Green Is A Garden Color Too

Friday, February 21, 2014

31.1° here on the mountain and pouring rain. I just returned from a quick walk with Karl the Wonder Dog and he is less than happy with what's going on outside. He loves the warmer morning but right now he cannot shake enough to get dry. I expect in a couple minutes he'll be in front of the wood stove sleeping.

Although it's not too nice outside, this is the time of year when we finalize plant orders and work on our list of what has to be done come Spring before those orders begin to arrive. I spoke yesterday with a great hosta grower and supplier in Michigan and since it was raining cats and dogs there, I knew it would be here today. My call was about adding some new hostas to our display garden to get more mature plants ready for customers and visitors to see in a couple years. There's an email waiting for me this morning and I'll see what they are suggesting. We already have a very nice selection but bad weather here for three years running has kept us so busy that we haven't expanded what we grow and offer. Gail spent a lot of time last year potting up more hostas to offer larger plants for instant gratification and I'm trying to get reorganized too.  This is the year!

If you have read many of my blogs you might remember that I am a proponent of designing gardens based on the size, shape and texture of the plant when it is not flowering. Although we buy plants for their colorful blooms, most of the season we are looking at foliage and to me that is an important concept to understand. Along this same line, I think we often forget that green is a great garden color too and as such we should incorporate more and more plants with leaves of different sizes, different shades of green and different textures. 

Take a look up top here and you will notice a grouping of rodgersia. This is a plant not often seen in gardens but it has an important job to serve. Heights vary and the creamy white blooms offer lots of attention. But it is those season long leaves that break up other parts of the garden backdrop and allow us to plant in front and around them. 

Hostas have always been thought of as those leafy green plants that don't do much for a garden and get carried away with self propagation until big clumps of solid green or white fringed green are evident. That may have been true a long time ago but hostas continue to be the number one best selling perennial in the world and there are over 6000 varieties on the market now. I believe the best hostas ever are being released to us now and they are so beautiful there should almost be a garden mandate to look them over and give a few a try. Old perceptions are difficult to change!

I'm not trying to prove a point, only share a message and an opinion that you consider green as a good garden color and try to work more with it this summer. If you have questions or want to see the direction I am pursuing, stop by the flower farm or drop us a note. Our new business email is vermontflowerfarm@outlook.com. Gail's personal email is vtflowerfarm@outlook.com  

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where wet birds are arriving at the feeders for a breakfast buffet that needs a little attention this morning. I have to get going and feed my friends!
Safe travel  this morning. If your roads are like ours, you might have a late start today.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm (Patience, reconstruction under way!)
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens, a Like Page
On FB as George Africa offering gardening thoughts
And always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Valentine's Day

 

 

 

Thursday, February 13, 2014

 

 

The dishes are washed, the news is over and it's finally quiet here for a minute. I just checked outside and the storm has taken a breather. It's 24.2° but the wind starts and stops and 5 to 9 mph is what we are seeing now. When the wind sneaks around my office window it creates tall whirls of snow that spin ghostlike over the steep bank and down onto the field below. There are probably 5-6 inches of snow right now, an accumulation from around 1 PM. There's no telling what I will have to deal with in the morning but Alex and I put the plow on the truck knowing that it will be needed.

 

When morning breaks, it will be Valentine's Day. I have no idea how much revenue the day creates in sales from candies, flowers, jewelry, dinners out and various fancies. Valentine's Day seems not as big as some special occasions but it has its place.

 

When I think of Valentine's Day I always think of the perennial flower named Bleeding Heart. I can remember the common variety growing in the gardens of the farm ladies next door to us when we moved to Vermont. Likewise I remember when they gave a piece of root to my mother who loved the plant and in a couple years had something to brag about when it reached comparable size to those plants at the farm.

 

Up top here is a  Springtime picture of bleeding heart when it gets started. Some might have trouble  recognizing what it looks like before the flower scapes rise and the tiny hearts begin to take shape. Over time the plants can grow very large and this should cause notice to you to fertilize them well and on occasion in the spring or fall, divide them and share the wealth with a gardening friend.

 

The stems can be cut and brought inside to enjoy but you'll doubt this when you first cut a stem and smell something unusually bad. Take a match and singe the end of the stem and it will encourage the turgidity to hold strong for a few days and you can enjoy the hearts displayed by themselves or mixed with other spring flowers. No, bleeding hearts don't flower for us in February but they do appear in our gardens when other nice spring flowers brighten our days. Give them a try if you wish but remember one other caveat to planting them. Over time they grow large like Oriental poppies....and like poppies, they suddenly go dormant and leave us with a big yellow hole in our garden that looks odd. Plant the bleeding hearts towards the back of gardens where their dormancy will not matter. In spring when they bloom, other flowers will not be as advanced and the hearts will be the standout--certainly for you to enjoy--maybe for someone you love...too. 

 

 

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where with a whistle of wind the snowfall has returned, leaving no doubt that I will be plowing snow come morning.

 

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm

On Facebook as George Africa and also as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens

On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

And always here to help grow your green thumb!

