Real Good Hellebores

Monday, June 25, 2012

A most welcomed rain began last night and continues intermittently this morning. It's an even 55° outside now, windless and quiet and the critters of the woods and skies are quiet too, apparently waiting for the storm to pass. We have been asking for rain for weeks now and although we still didn't get what we really need, the amount that has fallen so far has made farmers happy that the parched fields left from recent "first cuttings" have had a drink. Gail says the weather reports look like continued rain for three days. We'll see.

The picture up top here is of some hellebores I purchased from Barry Glick, Sunshine Farm and Gardens several years ago. Although they are going to seed right now, they were beautiful this spring and because of such limited snow cover this past winter, they bloomed earlier and longer than usual. Barry has been hybridzing this plant for many years and his website is worth a look-see for many reasons. He has a special going on now and I am thinking about purchasing another 150 plants to spread among the shade garden at the flower farm. Hellebores do great with sun but I have places were the sun pokes through the maples and box elders and that's where I am thinking for more spring and early summer color.

If you grow different hellebores, send along a note or some pictures so more gardeners can see what a nice plant this is. A bouquet of mixed colors is beautiful and brightens the house for some time.

Time to pack some lunch and head to the farm. Need to start by giving the zinnias a final weeding. Not fun work but it has to happen. If you are out and about today, stop and say hello. Gail and Michael will be there all day today. I'll be in and out.

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!

Dividing Daylilies

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Almost 5:30 AM here on the mountain. It's 62°, windless, 98% humidity with a barometric pressure of 29.59. Vermont is preparing for one of the hottest days on record and The Vermont Gardener is getting ready to head to the flower farm to water the shade houses before it gets any warmer. This is a four hour job if Gail can help and it's something that has to happen. We like to get it done before we open for business but sometimes we get involved in other tasks as well. This morning I have to get some shrubs moved to where worker bee Michael will get them planted as accents to the hosta display garden.

Just up top here is a picture of how we display daylilies at the flower farm as they come into bloom and are ready for sale. We sell potted plants and also dig plants from our growing fields so seeing the actual flower assists with sales. This picture is from last year and daylilies are still a couple weeks out before these colors will prevail. Many daylilies are putting up nice scapes and they would do better with a little rain. By mid July the display gardens will be in bloom and scenes like the next one will be available.

This week we have been digging and dividing daylilies. This is a "must do' sport when you grow and sell daylilies and it really doesn't matter when you do it. Obviously to dig a plant that is just putting up flower scapes means some of those scapes will be lost during the process but by and large we are successful dividing and replanting at any time of the season from early spring on through the time in October when the soil temperature drops below 50°.

We are always amazed at how many people cannot make themselves divide a daylily and many cringe when they see how we do it. We dig up the entire plant with a spade fork or shovel and then use a garden hose to pressure wash as much dirt off the root ball as possible. They we pry apart the roots and separate plants by 1-2-3 fans depending on what we are looking for. If we are dividing a plant for lining out for future sales, we divide down to single fans and then plant them fairly close together in a long row. If we are potting for future sales that we divide to the level appropriate to the pot size. We might put 2 fans in a four quart pot that we want ready for sale in two years knowing that by then it will be 4-5 fans or we might start with 3-4 fans potted and ready for late summer, early fall sales this year.

I tell people to be ruthless with their dividing work because some people really do need a jump start to get on with the process. I have also seen gardeners that even with a thorough orientation and practice in one of our fields tell me they just can't do it as they think they are hurting the plant. So be it, that's why we are here I guess!

Here's a picture of a Darryl Apps daylily name Over There. It's a nice red and like most of his productions, it grows very well. This three fan plant would make any gardener happy next year with plenty of scapes and a nice memory of purchasing it at Vermont Flower Farm.

Guess I better get going here. I can hear loons calling on Peacham Pond and two tractor trailers just went by loaded with wood chips destined for the electric plant in East Ryegate. Some loggers are like The Vermont Gardner--have to get going early! Come visit!!

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
Here to help you grow your green thumb!

Favorite Old Daylilies

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

A rainy day here on the mountain. I have been fighting with Blogger for half an hour trying to get this blog out and the new format is having a few problems today. Not the only thing with problems. Gail just returned to the house after a walk with Karl the Wonder Dog and her hair looks like she just attended some ceremonial event where confetti was freely tossed. Her hair was covered with spent blossoms from the Miss Kim lilac by the walkway and it probably took me ten minutes to pick out the flowers. Now the kitchen floor is dotted with lavender colors and I have been chastised once again for not trimming down the lilac two years ago. I love starting a day with "warm" comments. Oh well.

