Composted Thoughts

Sunday, January 29, 2012

23° here on the mountain this morning. There's a 4-6 mph wind that comes and goes, and as it moves a little, temperature corrected to wind speed drops to 16°. The sun is rising over Peacham Pond and the sky has rows of black clouds that look as if someone took a paint brush and dabbed gray-black paint across a light blue backdrop. The recent weather has offered up a variety of sky colors lately and this one will change too before night approaches.

The high point of the morning is that it's birdiferous out there and I do not know why. Karl the Wonder Dog and I just headed out for a second walk and just off the back steps where the overgrown Miss Kim lilac shivers, we were surrounded by a Hitchcockian flock of chickadees like I have never seen before. These are family oriented birds I hear but this was one big family, chasing each other in circles and surrounding us to the point that Karl was smacking his teeth as they went by. They are usually such docile birds and they tame quickly to hand feeding with little patience. But today they were little whirlwinds, covertly signaling a bird convention of sorts here at the house and feeders.

The eruption of evening grosbeaks from two days ago is still here feeding heavily on the Thundercloud crabs but my real amazement came when I heard the windy wings from a flock of 38 cedar waxwings landing in the sugar maple as they waited for blue jays to leave the Dolgo crab apples. I was so happy to see these birds as they landed and flew, landed and flew away but in between time crushed open frozen apples and consumed the seeds they cherish. I remember the waxwings as my mother's favorite winter bird.

The early rising juncos are everywhere on the ground under the feeders in company with about 20 mourning doves so we have quite a collection this morning. Perhaps these are not the kind of birds that birders marvel over but to me they are my day's entertainment and like old friends who show up unannounced, the waxwings produced a morning smile on my face as Karl gave a shiver and headed for the steps.

But it was the crows fighting in the compost pile that produced a thought for today and that thought really is about compost. I don't want to brag about Vermont but factually there is deep concern for what goes into landfills and what doesn't need to. The composting industry is very well established and it has reached the level from single composters to community composters to "let's make a bunch of bucks" composters. A while back I saw a lady enter the local store and leave off two spanky clean 5 gallon buckets in exchange for the two that had been filled at the back deli. Entrepreneurship at its best! Last year at Town Meeting there was a vote to change solid waste districts and part of the concern was who would pick up the food waste at the local school. Within 20 miles of here there are three or four commercial operations that take major food and waste scraps and turn them into black gold that is sold by the truckload or bagged. IN the case of the school, the worry was worked out with a new provider.

So yes, it is cold outside today but that doesn't mean it's the wrong time to think about compost. Time flies and before you know it you'll be walking your gardens and thinking about amending soil and getting better looking crops than last year. Just remembering last year's floods in May and the hurricane in August will remind you how much nutrient rich soil is in Lake Champlain now and how much you need to replace. So-o-o-o as you think gardening, think compost and begin to research what's available, how much you need and what the price will be. The Composting Association of Vermont might be the place to start although I'm not sure all the composters who have product to sell are members. For example Grow Compost Of Vermont in Moretown is one of the newer commercial endeavors. They are located on Route 100 between Middlesex and Waterbury and they have a very good product too.

Up top is an image of fall leaves. When spring arrives and you have to rake what you forgot last fall, get the leaves into the compost pile you always thought about building but didn't. It takes a while before leaves turn to gold but when they do, you might remember my hint.

And from the mountain above Peacham Pond where late waking ice fishermen are heading down to set up tip ups for fat brown trout, happy composting thoughts and if all else fails, fill the bird feeders.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
We're always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Vermont Farm Show

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Yesterday was the first day of the 2012 Vermont Farm Show as well as the first day at its new location at the Robert Miller Exposition Center at the fairgrounds in Essex. Big changes always require a shakedown cruise of sorts but I have to say this is a wonderful show that will knock your socks off even if you aren't a farmer. It's also admission free.

At the entrance some equipment is on display that stopped the farmer in me with a "what's that???" question. This gigantic Kuhn Merge Maxx 900 is a hay conditioner for the kind of Vermont farms that mostly only exist along the western side of the state. They are commonly used out west where turning big equipment around is not a problem. This piece is 28 feet wide. Here's a YouTube video of it in operation so you get a hint of the size.

Here's a quick series of other big equipment. If you have younger kids who have an interest in machines, this is a place they can see some things they won't forget. Hold them tightly and listen for excited voices.






More farm show thoughts and images to follow.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
Helping you grow your green thumb!

Our Nursery

Monday, January 13, 2012

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Already almost 7 AM here on the mountain. The sunrise over Peacham Pond is very nice but the morning light deceives one about the temperature and occasional wind. It's -15.9° right now but the puffs of wind push it to -18°, -19°, -21°. This is supposed to begin to change today and we'll experience slightly warmer conditions by tomorrow.

