaczenski took third place this year with a giant pumpkin weighing 927 pounds. The First Prize winner was Daniel Boyce of Vermont with a giant pumpkin weighing 1,254 pounds,…
Lots of sowing was done in the last two years to bring about the harvest of a strong renovated Roundhouse at our wonderful Franklin County Fair. I was glad to be present for the re-dedication - during which many people were thanked, too many to list here, but I was glad that one of my colleagues at The Recoder, Irmarie Jones was thanked for all her help promoting the renovation and fundraising. While the Fair is 162 years…
My neighbor Kara read my directions for making a lasagna garden - followed them, and this is what she got. A beautiful lasagna herb garden. She will not need to add another layer of cardboard and soil to maintain this next year. On the other side of the grass path, wide enough for a lawn mower, Kara planted mostly annuals. After the harvest she may want to add another layer of cardboard, water it well, and add a…
Ev Hatch will never forget the seed salesman who talked to him about his upcoming retirement. Instead of selling seeds, he was going to plant a lot of vegetable seeds, tend the plot and donate all the vegetables to food pantries. Over his career Hatch has planted a lot of seeds, in the ground, and in the community as he worked for the Cooperative Extension Service and 4-H. After his retirement in 1977 from these agricultural state enterprises …
Not only the beans, but some of the first leaves of squash plants had been eaten. This is clearly bug damage, but what bug? I replanted the beans twice, hoping that whatever it was would have come and gone. Then I was talking to a friend and he suggested earwigs. Earwigs come out at night so of course, I would not see them during the day. Putting lime around the most desirable plants was one solution, but…
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…