Spring Chores

Thursday, April 12, 2012

A dreary morning here on the mountain. 33.4° now. Windless but damp from yesterday's rain, hail, sleet, snow. What a day!! This morning, the night's frost has already begun to melt from the standing seam roof and I can hear the drip-drip drips on the ground. Warmer weather is en route and certainly is quite welcomed. It should be up to 60° by Sunday.

Last evening I read two more emails inquiring what had happened to me since I last wrote about willows in March. I'm fine but have been ever so busy with spring clean up. I got to work in the woods much of the winter and recently I have been splitting wood for future years. I don't mind the job and usually try to work on the splitting at least an hour a day which translates to about a tank of gas in the splitter. When others go to a health club or go running, I go to the splitter. It's mindless work but you still have to pay careful attention to the moving parts and remember where your hands and fingers are. I usually entertain myself with my IPod and sing along to myself when no one else is listening. Many would not care to hear me and Talking Heads.

I stopped in the old hosta garden this morning and noted that more pulmonarias are beginning to bloom. The hellebores are well budded and the white ones, always the first to bloom, are opening. Their opening is not uncommon but to have a garden that is completely snow free on April 12th is uncommon here on the mountain. There are still patches of snow in the woods here but by and large the snow is gone.

I'm heading to the flower farm shortly and Gail will join me at 8:30. We have all the potted perennials uncovered so now have to roll up the plastic covers and the 3/8" insulating blankets and get them stored. We use old tires to weigh down the covers over the winter and they have to be loaded and brought to the storage pile until next fall. Gail refuses to participate in that job and even Alex who is way stronger than me avoids the job if possible. The tires are always filled with some amount of water that always ends up in the wrong place.

If you grow primroses in your gardens, be sure to rake last fall's leaves off to give them a good start. They are growing well now and the seeds they left last fall will be germinating soon. They are a plant that naturalizes well but the seeds will not germinate until the layers of leaves are removed. It's certainly worth the effort when a few years down the line you have great swathes of these beautiful flowers.

The call of a loon from Peacham Pond suggests that I grab another coffee and head out the door. If you haven't gotten into your gardens yet, get out soon and see what is growing, what needs attention. Take your pruners along as I'm sure there is something, someplace that needs a little attention.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where I can hear pileated woodpeckers having breakfast on the sugar maples in the orchard next door.

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

Early Winter HIke

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Approaching 5 PM, darkness has closed in and the temperature continues to drop from today's high of 40.2 degrees. Two days in a row of springlike weather meant we were able to get outside and get a lot of things done that might have been saved for much later into winter.

Yesterday afternoon some friends invited us to join them for a walk at the Virginia Stranahan Memorial Forest off Hollister Hill in Marshfield. Although we had some sense of the background of the forest, we had never visited. The Stranahan family offered all 622 acres to the Vermont Land Trust that ultimately gifted it to the Town of Marshfield. An industrious crew has mapped the land, laid out trails and done a lot of clearing. The parking area is open, a sign and guide map station has been erected, road fill added, a security gate installed and trails have been marked and cleared.

Seven of us left the parking area about 1:30 and walked the first leg of the Forest down Thompson Road, part of which is also the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers trail. Gail provided some entertainment along the way as she had snow proofed her boots before the trip and apparently went a little heavy with the silicon spray which she learned should not be allowed on the bottom of the boots. Pirouettes may be classic ballet (?) as Gail demonstrated from the back of the pack but they really have no place in an early winter mountain hike.

We took the first left which is the Sugar House Loop, a third of a mile long and climbing steadily uphill through some beautiful woods. Half way up the loop the old sugar house skeleton including evaporator pan lay on a rise, offering little to see but conjuring images of wood smoke and evaporating sap from bygone years. I stopped for a minute and my memory brought back the sweet smell of the boiling sap and the reminiscence of eating my first hard boiled egg directly from a wood fired arch.

Here and there large maples show leftovers from a pipeline system apparently used and in some places never recovered. One maple looked as if someone had cinched a belt tightly around it 4 feet off the ground as it grew around an old pipeline wire. The maples looked wonderful and Sara commented how straight they were and how far up they grew before any branches started.

The topography of the Sugar House Loop is interesting because as you rise in elevation you can look down and see plateaus rising from the bottom as if someone laid giant steps up the mountain. Sugar maples prevail in this area accompanied by some very nice green ash, occasional white birch, more frequent yellow birch and towards the end of the loop, fir balsams and hemlock trees. Snowshoe hare tracks wind in and out red spruce and a minor number of striped maples. Coyote tracks passed through several places. Deer tracks were fairly common although we saw neither deer along the way nor any moose tracks anywhere. We flushed one partridge before the sugar house site and I saw only two red squirrels the entire afternoon. I was pleased not to see or hear any pileated woodpeckers. These are spectacular birds but they signal problems with sugar woods as they hammer away, eating insects from dying trees. I am all too familiar with their presence here on the Peacham Pond Road where our maples are in trouble.

