My Succulent Container Garden – Weeding and Surprises

  • Post published:11/08/2012
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In the spring I attended a hypertufa trough building workshop and planted two it with succulents I bought at a local garden shop. My two troughs lived happily outside on the welcoming platform. When our first hard frost was threatened I brought my troughs inside and  they are now living on a broad southern windowsill in our unheated Great Room. I wasn't worried about the hardiness of the succulents, only the troughs. I haven't paid too much attention…

John Bunker and His Wanted Posters

  • Post published:11/06/2012
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  John Bunker, heritage apple expert, and author, distributes WANTED posters for the old apples he is searching for. He gives a pretty full description of the apple's appearance from size, shape, color of skin, color of flesh, stem size, and seeds. I've learned some new words like Acuminate which refers to the tapering shape of the seed cavity. I don't know what the 'eye' of the apple is. I know the opposite of the stem end is called the 'basin,' and has…

John Bunker and David Buchanan on Cider Day

  • Post published:11/05/2012
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John Bunker and David Buchanan gave a couple of talks on Cider Day all  about their experiences with finding and planting heritage apples. They also got to sell their books. I knew about David's book, Taste, Memory: Forgotten Foods, Lost Flavors, and Why They Matter,  but I didn't know that John had also written, and illustrated, a book about the apples and orchards of Palermo where he lives in Maine. Not Far From the Tree: A Bried History of…

Taste, Memory by David Buchanan

  • Post published:11/02/2012
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  David Buchanan and I met at the Conway School of Landscape Design (CSLD)  reunion in September where he gave a six minute talk about what he had been doing since he graduated in 2000. He talked as fast as he could, and I listened as fast as I could, but I was glad I could slow the journey when I received a copy of his new book Taste, Memory: Forgotten Foods, Lost Flavors, and Why They Matter.…

The Bridge of Flowers is Closed

  • Post published:10/31/2012
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The Bridge of Flowers was prepared for closing, just before Superstorm Sandy - that did no damage this year. Unlike Irene last year. For more Wordlessness  this Wednesday click here.

Priorities and Preparations for Hurricane Sandy

  • Post published:10/29/2012
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While Hurricane Sandy was making its slow and warning filled way to Heath we had to set priorities and make preparations to weather the storm. With so much notice, and stories about a possible Sandy snow  storm (like last year) I realized it was time to plant the garlic. Fortunately I had already prepared the bed so it didn't take much to pull apart my choice garlic bulbs and plant each clove about eight inches apart in four rows. Then…

The ABCs of Heritage Apples, and Others

  • Post published:10/27/2012
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A is for Apple, but if we look at heritage apples we can march right through the alphabet. Baldwin, Cox’s Orange Pippin, (Old) Delicious, Esopus Spitzenberg, Golden Russet, and on through to Northern Spy, Roxbury Russet, Stayman Winesap and Westfield Seek-No-Farther. The Roxbury Russet and Westfield Seek-No-Farther remind us that some apples had a very local fame and audience before they spread to wider fields. In fact, Roxbury Russet was the first named apple in Massachusetts. Even though…

Surprising Blooms on a Gray Day

  • Post published:10/25/2012
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These surprising blooms are from Bluestone Perennials, one of a mum collection I bought a couple of years ago. The rabbits got to the planting of that collection and I rescued what was left and just stuck them anywhere in the garden and forgot about them. I hope I am not the only gardener in the world who sticks in anywhere and then forgets. This spring I saw what looked like chrysanthemum foliage in an odd place, and…

Year of the Rose Draws to a Close

  • Post published:10/23/2012
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  The Year of the Rose for 2012 as designated by the International Herb Society is drawing to a close. Thomas Affleck is the only rose in my garden that is still waving the banner. It has been a difficult year for the garden. Because of a mild relatively snowless winter, we came into spring with a drought situation. That drought hit in full force during the summer and since I get my water from a well I…

Sunny Saturday – On the Road in Heath

  • Post published:10/22/2012
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After more t han three inches of rain came sunny Saturday and the pleasure of Saturday morning rounds. Past the abandoned beaver dam and off to the Heath Free Public Library. This is the prettiest abandoned beaver dam in Heath. We are not totally sure whether beavers have left our beaver pond or not. After the library onto the paved road and the Town Transfer Station. After the Transfer Station it was down 8A and off to Avery's…