Gift certificates always. Call Gail at 1-802-426-3505

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUST GOOD FOOD



4:30 PM, windless, quiet. This afternoon’s snowstorm has brought darkening skies sooner than I wished for. A couple hours ago the snow began to rain out of the sky and it continued to the point that the birds left the feeders and never returned. The critters of the woods and the birds all know the weather better than I will ever learn.  Snow is frozen rain and rain has not been plentiful in recent years in the west but has been “over plentiful” at our flower farm for parts of a couple years. Growing anything has been a challenge.

 

People like to honor new years with predictions and resolutions. I have never been set on doing either but often will offer a thought if pressed.  I did this with the Super Bowl and I doubt I’ll be asked for my opinions on that again. The only compliment I received that day was for the blackberry-peach jam marinade I made for one of the batches of chicken wings. Now those were special!

 

Lately I have been relating thoughts of our food supply to gardening. For three years now all our horticultural trade magazines have suggested that sales of fruit trees and shrubs as well has vegetable seeds have shown excellent increases. Gail and I have personally found this to be true. The year that berry bush sales were predicted to increase by 17% we gave raspberries and blueberries a try and they all sold. The next year sales were predicted to increase by +50% so we backed off and let the competition handle the increase here in Vermont. Everyone did very well. But with the positive come some concerns.

 

During the past few years we have seen weather conditions change. In the west drought prevails and widespread fires have taken down tens of thousands of acres of cover. Some water supply networks that historically served people and farms have closed off all water to farms.  Some researchers document that the west is the driest it has been since 1580. Many western cities have issued new rules involving water use and this is not setting well with a country that is used to turning on the spigot for cows or faucet for itself….and then letting it run …...forever.

 

The Farm Bill just passed and Congressmen are bragging about their participation. Vermont's own Sen. Patrick Leahy drinks a glass on milk on a TV spot and says we did fine. Just the same, there are things in America I cannot understand and don’t care for. The FDA just approved importing poultry from China because America cannot produce enough chicken to meet our needs. Chicken is one of those foods whose production has been mechanized to the point that few human hands are required. Apparently we cannot find those “few” hands. Here in Vermont dairy farmers have hired large numbers of migrant workers because they cannot find local labor. It may be wages, it may be benefits, it may be living costs, it may be that Americans find farm work demeaning but it’s all a surprise to me since farmers were the lifeblood of a new country before America had its own name.

 

Then there’s the friend or foe thing known as Genetically Modified Organisms. I recall many years back learning about GMO potatoes which were developed to counter the Colorado Potato Beetle I had grown up with. As a kid I remember being instructed to dust the potato plants which I did........"Dust until the leaves are white." they said.  The chemical used was DDT but other seriously dangerous dusts were used to kill the pink colored larvae as they devastated potato plant leaves. Looking back, I have no idea why those chemicals didn’t kill me. Probably there’s still time as chemicals have longer lives than people.

 

Potatoes went through an entire evolution of genetic change while at the same time US potato consumption has decreased. GMO potatoes are no longer a concern because potatoes are more often grown as a crop used in making starches to combine with food as opposed to being eaten as food.  Those starches are being used for processing paper and for making industrial lubricants, glues, pastes, and things I probably don’t want to know about. As a result of the change in use, fungicides and insecticides are not needed in the same quantity because getting starch from a potato does not require a clean skinned, tasty, good looking potato. And where are the latest, largest Frito-Lay potato growing fields in the world? China. And how are the Chinese pumping up potato production while minimizing time from planting to harvest? Water. Through extensive irrigation systems. Maybe we need a big government focus group to map some of these changes out.

 

And then there are honey bees, bumble bees and other pollinators needed for production of our foods even before we can talk about harvesting and processing and counting food shortfalls.  Again, there is a problem. Systemic chemical insecticides are thought to disrupt a honey bee’s life cycle.  We don’t seem to understand it and researchers are not sure they have all the pieces of the puzzle yet. They are certain however, that honey bees are in decline and this is serious. I raise honeybees and I can vouch for the fact that they do some weird things like swarming when they shouldn’t and trying to fly at night. Beyond chemical interference there is interference from GMO plants like corn. Focus on this for a minute.

 

Cattle food, whether for dairy or beef, has become very expensive. Domestic grain production for US farms has diminished in recent years, much more grain has been exported and corn has become the main crop. Lots of corn has gone to ethanol production and the rest has been increased to replace the grains. But corn just like potatoes, is susceptible to insects and corn was ripe for being genetically modified. Now GMO corn is planted all over and the same bee pollinators that are in decline are having more of a problem existing. Fields that were planted in grain crops that bees pollinated are gone and bees must go to GMO corn which is killing them.  Farmers have learned efficiency of field management and have planted corn to the corners of their fields with no margins for other crops key to bees. So think this cycle through. We grow grains which get too expensive so we export them to make money, grow GMO corn, kill pollinators to other foods humans need to live. With limited water, problems getting people to work and the impacts of climate change this whole food production thing has become difficult.

