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…
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…
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…
If you want to have spring bloom in your garden you have to get to work right now. Crocus, scillas and snowdrops are three of the earliest spring bloomers in the garden – or lawn. You have to start thinking about planting them in the fall if you want them spring bloom. I planted very few crocus while living in Heath, but now that I am living in town with a sidewalk next to the front lawn and…
At the moment I am celebrating Garden Bloggers Bloom Day with a burst of heat - after rain storms and night temperatures that went down to 35 degrees. But many plants are hitting their stride, like this coreopsis - one of several. It turns out the cardinal flowers I planted last year - are a different color than the cardinal flowers I planted this year. But no matter. My mentor, Elsa Bakalar, assured me all shades of red…
Laughing in the garden doesn't always come easy. But what can you do after gnashing your teeth over the squash borers, weeping over the discovery of leaf miners in the beet bed, growling at the Japanese beetles in the roses, or pulling up garlic mustard for the umpteenth time? I imagine the gods laughing at me. But those who are wise will laugh and stiffen our backs for the next onslaught. I thought of this when my friend…
Kylee Baumle can date the beginning of her passion for monarch butterflies to September 17, 2006, the day she found a tattered Monarch butterfly with a tiny sticker on its wing in the field where the United Flight 93 Memorial stands. Most of us remember with horror, and pride, the passengers and crew of that flight that crashed on September 11, 2001. The sticker listed the monarchwatch.org website, a phone number and a set of three numbers. Baumle…
The end of August view from the upstairs window shows not only a full garden, but my most recent project of a wine bottle hose guard on the left. Also in the center of that bed is a beautiful glass "flower" given to us by the sister of a dear friend. You can't see it very well here, but as soon as I see the sun shining on it I'll give a better photo. I wanted to get…
Last week I wrote about several neighborhood gardens that would fall into the category of The Foodscape Revolution which also happens to be the name of a book, The Foodscape Revolution: Finding a better way to make space for food and beauty in your garden by Brie Arthur. Arthur would have applauded the Chicoine/Ayers garden which eliminated grass completely from the tree strip, as well as the front and side yards. Most of the back yard was also…
My neighbor Wendy came over to our house to watch the solar eclipse. You can see our scientific arsenal, a colander, a red plastic dish pan filled with water and a big stainless steel bowl filled with water. We did not have any of the special glasses but we heard that you could watch the eclipse as a reflection in water, even if it was only a bowl of water. You can also hold up a colander with…