Two Kinds of Pleasure

  • Post published:10/25/2010
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Saturday afternoon was perfect for a golden drive to the new Bullitt Reservation for its grand opening.  This is the newest project of the Trustees of Reservations, preserving 262 acres of meadow and woodland, and retrofitting the old caretakers cottage to meet Gold Leed standards. This building will soon be finished and will serve as the new offices of the Hilltown Communities Initiative and the Hilltown Land Trust. The soon-to-be office building is super insulated, and yet breathable,…

The First Snowfall

  • Post published:10/22/2010
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I'm not sure if this really counts as the First Snowfall for Garden Bloggers, but snow surely did fall out of the sky last night. Yesterday around noon - all of a sudden - the sky turned black and the wind whipped up the leaves to such an extent that I could hardly see across the drive. Then slush fell out of the sky for five minutes. The weatherman called it hail, but it didn't do the kind…

Masters of the Garden

  • Post published:10/16/2010
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Whenever I have a question about gardening I know where I can turn. My neighbor, Bob Bourke, has been a Master Gardener for about seven years. Since his 60 hours of training he has answered a lot of questions for lot of people, but he has also judged vegetables at the Youth Building at the Franklin County Fair, and built a Question Wheel for the Master Gardeners Fair booth. He’s worked for the Spring Symposium and visited many…

Eating Together

  • Post published:10/12/2010
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The Sunday New York Times Magazine devoted their whole 10-10-10 issue to Eating Together.  Well, the previous weekend the Heath Gourmet Club celebrated its 29th anniversary --- 29 years of serving ourselves.  Michael Pollan wrote about the 36 Hour Dinner Party that he enjoyed with famous chefs and his son in Napa, consuming a whole goat and a lot of really good produce and olive oil. They also had the pleasure of cooking in an outdoor 'cob oven.'…

Our Most Tender Crop

  • Post published:10/07/2010
  • Post comments:8 Comments

Cindy at My Corner of Katy asks us to post three photos on Thursday. They don't even have to be related. The assumption is they might be related to gardening I suppose and you might wonder what toddler snowsuits have to do with my garden. Well, I consider that my garden includes that most tender crop, all the children of my community. I am very happy that our local independent department store, Wilson's, and my newspaper, The Recorder,…

Counting the Days

  • Post published:10/05/2010
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We gardeners are always counting the days - til spring, til time to plant tomatoes, til the  first peas or lettuce, til the first frost . . . I could go on and on.  One good way of counting the days is with the help of the University of Massachusetts (of which I am a proud alum) Garden Calendar for 2011. The Calendar is put together by the  UMass Extension Center for Agriculture. I am so grateful for…

A Flower Hill Farm Idyll

I drove over hill and over dale until I found the white house with the green roof - and a welcoming table in the garden. Prettier than the table, and with a smile that said more about welcome than a pretty table, Carol greeted me under centuries old maples and led me into the garden. Those who are familiar with the Flower Hill Farm landscape through Carol's gorgeous photographs, can imagine the gardens that meander downhill, and the…

We Sow, We Harvest . . . We Celebrate!

  • Post published:09/11/2010
  • Post comments:5 Comments

Lots of sowing was done in the last two years to bring about the harvest of a strong renovated Roundhouse at our wonderful Franklin County Fair. I was glad to be present for the re-dedication - during which many people were thanked, too many to list here, but I was glad that one of my colleagues at The Recoder, Irmarie Jones was thanked for all her help promoting the renovation and fundraising.  While the Fair is 162 years…

Heath School Gardens

  • Post published:09/02/2010
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Over at Garden Rant Mary Gray's guest rant bewailed the state of many school grounds, all concrete and lawn. I am very familiar with the school grounds that she describes, but I feel fortunate that the children in our small town have a very different school experience. The Heath Elementary School, which opened in 1996, was built in a pasture surrounded by woodland. When the school bus pulls off the dirt road onto the driveway it passes a…

Important Dates

  • Post published:08/11/2010
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August 13  3-5 pm  The Belly Bus will be at the Town Common in Greenfield. You can bring non-perishable foods to the Common which will then be distributed to area food pantries. Unfortunately, more and more families are suffering from food insecurity, not knowing if their own pantry will last out the week, or the next day.  Please help. August 14 & 15   9 am-2 pm Mary Kay Hoffman of E. Hawley MA is offering  a dig in her large…