From the Sugar Woods Loop we jumped onto the Upper Sugar Woods Trail and from various vantage points could see Moon Field Trail and back in the direction of Eaton Cemetery and Route 2. The trees are thick enough that these are somewhat obstructed views but with the map you can get a good sense of how big 662 acres really is.

As the Upper Sugar Woods Trail heads downhill a bit you move onto the High Ridge Trail. There you meet Guernsey Brook, 5 feet wide and quiet this time of year as it eventually seeks to join Kings Brook before the two merge and head for the Winooski.

The end of High Ridge Trail is the commencement of Old Grist Mill Road. We stopped to observe what was apparently a grist mill at a small falls and then slid down the trail, parallel to the brook. Beavers had been here several years ago but were absent now. I stopped and looked back up to the waterfalls, now hidden in snow and ice. I snapped a few pictures and noticed how far behind Diana and I were from our quicker companions.




Deer had been feeding on ferns along the swamp and their tracks were more prevalent in the lowlands. Coyote tracks passed in and out of the swamp as we headed down an easy trail, rejoined Thompson Road and returned to the parking lot.

Towards the end of Old Grist Mill Road I spotted something I had never seen in all my days in the woods. I hope someone out there with more experience than I have can identify this plant growing in the bark of a green ash tree. It appears they have a relationship going but it's not anything I can explain. Can anyone help? Replies appreciated. Click to enlarge.

As Gail and I drove away, we had a better sense of what 662 acres involves but we also knew what a treasure had been given to our town. Although we don't know the names of many of those involved in the project, we are grateful for their time and energy. This is a magnificent place! For more detail, go to the Marshfield, Vermont town website and click on Stranahan Town Forest

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the outside temperature has dropped to 29 degrees as the wood stove inside warmed enough to draw Karl the Wonder Dog to "snoring mode" in front of it.

Happy New Year!

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Social Networking Works!
On Facebook as George Africa and also as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

Timeless Retirement

Monday, October 4, 2010

34° here on the mountain as the sun has found strength to break through the fog and clouds that prevailed two hours ago. Karl the Wonder Dog and I got out early and enjoyed the quiet and the smells of autumn on our back forest road. He loves to walk through the fallen maple leaves and dig and paw and root around even though I want to get moving. He found nothing to bark at this morning and my enjoyment was in the form of a large pileated woodpecker that left one dying sugar maple for another.

Fall frosts signal an end to many things, but for me and Gail, fall is equally as busy as summer. The nursery commands lots of very important work that is "behind the scenes" work that no one ever sees when they make a plant purchase. When frosts arrive my work slowly moves from the fields into the woods as I cut wood for the following heating season. We have slightly more than 70 acres here on the mountain, part in Marshfield and part in Peacham township. My forest work includes making a series of walking trails while cleaning up brush and fallen trees, reopening old woods roads and cleaning up around old white pines, black cherry, yellow birch and healthy sugar maples.

I retired the end of March from a career in state government that started in 1969. At the end I received constant questioning about what I would do to keep busy. Those who asked obviously never really knew me as keeping busy has never been a problem. Actually having enough time has been the problem and I have sought a "day stretcher" for some time but they just aren't made.

Yesterday Gail and I worked on our river garden along the Winooski River at our nursery. We have a vision for five acres of botanical happiness and this is part of it. It will take time to complete the garden and as those who know us say, our gardening endeavors will never cease.

We started working on April 1st and worked nonstop for over 150 days. As October approaches, the light at the end is Columbus Day when we close the nursery for the season. But since Labor Day we have been open by chance or appointment and that affords us time to catch up on things. For me, getting into the woods and back into some photography is the answer.

Up top is a picture from last Thursday. The property belongs to Marshfield's Water Tower Farm, home of Tennessee Walking Horses and a terrific therapeutic riding program. I took the picture just before the rain began to flood the area with well over 5.5 inches of rain here on the mountain. This field was still covered 24 hours ago but should begin to dry today.

If you are a photographer, there's probably a stack of pictures or a file folder on your computer that contains a bazillion pictures of the same spot. This is Marshfield Pond, a place in Vermont that is special to me. It is a couple mountains away from our house and I seem to spend a lot of time in that area. It lends an instant peace that sort of tranquilizes one from the busy life that is part of American now.