I haven't looked at Google Earth in a bit and wanted to offer an image of our nursery for those who have not seen it yet. US Route 2 is delineated in the middle of the image and the nursery is on the bottom half of the page directly opposite the "2". The dark, meandering line is the Winooski River.

Our "almost 5 acres" begins at the hook in the river on the right and extends to the diagonal fence line on the left at the end of the rows of flowers. The triangle of land to the left of ours that extends to the next "2" road marker is not ours. That land was planted in fir balsams perhaps 25 -30 years ago as a Christmas tree project so that's now a big planting of over grown trees in that dark green clump.

Directly across Route 2 lives the former owner of our land, our friend Gerry, who still owns about 70 acres there. At the top of the mountain above his house is a large field that is not at all noticeable from Route 2. I have never been up there to see it so looking at Goggle Earth gives me an idea of what is there.

If you look at the hook in the Winooski River on the right you'll know where the river began a new course this summer during the floods in May and the August flood that came with Hurricane Irene. That dark clump of trees along the river is where the hosta and shade gardens are planted and its from that area that the river swept countless plants downstream. When I feature hostas and other shade plants, this is where they are planted. Perhaps 50 years ago this same area was a staging place for the state to stockpile sand and gravel for winter application to Route 2. This was prior to the days when salt was used by the ton or modern day liquid brine is applied to everyone's dissatisfaction.

I keep thinking of buying a good GPS and doing a better job of mapping the nursery and our land on Peacham Pond Road. For some reason there is always something else that gains more importance. Right now the wood stove says "Feed me" and Karl the Wonder Dog asks for a trip outside--a quick trip!

Have an enjoyable day today but bundle in layers and be concerned about your animals, children, and older folks. It's cold out there and it doesn't take much to do serious damage.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the birds are absent but will soon be looking for their breakfast buffet. I have to get going. If you have any winter gardening thoughts, drop us a line.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
We're always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Vermont's Maple Products

Monday, January 9, 2012

6° here on the mountain this morning and the light breeze was just enough to make me grab my coat collar and pull it tighter as I walked quickly outside with Karl the Wonder Dog. His feet ran fast this morning and although he stopped for seconds to catch a sniff and check out a coyote track, he wanted the warmth of the wood stove more than he wanted the outdoors. In an hour or so his courage will build again and there will be a scratch-scratch-scratch by the door but for now there's comfort in the rug by the stove.

I spent part of the weekend returning some of the front room to normalcy after friend Michelle put two coats of fresh new paint on. Putting the cover plates back on the electric outlets is no great feat except I decided it's not the job to do at the end of the day when older eyes have trouble finding the notch in the plate screw and getting back up from the floor is a long, groaning affair. The room looks great and in a couple days, Michelle will be in the middle of the living room doing the same prep work, taping, painting. She's excellent!

Seed catalogs continue to arrive even though I haven't requested any new ones. I am trying to get paperless on as many things as possible but it seems that each day when Gail returns from the mailbox, there is another new catalog. The latest is a seed and potato company from the state of Washington. It carries all the fingerling potatoes we love so much but frankly the shipping coast to coast is a bit much.

We recently reported about the open house Friday at the Vermont Food Venture Center in Hardwick. One of the companies displaying their specialty foods was The Mapled Nut from Morrisville. Back in the late 90's I had an opportunity to sit in the home of the originators of this food product line and learn about what they had going on. Looking back at the evolution of a food product is a rewarding experience and I knew back then that the nuts were a winner. As Gail and I looked at the new offerings at the opening I was so happy to see where a couple of very hard workers took a start up before they sold it many years later. These nuts are more

than special and things like the new Nuts About Coffee line which takes Almonds or Pecans and coats them with 100% maple syrup and coffee or coffee and spices are ever so-o-o good.

Gail and I try to promote other Vermont businesses as we ask people to consider our own Vermont Flower Farm. Vermont is a perfect state for small business and The Mapled Nut deserves your look-see.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where buying a small bag of so called wild bird mix was a good idea. I put out some of the mix late yesterday and evening grosbeaks are telegraphing the new food story. Twenty something on the ground or on the feeder right now!!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
Helping you grow your green thumb!

Kale Is Good

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Just 6 PM and the temperature is dropping here on the mountain. Gail just returned from her walk with Karl the Wonder Dog and they both pushed hard to get in the door at the same time. My digital weather station reports 15.8° right now with a 3 mph wind but not even half an hour ago it was 19° so it is going down. We're supposed to have three days in a row of +30 degree weather and no snow so I guess tonight is the lull before the warmer days.

Friday we went to the grand opening of the Vermont Venture Food Center in Hardwick. I expected to see some representation of kale as there has been so much publicity in Vermont what with the challenge of out of state Chick-fils-a to Vermont's Eat More Kale. What we found was another kale company growing its way out of Johnson, Vermont. The product and company is named Vermont Kale Chips and it is led by Janice Blair.