As the daylilies begin to show color at the flower farm, web orders come in and we begin digging from the fields as people passing by on Route 2 see something they want in their gardens. Many gardeners enjoy the old fashioned daylilies. These are not anything special color-wise and many are shades of yellow or orange which are the two original species colors from a couple hundred years ago. Many have nice fragrances and some bloom in the evening, not the morning at sunrise. Up top is Hesperus and next down here is Hyperion.

Many of the older daylilies are very strong growers and they provide a jump start to early summer garden blooms. Dumortieri pictured below, is a vigorous grower and with its bronze back it provides real nice contrast. This clump is pictured from the display garden where it is backed up to a granite boulder.


I have always loved Citrina, pictured next. It is a night bloomer, fragrant, 5 feet tall over time, and is now used by more and more hybridizers because of these traits. It is a lighter yellow with a slight ripple to the petals. Very nice!


Bitsy, just above here, is an early bloomer that goes on and on. The dark stems are very nice and it works well in late spring arrangements with Trollius, perennial Bachelor Buttons, peonies, bleeding heart and a couple field-friendly lupines. The daylily blooms might have to be pulled from the arrangement after the second day but their presence is welcome for a while.

Apricot, just below, was the first daylily ever registered back in 1883. It is a neat daylily, a sparkling orange, and upfacing. The upfacing part requires a little more thought--as if you are planting Asiatic lilies, but it sure is nice, very hardy and it has a nice deep green foliage.

Golden Chimes is another small flowered daylily with a bronze back and dark stem. Like Bitsy, it works well in arrangements and this one has a long, dark stem.

I have to get going here as we have crates and crates of daylilies ready to get divided and planted or mailed. The loons are calling from Peacham Pond and remind me I'd rather be on a pond some place right now but work beckons. Despite the rain, stop by the flower farm and say hello if you have a chance today.

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
And ready every day to help you grow your green thumb!

Verbena Bonariensis

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Almost 8 PM and it's been a long day at the flower farm. I started the day at 6:30 finishing up leftover tasks from yesterday and ended tonight watering hostas and digging holes for more shade plants in the lower garden. A week less than a year ago, I had just planted about 150 new hostas in the display garden and the floods came along and I lost everything that was newly planted. There is a chance the same thing could happen again but the weather pattern looks a little different this year than last. 

This morning I planted 48 Verbena bonariensis for use as cut flowers in August. I really like this plant but buy in seedlings because it is not that easy to get started. The growers at Clausen's in Colchester have this down pat and  it's a lot easier to trust the job to someone who knows how to do it. I figure it must be a little tricky even for them as the price per plant is higher than for most annuals.

By August this plant is four feet tall in our gardens and loaded with long stemmed flowers. It can actually take quite a severe frost and the leaves don't seem to darken until it really gets nailed. In many states it has been classified as invasive although I have not seen that problem here. There is some seed germination but so little that I am surprised when I find seedlings around the nursery.

I have a lot going on tomorrow and will end the day with a visit from the Granite City Garden Club. They will bring a picnic and tour the grounds. Gail and I will be there so if you're out and about and want to listen in, stop by about 6 PM. Until then, happy gardening!!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where my honey bees are still going in and out. I can see that I'll have to replenish their sugar water in the morning.

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!

Honey Bees Buzz With Happiness

 Saturday, June 2, 2012

4:30 PM and raining cats and dogs as I sit in the shed at the flower farm watching cars stream by and waiting for the close of business. I relieved Gail a couple hours ago so she could get home to supper duties and she had only had three customers all day. Only "real" gardeners stop and break out the umbrellas when it's raining this hard.

Today's heavy rain seemed coincidental as I headed out with bee keeper friend Michelle at 6:15 AM to travel to Westfield, Vermont to Northwoods Apiaries to pick up a hive of honey bees. Oddly it was a year ago this week that I bought my first-ever hive of bees and within 24 hours they were covered by 6-7-8 feet of flood waters in what turned out to be the first of three floods and the biggest disaster ever to hit Vermont. I recovered that hive and the bees lasted until late summer when wax worms that infiltrated the hive during the floods devastated them. Until that point, that hive represented an exercise in strength and persistence that few believed.

I have to admit that I had second thoughts about spending more money on bees but last year's experience was an interesting journey into a natural science I had left back in my youth. A local man named Harold who people called the "bee man" was often called upon to retrieve errant swarms and afterwards he'd always share bee stories with me. I marveled at his little body as he climbed trees and marveled still more at his attire of a dirty old t-shirt and no protective gear at all. I have no idea how many times he was stung but it never bothered him.

I hadn't been to Westfield in some time and our morning trip to Hardwick and then up to Irasburg, over to Lowell and then up to Loop Road, Westfield was fun. One farmer was turning out a herd of freshly milked Holsteins into a new field and Michelle and I commented on how well kept the cows were. Sadly, a vet was working on one cow in the barnyard and this served as a reminded that parts of farming are not happy.