Guess I better get going here. I have dahlias and cannas to clean as soon as I change the oil in the '57 John Deere tractor. I need to get the brush hog mounted and trim out the woods roads and the back field one more time. Retirement is fun. Stop by if you have a minute. I probably have a story to share.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where Canada geese have been flying almost nonstop for three days.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as George Africa and also Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

American Beech Trouble

Thursday, November 5, 2009

27 degrees here this morning, quiet, motionless, peaceful. The morning light is just breaking through the tops of the tall poplars, tamaracks and fir balsams and in minutes there will be a change from white to pinky-red skies as we are reminded of incoming bad weather. For now it's nice.

Back on Blog Action Day, October 15th, I wrote my own piece on climate change. It didn't receive much comment but I suspect it evoked some silent thought that wasn't shared. I mentioned changes to our forests as they concern me. Changes to the American Beech are always on my mind.

Years ago when I was a new transplant living in Woodstock with parents trying to make a go of life in Vermont, I was introduced to the beauty of the beech tree. Down in back of the chicken coops was a mature stand of tall, clean beeches. These were giant trees and I loved it every fall when the nuts dropped to the forest floor and I'd sit there in the sun, back against a tree, shelling little triangular shaped nuts and popping them in my mouth. I always remember one day when I rose a hand to my mouth only to be startled by a big buck deer who had wandered in close to me, unannounced and oblivious to anything but a nice meal. Those were difficult times for our family but there was something still pristine about the bark of the beeches then and the quantity and quality of their annual seed crop.

Today things are different. Changes have led to warmer winters, and the beech bark disease, around since the 1800's, has taken over yet another beautiful tree. If you're not familiar with the tree or the history, here is a summary.

First the beech scale attacks the tree and then fungi begin their work. The trees will actually live quite a while as the destructive process overtakes the tree. You'll notice sections of a tree reaching skyward, devoid of leaves or simply sporting totally dead branches while other parts live on.

Beech is a beautiful lumber and it's durability and whiteness has long been used for cabinetry and furniture. It has especially been coveted in Europe where furniture color and design often set an example for the rest of the world. The wood is very dense and it is a valuable firewood high in BTUs and clean burning compared to softer woods.

Beech bark disease gets to the heart of the tree and renders it almost valueless, often before the harm becomes noticeable. This means that the tree become useless even as firewood because the heartwood is rotted and wet. The limb wood still has value but few homeowners and fewer loggers want to deal with a more labor intensive job just for the sake for some firewood. The interior rot also presents an unknown safety hazard for the person with the chain saw as it's impossible to be certain if the tree will twist and turn while being cut. Here on the mountain we
try to use everything we can and if it cannot be firewood it can be saved for the chipper.


As standing trees die off, their internal fortitude makes them stand tall for a long time. As they rot, limbs fall from above but the main trunks last a long time. This makes them a woodpecker paradise and pileated woodpeckers, North America's largest living woodpecker, love to carve away in search of insects.


If you have American Beeches on your property or in your forests, or even any of the newer beech hybrid ornamentals, please pay attention to their health. Sadly there is little we can do about the scale in entire forests but there are some opportunities for limited homeowner control.



Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where a road report just came in of icy conditions in central Vermont. Here it has just started spitting snow and Karl the Wonder Dog is barking at 4 turkeys that have decided to breakfast at the platform feeder. We're heading out to discourteously withdraw their self invitation.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm

Blog Action Day '09: Climate Change

CLIMATE CHANGE

In the early fifties my dad moved us from Port Chester, NY to Woodstock, Vermont. There were a number of reasons the move was not popular with me. There was no ocean in Vermont, people didn’t know what pizza was, there weren’t any chestnut trees and the climate was very difficult. Just like the Pilgrims needed the Native Americans, we needed the farmers next door and a nice community to make it through that first winter. Things did not improve for many more seasons to come.

My immediate reaction to Vermont was that the summers were short and cold, you could never buck up enough wood to keep warm, and growing seasons were unpredictable but you had to grow food to survive. When you were the kid weeding, picking, dusting and harvesting vegetables, milking a goat and feeding heifers, chickens and a couple pigs, you had to work hard at making it fun. Rarely was I successful.

Someplace in lost albums there are pictures of my dad, 6 feet 6 inches tall back then, shoveling snow over his head, building temporary corduroy roads to get us home from church or school or shopping, chopping ice and giant icicles off the roof, turning rivers of water out of the road before in ended up in the Ottauquechee River and spraying DDT on long rows of potatoes until the plants were all white to deal with potato bugs. These were responses to the climate back then. Winter snow was higher than the top of the ground floor windows by mid January and minus 35 degrees was common. Howling winds and snowdrifts only managed by the road grader were common.

