The sky was blue and the ice was thick. I did not see any fish being harvested, but the fisher folk looked pretty happy and relaxed. I peeked at them on my way to the Greenfield Garden Club Annual Meeting, this year at the French King Restaurant. There was a good crowd. The room buzzed with the happy chatter of frustrated gardeners. The food was good and the conversation even better. The Greenfield Garden Club is a terrific…
The skies are brilliant and the snow is pristine. Krishna surveys the snow-filled Sunken Garden at dawn and wonders why there are no cows, or milkmaids to thrill with his pipes. But my thoughts have gone beyond snow, to sweet soil and seeds. I could not resist the display of Botanical Interest Seeds at the Farmer's Coop in Greenfield yesterday. I will have my Castor Bean plant this year! And many colors of morning glories and bush beans…
Applejack was one of the first roses we planted at the End of the Road. It is the first rose to greet people as they come up to the Annual Rose Viewing, and the last to leave its image in their rear view mirrors. Applejack is one of Griffith Buck's hybrids. Buck attended Iowa State University after serving in WWII and went on to teach there, and hybridize roses that were hardy and disease resistant. Last summer I…
In the February/March issue of Organic Gardening magazine, Gordon Hayward who gardens in Vermont, talks about our ‘food shed.’ I know about watersheds, that protect the quality of our water, and was amused when I heard people talk about their ‘view sheds’ the landscape view they enjoyed from their house, but I had never heard the term ‘food shed.” However, aware as I am of the 100 mile diet, I should have realized the term put me on…
Pam Penick over at Digging has instituted Foliage Follow-up to Carol's popular Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. I don't have many house plants, and I don't have any that are unusual, but I do like the polka dotted foliage on my angel wing begonia. And its a good thing I like the foliage, because I have gotten very few blooms. Who has advice for me? Visit Pam and see who has interesting foliage, bark, etc. indoors and out.
The first Bloom Day of the year. The first Bloom Day of a new decade. I wish I could post something really splashy, but I don't really have much in the way of houseplants - but here we go. I made a trip to Logee's Greenhouse several years ago and the only thing still thriving after all this time is two scented geraniums. Their blooms are not notable. I bought them for their beautiful scented foliage which continues…
December is not usually a good time to visit a small farm in action, but when I visited Daniel Botkin and his wife, Divya, at Laughing Dog Farm in Gill I got a tour of a thriving garden in the big hoop house (or long tunnel) and a lunch of delicious vegetable soup with bread and goat cheese made that very morning. This is local food at its finest. I had specifically gone to Laughing Dog Farm to…
I'm starting to make up my list of Plants to Buy for the spring, and I got stopped right at the first page of the Bluestone Perennials catalog. A is for Achillea or yarrow. I already have "The Pearl" in my garden and I love it. It is pretty in the garden and useful in bouquets. I have another pink yarrow, but I don't know the name. When I first started gardening I was only familiar with the…
Garden Bloggers from all over this great USA, from California to Massachusetts, and from Michigan to Texas and Louisiana AND Canada, are all meeting up in Buffalo, home of the famed Buffalo Garden Walk for the Third Annual Garden Bloggers meet-up from July 8-11. I will be here to compare notes with Kathy Purdy about cold climates, with Carol about dreaming in the garden, with Frances about faire gardens, and with Susan Harris about how sustainably our gardens…
It was 10 degrees, but sunny, when I left Heath for the Valley yesterday, joining the crowds who attended Northampton's First Annual Winterfare Farmer's Market to get to know their farmers. CISA was one of the sponsors. Clarkdale in Deerfield had a table right near the entrance, so Winterfarers were greeted by the smiling faces of Tom, and his son Ben. I think Ben makes the fifth generation of growing premium fruit on their magnificent farm. I always…