Josh White is the owner of the apiary and a simple hand painted sign at the end of his driveway said it all. "BEES". A small but growing line already existed when we arrived and we fell into queue to converse about our experiences and wait our turn. John moved the forklift back and forth just before our turn as he needed more boxed bees,

Last year Michelle and I travelled to Singing Cedars Apiaries in Benson , Vermont for an entirely different experience. There you popped open brood boxes and checked for bees, the queen, nucs and the like. With Josh,  the work was all done and the 5 frames including a nicely marked queen were ready to go. We were loaded up and on our way home with 4-5000 bees sitting between us on the front seat of the truck, our bee suits still behind the seat, never even put into action in contrast to last year's foray.

Making the transfer from a cardboard box to our hive sounds easy and it is but for some reason these bees got a little testy. When I took the box out of the truck, the box was warm because the bees were a little wound up and humming a tune I was not familiar with. I told Michelle I absolutely had to put on my suit but she said all she needed was a bonnet. She's one of these special bee people who never has a problem.

As I popped the top on the cardboard box, bees exited in mass and I was immediately stung 4 times on gloveless hands. I never wear gloves but these bees were testing me. Even Michelle decided that a pair of gloves made sense until we made the transfers. Things went smoothly from there although I picked up a couple more stings through my pants and she got nailed on the back and on one leg. Within an hour my arthritic hands felt a lot better so I guess the interaction was worth it.

The queen looked fine and had been laying like crazy so more and more bees will be hatching soon. I should have asked what type bees these were as they are slightly larger than the Russian mix I purchased last year.

There are some interesting differences in the behavior of this hive compared to last year's hive but that is common among bees. I still don't know what stirred up such a quiet hive but it could have been the screw gun noise as I made a couple last minute changes to the base I had constructed for the hive. The hive is inside an electric fence but adjacent to the house where I can keep track of it by looking out my office window. A single male phoebe is also spending lots of time there picking up dead bees from the transfer.

I will keep an eye on these bees for a few days now to be sure they have enough food and water as it will rain more this week and food sources are minimal right now. There is a nice bank of blackberries near the hive but I figure the flowers may be spent by the time the rains cease in another day.

If you haven't gotten into bee keeping before, it can be another one of those bottomless pit things but there is a joy involved. Last year I was surprised how watching the direction of the workers leave the hive made me more cognizant of the flower types in bloom at different times of the summer. Gail has offered some encouragement as she knows I am really interested in bees but knowing as she does about the bear population here at the house--three sows and six cubs, she is not as optimistic as I am that the electric fence will do it's job and the hive will be standing come late fall when it's time to prepare it for winter. Regardless of those thoughts, I'm smiling today!

Writing from the nursery office where a flock of adult common mergansers just traveled down the Winooski River. Maybe tomorrow will bring better weather and more customers. Sun will encourage the bees to acclimate to their new surroundings.

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
Stop by VFF and we'll help you grow your green thumb!

Bird Friends

Birds Friends

Thursday, May 31, 2012

5:36 AM and just in with Karl the Wonder Dog. He acted like he needed some help from that guy on the new Dog in the City show that started last night on television. Karl refused every command and made it clear that there were too many nice smells this morning. There was 1.5" of rain in the bucket by the back door and he was trying to tell me that since the rain has stopped, every manner of wild animal is out and about and he wanted to check out the neighborhood. I suspect within about ten minutes he'll have awoken Gail and she'll be out letting him meander where he wishes as I prepare to head to the flower farm.

Many gardeners enjoy bird watching and I have always tried to pay attention to birds in and around our gardens and woodlands. With the kind of weather we have received in recent years, birds arrive that sometimes don't seem to fit with our local birds. I remember one year when a a very strong storm from the south ran through Vermont and the day after it finished we had an Indigo Bunting, a Scarlet Tanager and a Rose Breasted Grosbeak in the garden in the same tree at the same time. Colorful but uncommon for  sure. The following day we had a Towhee under the sugar maple scratching leaves. This past week our local library has sponsored a bird walk and local naturalist Brian Pfeiffer continues to offer some specialized tours too. These events are always fun to attend and help understand birds better.

Time flies like birds and almost two weeks ago I was packing for a trip to Maine. One of my firsts stops en route to Acadia was the Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory outside of Bucksport. The observatory rises 437 feet above the Penobscot River making it the tallest bridge observatory in America. I had been by a couple times before but one time it was foggy and another time I was a couple hours early and it was not yet opened. This time I planned for the visit.