Fast forward more than 55 years and changes are more obvious. It has not been -30 degrees here in Marshfield since our first winter in ‘89-‘90. Snow comes in various amounts but in the past five years, late winter storms have come few in number but deep in inches to the point that without the tractor and bucket, there would be no way to keep the driveways open. January thaws bring +50 degrees days—several of them, plus freezing rain, ice and downed power lines that are frequent around the state.

Animal life is interesting. Chickadees, the “everywhere bird” at Vermont birdfeeders in the fifties have moved further north where it is colder. Woodpeckers are abundant because of the demise of the hardwood and softwood forests. Pileated woodpeckers, representing America’s largest living woodpecker, are everywhere, especially on dying sugar maples. Cedar waxwings arrived in Marshfield perhaps five years ago and apparently are here to stay. Turkey buzzards from the south have moved to the north. Although they head slightly south each fall, they are noticeable in mid Vermont by the first of March.

Bald eagles nest in every state in the Continental US except Vermont but a recent restoration project is changing that. Peregrine falcons that were absent from Vermont were restored here beginning in 1979 and are doing very well. White and also rose breasted nuthatches, often described as territorial, approach the feeders in an abundance that contradicts their territorial label. Titmouse now visit each year but only briefly. Rufous Towhees have been seen here twice lately, kicking up maple leaves in search for food. Late spring storms have pushed in individual Scarlet Tanager couples, Indigo Buntings and Rose Breasted Grosbeaks. October eruptions of Pine Grosbeaks and Evening Grosbeaks prevail annually but always for different time frames as they stop to eat the seeds from crabapples like sargentii. Shrikes snatch small birds of winter from the feeders. Barred owls call often but are most noticeable just after New Years. Turkeys are well established over all of Vermont, having gone from nonexistent to “too darn many” along western farm fields, all in 30 years.

Vermont’s moose population continues to grow and move south. Moose have become a problem in the lower New England states as they check out new territory. I have personally witnessed two fine examples of Canada Lynx close by. A neighbor has recently seen and photographed a bobcat on her front lawn half a mile from here. Other neighbors are missing housecats, perhaps the result of bobcats but more likely due to fishers. River, lakes, ponds and streams see more otter now but mink in various color shades prevail. Black bears are appearing everywhere and often receive publicity for bad behavior. We have had many here at the house but none for the past month or so.

In almost twenty years at this house, skunks just did not exist. Parts of the lawn and adjacent fields are now full of Japanese beetle grubs and skunks have arrived to feast on them. They are willing to share their defensive scent with feral cats, sadly in abundance, the result of one way trips from urban areas, and Vermont poverty. Possums have made it to the western side of Vermont to Burlington and slightly north. Coyotes are everywhere and wolves are on the northern border. Bats of all type have succumbed by the thousands to white nose syndrome, a terminal illness of unknown etiology.

Insect populations have grown so quickly as temperatures have changed that almost every day from spring through fall you can spot a new insect you have not seen before. The greatest current threat is probably the Asian Longhorned Beetle. Vermont’s fine forests now occupy over 75% of the state but special tree species are gone or going. The emerald ash borer is taking out the ash trees, wooly adelgid is heading hemlock to extinction, balsam adelgid is wiping out large portions of our surrounding forest with trees dying within 5 years or less. A red ant I do not want to know about is building colonies beneath the long needle pines that coincidently are dying.

Beech trees are dying by the thousands as they are first attacked by beech scale and then a fungus follows the weakened bark. They stand pock marked, tall and partially leaved out for a few years while the vascular system fails and they die. Viburnums are attacked by beetles and they succumb in a single season. American elms can be found but not many have withstood the Dutch Elm beetle. Butternuts, precious for nut meats that go with maple fudge, are fighting butternut canker and are difficult to find now. They will be history in another 10-15 years, perhaps less. Even lilies including the wild L. canadense and L. superbum are being defoliated by the lily leaf beetle that over time will cause the demise of these favorite wildflowers.