A thought for now is what can we do about safe food production for ourselves and world neighbors? We know how to farm and we need to get back at it. We need to cut out the subsidies paid not to farm certain crops and we need to grow more safe food that is better for us to eat. We can do that but it will require some training from school kids on up. Kids learn and question better than some adults.

So take a minute in the next few days and think about what you and your family eat, where your food comes from, how safe it is and what you would do if it fell out of supply. If you can
grow some food yourself, learn to do it. If you can grow food for yourself and others, do that too. Make a different kind of change for you and your family, your neighbors and your planet. You can, I know you can!

 

 

Monarch Butterflies

 

 

Saturday, February 1, 2014

 

 

14.9° this morning which is a great surprise after almost three weeks of zero to far below zero weather that began with a high temperature of +52° in Burlington, Vermont.  That left us shaking our heads. We have some much nicer weather coming soon and there's somewhat of a promise for some snow to help our winter sports industry that we depend on so much. At this very same time, maple syrup producers around the state are in their sugar orchards cutting up downed trees and cleaning things up for new tap lines, repairing line damage caused by staggering moose and chewing red squirrels. Some sugaring always starts in February and lots is up in the air this year because the weather has been so odd.

 

There has been lots of talk about last year's monarch butterfly population and I have beaten this up enough on my Facebook pages. Check out my personal George Africa page or our Like page for Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens. All I want to repeat here is brief mention of some plants that do the trick in luring in Monarchs if they are in the neighborhood.

 

Pictured up top here is some eupatorium, commonly known as Joe Pye Weed. I think that one is maculatum 'Gateway'. Besides the natives that grow wild and over lots of New England, there are some fine hybrids like Gateway which grows to 10 feet tall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eupatorium maculatum 'Reisenschrim' pictured here coming into bloom is a real Monarch magnet. I haven't found it for sale in a few years and have some large plants for sale in limited quantity. It maintains a 5 foot height, sometimes to 6 feet.

 

 

There's no doubt that color is important to Monarchs including anything close to the bright orange they display. One year--perhaps in about 2008-- I was preparing more land for daylily gardens. I always use flagging markers in various colors that I can see from the tractor as I rototill. That afternoon I was using orange markers--no special reason why--and by the time I got them lined out and got on the tractor, I noticed most of them had a Monarch butterfly sitting on top. Quite a surprise for me!

 

 

Another flower, this time an annual, that draws in any Monarchs if they are passing by is Tithonia. This is like a giant Mexican zinnia and the color is special. I first grew it when we gardened in Shelburne Vermont in an old barn yard and farm pasture. It grew so tall--10 feet anyway--that Gail and I needed ladders to cut it for the markets. Back then, it was always a cloud of Monarchs.

 

Finally there is milkweed. The wild species is very common in Vermont although much of it has been destroyed as farm fields have become roads or developments. It is easy to grow and it does best where there is some moisture to the soil. We leave it to produce wherever it is already growing. Here's a picture.

 

 



 

There are many lists of other suitable plants available on the Internet. Look closely and make sure they are zoned for your area and also be sure you are not adding to an invasive problem you don't want to see. If you find some good plants that work for you, please drop us a line and share what you find!

 

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where it's windless and still too dark out to see.......anything.

 

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm

Always here to help you grow your green thumb!

 





Buying Big Equipment

 

Thursday, January 30, 2014

 

 

Ever so quiet here on the mountain this morning. +1°  which is such a pleasant surprise after so many days in the seriously minus range. Karl the Wonder Dog snores by the wood stove after his first walk of the day and I am settled in with another cup of Dark Magic from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. If Karl stays quiet for a while I can get some work done.

Today is the final day of the Vermont Farm Show in Essex and if you haven't been yet, it's worth the trip. All states have spring garden shows and farm shows and if you are contemplating an equipment purchase or just want to fend off Seasonal Affective Disorder a little longer, get out and see what's available. The Vermont show gets bigger each year and they really do a great job. Just because it's billed as a farm show doesn't mean you have to be a farmer to go and see lots of neat things, meet some great people, see some animals--and bees this year-- and leave with smiles and lots of information.

Pictured up above is a New Holland tractor I bought 7 years ago from the Greenwood boys down in South Royalton, Vermont. I have +800 hours run time on it which isn't much for a farmer but for me and our flowers, that represents a lot of new gardens, a lot of lawn care, a lot of moving things around. I settled on this particular tractor after  looking at a number of similar tractors and talking with 3-4 vendors. I bought this one because I felt the best about the answers and the price. I always measure big purchases as "number of returns to the vendor for problems" because a two-person operation affords absolutely no downtime trying to get someone to fix something again and again. Knock on wood but I have not had a single problem with this tractor and the only time I had Greenwoods return to see me was three years back when I had a cruise control added to compensate for a right knee problem on the operator--that would be me! Love it!

I bought this tractor with the front bucket, a 5 ft rototiller, and a 3 bladed rotary mower. I have picked up a York rake and a ditching blade since and have added a brush hog,  a commercial sprayer and a wood chipper to my collection of add-ons. The tractor/bucket price is the big part followed by the chipper. Nothing is cheap so some things I buy used, somethings only new. I never buy anything without talking with current owners including people who might use a similar product commercially.

