Everyone Needs Safe Food!

Sunday, October 16, 2011
Blog Action Day

44° here on the mountain with a 6 mph wind that offers up gusts with much greater speeds. At 5:15 AM it's darker than a pocket and I can hear rain on the standing seam roof. Karl the Wonder Dog is laying on the rug in front of the soap stone wood stove, still warm from last night's fire. He snores loud snores for his size and occasionally does dog mumbles during obvious dog dreams.

Today is Blog Action Day, a world wide event that brings together comments from around the world about a single subject. I try to participate but haven't made it every year. This year's topic is food and there probably could not be a more important consideration after the disasters that have occurred not just in Vermont but world wide this year.

Vermont is an agrarian state and it has been one since the early 1700s when new villages formed and farms sprang up in river valleys and on mountain tops. By the end of World War II tiny Vermont had over +10,000 dairy farms, cows were still hand milked and milk was shipped to processing plants in 40 quart milk cans. Unpasteurized milk was the norm and rural neighbors took their jugs every couple days to farms for a fresh supply and often added a couple dozen eggs or a couple pounds of homemade butter to the journey back home. Fast forward to 2011 and there are well under 1000 dairy farms in Vermont, many well automated, some organic, most not, some as small as a dozen cows, some exceeding 400 milkers. Things have changed!

Along with the dairies are CSAs, Community Supported Agriculture opportunities at their finest. These are growers and producers who offer vegetables, fruits, flowers, cheeses, meats, trout....anything you can grow, raise, produce or preserve offered up for an annual price over the summer season or more recently almost year round. In Vermont there is an extensive and growing number of CSAs but their popularity has now reached out to even the largest cities. Vermonter growers now travel weekly to places such as New York City and city folks have organized CSAs, farmers markets and traveling markets that stop at apartment complexes and senior housing facilities to extend the reach of good food for everyone.

Discussions about food have broadened of late and concern for safe food is real big. It should be. Although family dairy farms continue to diminish and large, bazillion cow farms replace them, we still have to be vigilant about the food we offer up for sale. Bigger doesn't always mean better. Up the river from my village of Marshfield is Cabot, Vermont, the home of Cabot Creamery. This is a milk cooperative that buys dairy farmers milk at a good price and turns out a variety of award winning cheeses that make cheese lovers smile. But Cabot Creamery is only one of many cheese producers in Vermont. In fact cheese is so big in Vermont that the Vermont Cheese Council has prepared a marketing scheme named The Vermont Cheese Trail to help residents and visitors learn about all the great cheeses we produce in Vermont.

But CSAs, great farmers and special cheeses is only part of Vermont and safe food is dear to Vermonters. Also in Cabot is a young writer named Ben Hewitt. Ben is one of those off the grid kind of guys, a family man who farms about 40 acres where dairy, beef, pork, lamb, vegetables and berries prevail. Ben's first book, The Town That Food Saved told about Hardwick, Vermont and how food and people became so important to each other in a struggling Vermont town that was stepping boldly into the future. I liked the book a lot and you will too but perhaps his latest book is spot on to my title Everyone Needs Safe Food!

Making Supper Safe: One Man's Quest To Learn The Truth About Food Safety
is Ben's second book. It informs and scares at the same time. It's not a Halloween scary book it's a "do things right or get sick or die" kind of book. It contains tales, research, and discussions that are so accurate that a few times I stopped reading and went to the kitchen and rewashed fruit and vegetables from the grocery store. It's a book to read and it offers some clear thinking about some things that need to change.

Here in Vermont we are a small state of 630,000 people. But we love our farms and farmers and we love buying locally produced food. The food needs to be safe and we are on track here. No matter where you live or how you eat, remember that everyone needs safe food and part of that experience is knowing where your food comes from and how to handle it. Those might be topics you have overlooked but try reading Making Supper Safe and I'll bet you sees things differently.



Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where a couple stars still twinkle outside my office window. Canada geese compare breakfast notes and talk loudly on the pond, waiting patiently for first light so they can become airborne and continue their journey south. I'm off to the kitchen to make an apple cake for breakfast...with local apples, butter, milk, eggs...most everything local but the cinnamon and nutmeg. Be safe, eat safe, everyone needs safe food!

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

Voles and Moles

Saturday, October 8, 2011

The various daylily and hosta listservs have had questions about controlling moles and voles in the garden. Here is a post I offered from my experience.

>As cold weather approaches, I always remember vole and mole control with a technique someone from the hosta list mentioned years ago. I take 2” diameter by 2 foot pieces of PVC pipe and shake a couple ounces of d-Con granular into the middle of the pipe. Then I lay these flat throughout the gardens and also among the potted plants at the nursery. By using granular instead of pieces of the bars, the critters can’t conveniently carry big pieces away and leave them someplace a dog, cat, kid, etc might pick them up. Tractor Supply sells Tomcat brand and it’s cheaper and can be purchased in buckets of 1 ounce packages which makes it easy. I use an assortment of leftover and recycled pipe but it’s not that expensive anyway. I wash the pipes clean each spring and let them dry and then bag them up for the next year.

I am a strong advocate of milky spore to eliminate a food source of Japanese beetle grubs. Urban areas are often difficult because neighbors are often possessed to use beetle traps and the pheromones are so strong in those they draw in beetles from miles away so your work becomes less effective.