As I exited the car and headed down to the elevator, I heard a loud, shrill, threatening bird voice coming up behind me from the mountain behind. As I looked up, a peregrine falcon was cruising like a guided missile at +100 mph towards a nesting box on the old bridge. that runs parallel to the new one. The bird was telling everyone that it was breakfast time for the kids in the box and it landed on a dime with a skill that is too hard to describe. When I got to the observatory entrance I asked the ranger for info and he told me the nesting box had been placed on the old bridge 25 years ago but it wasn't until two years ago that the peregrines took up nesting there. I know I'll keep an eye on it every spring as I pass through as it's really something to see. My little camera doesn't do the bird justice but here's my best effort. The local cliffs over by Marshfield Pond off the Lanesboro Road here in town was one of the original peregrine restocking points in 1979 and every week we see peregrines in this area. Some days in winter they are around the bird feeders and....well....that is a different nature story.

If you visit Maine and are in the Bucksport/Prospect area, stop at the observatory and see if there is any action. The entrance fee includes entrance to Ft Knox too. Here's a Maine tourism video to give a quick overview. 

If you have any good pictures of peregrines, please send them along. My trip to Maine was too quick--almost peregrine-like, but I loved every minute of it as I always do. For now, I have to get heading to the flower farm. The sun is bright and flowers await. Lilacs are blooming and their fragrance is a lure to tiger swallowtail butterflies.

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm.

On Facebook at Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also at the George Africa page.

On Twitter at vtflowerfarm

And always at Vermont Flower Farm where we're there to help you grow your green thumb!!

The Green Garden

Monday, May 28, 2012

My kind of morning here on the mountain above Peacham Pond. It is clear except for some very high level, broken mackerel sky and it's windless. The quiet of the morning is interrupted here and there by the songs of tiny, secret, warblers and vireos with nice voices and an ability to stay hidden. There is no concert here but one voice after another calling and replying in pleasant sounds that want me to find the source but I never can. I need some time and a very good pair of binoculars for tired older eyes--mine.

The Vermont Gardener spends winters reading and writing and sometimes there is something that really catches his attention. Two months ago now I received a copy of a very special book that deserves attention. I have pictured it above for reference. It's Ellen Sousa's The Green Gardener. The subtitle offers a good indication of the paths it follows. "A New England Guide to Planning, Planting and Maintaining the Eco-Friendly Habitat Garden". If that doesn't jump start you enough to purchase a copy, I think the Forward by William Cullina will help. Mr Cullina is the Executive Director of my very favorite Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, Maine.He is known to me as an expert in the wild flowers I love so dearly. When you get a few minutes, check out his site and go from there. From one gardener to another, believe me, Ellen's book is a worthy journey into garden planning and planting in a manner that remembers habitats the way I think they should be remembered.

When I first heard about Ellen's book I knew it was the kind of book I kept telling myself had to be written. There are bazillions of gardening books out there and many sell because they have fine pictures of perfectly manicured gardens that some people pay to have recreated and others dream about or put into a twenty year plan of development, one or two plants at a  time. The Green Gardener is so different however, because it commands us to look at everything that resides in and about our gardens and passes through at different times of the year. It emphasizes the relationships of wildlife to our plantings and speaks confidently about the virtues of relationships some have forgotten. I like that thinking a lot.

Last week I spent some time in Maine at Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, and two very special gardens in adjacent Northeast Harbor, the Asticou Azalea Garden and Thuya Garden. I also visited Coastal Maine Botanical Garden as I have perhaps 6-7 times now. These garden tours were a living reflection on what The Green Gardener offers as guides for keeping nature in all garden planning schemes.

Ellen Sousa is a master of photography and she knows how to incorporate just the right picture with just the right description of eco-friendly habitat gardening. I could easily write a book of gardening short stories to coincide with each of her pictures as they are so very powerful. They run like ocean currents with the adjoining flora and leave the reader this a list of "must dos" for their own garden development.

Last week as I sat on Sand Beach and then on Cadillac Mountain in Acadia I thought through The Green Gardener time and again. I kept making mental notes of things I had read and garden elements I saw along the way that came close to Ellen's design ideas. When I finished at the botanical gardens I was possessed to get back home and tell others they have to order up The Green Gardener. As I sit here this morning, the tiger swallowtail butterflies Ellen pictures on alliums are heading in droves to our just-opening James MacFarlane lilacs, bumblebees are pollinating the blueberries,  a phoebe is finishing a nest, Mr. Tom turkey just strode by Mrs Turkey's nest along the woodland perimeter, and spent dandelions wait for a morning breeze, their numbers reminding of soil that needs attention, not weeds that need herbicide. 

Regardless of whether your gardens are well established or still on the drawing board, I know you will find Ellen's Sousa's The Green Gardener a friendly read that will leave you with a list of things to do as well as many, many good conversations with fellow gardeners. I know it has made me look at things differently and helped with lots of new ideas. One more cup of coffee and I have to head to the flower farm where before the day ends, I'll share some new ideas with some new visitors.  Good reading to all!!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the Vermont Gardener is getting back into writing as days get longer and flowers boost enthusiasm. If you have read The Green Gardener or another gardening book you would like to recommend, please leave a comment here. 