Invasive plants are abundant and grow in number annually. Wild parsnip, garlic mustard, giant hogweed, and Japanese knotweed are four of the most important. The knotweed gets my vote for doing the most damage as it proliferates along streambeds although it can be found practically anywhere. It is shallow rooted but grows in masses, tall and quick, and shades out any vegetation underneath its leaves. When streams rise, there is nothing to hold the banks and they fall into the rivers and move slowly to Lake Champlain or the ocean via The Connecticut River. There are a variety of terrible aquatic plants clogging St Albans, Shelburne and Missisquoi Bays and Lake Champlain below the Crown Point Bridge. Inland ponds and lakes are noticing similar levels of intrusion by weeds and the zebra mussel haunts Lake Champlain by the trillions.

Climate change may have an obvious impact although this past summer the temperature was colder than usual and the month of July saw more than 15 inches of rain. Weather conditions have brought on more precipitation both during summer and winter seasons. This is not new and it will not go away. Many of these problems cannot be erased and those that can be erased must take a second seat to human protection. Climate change is like a book of many pages. It may be a long read, but we cannot save the ending until later.

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm

Blog Action Day 09

Great Customers, Great Lilacs

Monday, June 1, 2009

8:30 PM and as I look out the window, I think it must be freezing cold out there even though the thermometer now reads 49.4 degrees. My reaction is justified by the way it was earlier this afternoon and for the past couple days. Yesterday I was on my hands and knees most of the day planting hostas and it warmed briefly each time the sun came from behind a cloud but then reverted to just plain damp and cold. At 7:30 last night it was snowing. The limited customer count during the day was reflective of the temperature too. Who would want to garden when it was so cold and windy?

Customers at our Peacham Pond location were habituated to our presence and after more than 15 years, many knew better than us when certain flowers would be blooming. As we made the move to the valley last year, we lost some customers. How many we lost is still a question as our neighbors keep reminding us how many people they see in the driveway each day when we aren't here. We hope in time they will all catch back up with us. In the meantime we are picking up new customers from Route 2 traffic. This road is a major east-west highway and many of our new customers are from Maine.

Saturday a Montpelier couple that missed us last year showed up again. They each have their own garden at their home and they both enjoy daylilies. Many couples seem to share this concept and kind of try to best the other in dynamic affect or color contrast or balanced bloom time or highest bloom count over the season--got me--but it seems that variables like these come into play. Anyway it was good to see them again and they asked for suggestions and bought some of what I suggested after confirming how well all previous purchases had done. Austin did the digging and Gail checked them out so I could get back to planting.

We're still missing Eric from Massachusetts and haven't a clue where he is. He's our resident bird adviser as he is an internationally experienced bird fanatic and we haven't stumped him yet. Well, that's not quite true. He was emphatic one time that pileated woodpeckers were very territorial but he still didn't answer why we have 4 in the maples across the road from the house. Anyway, Eric has a summer camp in Groton, Vermont and he scoots up there every weekend he can from Memorial Day until as late as Thanksgiving depending on the temperature. We know he's out there someplace but just haven't seen him yet. Maybe mentioning Gail's blueberry coffee cake will bring him in. She hasn't brought any down for customers yet but he doesn't know that.

Today I stopped by the nursery after a day at my real job. It seemed that before both feet were on the ground, Gail shouted out "Hosta questions for you over here." I could see a person squatting by a display but I wanted to grab a jacket first as the wind was coming up and I was stiff from the ride in from Waterbury.

James Macfarlane Lilac

As I approached the unknown customer, he was looking over some epimedium Gail was in the process of rearranging into a new display. A pot of Japanese primrose, a variegated polygonatum, and a small hosta had already made the cut and I assumed were assembled for purchase. In short order I met Warren Oakes, Secretary of the International Lilac Society. He was en route back home to Maine after attending the 2009 International Lilac Society Convention and Annual Meeting in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. We struck up an instant conversation and it took me no time to ask for advice on a reliable lilac grower from New England. I explained that I was really interested in lilacs and I wanted to plant a border around our entire 5 acre nursery.




Customers often have something to share and very, very few are secretive about their knowledge. I always try to learn from customers and Gail and I have always tried to share what we know with other gardeners. This always helps as a new customer today is probably a customer for a long time. I told Warren that I was taking a couple days off soon to visit the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens probably Acadia and a couple nurseries in Searsport and Belfast. He suggest that I might consider Syringa Plus, a lilac nursery he likes in West Boxford, Massachusetts since I'm going to start or end my journey in southern New Hampshire.

Warren had been driving for a long time and had a ways to go but during our short time we exchanged good information and when we all said goodbye, I knew I'd see him again sometime. That's how good customers, good gardeners are. They're like great lilacs. Every year they please you with their presence. Here in this part of Vermont the tiger swallowtail butterflies first hatch around Memorial Day and they always head for the James Macfarlane lilac. Both sights please us a great deal.

With special thanks to all customers!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
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