So if you are thinking that this is the year you absolutely need a tractor, look around at farm shows and make the rounds to vendors. Oh yes--one more thing. When you think you have settled in on a choice, do something that may not come to mind at all. Check out how to service the machine. Begin with the filters and the oil ins and outs and see if these are easy things to get to. Sometimes in today's world, the person creating that new wiz bang design has never climbed aboard the thing that will mean so much to you. Think about it all. Then  buy what will handle your needs, and then just a little bit bigger if you can afford it. You'll smile!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the juncos are coming out of the forest darkness to clean up sunflower feeds and speak enough birdish to lure in chickadees and blue jays and other birds of 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!


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Itchy Bug Thoughts

21.9 degrees this morning on the mountain with a 3 mile per hour breeze and falling snow. Perhaps three inches on the ground since I left yesterday afternoon and a little more on the way today. The bad part of today is that it is the start of a week of frigid temperatures and wind which will have us seeing our breath for nights to come.

January is not the time to think about insects but this article from The Smithsonian seemed worth sharing to me. If you live in this part of New England or farther north, spring brings an assortment of not-so-good-critters and they bite and drive us crazy. When Vermont Flower Farm was located here above Peacham Pond, spring meant mosquitoes and black flies. The flies were often so bad that visitors and customers would get out of the car, get attacked, and turn around and leave all within half a minute. Gail and I were always happy when July arrived because we knew that even though there would be about two weeks of horse flies and the smaller deer flies in early July, insects would be about gone by mid July.

I remember so well the day when we walked the land that we bought on Route 2. The first walk was after a rain and since the land borders the Winooski River and has a lower section that is half surrounded by the river, we expected insects to be a problem. They weren't. We were surprised and happy and thought not-so-positive-thoughts about what might happen come spring. Nothing. The way the land sits, the wind blows almost every day from the west. There's just enough wind to keep insects away so for most of us, there's never a need for bug dope.

The Smithsonian article http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-do-mosquitoes-bite-some-people-more-than-others-10255934/ is excellent and you should probably read it to improve your understanding of who bugs love to eat and how to avoid them. It's a good article. Perhaps the biggest thing to remember--and the article echoes our 30 years of gardening experience, outside spring through fall- is the issue of clothing. Dark clothes, and I don't care what fabric they are made out of, are a bug magnet. I have always told people that dressing in dark clothes makes bugs think you are a big animal like a bear, deer, or  moose. I know I am correct on this. Lighter colored clothes make all the difference in the world! That's why you will always see me from spring through mid July wearing white t-shirts. I agree, they may be t-shirts from Vermont artist Phyllis Chase  but they will be white.

Read the article and make your own decision. My guess is you will agree with the article and me. In the meantime, get a chuckle out of this t-shirt that Phyllis did one year. Yes, life in Vermont is priceless but there are some expenses that come with living here. One is bug spray. I'm not sure about the $1000/year but am sure you'll be buying some.

 

 

 



Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where we are in a big snow squall right now. The snow is falling so fast that the smaller birds at the feeders are waiting for the blue jays to use their beaks to push snow off the feeders. Helping others is a good thing to do, with or without snow!

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



HOT MILK SPONGE CAKE RECIPE

 

 

Thursday, January 16, 2014

 

 

 

Here is the recipe for Hot Milk Sponge Cake that everyone should have. It's an old recipe and as the picture of our recipe card shows, it has been used a lot. The card is written in Gail's mother's handwriting but Gail went over some of it in a marker as the ink faded. It is listed as coming from Etta's mother. Etta was a friend of Gail's mother. Etta would be in her mid to late 80's now if she was still alive and cooking. The recipe was likely already within her family when she started using it so yes, it is old! We should probably copy it over some time soon but when you have made something as much as we have, most of the recipe sticks with you.

 

 

Scald 1 C milk

Beat 4 eggs til thick

Add 2 C sugar (slowly)

2 tsp vanilla (beat in slowly)

Add hot milk

Combine and add 2 C flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

 

Mix, pour into 11X14 pan or Pyrex, bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

 

The original recipe came with one for a white frosting. That recipe on the back of this card is no longer legible and Gail says it was too thick and not that tasty. As I am sending this along this morning I cannot find the frosting Gail makes but there are a lot of recipes. Your choice. We have had it with several different flavors but usually Gail leaves it plain which is how Alex always likes it. This was always a hit with his friends when he was growing up. It makes good cupcakes too. The consistency is different than modern day soft cakes but I'll bet you won't care. It goes well with fresh berries or other sliced fruit or with ice cream. I never have seen it refused. Never. Let me know what you think if you try it.

 

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!

 

 



COLD BUGS NOT THE ANSWER

 

 

Thursday, January 16, 2014

 

 

27.5 degrees here on the mountain this morning. No wind at all and the moon is reflecting nicely so my vision to the edge of the field and into the softwoods is clear right now. There's a chance of some snow flurries today as it will remain a little colder than the past three days but it will still be warm enough to work outside comfortably. This time of year I am in the woods as much as possible, widening roads and cutting out new trails. It's a bigger job than some think but for me there is a sense of peace when it's just me and the critters of the forests. It's nice to stop and sit on a log, pour a coffee and watch curious chickadees come in or red squirrels approaching with cone in mouth to join me for a snack.