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

Stop by and let us help you grow your green thumb!!!

Where's the Vermont Gardener?

Thursday, May 24, 2012

A gray sky, 51°, windless morning here on the mountain above Peacham Pond. Karl the Wonder Dog has been out for his morning walk and although he pulled hard on the leash to walk deeper into the woods, he finally got the message that home was where he had to head. I have a ton of things going on today and the dog walking chore will become responsibility for Alex for the remainder of  today.

I have always had this really bad feeling about people who start blogs and then let them lapse. Sometimes people ask me to add a link to my blog and when I go to see theirs I see that nothing has been written for 5-6-7 months, sometimes longer. I always have this devotion to readers and feel obligated  to write about gardening and Vermont and keep people interested. This morning when I finally went to click on Blogger and begin writing,  I had to think for a minute about my password. I told myself that 5 AM was the problem but when I got to the blog I could see that my absence was all too long. I apologize folks, for this is not the way to run a blog, a business or a friendship. So what has been wrong with The Vermont Gardener?

No matter how old you are, getting older makes it a little more difficult to juggle responsibilities. Owning an agricultural business adds to it, as does being responsible for a 19 year old on the autism spectrum and a 93 year old uncle who doesn't remember much more than his name. The list goes on. and we do too. This winter we helped a good friend on her first house buying process and have been helping with renovation work. Gail has had a difficult spring learning that arthritis strikes at inopportune times. The auto start on the truck went crazy and burned out the ignition and had to be towed around Montpelier to find a mechanic that understood Chevy wiring systems. The pump house at the nursery had to be moved up the riverbank and a new pump installed to compensate for last summer's flood damage and this summer's watering needs. The 1982 Troy Built Horse rototiller blew a wheel seal in the middle of spring clean up. In between all this there was more wood to cut and split and work to finish on the writers cottage which started last fall and is finally moving to completion. When Gail ran out of things to do she worked at the Food Shelf. and I guess I just made lists of things I need to do.

A week ago I said to Gail that I needed a break to boost my spirits and prepare myself for a summer of 7 days a week nursery work. I made some reservations, packed a bag and headed to Maine, my favorite non-Vermont place. Like Hemingway, I find solace in the sound of the ocean and I needed that peace for a while. My journey was short but it did what it was supposed to do and I am ready to roll again. In days I'll write about visiting the +400 foot observatory over the Penobscot River,  watching Mrs Peregrine Falcon hit a nesting box at +100 mph with food for her young, sitting on Sand Beach at Acadia National Park, listening to the roar of the waves crashing into Thunder Hole, climbing Cadillac Mountain, visiting my favorite Asticou Azalea Gardens and Thuya Gardens at Northeast Harbor, seeing bald eagles, moose, and an elusive yellow throat,  touring the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens for the umpteenth time and .watching tides come and go at the Reid State Park. People rejuvenate themselves in different ways and this is what I did.  

So once again, I am sorry I have neglected The Vermont Gardener blog for a bit but I'll get back here on a regular basis. In the garden the Hemerocallis dumortieri have tall scapes that should begin to open by Monday or Tuesday. Primula are in bloom, hostas are getting fat and leafy, lilacs popped yesterday, dandelions are too frequent, primulas are beautiful.....the list goes on and on. The various white, pink and yellow lady slippers have replaced the passing Trillium erectum, grandiflorum, undulatum and lutuem in our gardens and the adjacent woods. Mrs Bear #1 has 1 cub. Mrs Bear #2 has two cubs and Mrs Bear #3 has 3 cubs and they have all stopped by for a visit at the house. Maybe if you get a chance, you can stop by Vermont Flower Farm and say hello too!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the loons are quiet with nesting responsibilities and a doe deer feeds at the edge of the lower field, pregnant with one or more kids who should be born in a couple weeks. Life is good, busy but good. Come visit! Bring gardening questions and smiles

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

Let us help you grow your green thumb!

Autism Awareness Month

Friday, April 20, 2012 

40° here on the mountain this morning. The birds everywhere are singing morning welcomes from the loons on Peacham Pond to the robins and warblers here at the house. A pair of mallards just touched down on the trout pond as the sun rises slowly. Everywhere I look, things seem in order for a very nice day.

April is a busy time at Vermont Flower Farm and at times I stray from my writing responsibilities, not because I want to but because there are so many things going on. Today for example I head out early to the dentist for the "delivery" of another crown and then I am off to FW Webbs to pick up the last parts for the new pump station installation. I have a load of fertilizer to pick up and then need to stop at Plainfield Hardware for a stove pipe fitting for the writers cottage. It will probably be noon before I get back to Marshfield and can work away at various projects in hopes of beating the impending rains. Days like today tire an old guy and writing often gets postponed.