I have already notice way too many voles this fall and know we have a problem building. I am also finding some very long tailed mice I have never seen before. I have seen “pieces of mouse” in the morning so I figure we have one or more owls close by now that find them tasty.


George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm

Fall Pig Roast

Just in from a walk with Karl the Wonder Dog. The morning is awakening with raspberry red sunlight pushing from the east to brighten the day. The noisiest part of the morning is the crunch, crunch, crunch of the maple leaves which are rapidly leaving naked branches everywhere. Peak foliage in this area was last Monday and Tuesday. The colors are still nice but just not the same, but that's no reason not to get in the car and head into Vermont to enjoy the beauty.

Fall is the quickest season for me. My list of things to do is ever so long but frosty cold mornings and short afternoons have a way of making things speed up. There are all kinds of special events in Vermont in the fall and it's not easy squeezing everything in. This weekend will be very busy with parties, music, crafts and great food everywhere. I am sure there will also be many, many fund raisers as local towns still try to rebuild from the waters of two, really three, devastating summer storms.

A couple years ago we received a notice from our insurance agent that if we joined the Vermont Farm Bureau, we would get a discount on our insurance. We have had Nationwide Insurance since 1989 but with a house, a business, car, truck, farm equipment, workers comp, etc., the premiums were noticeable and anything to bring them down sounded great. We joined.

Nationwide is a great company although admittedly we have little record of claims to back that up. In fact I actually felt guilty calling when my brand new truck met a flying deer one morning several years ago. But the fact that our agent talks to us all the time gives us confidence that we really are protected, most flood related issues expected. And during the floods beginning back in May, our agent was regular with excellent email postings of all manner of important info for all various farmers in Vermont, flower farmers included.

With Farm Bureau membership comes the opportunity for meetings and decision making but we were always too busy. But last week we received an announcement that even tired, end-of-season flower farmers couldn't pass up. A free pig roast. The Washington Country Farm Bureau to which we belong was planning a pig roast in Berlin, Vermont at Fresh Tracks Farm on Route 12. We had heard of Fresh Tracks through the Vermont Grape and Wine Council so the chance to visit a vineyard and a winery and have a pork roast too was too much to pass up. It also meant we could attend our first meeting and listen to other farmers. The pork was being provided by Gaylord Farm so that would give us a chance to learn about another farm. All the foods were Vermont grown and that made the event even more special!

As we drove home, we were really pleased me made the effort to go. Yes, the food was terrific and I ate too much pork and not enough baked beans, but what we learned about farming and how farmers were impacted by the floods was most forceful. Yes, we had personally lost fences and plants, fertilizer and some land in the floods but we didn't lose 30 acres like one farmer and end up with a bed of useless gravel, or buildings or equipment or an entire season's worth of food or feeds crops like others. There was another reminder to check corn carefully as corn that had been flooded might well be full of sand and gravel and impact on livestock and machinery. Corn might look ok but was possibly/probably full of mold and much of it was not fit to be eaten by any animal. The list of cautions continued but it all translated to examples of what makes farming an everyday challenge.

As you get out an about in the next week looking at Vermont foliage, keep an eye out for farmers. If you get a chance, thank them for doing a great job and being there no matter what bad times they experience. And support your local farmer because they're hard workers and they bring you food you can trust. It's the way to go.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the sun is sparkling off the frosted grasses. The temperature will rise by noon and it will be a beautiful day. Enjoy Vermont, it is special for many reasons!

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 are open this week dividing daylilies and pulling annual flowers. Stop and see us!

Cleome Continues

Saturday, October 1, 2011

It's already after 5 PM and daylight is dimming. The afternoon is windless, 41°, and the rain pours out of the sky, heavy at first, then lighter, then heavy again. Gail and I were just talking about the Groton Chicken Pie Supper. The first seating is probably lined up right now and I expect there is an abundance of colored umbrellas offering obvious contrast to the fall foliage that surrounds the town.

During the last few days of September and first week of October, Vermont towns often offer foliage dinners, Many of these are booked a year in advance and the Groton event is no doubt sold out. Vendors and local folk set up along Route 302 selling homemade goods and foods, the historical society is open for tours and local businesses like an excellent little forge and a mead producer are open for demonstrations and sales.

This is the time of year when we should expect a killing frost. Some years we have already had a frost but so far things have been mild. That is supposed to change soon. Two annual flowers that I enjoy right up until frost are nicotiana and cleome. For some reason we never planted any nicotiana this year but the cleomes have been special.

Many visitors to Vermont Flower Farm ask for help identifying cleomes and are surprised they are annuals. Some people try to convince us to dig a up a few and although they have a shallow root system, we always decline the request despite the pleading.


The seed industry has done an excellent job offering cleome in heights from a little less than a foot to 5-6 feet tall. They have become a popular show flower and smaller varieties have been bred for use in containers and window boxes.

This summer I saw a very nice planting of a smaller flowered cleome named Inncleosr. It's pictured just below here planted with a backdrop of very tall ironweed. The surrounding garden included several colors of perennial asters and rudbeckias too. The combination was striking and I could visualize a beautiful vase on the sideboard at home.

As our outside gardening season draws to a close, it's a good idea to make some permanent notes someplace of flowers, shrubs and trees you want to add next year. If you haven't yet, consider cleomes.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the only noise is the rain on the roof.