 

I have heard for years that cold temperatures during the winter kill certain insects. In recent years the summer time temperatures have continued to exceed anything on record and as such the influx of new, never-seen-by-me-before-bugs continues. To think that cold temperatures might put the damper on some of these was somewhat comforting but today I find that is not true.

 

When you get a chance, take a look at this piece from the Entomological Society of America. It will answer some questions but still probably leave you in doubt until spring arrives and you get to make your own observations. The example of the emerald ash borer is clear and easy to understand, just not very encouraging. If you have any personal observations, please share.

http://entomologytoday.org/2014/01/13/falling-temperatures-do-not-necessarily-mean-fewer-insects/?blogsub=confirming#subscribe-blog


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the temperature remains the same as when I started writing but the moon light was replaced by falling snow. Wow! Karl the Wonder Dog and I walked carefully as snow covered ice is tricky. Be safe. Travel well.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



GARDENS OF POETRY

 

Sunday, January 12, 2014

 

A strange morning here on the mountain above Peacham Pond. Since 4:30 AM the temperature has been dropping slowly and the wind has been blowing stronger as a new front comes in. The rain of two hours ago has shifted to snow flakes and the ice on the paths and driveway is buffed so smooth that even with ice creepers, walking presents a challenge. Winters in Vermont have certainly changed in recent years and I really do miss the snow that was so common. I know I am not alone!

 

 

I start each day with a walk with Karl the Wonder Dog and then I check my email and find out what is new in the world of gardening. Lately I have been checking Gail's mail too as she handles much of the plant orders and business mail. She has been dealing with several medical issues lately and has enough to contend with so I have been trying to be helpful there. I have a number of garden blogs that I like to read each morning and one I started with earlier has put me on today's course.

 

 

 

I have been reading a blog titled Gardening Gone Wild for several years. It is really nice because there is more than one blogger involved and they are all very talented. This morning's piece was titled Probing Beauty by Saxon Holt. The tag line tells it all:  "Garden photographers look to capture beauty with a camera.  Poets use words."  Give it a read and you'll see why this struck an idea with me.

 

 

 

Poetry has a way with gardens. It's as if every garden deserves a poet and much of the words that are thought or spoken in a garden are some form of verse. They could be something abbreviated in comparison--something like haiku or  could be some lengthy English work that goes on and at times requires one to think and think to process the inherent message. It could be something as easy as the way Robert Frost used to write..... but regardless..... the garden is the home of much poetry and when I read Holt's presentation this morning, I thought of myself and some ideas I have had for some time.

 

Over twenty years ago, actually more I think, some folks in Middlebury added an interpretive feature to the Robert Frost Trail on Route 125 not too far from the Breadloaf campus of Middlebury College. This is where the annual summer writers conferences take place. The interpretive feature always impressed me, partially because of my love for Frost's writing but also because of the way the posted poetry slowed my walk along the trail and made me think of things differently. A piece of poetry can do that to anyone. I thought I had a folder someplace on my computer to serve as example to what the trail was like but I can't find it now. This piece by blogger Erin Florence will serve the need and give a good idea of what this trail looks like. Try http://cocoaandchinwag.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/point-of-interest-robert-frost-wayside-trail-2/

 

As I travel throughout New England, I am finding more and more interpretive trails, each different but each very interesting. Last November I found my way to Sterling Falls Gorge Natural Area outside Stowe, Vermont and I found a different sort of interpretation. No poetry here but plenty of great information along the way. Here's an example from Stop 5.

 



 

 

As I think about the beauty of the gardens we all create, I wonder if we should consider poetry again. Maybe we need to market the beauty of our gardens through our words as much as our pictures. Maybe??

 

 

 

 



Just leaving a thought while writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond in Marshfield, Vermont where the snow if falling off and on and the birds of the forest have appear at the feeders for a morning buffet. Best gardening wishes for the new year!

 

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm

Writing on Facebook at my personal George Africa page & our Like page, Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens

On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

And of course, always here to help you grow your green thumb!

"Don't Major In The Minor"

 

 

Saturday, December 7, 2013

 

 

23.2 degrees here on the mountain with a 3-4 mph wind. Sunrise is a bit away but the temperature signals it with a typical morning drop. The past few days have been rain, snow, wet, windy but they have allowed me to finish preparing for a logger who will join us soon and begin a couple projects that are bigger than I can do myself. There will be more to do after he leaves but that will be late spring work as snow is sure to be deep before long. I just reviewed some pictures of 2008 and on December 20th that year I was already climbing roofs and shoveling an accumulation of snow. I wish that wouldn't repeat itself this year but the various Farmer's  Almanacs suggest cold and snow in 5 more countable storms. We'll see.

