The view from the window shows that we had our first snowfall, just over an inch, but it didn't last long. Temperatures mostly ranged in the 30s and 40s. I guess I am done putting the garden to bed. Our first complete year in the new garden draws to a close leaving us with a sense of satisfaction - and a list of things to do next spring.
It was on a snowy December 6 in 2007, the feast of St. Nicholas, that I inaugurated my Commonweeder blog. On this anniversary I'm taking a look at the last nine years, on the blog, in the garden, and in my life. That first post gave a hint that I was not only a gardener but a reader. I mentioned Eleanor Perenyi's wonderful book Green Thoughts, and a chapter that talked about the house and garden that was…
Several years ago a friend asked me to give her advice about her garden which she said was out of control and too much work. When I visited I could see an immediate problem; her paths were too narrow. Wider paths would make it possible to walk through the garden side by side with a friend, and even provide better working space when it was time to weed or divide the collection of lovely perennials that comprised her…
New England Grows! is a big landscaping tradeshow in Boston and I got to see old friends like Kate and Russ French of OESCO where a 20 foot scarecrow blew fiercely over the exhibit of great OESCO tools. I spoke to Linette Harlow at Pride's Corner Farms about the plants they grow for various plants you will find at garden centers in the spring, I loved this display of succulents growing in a slightly rotting log. I count…
Verrmiculture is worm farming. Worms are the gardener’s friend. They eat kitchen waste and turn it into valuable fertilizer called vermicompost. You too can be a vermiculturist, one who practices vermiculture and makes vermicompost, and you cannot begin too soon. When I visited Kate Bailey’s first grade last week to read to them, they were all excited and told me they had a thousand new pets in the classroom and could I guess what they were. I could…
Roast turkey is the iconic symbol of Thanksgiving, but in reality it is the vegetables that fill the groaning board. Sweet potatoes, with or without marshmallows, mashed potatoes, creamed onions, and roasted or mashed winter squash, are essential. I’ve been known to make the elaborate maquechoux, a mélange that includes corn, bacon, scallions, red bell peppers, tomato and thyme and basil. My daughter Betsy is now responsible for a mélange of white and sweet potatoes, beets, squash and…
While shopping at the Greenfield Farmers Market last year I met Danielle Smith at her Wild Rose Flower Farm booth. I found the name of her farm, Wild Rose, irresistible, of course, and she was always surrounded by a bounty of lovely spring bulbs, and later an array of dahlias, zinnias, sunflowers, delphiniums and all manner of other annuals. At the Winter Market I bought a wonderful wreath to hang on our new front door. All this summer…
The development of Wildside Cottage and Gardens surprised Sue Bridge. She spent an active life learning and working. She earned a Masters degree in Russian and Middle Eastern studies, learned about different worlds while hitchhiking to Morocco, worked for the Christian Science Monitor, and learned how to gather information and pass it on through print and electronic media. She also supported environmental causes because of her belief that future generations would face great challenges. Ten years ago she…
Autumn leaves are falling. It is time to turn those leaves into ‘black gold’ known as cold compost, and improving our soil. It was not very long into my Heath gardening career that I met Larry Lightner of Northfield. By the time I met him he was retired from the Mt.Hermon school where he had worked with students to create and maintain some of the school gardens. He still had his own productive gardens and had produce to…
Marjie Moser's Print and Dye Workshop hangs out over the Deerfield River in Shelburne Falls. She prints and dyes fabrics like this silk Korean pogoji. Koreans beautifully wrap their gifts, including food gifts, and they traditionally wrap them in silk like this pogoji. The traditional silk wrap resembles our patchwork but all the silks are carefully chosen, creatively arranged and then beautifully and meticulously sewn with finely finished seams. One can hardly see which is the 'good' side…