All gardeners have other responsibilities just like me. In August 1992, my son Alex was born at 8:30 AM. What was supposed to be a straightforward delivery became complicated and during the week stay for him and Gail at the hospital, I wondered if he would ever stop crying and what exactly was wrong. I can't say that I was especially enamored with the hospital folks as they pointed out things like "new mother", "trouble feeding son", things like that, but I figured when we got home that would all change. Happily we got home and unhappily Alex cried for about 6 months straight. It took about eight years to figure out that the day Alex was born he became the latest member of Vermont's population on the autism spectrum. It wasn't an especially enlightening affair to me and I doubted everything people suggested until I brought myself to the reality. That story brings me to Autism Awareness Month which is celebrated during April. I am mentioning autism here in a blog about gardening because with autism ratios of 1 in 88 births, the incidence of autism in the world will soon touch everyone, including gardeners, their families, friends and communities.

 

As time went on we learned a lot about autism and we studied every therapy we learned about. One therapy suggested developing a relationship between a person and horses and was known as hippotherapy. I learned of it as therapeutic riding and Gail found of a program at a Marshfield neighbor's horse farm. Before much time passed, Alex was working with staff at Water Tower Farm in a well known program,  Rhythm of the Rein Therapeutic Riding. He continued with the program for three years and made incredible progress that began with learning about horse care and ended with him riding solo. I cannot say enough about this program, or about owner/trainer Dianne Lashoones and her staff.

As you scroll through these pictures you'll see Alex in the very early days of his training. He acclimated to the horses very quickly and he leaned to care for them, saddle and unsaddle and ride in between. There is something almost tranquilizing about being with such a big animal and riding along. The program mellowed him out so well and it was a program that he wanted to participate in.

As you read more about the program Dianne offers, you'll note that it benefits children and adults of all abilities. It has shown excellent progress with vets and I have heard mention of some super results with those affected by post traumatic stress disorder too.

Seeing is believing and if you wonder if this program would be good for someone you know, give Dianne a call and set up a time to go watch the program in operation. To be honest, there were times with Alex when I would find myself standing by the sideline in the arena talking to a barn cat or two with tears in my eyes over what Alex was doing. Therapeutic riding works!

So as April moves well into its second half, think about autism, who you know and what autism is. Alex will be twenty this August and a lot has changed since the day he first climbed onto a horse. In the world of autism we know a whole bunch more about treatment now but we still haven't learned enough about the etiology. If you can, make a donation to one of the autism research programs or talk to Dianne about sponsoring a rider who needs some help.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where two noisy ravens just landed in the maple over the compost pile. They are apparently discussing what looks good for breakfast.

Have a great day and get that outside work done before the rains begin.

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 ready to help you grow your green thumb!

The nursery opens on Mothers Day but we are there about every day now. If the gate is open, stop by. Bring questions and smiles!

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

Willow By Any Name

Sunday, March 25, 2012

The Kansas-NC basketball game is over and I can get back to some writing. It's been a long but productive day. The rain was doing its thing when I awoke and it continued on and off much of today. When I came out of the woods at almost 4 it was tapering off. I approached the woodpile with the 9th tractor bucket of blocked wood and thought I should go for a couple more but my wet shirt convinced me enough was enough.

My off season Sunday routine is to go to the local store and pick up my paper and come home for another coffee and the news. For some reason the Burlington Free Press, my preferred paper since 1966, has decided it doesn't want to be timely with deliveries. They came out with some new paper format a month or so ago and have been promoting on-line news but to the wrong guy. I remain one of those "hold newspaper between two hands" kind of guys and the absence of that feel irritates me. I intentionally went to the store later just hoping the paper would be there and as I drove in, the paper lady drove out. Success in a rural world!

I headed down to the flower farm for a quick visit as Gail has been working there for several days cleaning up and getting ready to uncover all the pots. I walked from one end of the 5 acres to the other and stopped for a few minutes to look over the willows. Salix has always interested me and I recall how my mother looked forward to spring when Pop would cut her big handfuls of 3 foot tall stems which she put in a tall vase he sent back from a WWII tour off the coast of China. I never heard or don't remember where the vase was actually acquired but Navy men swapped dollars in many places. My dad always loved my mom and always sent gifts and letters.

Willow is a nice name too and seeing willows in bloom at the flower farm made me feel good on a rainy morning. The supple stems move in the morning wind but today the rain drops held tightly to the catkins as if Super Glued on despite the weather. Back in the 60's Willow was used as a name and I knew a Willow that slipped away someplace towards the end of the 60's. Don't know where she went but she took a special memory with her.