 

During the growing season I don't get much of a chance to read like I want to so as winter approaches I am surrounded by stacks of books and trade magazines. This past week I watched Charlie Rose interview Jeff Bezo from Amazon. Many others probably did too. Today I read these interesting thoughts by Callie Oettinger in a piece entitled "Don't Major in the Minor". I read it on  Steven Pressfield Online. http://www.stevenpressfield.com/2013/12/dont-major-in-the-minor-2/  Take a look.

 

Our world has certainly changed and we feel and see those changes every day. Many people are connected to each other in various ways now and those connections encourage a need for spontaneous response to demand--any demand. I have always purchased from bookstores and I have a personal need to support bookstores as I want to be able to hold an actual book or magazine in my hands forever. But. But change is on the way.  Bookstores are leaving us and companies such as Amazon are changing that. I have been buying from Amazon for years because Alex is studying military history and Amazon has never let me down. It connects me with booksellers around the world and  guarantees the products will arrive as requested and within very reasonable time. For almost a year  now Alex has been studying women in the Russian armies in World War 1. Kind of a narrow topic if I say so. Amazon makes those studies get started a lot quicker than if I had to search myself silly.

 

Bookstores are a changing business. The little bookstore I frequented in Woodsville, NH closed this summer. Dave, the owner, did a great job but I think in the end it was sales versus rent and those two things didn't match. I have seen the same scenario played out in other stores. Alex and I were saddened when Borders went out of business as we spent a lot of time and money at the Burlington, VT and West Lebanon, NH stores. We like Barnes and Noble in Burlington and go there a couple times a month but I almost feel that change is near for them too. I don't think anyone has said "Hello"

or "Can I help you?" in the past 5-6 times we have been there.  I am a guy who evaluates a business by the way it communicates so when communication with the customer falters,  business has to slide too.

 

I do a lot of business at Staples too. It's convenient and they have all the supplies I need to operate a small business. They have answered all but one question I have ever asked and that is special. I have asked the tech people several times if they know how to make my Hughes satellite work  with a router so I can have Wi-Fi at the house. They tell me it can't be done with a satellite--we'll not exactly--they say it can be done but I will really be waiting for a connection then. So that's ok, one out of a bazillion isn't bad. But the other day even Staples gave me irritation when I was checking out and the clerk stated: "So you want that receipt emailed correct?" Now what? I'm not saying the clerk wasn't pleasant but when I said I didn't want to go to my computer to get a receipt she offered to provide a hard copy and email me a copy too. I was getting a little worked up trying to get a receipt and get going and as I finally grabbed the receipt, the clerk said "Maybe next time?" But...no thank you for spending a hundred bucks, nothing. Communication.

 

The horticultural business is no different. Vermont Flower Farm is a part of  my life and it is dear to me but fact is, it is faltering too. Many of the family businesses that have been around for generations have closed during the past 3-4-5 years. Some of the best gardeners were those on more limited budgets. Home gardening was always entertaining, something to be proud of, something that could even put food on the table, bring the family together with sharing. Changes in our economy and attitudes in our society have  modified  how successful horticulture related businesses are. Florists are in decline, even the number of CSA's in Vermont has declined in recent years. Change is on the way.

 

At Vermont Flower Farm,  Gail and I are in for the long haul. We enjoy what we are doing and weren't born to be wealthy. We meet new people every year, greet people as they enter the farm and say thanks and goodbye when they leave. Gardeners return each year until they either move or they can no longer garden because they enjoy the experience we offer. In coming years do not expect to have a drone deliver a potted perennial to your doorstep but do expect that we'll help you load your purchases in your car. Until then, help support American business,  and continue to learn a little more about Vermont. How does that sound?

 

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where ice now covers all the area kettle ponds and it will be that way until April 2014. Gotta get clicking here. The bird feeders are empty.

 

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm

On Facebook as George Africa and also as the Like Page,  Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens

On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

Always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Offering gift certificates year 'round for holiday and special event giving. Call Gail at 802-426-3505 or email at lilies@hughes.net

 

 

 





Bloggin' Around

 Sunday, December 1, 2013

 

 

Just in from working in the woods for three hours. It seems that each day it looks more and more like snow and I know that all of a sudden we will get a big storm and my woods work will slow dramatically. This morning at 5 the sky gave little promise of anything but a build up to slightly warmer temperatures and some snow.  Here it is,  3:15 PM,  and it's snowing out, right on the money. Small flakes are dropping straight down but they are abundant enough to make the birds know things will look different tomorrow morning and as such they are really eating seeds.

 

 

I like garden blogs and try to read as many as I can. There was a time when I was attaching addresses to my blog links page all the time but then I got to the point that  I couldn't even keep up with what I had. Now I am bad about writing in the summer time but get in the swing again come Thanksgiving. Guess I am almost on target.

One of my favorites to write about is stones and stonework. If I had everything to do over again I probably would have stayed in Burlington and worked on big projects. But a never ending series of aches and pains from 1982 back surgery suggested differently and here I am in Marshfield building my own gardens and selling plants.

Hardscape is something I have come to admire even though I know it can be incorporated or left aside. To me stone softens a garden and it's something not to be forgotten. I like any stone and often you'll find me climbing mountains of it, hiking over and around it or just plain taking pictures of it in a quarry or in a stone yard.

