By Hannah Van Sickle The recent prevalence of fine, yellow dust coating everything in sight from cars to countertops—pollen from the native white pine—is a not so welcome reminder that June is National Pollinator Month. Bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles (just to name a few) are all pollinators that positively affect our lives; in...
By Za Drumm Most everyone is familiar with the common garden vegetable, the squash, and if you have a vegetable garden in New England, the chances that you regularly grow your own is quite high. Highly adapted to this region over thousands of years, an obvious choice in any garden. Squash has been grown in...
These days, most of us are trying to make more decisions based on sustainable ideologies; what’s renewable, sustainable, locally available and affordable. In a way, these decisions support our returning to methods that have been around for hundreds or thousands of years, as they often fit these parameters of renewability and can solve more than one...
This is a book that tells many stories; of family legacy apple varieties, strawberries too delicate to survive a market and trying to live off grid right out of college. The main narrative follows the authors personal journey to find a space to explore his own passions of growing and sharing heirloom plants and produce to...
Winter signifies an important time of the year if you’re a vegetable gardener or small farmer. Seed catalog season is well upon us and it’s not too late to plan and let the anticipation of this coming seasons planting and harvesting begin. Not only is gardening an enjoyable activity for most of us, but growing your own food...
With Halloween less than a week away and all things spooky, mysterious, and creepy in mind, this blog post seems apropos… We often consider the beneficial attributes of the flowers we see in our garden and growing wild in the woods; their lovely smell, color, and shape but there are some that, given the opportunity,...
by Mike Mugridge “Edibles in the Landscape,” championed by designers like Rosalind Creasy, has been a popular trend for many years. Incorporating vegetables into ornamental arrangements and vice versa is an ecologically, aesthetically, and economically sound idea—and the design possibilities are endless. It’s worth noting, though, that most “ornamental” gardens and landscapes, created across the...
The key to pruning, with the wellbeing of plant and people in mind, is both perceptive and insightful observation. Identifying the orientation of a crabapple, for instance, and understanding the importance of a north facing leader; as the plants typical behavior would be to have the most prolific growth reaching for the south or south...
by Chris Johnson My interest in looking at plants when I traveled started in my early teens. I remember visiting my grandparents at their winter home in Coronado California. I was walking past this stately conifer in front of the library when I realized it was a Norfolk Island Pine. It was easily 80 feet...
Most would agree that a great lawn is thick, green and easy to care for. The controversy starts when you add the words “weed free”. What is a weed? Generally defined as “a wild plant growing where it is not wanted”. Makes sense and certainly applicable to many plants found in the cultivated landscape with...
