Eli Rogosa and the Heritage Wheat Conservancy

  • Post published:07/28/2012
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“O beautiful, for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain . . .” These words, written by Katherine Lee Bates in 1895 capture an image of our country that we still treasure today. However, there are differences between 1895 and 2012. The tall waving wheats that gilded our midwest in 1895 are now only a foot tall, barely shuddering in the breeze.. The early 1940s saw the beginning of the Green Revolution, an agricultural shift that used technological…

Sunny Sunday With Friends and Mass MoCA

  • Post published:07/25/2012
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That's Tinky Weisblat's blueberry cake and frosting. More food coming out of the kitchen. We built up our strength before heading of Mass MoCA Not My car. I look good in it though. Off to our favorite museum, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, with grandson Rory. This sculpture is made of discarded barriers from the Canada-US border.  You can ride it, and I did. The O Canada exhibit was fabulous! Grandson Rory is NOT responsible for the crash…

Rol’s Vegetable Garden – Productive and Beautiful

  • Post published:07/23/2012
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Rol's vegetable garden is one of the wonders of Heath. His is one of two very different gardens that I visited last week. My neighbor Rol is the garlic and onion king. This spring he coordinated a group order of onions from Dixondale Farm. I  bought 60, and though we planted at the same time I can tell you that my onions look nothing like his. Weeding and watering seem to be  key elements to success. Many of…

Bug on the Bridge of Flowers! Emerald Ash Borer

  • Post published:07/08/2012
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When a 5 foot tall bug appears on the Bridge of Flowers we all take notice. Especially when it is a shimmering shade of emerald green I wasn't the only one taking photos of this beautiful creature. But beauty is as beauty does, and the Emerald Ash Borer is no beauty infesting and killing ash trees. The USDA Forest Service has created a website with full information about how to watch  ash trees for damage. These bugs are…

Greenfield Garden Club Farm and Garden Tour

  • Post published:07/07/2012
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Denise Leonard, current chair of the Greenfield Agricultural Commission, past president of the New England Border Collies Association, and chief farmer at TANSTAAFL Farm is one of the featured farmers on the Greenfield Garden Club’ annual garden tour which is including farms for the first time this year. THIS VERY DAY! July 7! Denise explained that her husband David came up with the name of their farm when they were still living in Leverett more than 25 years…

It’s Summer – Viewing, Touring and Paddling

  • Post published:07/02/2012
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It's summer and I've been out viewing plants and gardens and then relaxing at a local pond. Summer doesn't get any more perfect than this. I went to the Annual Japanese Iris Show in Shelburne Falls and got to see the best and most beautiful examples of Japanese Iris grown in the area. Japanese iris are the last iris to bloom in our area. After seeing this display of irises, I had to run over to Fox Brook…

Rugosas – The Easiest Roses to Grow

  • Post published:06/25/2012
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The rugosa rose may strike many New Englanders as the quintessential American rose, hardy and trouble free, but this rose is a native of Asia. Long before it made its way halfway around the world it grew and bloomed on the coasts of northeastern China and Japan. It had to make its way to Europe first, and did not arrive in the United States until the mid-1800s when it was imported for the nutritional value of the hips.…

Kids with Dahlias and Breaking Down the Set

  • Post published:06/19/2012
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The preschool kids from Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School came to the Bridge of Flowers yesterday morning to drop off the 21 dahlia tubers they planted and have been tending for the past weeks. Head Gardener Carol DeLorenzo and I greeted them and thanked them for their patient work in caring for  the 'China Doll' dahlias that will bloom in all the shades of the sunset later in the season. Everyone loves dahlia season. After several days of excitement in…

Bridge of Flowers – National Public Gardens Day Coming Up

  • Post published:05/09/2012
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The Bridge of Flowers is our local public garden, open and blooming every day from April 1 - October 30. Free! Universally accessible. I'll be celebrating National Public Gardens Day, May 11 this year, with a stroll over the Bridge of Flowers. What will you do? I've been almost Wordless, but for real Wordlessness this Wednesday click here

Benefit Plant Sales Galore

  • Post published:05/04/2012
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Benefit plant sales are a traditional spring event. Gardeners can spruce up their gardens and benefit various community organizations. Which will you choose? Or will you choose them all? Have you thought about giving your mother a gift certificate (one way or another) so she can pick out  some flowers herself? This Saturday, May5 the Greenfield Library will open its plant sale at 9:30 am on the front lawn. It will close by 12:30, unless everything is gone…