Vermont has its Green Mountains so we have a vast variety of colors and textures to choose from. We are well known for our granite but green schist which is harder than granite is also in abundance and is used a lot. But even pieces of field stone, glacial erratics , castaways from farm days--they all have a beauty and are all very useful in garden design.

Some designers find large stones or stones broken in pieces and they display them to their positive side. Stone masons and dry wall stackers are more and more in demand now and they compete for what is probably miles and miles of wall. I prefer the drywall stacker's work but the choice is personal and it has to factor in budget and underlying soil type. Vermont is known for deep frost some times and walls will tumble if frost goes deep around a wall without a footing.

 

Sometimes those who work in stone like to write too. Vermont's Dan Snow from Townsend, Vermont has written two excellent dry wall stacking books, the first of which, In The Company of Stone, is also the title of a blog I really enjoy. Today, during my search for interesting reading, I turned to Don Stratham's blog Rooting For Ideas. I especially like the most recent post:



http://donstathamblog.com/2013/12/01/private-gardens-houston.  Although Don lives in New York this post was about gardens in Houston. I bring it to your attention for the fine examples of how stone can be used in a garden setting. Take a look!

As the snow drops like rain, I have a few more outside chores to complete before the sun retires. Hope you're having a nice day!

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

Just Buggy!



Saturday, November 30, 2013

 

 

2.7 degrees below zero here on the mountain. The wind has stopped for a change and the sky is full of stars. Occasionally as I walked Karl the Wonder Dog  I could hear trees crack in the distance as the morning temperature deepens a bit and the sun begins to stretch far away in Eastport, Maine. I almost wish I was there in Maine watching it this morning.

 

For several years now we have had gardening authorities sharing their prayers for extreme cold for a few weeks. The past week has been cold and the weatherman suggests that this first week of December will be very cold at night too. Daytime temperatures will reach 30 degrees but the temperatures at night will be at 15 degrees or below so some will be happy with the drop. As I watch how fast the firewood pile changes during times like this, I normally would not be pleased but cold may be worth the sacrifice.  Here's why.

 

Pictured above is a longhorn beetle known as the Elderberry Borer. There are lots and lots of longhorn beetles on earth and in fact I saw a display once at the Montshire Museum in Norwich, Vermont and there are +100 in New England alone. I have only seen the Elderberry Borer over the past 5-8 years and although some say it is rare, I have seen many feasting on the pollen of native dogwoods and viburnums. I suspect that those who are now growing elderberry in Vermont have seen it in recent years and are not pleased with it's presence as it has a habit of boring into the base of the shrub and moving upward as part of its life cycle. That behavior obviously kills the shrub over time. Since dogwoods and viburnums are being attacked by disease and insects, I fear for their long term survival. Elderberries for syrups and wines have become a popular crop now and they will not fare well either. Take a look at http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=elderberry+borer&search=Search to get a better look for identification purposes.

 

So what's the story with the cold temperatures? Deep cold when there is little or no snow cover can kill insects and fungi depending upon what stage in their life cycle they are in. This has been well researched. The trouble we have had over the past twenty years is that winters are warmer and we haven't had the severe cold we were once used to. I remember moving to Marshfield in 1989 and that first winter we had a cold snap where the temperatures dropped to 30 below for a few days. I thought we had moved to the wrong place but that was the only time that has happened and since then temperatures rarely get to -25 and then for only a day or two.

 

Daylily leaf streak is a fungal experience more and more daylilies share each year. It would be nice if we got more cold which is supposed to stop that fungus. There are other fungal/rust issues with daylilies and perennial flowers that we enjoy so much so maybe, just maybe the current cold will help us out.

 

If you have read some good research on the impact of intense cold on bugs and diseases, please share with us. In the meantime, keep warm and continue on with planning your gardens for the coming years. Lots and lots of new plant and vegetable varieties are being released this year so there is plenty to consider. Design and redesign...it's good winter fun!

 

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the quiet is interrupted only by a crackling fire in the wood stove and snoring from Karl the Wonder Dog. He loves sleeping by the stove!

 

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa

Vermont Flower Farm where we are always happy to help you grow your green thumb!

Gift certificates available year 'round!!

 

 

 



 

 



Where's Waldo?

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

The temperature is back up to 17.1 degrees after starting at 20 degrees and dropping to 13. The wind is off and on at 3 mph as the sun rises above Peacham Pond and a new day starts with little promise of the warmth we enjoyed earlier in the week. I just finished a breakfast of poached eggs, OJ and coffee with my friend, Karl the Wonder Dog,  but he only had eggs. He just returned from a walk with Gail and now he is enjoying the wood stove's warmth.

If you remember the Martin Handford  kid's book, Where's Waldo, you remember searching around for a little guy with a red hat. I have been a Waldo of sorts during the past couple months and people have asked Gail where I'm hiding. The Waldo hat is replaced by my honey bee association hat in warm weather or a Carhartt hat on colder days but otherwise I am the same George, just older and busier than ever.

