Fall – Time to Get a Soil Test
“This is the best time to test your soil,” Tracy Allen, supervisor of the University of Massachusetts Soil Test Laboratory, told me
An Early Bloom Day – before hard frost
Will my garden be blooming on November 15. the official Garden Bloggers Bloom Day? Maybe not. Therefore, I went around the garden today taking photos of the flowers blooming this very unusually warm November day. We have yet to have a hard frost although some plants were bitten and succumbed. This is what's left on this gloomy day with a temperature of 50 degrees at 4 in the afternoon Daylight savings left, Eastern Standard time arrived and so…
Flowers That Bloom in the Fall – Hooray!
If I asked a gardener to give me a list of flowers that bloom in the fall, she might sigh and run out of names after chrysanthemums and asters. But there are many plants that will bloom well into October. Not only perennials bloom in the fall, but even a few annuals like my nasturtiums and marigolds. We are all familiar with the potted chrysanthemums that are available in September and October at garden centers and supermarkets. These…
Fall Clean Up and Cold Compost
Leaves are falling, some flower stalks have turned brown and brittle; it’s time for the fall clean up. I have been cutting back iris and daylily foliage which was looking less and less attractive every day. Cutting back is one way to make the garden look neater and a bit more serene. It is also a way to see clearly which clumps will be ready for dividing in the spring. Where can these divisions make the most impact?…
Ben Grosscup and Soil Restoration
Soil Restoration is important. I don't always understand the science behind good garden practices, but an afternoon with Ben Grosscup helped me think about my soil in new ways. Grosscup began working with the Northeastern Organic Farming Association NOFA) right out of college. He was part of the efforts to organize putting bans on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and efforts to label foods if they did include GMO’s. He organized educational events and seminars for farmers and others…
Garden Bloggers Bloom Day – October 15, 2017
This Garden Blogger's Bloom Day arrives during a very mild October. We have had a very few fold nights with temperatures going below 40 degrees, but the daytime temperatures still reach well into the 70's and even over 80 degrees. It has been fairly dry except for a couple of welcome rain we got as hurriane Nate touched us for a couple of days. The Fairy rose will stand in the the sprinkling of other rose blossoms, Folksinger,…
Pumpkins for Eating and Decorating
Pumpkin Season is here! Jack o’ lanterns seem as American as apple pie, but pumpkins, squash and gourds, along with tomatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, maize, and cocoa, are native to Central America and Mexico. Over time they migrated to North America and Europe. In fact, New World foods are essential to a large portion of the African population. We don’t often think about the important nutritional value of pumpkins. Pumpkins are all about Cinderella’s coach, Jack ‘o lanterns…
Dreaming of trees
Since moving to Greenfield we seem unable to get through a day, or night, without thinking and dreaming about trees. When we bought our house, which was surrounded by nothing more than lawn, our attention was taken by the giant American sycamore on the tree belt in front of our house. I called an acquaintance, Dennis Ryan, who is a retired arborist and professor at the University of Massachusetts. I described our tree which we believed was a…
The Art of Farming – A fundamental human endeavor
Where do people learn the art of farming? Farmers used to raise farmers as well as crops of hay, wheat, potatoes or other vegetables. Children learned the art of farming at their father’s – or mother’s knee. Then came a time when the farms got bigger and bigger, and more expensive, as did farming equipment, but the farmers became fewer and fewer. And yet we all need to eat. Where do our farmers come from now? Recently I…
Not All The Essentials for the Apocalypse
What are the essentials for an apocalypse? The New York Times listed essentials for the apocalypse in the September 24, 2017 issue. I did note that these are essentials as deemed so by a certain affluent group of Americans. Author Alex Williams lists 13 things to have on hand in case worse comes to worst, what with daily threats from North Korea – and our own White House. Is money one of the essentials for the apocalypse? At…
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