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

Coloring Up

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Layers of grey clouds slide over patches of blue and white as the morning tries to sort out what kind of a day it will present. 57° and windy with movement from 2 to 6 mph and back to quiet again. Maples drop leaves already and the bright reds and oranges we all love do not seem to predominate this year. Strange summer, early fall.

The gardens change this time of year and less experienced gardeners have already given up the opportunity for color. As the last monarch butterflies go from flower to flower loading up on food to start their journey, wild asters of all heights predominate the fields and roadways. In the gardens the cultivated asters prevail and they are a very low maintenance, welcomed addition to a garden's color palette.

Butterflies in abundance enjoy the various actaeas that offer long, bottle brush flowers this time of year. The plant's fragrance lures in all sorts of insects and it is fun to just stand and see who shows up to display their bright colors.

Annuals hold on for their last breaths not knowing when that hard frost will strike them down. The tall Verbena bonariensis that I love so much as a cut flower still stands tall and like the actaea, it lures in butterflies. The other day I picked a large bouquet of various hydrangeas and I put them in an old watering can with spikes of verbena for accent. Lots of compliments on a very quick and simple arrangement.


Within the gardens, the late daylilies still bloom and the zinnias and ageratum such as Tall Horizon offer slightly faded colors. The zinnias dull out as time passes but they are a welcome addition to a table vase. A friend brought over a nice pink daylily named Scatter Brain the other day. I assume it was tagged correctly but it was fully budded and just starting to bloom. Here at the house the ligularias still offer an assortment of bright yellows and oranges and the hostas in the lower garden senecse and turn bright yellow.

Try to get into the Northeast Kingdom if you have some spare time today or tomorrow. Rain is coming and the foliage is peak up that way but it won't last long with heavy rains. The little kettle ponds around here like Bailey, Marshfield, Goslant, Osmore, and Kettle offer incredible photo opportunities and Osmore, viewed or pictured from the picnic area on Owls Head just off the parking area is special. The climb to the top of Owls Head will make you ooh and aah but it might make you pant a little too. Give it a try. If you cannot climb, drive to Cabot Plains and from the car you can see views you may never know existed. Stops for apples, cheese, wine, maple syrup, homemade goodies--it's all part of fall in Vermont. Lacking anything else, stop by Vermont Flower Farm where Gail still has some very good sales items and will always help you grow your green thumb.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where a noisy flock of Canada Geese just honked by.

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

Fall Anenomes

Sunday, September 25, 2011

62° here on the mountain, dripping wet from last night's rain but quiet, save for the loons at Peacham Pond and the rooster down the road. My walk with Karl the Wonder Dog was uneventful but after the heavy rain, the critters of the woods are slow to stir.

Yesterday was an interesting day here at the house. The State of Vermont marketing folks have yet to gain my trust and yesterday in conjunction with the Agency of Transportation they pulled a nice one. Vermont has two major east-west roads and Route 2 is one of them and it misses our house by exactly three miles. Yesterday the highway folks closed part of Route 2 so they could work on repairs resulting from Irene. We'll be happy to see the work by the Marshfield Reservoir and the bridge over by Roy Folsom's farm replaced with a real bridge and fewer potholes but the way they pulled this off could have been handled better. September should be when Vermont has a bazillion tourists coming to see our fall foliage and help our businesses but because of so much national media on the destruction, travel is down. Yesterday didn't help.

The highway staff erected a small detour sign in Marshfield village pointing to Cabot and left it at that. At the bottom of RT 232 they closed off Route 2 so anyone who missed the sign in the village kept coming until they reached the barricade. Typical response was to turn just before the barricade and presumably turn again at some point to get around the problem area. Only problem was there were never any signs and the highway folks wanted everyone to use the Cabot Road. The marking was small, poorly placed, not identified as a problem in advance and just plain incomplete.


On an average day, Route 2 has 12,000 vehicles worth of traffic. Yesterday a bundle of these ended up going by our house on Peacham Pond Road. You had to see it to believe it. I thought something was strange around 5 AM when it seemed like a lot of people were going fishing at the pond. It was too dark to see that I was not seeing boats and trailers but just plain lost people. By 6 when the first person stopped for assistance, I knew what the problem was. Two men were heading to Maine moose hunting and their question to me was "Where'd Route 2 go?" By nightfall we were still giving directions and a lot of these folks were out of state tourists trying to reach their accommodations. This is the second time the State crew has done this but this is the time when struggling businesses need happy customers, not irritated, lost, confused travelers.

Our governor is probably getting ready to go someplace right now to shake hands and hold babies but at some point he and his staff need to show some real concern about business in Vermont. One day's worth of half empty rooms, or a parking lot empty of cars translates to a long winter and pressures some businesses to cease. Many Vermont businesses are that close to failure right now. For years now there has been a philosophy that micro management is wrong and that managers should be left to make their own decisions. That's fine with me as long as the person calling the shots doesn't forget everyone that makes Vermont the great place it is. The Governor needs to crank some of these people up a little.

On a more colorful note, gardeners unfamiliar with fall anenomes might consider them. Several colors, a great cut flower, and a range of heights. They must have a fragrance I cannot detect as the butterflies love them!