So three years back I bought a couple willows that interested me because of their use in the floral industry. The image up top here shows the two willows planted in parallel rows. On the right side is Salix sepulcralis 'Erythroflesuosa', The Twisted Willow, originally from Argentina. Although it is recommended for zone 5, I know many people who grew it in colder climates. It grows crooked like a Lauder's Walking Stick and from winter on it exhibits a nice red-bronze color to the golden yellow stems. Florists like it because it gives them an interesting vertical representation and contrasting color combination different than other filler material.

Just behind the Twisted Willow and to the left is the Japanese Fantail Willow also known as the Dragon Willow, Salixundensis 'Sekka'. It is pictured by itself in the second picture down. This one can reach 15 feet wide and 20 feet tall over time but I am trying to build populations so I coppice them each spring right after the go to seed.



The Fantail Willow is peculiar because it puts out an abundance of beautiful stems with many fine catkins but also has heavily fasciated stems that twist and turn as flattened steps that are peppered with catkins in lines or appearing irregularly from everywhere. Once again, this is a florist's delight to work with but you have to know your audience or the oohs and aahs could turn derogatory. The next couple pictures give the perspective and I expect you either like them or you don't and I already know some will share opinions with me on this willow. As I write this I'm listening to 21 Adele and I'll bet she would be in the "I like 'Sekka' column.




Willows are very easy to grow and propagate. The Internet has many growers and an unrooted stem is usually less than $1.75 plus Shipping. They are sold like most floral products in bundles of ten and although they might look a little sorry when they arrive, a quick soak in a bucket of water and they'll be ready to plant. The Twisted Willows just below here are in abundance at the nursery from cuttings I took last summer and propagating simply means pushing a cutting into wet or damp soil and waiting.

Willows also have a history of being a natural rooting agent. In old days farmers would often take a couple branches of willow and cut them in 2"-3" pieces and leave them in a bucket of water for a few days. The resulting water can replace modern day rooting agents that cost $5-$9 for a one ounce container. Try some as the results will be equal or better.

As my album draws to a close, so do my thoughts about willows. We won't be officially open for business until Mothers Day in May but if you see the flower farm gate open and want to try your hand at willows, stop by and say hello. I can probably find some cuttings to get you going.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the wind has stopped but the temperature holds at 40°.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook at Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
At VFF we are always available to help you grow your green thumb!

Sugaring

Monday, March 19, 2012

Morning is slow to start here on the mountain today. I took Karl the Wonder Dog out earlier and the 2 mph wind blew lightly in my face and the 47° temperature was obvious. Karl abbreviated his walk and tail-between-legs headed to the house because the coyote convention in the adjacent field was overwhelming to him. It was well attended enough that I had no desire to go there either. We both retreated to the house and here I am awaiting sunrise.

Yesterday was a different story for me and I was out of here early to cut some trees for some friends at the Marshfield Inn and Motel. Then I headed to the Stranahan Memorial Town Forest to check out the sugaring operation there. Last year maple syrup producers in Vermont set a new record of well over one million gallons of syrup produced. This year is a different story and many producers are just catching up to last year's daily totals, some are exceeding them, but many are down significantly. The mild weather, lack of snow pack to keep the tree roots cool, and the unusually warm temperatures, especially at night, have slimmed production. Nightly temps must fall to freezing and mornings like this one do not encourage a good sap flow.

The Stranahan Forest is adjacent to Hollister Hill Farm which is a great place that juggles farming and a bed and breakfast. As I slowed to avoid some road ruts I noticed four cars in the parking lot with three out of state license plates suggesting visitors. The farm is managed by the Light family and maple sugaring is part of what they do very well.

Sugaring has modernized itself in an attempt to cut labor costs and that means that using galvanized buckets to catch sap and then hand collecting the sap into a tank has been replaced in part by many sugarers. That is not to say that as you travel Vermont you cannot find many sap buckets hanging from trees along the road and in the forests. The new pipeline networks lead the sap through plastic tubing back to the sugar house or into storage tanks. The issue is labor versus price and many do not have the money to make the conversion even though it makes sense. Each tap that involves pipeline averages an installed price of $10 so that's quit a financial commitment for smaller producers. In the days when I was a kid, most every farmer sugared and I remember the old farm ladies next door telling me that the purpose of sugaring was to pay the farm taxes. I suspect that was common back then but now you have to produce a lot of syrup to pay property taxes in Vermont.

So the choice of sap collection is by buckets or pipeline and now there are even more technological recommendations, many coming from the University of Vermont Proctor Maple Research Center, and some coming from sugarers themselves. Research has led to using a vacuum system on the pipelines to actually suck the sap out of the trees. Maybe it would be better to say the vacuum "gently teases the sap out" so you aren't left with the vision of an empty hulk of a maple tree at the end of the season. Fact is that pressure does not appear to harm the trees at all and it does increase sap volume collected.