The wooden bowl of vegetables, maple syrup, honey and herbs caught our attention and Janice invited us to try some of her chips. This is Vermont grown kale--I forget the names of the varieties she grows--that are cleaned and then drenched in dressings and dehydrated. The resulting chips are so tasty that eating one bite just doesn't make it and I am glad Janice was handing out small bags. Here's a picture--not too clear but you get the idea--of the product. As I sit here writing away and watching the Broncos football game, the bag is history but the flavor and memory are strong. If you see Janice's Vermont Kale Chips in stores soon, give them a try.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where neighbors are returning home to kindle fires and warm houses for the evening. Hope you're snug too!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
Helping You Grow Your Green Thumb!

Stone Thoughts

Sunday, January 8, 2012

26.2° this morning and a very light wind. One inch of granular, washcloth-wiped-clean snow on the ground from sometime after midnight. As Karl the Wonder Dog pulled me along on his morning walk, I pulled back on the lead once in a while to bring him to a stop so I could listen for owl greetings but there weren't any today.

Stone is an important part of garden design to me. I am criticized for my backwards approach to gardening but the stone I use for garden accent, I often place after I do the plantings and things have set in for a while. That was not the case in 2000 when I started the garden pictured above with these seven stones.

I need to do a better job pulling together the resources I have found in person and on the Internet for other gardeners to use. This morning I came upon an interesting blog named Stone Art Blog. Give it a look-see. I am also enjoying Vermont dry wall stacker Dan Snow's blog, In The Company of Stone. Try the Dry Wall Stacking Across Canada site too. Here's their gallery which offers some nice ideas. Stone is hard but the softness it lends to gardens is a contrast to contemplate. Today is a fine day for thinking!! If you don't like thinking, then ruminate!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where breakfast crepes beckon and bird seed needs to be readied for morning chores.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter at vtflowerfarm
Yes, we will help you grow your green thumb!

Vermont Specialty Food Production

Saturday, January 7, 2012

A slow-to-get-started morning here on the mountain. 23°, on and off 2-3 mph winds, and gray clouds mixed with very little brightness as if a storm is lurking somewhere this morning. I have missed the weather report for two days now so am just winging it when I predict snow showers and slightly warmer weather today. If Karl the Wonder Dog were the weatherman, the morning would read something like fair to mostly sleepy. I took him out at 5:30 and he didn't not want to come back to the house but now he is asleep on the rug in front of the wood stove, sleeping and dog dreaming with occasional dog dream outbursts that are meaningless to me.

Yesterday was the grand opening at the Vermont Food Venture Center in Hardwick. Gail and I had the event on our schedule for some time and despite pre-planning we were too late getting there to get inside the warehouse to hear any of the festivities. The crowd was enormous and the enthusiasm spilled into the production area of the building. Senator Patrick Leahy was in hand for the ribbon cutting and his experience and pride in Vermont shined as bright as his forever smile.

The specialty food industry is critical to Vermont. It fits so well in the puzzle of Vermont's current economic needs because the dairy industry has declined since its peak just after World War II. Specialty foods can still borrow from our agricultural foundation while providing jobs and income for employers, employees and government program needs.

Gail and I really wanted to experience the guided tour but as the clock headed for 3 PM the tours were not quite organized and we decided we'd return on a different day when there were fewer people. We did have an opportunity to chat with some producers and sample some of the products that were on display. I'll try to put pictures up on my George Africa and also Vermont Flower Farms and Gardens Facebook pages in the next few days.

The cheese display up top here was provided by The Cellars at Jasper Hill, a Greensboro Vermont business. The cheese on the right is an example of the Cabot Cloth Bound Cheese that is aged at the Cellars. Some of the other cheeses are from other producers who use the aging caves and the expertise this fine business lends to our state's cheese industry. If you enjoy cheese, you would have enjoyed the samples from this beautiful display.

As much as I get around and keep an eye out for Vermont products, I only found an empty bag of the Castleton Crackers shown just below here. The Rutland Rye flavor was obviously as popular as the cheeses. When I got home I looked up the site and made a note of stores

that carry the crackers. We are cracker lovers in our family and this company sounds too good to miss.


