As we prepared to leave the bookmaking workshop at The Art Garden, Jane Wegscheider, our teacher and muse, said those of us planning to attend the Valentine workshop should start collecting the memorabilia or photographs that we would need. Hmmmm. This suggested that we would not be making traditional Valentines with lace and ribbon, or even clever and artistic Valentines like those Sandra Denis was selling down at the Arts Coop in Shelburne Falls. I was particularly taken with…
Elsa Bakalar was my friend. This morning I got the call that I had been dreading. Elsa passed away peacefully on January 29. We moved to Heath in December of 1979, but I did not meet Elsa, who also lived in Heath until I began writing a weekly garden column, Between the Rows, for The Recorder. I had heard about Elsa and her garden and finally got up my courage to ask her for an interview. It must…
Tom Fischer, Editor in Chief of Timber Press, has created a small, inexpensive book with more than 100 gorgeous photographs by Clive Nichols of 100 plants in the ranges of 10 colors - scarlet, orange, lime, blue, mahogany, and more! My garden, full of roses as it is, is heavy on pink, but when I look through this book I can't help imagining a color themed garden. Lots of people have blue and white gardens, which are easy…
Last week I attended a Garden Writers workshop in Boston to learn about new trends in the garden, and in the blogs. Paul Tukey of Safe Lawns fame was on hand, too. Although we had never met I did interview him last spring when I was doing a radio show in Beverley. Phone interview are a necessity in this world we we are all so spread out, but nothing beats talking to someone in the flesh. Paul is the…
There are all kinds of gardens, perennial gardens, cutting gardens, and vegetable gardens, but right now the only garden that is giving me special pleasure is Jane Wegscheider's Art Garden in Shelburne Falls. The Art Garden is a welcoming and well stocked studio space that is available to the public, including children, to express and develop their creativity. And we don't have to do it alone. Jane is on hand to teach and demonstrate and inspire - as…
Mycotecture is a term created to describe buildings made of mushrooms, or more specifically, made of bricks made of mushroom roots known as mycelium. "Mycelium doesn't taste very good, but once it's dried, it has some remarkable properties. It's nontoxic, fireproof and mold- and water-resistant, and it traps more heat than fiberglass insulation. It's also stronger, pound for pound, than concrete. In December, Ross completed what is believed to be the first structure made entirely of mushroom. .…
CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture) is familiar to many of us because of the bright yellow Local Hero signs at farmstands, farmer’s markets, supermarkets and car bumpers. We have recognized the benefits of buying food from our local farmers: keeping our money in the local economy; preserving local farms that produce the rural atmosphere we all treasure as well as a variety of crops; and cutting down on oil-dependent food transportation. As consumers we see some of…
I took this photo of a distinct sun dog at 7:30 am on Tuesday morning. A sun dog or parhelion is a 'mock sun' or halo that appears next to the real sun caused by ice crystals in the atmosphere, although they appear in any season They most often appear when the sun is low in the sky, and sometimes more than one can appear at the same time. Last fall we saw what is sometimes called a…
This morning I was so excited while sending in my online rose order that I gave a shipping date of a month earlier than was wise. Now I have to call them and explain that my desire to get these new roses in the ground overwhelmed me, but I finally realized I have to bow to the realities of our Heath climate. Having put off planting dates, I satisfied myself by settling back to finish two excellent but…
This is a perfect Wordless Wednesday for me. Check out other Wordless wonders.