On this Earth Day I don't want to lecture about what we all should be doing to protect the environment. I want to celebrate some of the actions I know about in my community that are being done right now, many of which will grow. I am thrilled with the school gardens that are being planted, tended and harvested. They not only supply food, but many lessons that connect with work in the classroom. Heath school has had its…
For several days the weather has been chilly, raw, showery, rainy and generally unpleasant. Not gardening weather. We all know we cannot dig wet soil. However, the chickens remain cheerful and production continues. They are happy to stay inside, maybe because they know I'll give them an extra small ration of cracked corn. Don't forget tomorrow is the last day you can enter the Give Away drawing for Starter Vegetable Gardens by Barbara Pleasant. Just click here…
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Yesterday we again saw turkeys walking across the field; they came right up to the end of the road. Turkeys are no longer a rare sight in our neighborhood, however - - - one day I was visiting a friend and he showed me this - and asked if I could guess what it was. I could not. It is a well filled turkey crop, that part of a turkey that is an important part of its digestive…
The weekend was chilly and windy; the snow is nearly gone. There was work to do. Four potted rosebushes arrived from High Country Roses: Cardinal Richelieu, Agnes, Madame Hardy and Goldbusch. Their arrival inspired me to go out and clean out the Shed Bed which is right next to the hen house. I could not resist planting Cardinal Richelieu which will add its rosy purple hues to this assortment of pink roses. You will notice the arrangement of…
Tis the season to start gardens. If you have been tentative about starting your first garden this year here is an opportunity to win a book that will be an immense help. Storey Publishing generously sent me a copy of Starter Vegetable Gardens: 24 No-Fail Plans for Small Organic Gardens by Barbara Pleasant to giveaway to my readers. If you would like to win a copy leave a comment at the the end of this post. I would…
Our part of the world had an early start on the Local Food movement, to such a degree that we now have many more small farms in our area, operated by energetic and skilled farmers, and several farmer’s markets as well as farm stands. There is more interest in community gardens. Of course the very most local food comes from our own backyards. Right now because April is National Garden Month.the national media is full of information about…
The snowdrops that are still blooming at the End of the Road give you some hint of the weather here. Temperatures did get over 70 the other day, but this morning we are back to frost. This is not an impressive photo and neither is the plant, but I am just thrilled that it survived the arid Summer of 2010. I chose this particular witch hazel because I love the color of the twirly blossoms and because my…
The March-April issue of The American Gardener published by the American Horticultural Society includes a wonderful article about the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden and its curator, Peter Kukielski, by Patricia Taylor. The article explains how this famous rose garden at the New York Botanical Garden became sustainable. I interviewed Peter Kukielski in the fall of 2009 and wrote about him here. The article gives the names of rose breeders who have developed disease resistant roses, roses that need…
Nasami Farm in Whately, the nursery of the New England Wildflower Society, will open for the season tomorrow, Thursday, April 14. Hours are 10 am to 5 pm from Thursday through Sunday every week.The Nursery offers about 400 nursery propagated native wildflowers and shrubs. I go every year to buy groundcovers like barren strawberry and shrubs like Rosa setigera. What will you need from Nasami this spring?