The open house was a great success. I'll continue to share observations and describe other producers in coming days. The Vermont Kale Company has a excellent snack product and sampling switzel brought me back to days in my youth when I drank switzel in the hayfields on super hot days. Switzel is made from sugar, water, vinegar and ground ginger and it quenches ones thirst on a hot day like you wouldn't believe. More later.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where birds flock to the feeders this morning suggesting that the day's weather really is changing.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
Always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Town Tours

Friday, January 6, 2012

A 3 mph wind this morning, 16° with total grey cloud cover. I have been out twice with Karl the Wonder Dog who is now driving me mad with his Christmas gift of a little squeaky toy the size of a weasel, supposed to be a fox I guess but only comes with two legs and a long tail. Somehow Karl folds this now wet rag-like affair in half and tosses it into the air which is quite fine until it lands on something his poor eyesight cannot locate. I enjoy the dog's happiness but don't like to keep getting up to retrieve his missing amusement.

Gardeners and their gardening have only been left alone for a month now so they don't miss their spring and summer get-your-hands-dirty pursuit yet as much as they will by the end of February. There are plenty of left over, non-gardening chores to complete, a few social obligations, and in any house there is some other member's "help me with this" list.

Yesterday Gail joined a couple friends in going to St Johnsbury where one of them had some incredible hand made silk scarves displayed at a craft store. It seemed like a good time for friends to ride along and visit a Northeast Kingdom town with many secrets hidden away. These three women are all avid gardeners but they also understand small businesses very well and they support Vermont business at every turn.

St Johnsbury is not unlike many rural Vermont towns. The stores run along a main street and up and down the side streets and parking is along the street and at some places off to the sides.
The storekeepers pride themselves in clean, organized stores with good selections, friendly smiles and good information.

Over the next few hours the trio visited The Artful Eye, The Northeast Kingdom Artisans Guild, Wool Away, Frameway Custom Frame Shop and Moose River Lake and Lodge. I think there were a couple other stores but you get the picture. Three good friends going to places that sell products that take hands to make and that the craftsman and the customer really enjoy. I told Gail that we should go again soon and take the camera and see if the owners will allow pictures. I'll bet they will.

As winter continues and those indoor plants don't quite do it for you, get out and see a town in Vermont you haven't been to. I'll bet you'll find a treasure that will make you sparkle too!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the town truck just went by. The clanking of the tire chains scared away the birds on the feeders but they'll be back soon. Their breakfast buffet was recently refilled and morning bird talk without politics will begin again soon.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
Always helping you grow your green thumb!!

Out With The Old

January 1, 2012

31.8° here on the mountain, windless and the only noise comes from deer, walking through the lower field and crunch, crunch, crunching through the wet snow. The sound of cars three miles below on Route 2 is absent today as people rest in preparation for the first day of 2012. There is a lazy fog hanging above the snow and no sense of urgency to jump into anything this morning.

Alex just turned off his lights and went to bed. He is 19 now but still and forever will be a member of the autism spectrum of life. He has had this thing for many New Years where he stays up well into the new day checking New Years events around the world and continuing his study of world and military history on his computer. I checked him at 1:30 and he smiled as only Alex can smile and he reminded how well 2012 was going. He also studies the actual history of alcohol as well as mixology and last night he ended 2011 with an Irish Whiskey Sour made with Bushmills, an Irish whiskey dating from 1608. I asked if he has chosen a drink to celebrate today with and he only replied "Contemplating".

I cannot recall the origin of "Out with the old" but it is an appropriate saying for the first day of a new year. As I finish writing this morning I will return the last of my garden books to the shelves of my newly painted, reorganized, freed-of-bushels-of-paper office. I never throw away a book but do recycle some here and there to where I know they will be appreciated. I also never throw away a plant even if I don't like it and that's what Gail and I have spent three years now doing with some of our daylilies at the nursery.

Daylilies are a fine perennial and appropriate for modern day gardeners who want color with almost no care needs. Gail has been taking rows of daylilies that no longer sell well and selling them each fall as bare root divisions to free up more garden space and get more people growing daylilies. I don't know the current count of registrations held with the American Hemerocallis Society but it is somewhere around 64-65,000 different registrations. Daylilies are the second most popular perennial, following hostas which have always held first place despite a contrasting registration count of under 7000 last I knew.

The very first daylily was registered in 1893. It was a cross between the species Flava and Middendorfii. It was named Apricot and here are some pictures. There are obvious characteristics that make this easier to identify but admittedly it took me years to get ours, an unnamed gift from friends, properly identified. That is understandable with so many to choose from.


So New Years has long been known as "Out with the old, in with the gold" but in the case of daylilies at Vermont Flower Farm, the "out" part only means that we reduce the number of each less popular daylily to a spot in a display garden where the name with remain as "gold" as the day it was first registered.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where my second walk of the morning with Karl the Wonder Dog spotted three sets of coyote tracks that weren't in the field two hours ago. Karl looks funny pushing his nose into the snow to get a good smell. When he identifies "coyote" his head raises quickly and he freezes momentarily before he scoots for home. Some dog!

Happy New Year!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Writing on Facebook at Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also at George Africa
On Twitter at vtflowerfarm
Helping you grow your green thumb into 2012!