Last week I set out the sprinkler to water the vegetable garden for 45 minutes. I have not NOT watered anything else for weeks. Then I turned on the hose to water the chickens. I heard the phone ring and ran into the house. When I got back to the hose - it was dry. I turned off the spigot, went into the house and turned on the taps. No water. We have a drilled well, and have…
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…
Dan Conlon, co-owner with his wife Bonita of Warm Colors Apiary, President of both the Massachusetts Beekeepers Association and the Franklin County Beekeepers Association, began keeping bees when he was 14 years old. He lived at the edge of a Dayton, Ohio suburb, close enough to farmlands that he got a summer job helping a farmer with haying and whatever needed to be done. “The farmer kept a few beehives, because many farmers did at that time, knowing…
Layanee of Ledge and Gardens came to Heath to see Elsa Bakalar's gardens, now owned by Scott Prior and his wife Nanny Vonnegut. I joined her, pleased to have an opportunity to introduce a new friend (we met at the bloggers July meet up in Buffalo) to the garden of an old friend. We got a private peek, but there is a tour on Saturday, September 19 being given by Jeff Farrell of Trillium Workshops. There are still…
Over the Labor Day weekend son Chris and his partner Michelle visited us. They gamboled on the lawn with their French bulldog Bibi, sat on the piazza with drinks - and we all drove to Williamstown and the great Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and its wonderful exhibit about Pablo Picasso's (1881-1973) relationship to, and admiration of Edgar Degas (1834-1917). The exhibit was really fabulous. It was amazing to think that these two artists who seem so…
Every food pantry welcomes donations of peanut butter because it is so nutritious, and every mother has it in her kitchen because no matter what else the kids refuse to eat, they will almost always accept a pb&j sandwich. Peanuts were the answer to Andre Briend, a French pediatrician, who was trying to find a way to treat malnutrition. He knew about F100, a fortified dry milk that could counter the biochemical effects of nutrition in children. But…
Life will not be denied! is a cry often heard here at the End of the Road. Often as I am pulling out persistent weeds, but sometimes when an unexpected life is discovered, like this petunia coming up through the paving. In spite of all the heat and drought, the petunia has thrived all summer. No help from us. This Labor Day weekend our son Chris and his partner Michelle visited. Their French bulldog, Bibi admired the brave…
“Invasive species have the potential to completely alter habitats, disrupt natural cycles of disturbance and succession, and most importantly, greatly decrease overall biodiversity, pushing rare species to the brink of extinction. Many ecologists now feel that invasive species represent the greatest current and future threat to native plant and animal species worldwide, greater even than human population growth, land development and pollution.” William Cullina of the New England Wildflower Society We do not have to travel far to…
The wonderful thing about gardens is that a stroll down the garden path is apt to take you down paths of literature, science, and history as well. One person who knows this very well is Arcady, Garden History Girl. She has a great blog that touches on more subjects than you might imagine. I was enjoying her story of the Roman matron Livia's cool garden room with its beautiful wall paintings - never dreaming I would end up learning…
Over at Garden Rant Mary Gray's guest rant bewailed the state of many school grounds, all concrete and lawn. I am very familiar with the school grounds that she describes, but I feel fortunate that the children in our small town have a very different school experience. The Heath Elementary School, which opened in 1996, was built in a pasture surrounded by woodland. When the school bus pulls off the dirt road onto the driveway it passes a…