Another advance is the use of reverse osmosis to separate water from the main sugar product. This means that the evaporation process that is used to reduce sap to syrup takes less energy and works faster. A sugarer gave me an example yesterday from the night before when he had all his tanks full of sap but through reverse osmosis he boiled everything down to 110 gallons of syrup in about 2 hours versus 15 hours if he had used an oil fired evaporator. If he had boiled down that same sap with a wood fired evaporator it would probably have taken even longer. Neither of these technologies is cheap and in the world of big time syrup production you have to think of payback over ten years.


The taps that are used have gone from the metal spouts from my day to plastic spouts. The latest generation of spouts encourages longer sap flow, less bacterial build up (hence less tissue cell closure and end of flow) and almost no clogging with a new design that was just released last year. What some folks forget when pouring syrup on their pancakes is that these systems must be kept clean and the osmosis rigs have to be cleaned every day and the entire systems have to be made spanky clean at the end of the season. Miles of pipeline means running water and cleanser through the entire systems and trust me folks, this is a bigger job than washing your dishes in the sink or home dishwasher--lots bigger!

I had a nice time catching up on sugaring and want to remind you there's a little time left to get to a sugar house yourself and see how this is done. It takes 35-40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup and there's a lot involved to get to the end product. Like anything agricultural, there is a lot of behind the scenes work that users don't often see. Kinda like growing flowers which reminds me, I have my own chores to get to today. Need to scoot!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the birds are reminding me the sun is up but the bird feeders are empty. Have a nice day!

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
And remember, we're always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Starting Seeds

M0nday, March 12, 2012

Just in from a morning walk trying to get out into the field before the temperatures rose enough to melt the crust and no longer hold my "winter overweight" without snowshoes. My goal was to find a few birds nests left from last year to photograph for a later blog but despite always seeing birds, locating nests is not as easy as it might seem. There are a couple popular places further down Peacham Pond Road and I'll go there a little later when the snows melt more. For this morning I had to be satisfied with the beauty of the day and the freshness of the air.

Spring is not officially here for a while longer but today was a signal I tend to go by. I looked out at the hanging feeders and eight grackles had arrived and were fighting over the suet bags. The grackles always keep their big eyes in watchfulness for intruders and their hearing is better than mine ever was. Clicking on the camera was enough to frighten them away so I didn't get a picture today. I convince myself they are good scavengers but truly they are messy feeders just like blue jays. But they remind me of spring and after any winter, even one as mild as this one, thoughts of spring are nice thoughts.

As I grew up, we lived next door to a centruy old farm and the farm ladies were responsible for starting vegetable seeds for eventual transplants. The official day for planting tomatoes and peppers was Town Meeting Day, the first Tuesday in March. In later years the day made no sense to me as by the time of last frost the first week of June, the seedlings were very leggy and needed extra care to plant.

Now days greenhouses start plants according to computer profiles and they manage the last couple weeks before sale according to daylight and temperature. Those controls are far better than one of the farm ladies putting another log in the kitchen stove or moving small flats from window to window for more or less light. Just the same I have had the opportunity to follow all methods of production and as long as the end result is baskets full of tomatoes, who cares.

Tomatoes are a popular fruit and they always will be. In recent years there has been an insurgence of early and late blight and crops have been devastated. Part of this is getting the right tomato and the other part is good plant care.

The high tunnel greenhouse up top is an example of how growers have taken climate change out of the equation. There are giant greenhouses around the world that grow millions of tons of tomatoes internationally and the products are most often blemish free. The tomatoes that used to be described as "tasting like cardboard" now have very good taste as well as being capable of holding up to transport to distant markets. Hybridization has come a long way and will continue to improve world wide.

The middle picture is a row of Romas grown by a friend down the road from here. The year of this planting he lined out a row alongside his house in an attempt to better deal with temperature and water fluctuations. The theory provided a good crop of toomatoes which he always dehyrdated and then froze for year round use.

The picture of tomato seeds is of a tomato named Amsterdam. They were hybridized by a company interested in growing a grape type tomato that had good flavor and high sugar content. They are plum shaped and grow quite tall when trained vertically. They have a very high brix level which is the food industry's sugar measurement. In adition to their positives for sweetness and high output, then seem to be able to fight off current fungal challenges.

On a day like today you might be tempted to plant some tomatoes or peppers and you can. But I'd suggest waiting a little longer. If you persist and end up with leggy plants, you can always dig a trench of sorts and lay the majoritiy of the "height" into the trench and then upright the last 6 inches of plant. It will produce a major root system and catch on real fast. Do what seems right and report back to me sometime after July. Can you smell and taste the tomatoes yet?

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where morning sun is pushing the thermometer to almost 60° already. Get out and get a little sunshine.

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
Remember please: We'll always help you grow your green thumb!