When we get through most of August and the first of September at the flower farm, Gail continues to clean things up there and I get back into my work here at the house creating more wood trails and roads, cutting firewood and cleaning the fields. A year ago I heard just too many stories about friends and acquaintances younger than me passing on to another world. I told Gail that I intended to do more of what I wanted to do. That's exactly what I have done. To keep social media going I have concentrated more on Facebook and Twitter so if you miss me again, look at my personal George Africa page on Facebook or the Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens Like page. Both have pictures and stories and yes, I know well, there is a group of blog readers out there that refuses Facebook at every corner but of course the choice on where and when to write is always that of the author. I hope you'll continue to read on all the formats but if you only like The Vermont Gardener, rest assured that fall is here and I am back to more writing.  In a couple more weeks I will be spending more time at the writer's cottage back in the woods and I hope that will get me closer to some personal goals and provide gardeners with more good material.

This summer was another good one at the flower farm excepting I guess that the changing climate is something we must resign ourselves to. By that I mean that for agricultural  business owners like Gail and me, summer 2013 in Vermont saw many, many days when no one drove into the yard because it was raining so hard. The summer ended with much better weather and although sales were down from three years ago, they were slightly better than last year so I guess we haven't lost our touch with many gardeners.

In May just before our busy season started, I headed for Acadia National Park in Maine and over 4 days climbed trails and learned more of Downeast Maine. The park is not as busy then and for me it's a better time to hike when I don't have to back off trails for speedy kids to scoot by.

Worker Bee Michael who we have known since soon after he was born in 1992, finished his final year with us and headed back to his senior year at Castleton. He'll graduate next spring and will be into the world of work, perhaps in law enforcement which has interested him for some time. He was a great worker, great company and very good with visitors. When he left, Gail T. from Peacham helped a few days here and there  including the weekend that daylily sales peaked. I was really lucky because wife Gail had chosen that weekend to head to Maine with friend Julie for a tour of the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Schoodic Bay and points around Milbridge where I have been looking at real estate. Gail T. and I really loaded cars for several days and were almost too tired to smile. Almost.

Just after Labor Day,  Gail and Alex and I headed to Maine for a few days R&R and it was really nice to sit on the beach, read, listen to music and eat fresh seafood. We were all so tired we each did our own thing but had a good time and added to our list of Maine memories. I returned long enough to rest, then headed for Crawford Notch, NH to hike to Arethusa Falls in monsoon-like conditions and come within 75 yards of one of the biggest black bears alive in New England. Guess it was a day of "BIG" as the waterfalls I visited is the largest in New Hampshire at almost 200 feet tall. Great trips.

On the home front I continued to dig and line out daylilies for next year's sales, I weeded and tilled 3/4's of the daylily display gardens and field gardens, and I started splitting wood for fall 2014. My work on the trails in our forests continued and I chipped about 20 truckloads of brush to serve as soil amendment which Alex and I spread on top of tons of shredded maple leaves he and Gail and I moved to various beds. I brush hogged around the fields, framed up an outhouse at the writers cottage and found a logger to help clean up some trees that are experiencing serious insect infestation.

By the end of September I was ready for more hiking and I headed back to Acadia Maine to hike the Precipice Trail and the Beachcroft Trail, locate a nice private beach and relive previous visits to the Ladder Trail, the Wild Gardens of Acadia, Otter Cliffs and a number of other places. 

In mid October we had the opportunity to ride the Cog Railroad to the top of Mt Washington. This was a special experience and got me excited about making that climb on one of the many trails. I decided I would never drive my car up there after riding the train and seeing people with overheated radiators.

In recent days, as the air has chilled and snow crystals have peppered me, I have begun to think through getting started next summer on the Long Trail. I have a good friend who has me almost convinced to head for Baxter State Park in Maine, climb Mt Katahdin and consider the Knife Edge. The last part of that is only a consideration and only on a dry, windless day with an early start for an old set of legs but......maybe, maybe not.

So here it is almost Thanksgiving and my to-do list is bigger than a legal pad. Just the same it has been a great summer. We met so many gardening friends this summer, past and current customers, and met many, many new gardeners from all over the world. Some people stopped to visit and see what was new but apologized for no longer being able to garden. Others brought their kids and grand kids and asked us to participate in an education program. It was just an incredible experience where the family of customers and visitors is far reaching and the stories, although sometimes sad, most of the time bring smiles, laughter, and more stories. That's the good part about gardening!

Guess I better get going. We contracted with a local logger to help us with some problem areas and that work should start within the next month. Before, during and after, I'll be busy. Stop by if you're out and about. Thanks for a great summer and thanks for reading thoughts from The Vermont Gardener. If you have gardening questions and want an opinion, fire away and we'll try to  be help.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond, where the temperature remains a reluctant 20.1 degrees and blue jays fill the platform bird feeder as mourning doves and chickadees eat from the ground. Enjoy today!

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

On Facebook as George Africa and also as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens

On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

Always here to help you grow your green thumb!

 Web sales always available at vermontflowerfarm.com

PS The picture up top is a sculpture at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine. I love that museum because I love Wyeth family art...all art. Great place!