Foliage in the Northeast Kingdom is changing nicely and there's lots to see. Bragg Farm down in East Montpelier has had a summer of road and bridge challenges too so if you're down Route 14 way, stop by for a maple creamee and some syrup. They have a fine business and it's a nice place to stop. The Cabot Creamery is always busy but this time of year more people get a chance to stop. Take the tour if you can as it tells a lot about cheese making. Plenty of cheeses to sample and many Vermont products to buy. Burtt's Apple Orchard is open and the apple picking is special this year. This is one of Vermont's younger orchards but the people are great and the produce is going fast. Try some Honey Crisp apples if you haven't yet and bag enough fresh Macs for a nice pie or apple cake. And if you get tired or just plain lost like many did yesterday, slide into the Marshfield Inn. No guarantees but they may have a room for the night or at very least will point you in another directions. Every one of these businesses care about Vermont and like visiting here at Vermont Flower Farm, you'll always leave with a smile and a welcome to return.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where Mrs Doe Deer and the twins have just entered the field below my office window. Breakfast of fresh grass and late blooming daylilies! More coffee for me!

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 at VFF where we'll help you grow your green thumb!

Dividing Daylilies

Dividing Daylilies

A quiet morning here on the mountain. There's a light wind and it's still raining. The walk with Karl the Wonder Dog was short as the rain pelted down through the coloring maple leaves and leaves joined rain drops, falling to the ground. I'm packing up in a few minutes to head for the nursery and get working. Sun is supposed to reappear by noon but I cannot wait for drier weather before taking on more refencing. Two floods in one summer knocked down lots of fence and it has to go back up as deer are moving more and I don't want them to get used to a new buffet at Vermont Flower Farm.

This time of year we clean up the daylily fields by cutting down the leaves and spent scapes and weeding as best we can before rototilling between the rows. Yesterday I noticed that Fire King, which started blooming August 1st, is still blooming in the garden and so is one of my favorites, Chrystalline Pink Both are pictured here. At the house a number of Olallie daylilies are still blooming too although the flowers are getting smaller now as the end of the bloom cycles nears. There are other daylilies scattered about in minor bloom but to see them you have to walk the rows.

Some people have trouble making themselves divide daylilies. We do it all the time and we dig and divide daylilies until about Columbus Day here when the soil temperature drops below 50°. We dig the clumps with shovels and spade forks by digging around the root ball and popping it out. With older, mature clumps that may weigh over a hundred pounds we use a six foot pry bar after digging around them. It's not always easy and it's good to do some stretching before you start. Once the clumps are out we hose them down with water so they are clean like in this next picture. Then we divide them down to the size we want. Two fans go into pots for next years sales, single fans get lined out in the gardens to grow on for later sales.....that kind of thinking.

Some daylilies split easily with your hands but others require a knife or other cutting instrument. I buy el cheapo knives from Wally World--knives like bread knives with serrated edges or the heavy bladed cutting knives. These are about $3 each and actually last a long time. I recommend to folks that they be ruthless and cut away but just the same, some gardeners just cannot make themselves do the cutting. Be strong, give it a try!



Gotta scoot. Much to do today. Stop and say hello if you are passing along Route 2.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where a flock of noisy, communicative Canada geese are passing overhead. We know their message!

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
Visit us, we'll help you grow a green thumb!!

Quick Journey

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Just 6 AM and it's dark but calm. Karl the Wonder Dog and I just returned from our morning walk and neither of us like the lack of sunshine and the fast moving cars heading from the pond en route to work. Road travelers on back roads are much less courteous than they used to be and I don't like it. A couple years back I was having a nice conversation with a neighbor who had stopped to say hello and one of these "get out of my way, I'm important" people yelled for me to move. I haven't been back to one of the annual Peacham Pond Association gatherings since. I don't need superficial friendliness. No reason to speed along like this in life but we have an assortment of folks now who live in a world of fast travel and money.

The Vermont Gardener is like a lot of gardeners and he needs a break once in a while. We just returned last night from a few days in Maine. The sun prevailed and we had a very special trip which I will describe over the next few days. We started in Rockland at the Farnsworth Museum viewing the Wyeth paintings which are dear to us. Then we walked the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay and then meandered down the coast to Wells where Gail and Alex walk miles of beaches in between reading books and magazines to the point we have come to be known as "The Readers". You see many folks book reservations at the same summer places each year so over 20 plus years we have met a lot of people who we only rejoin annually on the beach.

I have a lot to share over the next week but want to get these pictures out so my friend Dianna can get an idea about garden arbors. These images are from a new arbor at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. Although I have the equipment to use a mortise and tenon form of construction, this one was put together with screws and nails. It's made of cedar and has some very nice qualities to it. By using old fashioned mortise and tenon construction, the arbor would be stronger. I like the way the builder bent cedar layers to break up the shape and this is a real standout. View the images and share your thoughts with us. Perhaps you have made one or more yourselves, have a time saving technique or an idea to make for a stronger product. I'll be back soon with more to share.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where a couple loons call out long sentences I cannot translate. Karl is begging for another walk now that it's getting light. Have to get going!!


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 still open at VFF but by chance or appointment. Call 426-3505 or the nursery at 426-3506 to be sure.

Flooded and Fruitless

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

51° and windless here on the mountain since 4 AM. The heavy rain continues to beat on the roof and although I would like to go check the rain gauge to see how much rain has fallen since 6:30 PM, I can't make myself step out into the mess. Even Karl the Wonder Dog is usually begging to go out by the time he hears me walk back to the kitchen for a second cup of coffee but this morning he is buried deeply into the bed clothes, disinterested in the weather.

What a summer, what a week! Irene flooded our lowers gardens again and the fences were flattened and ripped apart. I waited three days for the soil to dry enough to stand on it and not sink in and Monday I began to disassemble the mess and figure out how many materials I need to make repairs again. As soon as the sun begins to rise I'll head to the nursery and get an idea of what happened last night. I don't think we received as much rain as last Sunday with Irene and certainly hope not as I did not pull the pump again. The water pump is about 26 feet above the Winooski River bed but is in a narrow part of the river that comes up quickly. The pump and pump house have not been swallowed up by the waters yet and I prefer to keep it that way.

Earlier this summer Gail signed us up for Vern Grubinger's Vegetable and Berry Growers listserv at UVM. It has turned out to be a tremendous resource but of late it has been a tad depressing with comments about what growers have lost. Growers are very generous too and many are offering surplus produce to their counterparts to help everyone at lower elevations get through this weather mess. What is amazing is the destruction people have experienced and the amount of food they had to destroy because of contamination by flooding. The amount of land that is missing is incredible too.

Monday I pulled all our tomatoes and although it was a lot of work for me, it was nothing like what a tomato grower has experienced. I had been growing half a dozen Johnny's tomato varieties as an experiment. I was going to erect a high tunnel greenhouse and the tomatoes I was trialing were greenhouse friendly. Just prior to the floods, the tomatoes were doing what they should and although I planted them a little late to begin with, the production was outstanding and the volume of fruit was significant.

Bending over to pick a tomato or two after the flood is easy but what growers repeated time and again was despite the good looking fruit, dump it all because of contamination. Warnings included wearing face masks and gloves when pulling crops because of the assortment of chemicals that adhere to plants after being submerged. Picking a nice ripe tomato and rubbing it "clean" on your shirt seems easy enough but the chemical and bacterial adherents are the problem. Pulling the plants created a cloud of dust and chemicals that clearly raises safety concerns.

A grower spoke of dumping $50,000 in vegetables and said that having second thoughts about it prevailed in his own mind until he sat by the river and watched what was floating by and over his fields. Gasoline, fuel oil, two town septic systems, millions of gallons of foul water, all forms of household, agricultural and commercial residues, dead animals, tons of manures and fertilizers. The brief summary was sufficient to forget about the nice looking tomatoes and just pitch them into the truck for transport out of the garden.


As I pulled plant after plant, I noticed that the tomato hornworms were still easting away but their numbers were quite small. As I pulled a variety known as Defiant I stopped for a minute thinking about the name and the strength of the plant. Each plant probably weighed 30 pounds, often more, including the plant and the ripened or ripening fruit. Despite being pushed over into a 45° angle by the flood waters, the plants were firmly stuck to the ground. But they were covered in layers of silt and miscellaneous "whatever" and were unsafe to use for consumption so they had to go.

As you clean up any gardens, personal or commercial that may have been flooded over, wear gloves and face protection and don't try to save, eat, sell or donate the food. It's just not right. This is not easy but it has to happen. Next year will be better.



Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the darkness is broken only by the blinking green light on the electric fence that clicks on, protecting our honeybees from hungry bears. Click---click---click.



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

Late Summer Fireworks

Friday, September 2, 2011

55° here on the mountain this morning, 2-3 mph shifting breezes and dark clouds moving over quickly. Even at 5:30 it's still too dark to make a judgment on what today will bring. Karl the Wonder Dog barked loudly at exactly 4 AM when I jumped out of bed and he moved quickly into the warm, vacated space. Boy does he bug me when he does that! I scurried around the house as any arthritic 63 year old gardener does, turning on outside light after outside light--we have three--trying to detect the source of the unrest. By the time I circled back to the kitchen and grabbed the coffee pot, I heard the sounds of dog snores in the bedroom. Did I say "Boy does Karl bug me?"

Now an hour and a half later Karl and I made a trip outside and on the return walk to the house heard a very loud crash in the woods. When you live in rural Vermont you learn the "deer crash", the "bear crash" and the "moose crash" sounds like a pro and this was a moose, the loudest, more continuous of the sounds.

Late August is the time when a really coarse perennial flower blooms for us. Ligularia. Many gardeners do not like it because it can be a magnet for slugs and bugs but planted in the distance a bit there is nothing better than the scapes of bright yellow and orange on flowers of various sizes, shapes and colors.

These pictures are of Othello and Desdemona with Othello blooming first. We also have two taller types with multiple scapes and small yellow flowers, and hundreds of hybrids of our entire collection. I have tried the one with the common name Leopard Plant because of its yellow spotted leaf. It lasted 3 years but didn't make it but that was not bad for a zone 5 plant struggling in the wrong environment.

Ligularias love damp feet and they will respond with a "2 o'clock droop" if sufficient water is not available to maintain their massive plant structure. Their leaves and stems are large and the leaves transpire quickly so soil must hold moisture.

You would think by now that I would have information on what happens when you cut them for use in arrangements. I can't really remember that we have ever even taken them from the garden as cuts but I bet they'd be special in late summer arrangements. If you give this a try, shake them well as bees in August are looking for a source of food and ligularias are the place they visit a lot.

I think I'll pick a bouquet today and take it to the nursery for the table. We have gallon pots of several varieties for sale and I'd like to see more of them move down the road from our garden to yours. Give it a thought and try to stop by in the next few days. Labor Day is our last official day to be open although we are open many days by chance or appointment through foliage time.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where daybreak finds Gail heading out the door with Karl for another walk. In an hour I'll be at the nursery reinstalling the water pump I had to remove Monday morning as flood waters rose 25 feet in the river and lapped nastily at our little pump house. The joys of being a farmer! Be well, 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

Lifting Spirits

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

45° this morning. Last night's red sky has offered up a clear, cool morning and yesterday's breeze took away some of the sogginess that came with each step as Irene left us with almost 7" of rain here on the mountain. This morning's walk with Karl the Wonder Dog was uneventful but the sound of the water going over the dam at Peacham Pond and down the river to Marshfield Reservoir is thunderous and freight train-like. There's a sense of contradiction there as no trains are running in Vermont because over three hundred miles of track have somehow been compromised. The media has offered full coverage on what has become a disaster of bigger dimension than the floods of 1927. Gail's mom once told us of standing by the Winooski River in Chittenden County and watching cows float by but this year river watchers saw cars and houses and trailers and covered bridges.

All make of farmers have been devastated by the recent floods. The summer began in late May with some very serious flooding but Irene included every farmer in Vermont on her recent visit. Yes, there are some who fared better than others but everyone experienced damage, some so difficult that thoughts of career change or retirement prevail. It seemed to me as if I had just barely begun to catch up on the destruction of May 26th when Irene hit. Yesterday when it was over Gail and I went down to the nursery as soon as we confirmed that Route 2 had been reopened. It was a repeat of May only worse. I took a bunch of pictures and oddly as I scanned the SD Card later, no pictures were saved. Maybe that was good as we've seen enough for this year. Gail went back to the nursery later in the day to work but I needed a break from disaster and headed into the woods to cut woood and work on some new trails I am building. By the end of the day news reports and emails from other farmers gave all too adequate notice that we had done very well compared to farmers who had lost everything.

For us it is rebuild time and we will continue on. I am trying to connect with the correct agency to get some help with river bank management. Vermont is an interesting state and there is a group that is adament that planting trees and shrubs maintains the river in times like this but it just isn't so. Spring run off is consistently more of a problem than ever before and the rivers in some places have filled with silt and rock and the river beds have risen. At our place the Winooski River makes two right hand turns in a hundred yards and that prevents the massive water flow, pushing it instead onto our land. A new course is growing and if I cannot get some help changing the flow, much of our land and a couple acres of flowers will be lost. Sunday night Green Moutnain Power began plans for an emergency release of water from the Marshfield Reservoir. They think as a company they did a good job managing this emergency but they failed miserably in communication and management skills. Had the dam failed, Central Vermont on to Winooski and Burlington would be a different place today.

As the sun gets higher this morning, Gail is already packing for her daily trip to the nursery. I have banking to do this morning and need a few small engine repair parts while I am in Barre. Other farmers are going about their chores. Some are missing animals, equipment, land, or buildings. Some are very discouraged, most are working right now as you read this. No matter what you do today, stop for a minute and reflect on where your food supply comes from and what it takes to get food to your table. Give credit to farmers. Stop and say hello to neighboring farmers, CSAs, and offer encouragement. Encouraging smiles go a long way!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the honey bees are flying well this morning to the background sound of ravens discussing breakfast above the compost pile and a pileated woodpecker working up breakfast on the maple outside my office window. Life goes on! Be happy!

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 will always help you grow your green thumb!

Rainbow Lights

Friday, August 26, 2011

Still overcast here on the mountain but the weatherman says the sky will clear soon and we will have a couple nice days before the impact of Irene is obvious to us. Rain estimates over Vermont are now 2" to 7" and that is more encouraging to me having seen what the rains of late May did to our nursery. Storms can change, for better or worse, so we will wait and see.

Mrs Doe Deer and her fawn just passed by my office window but once again I was not awake enough to catch a photo image of them together. The fawn is energetic and has the courage to leave Mom at some distance before running back, checking and leaving again. The doe raises her head often to see where her kid has gone to and I notice she is watching behind herself a lot so perhaps she hears a coyote or "unlocal" dog. They are a pleasure to watch.

Swiss chard has been around for years and I have to admit that my childhood memories of it were not favorable. That has all changed now and like beets, I love the stuff. For several years now colorful mixes have been available, some called Bright Lights, Rainbow Mix, or Bright Lights Improved. Although vegetable gardeners plant them to eat, flower gardeners have been mixing them more and more in flower gardens and in container plantings. They last through the frosts of early fall and add a color and texture that other plants cannot offer. Consider them in the future and if you don't like the look--eat 'em!!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where sunlight brightens the still-dark sky just a shade. I have to get going here. Alex is 19 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
Still helping you grow your green thumb!

Kingdom Farm and Field Days

Monday, August 22, 2011

60°, windless, dripping wet, quiet, darker than a pocket. The ground squishes from last night's heavy rains. Black clouds have little openings of light pushing through but it's 5:30 now and morning will come slowly. Karl the Wonder Dog was not interested in much of a walk and has already returned to sleep which he instantaneously accentuates with loud snoring. I do not understand him.

Yesterday I made a quick escape from the flowers and the clean up chores at Vermont Flower Farm and I headed to Wolcott for the Kingdom Farm and Food Days presentation at High Mowing Organic Seeds. I went last year and had a great time and I have tried to promote High Mowing and the other agricultural businesses that try so hard to help Vermont through very difficult times. Yesterday was just part of an excellent promotional program that started the day before with tours of many businesses. If you have never heard about this opportunity, plug a "do-not-miss" reminder into your calendar page right now so you don't miss another year.

I almost never grow vegetables because we are just plain too busy with five acres of flowers. Gail and I do most of our work ourselves and we have never found a day stretcher yet that worked for us. Just the same we buy local vegetables and every year Gail makes some attempt to grow some things for us. This year the string beans, summer and winter squashes, lettuces, bok choy, carrots, cukes and 4-5 types of tomatoes have done well despite neglect and difficult weather. But it's because of limited involvement with vegetables that I love to go see what Tom Stearns and his staff have to offer at High Mowing. You should go too!

I don't know what impressed me the most this year. There's always so much to look at and a number of excellent talks make the afternoon speed by. The bazillion varieties of lettuces, tomatoes, peppers and eggplants make me ask if there is an end to what is being hybridized. Winter squashes were in abundance this year and the tomatoes in the greenhouse demonstrations were special.

I used to eat a lot of peppers and loved hot peppers until I ran into a little conflict with a blood pressure medicine I take. Touring High Mowing is not easy for me as the peppers are glorious and many I have never seen or heard of before. A blocky, bright red one named Ferrari looked challenging but I know better than to get into hot peppers again. There is something special about a plant heavily burdened by fruits that weigh the branches and this was clearly a great year for peppers.


Visitors loved the lectures and the one on seed saving that had started as I arrived was very well attended. I have had the luxury of attending the winter workshops High Mowing offers and have seen all their seed processing equipment used as they process seed for sale. Obviously this is far different than a home gardener saving a few tomato or squash seeds but it's important to understand the whole process.

A field of white nicotiana planted next to soy beans, potatoes and string beans provided a sweet scent and a great color contrast that encouraged camera shutters to click away. One lady was obviously allergic to the fragrance but despite sneezes she moved along to view the zinnias and sweet pea flowers.
Lettuce and other salad greens are obviously in great demand and the demonstration plantings support this. As I walked the rows I was dreaming of a bowl of fresh greens, basil, cukes and tomatoes topped with my secret recipe of Dog Team Tavern Dressing. It was only a dream but a colorful one just the same.
Brassicas in an organic garden come with small clouds of cabbage butterflies but for the size of the field, there weren't really that many fluttering by. I love cabbage and somehow missed the presentation on making sauerkraut which I thought would be fun.

As I began to head back to the truck and back to my real job, I watched the lecture group circle the gardens and make their way back to the original entry point. I could hear Tom Stearn's voice from the distance and I knew that once again he had made a lot of people happy.
Try not to miss this great event next year. In a couple days I'll have a bunch of pictures up on my Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens Facebook page. Take a look--maybe Tuesday. Right now I have to get the truck loaded and get down to work. Stop by the flower farm if you have a minute today. Plenty of deals on bare root daylilies and other plants we're moving along. Still some very nice hydrangeas, ginkos, witch hazels and lilacs.

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!

Late Summer Oldies

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Half past five this morning and Karl the Wonder Dog sleeps and snores loudly as if forgetting it's summer and time for his walk. I care not as there are many morning chores today that have to be completed before I head for the nursery. It's 55° now, and windless with a good barometric pressure so today looks like the day we were promised. Gail has already responded with her personal comments about the projected afternoon temperature. She always equates higher temperatures--those 80° or more, with poor plant sales. She is correct but this time of year, even with a terrible economy, out of state guests stop by to take things home. I am positive about today.

The daylily industry has done a fine job with mid-to-late and also late blooming daylilies to guarantee color in Vermont gardens well into September. We have not done a good job offering as many as we should to customers although we do have a nice collection still growing here on the mountain. Some are newer but some are old and have been used since around WW II.

Up top here is Autumn Red, a 36" dusky red that was registered by Nesmith in 1941. It blooms over quite a time and my only comment is that bloom count slows dramatically when the vigorous plant growth becomes too compact. It continues to bloom and it makes a nice back border hedge-like planting or a green border for walkways. It does need some help controlling its growth over time but a sharp shovel or knife will do the trick.

In 1941, Stout registered Autumn Prince (just below) , a four foot tall yellow with a lemony fragrance you'll remember. The flowers are smaller than some might like but they just bloom and bloom on tall, slender scapes that wave in the breeze. The height gives prominence to the back of the border and when planted where they are visible to foot or vehicle traffic, you'll find yourself answering identity questions from gardeners who like and want it.

Gail says we never had Autumn Minaret, another Stout registration from 1951, but there was a time when we had some here at the house. It is noticeably taller at 5.5 feet, maybe a little taller even, has good branching and the flowers are lemony fragrant too and bloom again during early fall. Prince and Minaret remind me how much I enjoy Hesperus that just finished blooming maybe a week and a half ago. I wish they had the more vigorous growth habit of Hesperus but I guess I don't need more daylilies that require periodic dividing with the "to do' list I already maintain.

We are sold out of Autumn Prince and have an order of Autumn Red leaving today or tomorrow so that's it for this year. Neither of these may compare to the modern designer types you may have come to enjoy but there is a beauty to anything old which cannot be replaced.



Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the back door just closed and Gail headed out with Karl for a morning walk. I have this vision that they will meet some large wildlife this morning. It looks like that kind of 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
Still plenty of time to let us help you grow your green thumb!!

Happy Helenium

Friday, August 19, 2011

It's a beautiful morning here on the mountain. Bird songs welcome the sun rise above Peacham Pond and the honeybees are making quick flights, probably to nearby goldenrod patches that are finishing their bloom. Karl the Wonder Dog has coaxed two walks out of Gail this morning and now he sits perched on the edge of the couch, looking out the window for morning walkers, joggers or cyclists. He enjoys offering loud barks and a waggy tail to passersby who don't even know he welcomes their presence.

Last night's weather report described the pollen count as rising and mentioned the prominence of ragweed pollen. I have never had allergy problems but Gail and Alex have had a most difficult time this summer with the various pollens beginning "way back when" with maple and birch tree pollen. Right now I do think it is the ragweed that's bothering many but all plants have experienced abundant growth from this year's spring rains and warm temperatures.

A flower we grow for sale and also in our gardens is named helenium, which carries a common name of sneezeweed. Although it doesn't seem to cause sneezing in my friends, there may be something to the moniker I don't know about. Gail always has carried 3-4-5 varieties and this year she pared back her offering and they have been good sellers. They reach 3 feet, sometimes a little more in height, and they are good late summer, back-of-the-garden plants. I planted some last fall along the new river garden but the dry soil there and drought have limited height and advanced their bloom time to the point that those are about passed right now. Just the same, give them some consideration. They are long lived and make a nice cut flower too.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where Gail just left for the nursery and I have to get things loaded in the truck. Alex knows he has to mow the lawn at some point and when he does, we'll see if grass pollen and sneezes prevail. Hope your allergies are under control.

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

Bare root daylily sales continue in abundance. Join Us! We'll help you grow your green thumb!

August Color

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

A foggy, drippy morning here on the mountain. The loons at Peacham Pond are talking in lower voices this morning but they are the only ones conversing. Karl the Wonder Dog and I just returned from our morning walk. There was no excitement this morning---no morning encounters with deer, bear or moose, not even the small animals of the forest and that boredom made Karl turn around by himself and head back to bed. It must be nice!

The rain during the past couple days arrived like it did in May. I keep two rain gauges at the nursery and even the one that was slightly tipped exceeded 3 inches of rain yesterday morning. The upright one was at +5 inches and the Winooski River, still rising and running dirty brown, suggested without doubt that we had finally received some much needed rain.

Gardening has been a challenge this summer because it has been a summer of extremes. First inches of rain and then repeated days of 80° or above. But now it looks like things may slide into a late summer pattern and this is a time when gardens should still be glorious. I greatly dislike the way the media begins hyping the end of summer now with back to school sales and absurd comment about last big BBQ's and final beach forays. Makes no sense to me as actually this should be a time when well planned gardens sport something better looking than a pot of store bought chrysanthemums.

The image up top is from last summer when I was quite pleased with the way the garden along the fence greeted people from Route 2 or our parking area. Last summer was some different than this year and certain flowers such as the tall yellow Rudbeckia 'Herbstonne', growing to 7-8 feet tall and offering masses of color joined 3 foot tall Marigolds named Gold Coin Sovereign as they raced each other to the end of summer and the first big fall frost..



This year some things are better, such as the my-o-my 9 foot tall Thalictrum that's covered with flower bees and bumble bees. But the weather has influenced many flowers and what I expected to be glorious are not quite there this year because of the drought.

Just this same, think of the flowers that I expected to be better and consider them for your gardens for next year. Echinaceas in various colors should be holding on to final bloom now...pinks, reds, yellows, oranges, 3 foot tall heleniums in fall colors should be full and bright, and crocosmias should be finishing their bright red scapes (or yellows, pinks and whites in zone 6 and warmer). Garden phlox should have offered vibrant colors for weeks now and should be going into a garden flush of color via the later varieties. The bottle brush flower scapes of a half dozen great actaeas, the cimicifugus before registry changed their names. These are magnets for all butterflies and many bees and add living, moving, natural color to your gardens. The various daisies should still be blooming and turtlehead should be budding up for its "have-you-ever-seen-me?" presentation.

So with these opportunities and dozens more, it's appropriate to think of what you have and what you're missing so your gardens look colorful and inviting while others think unkind end-of summer thoughts. Challenge your thinking and when you stop by a nursery offering those absurd give away, get-it-out of here-plant sales, ask the nurseryman to help you make your gardens last longer. You'll be happy you asked.....guaranteed!!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where a very soggy Mrs. Doe Deer just looked up at my office window. "Keystrokes?" she's asking, "Keystrokes????" "I hear keystrokes."

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 where we'll help you grow your green thumb!