Tuesday, December 7, 2016

A snowy morning here on the mountain. Snow was supposed to commence at about 4 AM and it was on target. By 4:30 when I got going, there was an inch on the ground. It quickly went from snowing to "resting" and then started up again. As I write, we are approaching 2" and there's not much sign of change.

Back ten years ago when we decided to move the flower farm away from our house and down into the valley on Route 2, I started a blog named Vermont Gardens to provide ongoing insight into what Gail and I were doing to recreate a different gardening resource. I continued with that blog for three years and merged it in July 2009 with The Vermont Gardener. I also started a personal George Africa page on Facebook and worked hard to learn social media and be involved with the online gardening community. Over time, I added a business Facebook page named Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens

Today I am here to report that I am writing a monthly piece for a really neat little paper named The North Star Monthly which is available in print and with an accompanying online account. It originates from nearby Danville, Vermont. 

As you have probably noted if you have been looking for The Vermont Gardener (that's me!)  to write more, it just doesn't seem to happen. Part of that is because Gail and Alex and I just ended our best season ever and three people managing 4.5 acres of flowers is a bit much at times. Even though this sign hangs prominently on our office building, it has done little to help us with one of the many aspects of operating a flower farm that seem to deserve more attention than is physically possible. Weeding!

So-o-o........here are some articles I have written for North Star. That work will continue through 2017, this blog will continue and the writing on Facebook will continue. I try to have everything I write go out on my Twitter account (vtflowerfarm) too and I use hashtags that have worked for us before to share the word. I know that some people have bad feelings about Facebook but I go with things that work for us. The two FB pages have a base of 4000 and a readership that is much larger.....and ....not always, but in this case, free is good!

If you are interested in the brief but informative pieces (my opinion) I have written for The North Star Monthly, I'll post them here individually.  Read on, ask questions, make comments, and happy gardening wherever you garden!!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the snow falls as blue jays use their heads and beaks to push snow off the feeders to have breakfast. I get mental whiplash watching them but they get to eat. Be safe! It's slippery out there.

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener