Willow By Any Name

Sunday, March 25, 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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



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




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

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

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


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

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

Sugaring

Monday, March 19, 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
And remember, we're always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Starting Seeds

M0nday, March 12, 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
Remember please: We'll always help you grow your green thumb!

Inside The House

Sunday, March 11, 2012

A quiet morning here on the mountain, perhaps because of the time change when we spring ahead for an hour wishing at the same time that the early morning light we were growing to enjoy would spring with us. It doesn't happen that way. Almost 6 AM right now which was 5 AM just yesterday. The bright moonlight is fading and we'll have to be patient for a few days while sunrises catch up with the hour's change. By the end of March I am beginning my favorite time of year because the morning starts earlier and I can get so much done before lots of folks are kicking off the bed sheets.

18.0° here this morning and already two log trucks have gone by and the first trout fisherman has headed to Peacham Pond for brown trout. I suspect there may have been earlier fisherman than this truck but I made no notice in the dark. The wind is now at 3 mph and that will probably increase a little as the sun begins to rise and this next weather front comes in. There should be a good maple sap run today which is much needed after the spring we have had so far.

Gardeners have many pursuits besides gardening, especially in a state like Vermont where some killing frosts come in early September and winter snows do not always stop until spring is really under way. In the four previous years we have been at our "no longer new" nursery location, one year we had snow on Mother's Day/May 9th and a couple-three years back we had 18" of snow on April 28th. Those things happen.

So with the unpredictability of weather, gardeners spend their time doing different chores. On February 28th my friend Michelle closed on her first ever house, a 1915 Craftsman style house that needs some help but will be a beauty when finished. I said I would help with the rough part of the clean up and I have already gotten myself in trouble because I am liking what I am doing so much I haven't tended to my own chores here at the flower farm. Michelle knows I need some redirection and last night she told me to go home and stay there but I can't seem to get out of the history involved in the old house.

We stripped the carpets that had covered very nice hardwood floors for over 40 years, maybe longer, and then tackled the wallpaper in the dining room. The entire house was wallpapered as was common in older days. The trouble with wallpaper is it usually was not one layer but many and in this situation, the paper was apparently stripped back to the lath and horsehair plaster about 50 years ago as there are 5 layers to be removed.

Wall paper removal is like building good soil. It takes a lot of time but when you're finished there's a reward involved that brings on smiles. Yesterday I got the dining room down close to "mostly stripped" while Michelle was away at her day job and the electrician she had hired worked to bring the kitchen and bathrooms into compliance with some ground fault protected outlets. The wallpapers were interesting and the quality back then was really exceptional. I think the last layer probably went on 15 years ago as the owner was getting along and wall color was probably less of a concern.

Right now Michelle is researching the best way to patch the old plaster as some has worn around the archway into the living room and around a couple windows, and under another. You Tube makes research a bunch easier and what looks easy really is not all that hard except that there are supplies and tools to purchase for most homeowners and there's a need to build a little confidence which is not something that comes with a price tag.

There are many, many things which this house will require to return it to vintage form. It reminds me of a couple years back when I was asked to speak about daylilies at an area historical society. Our discussion set the membership upon a look-see into what flowers had been originally planted around the building and this stimulated thoughts of of a different type of restoration. This house will be a lot of fun and despite Michelle's scolding to go home, I know I'll sneak back and help some more. Kinda like planting time at the nursery when people show every spring to volunteer to help with spring planting because they have to get their hands into the soil and get the feel of plants. You probably know that feeling too!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the first two loads of logs just went by heading for Jay, Maine. I should hear the trucks stop--right about now--for the drivers to remove the tire chains. 6:24 AM. Have a nice day!

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

Thoughts of Spring

Monday, May 5, 2012

A surprise this morning after days of rain, wind and snow. The temperature was close to zero for some time and then as the sun rose and the winds came up, stopped, started again, stopped, the temps bounced up and down around zero degrees as last night's snow drifted powder-like from tree branches everywhere. March in Vermont is not like many other places in America and here it's still a long time before the weather warms and we see flowers. In contrast, the southern east coast is seeing apple and cherry blossoms and wildflowers, none of which are even thinking of breaking dormancy here.

Down around South Carolina and Georgia there are reports of trilliums coming into bloom. I love trilliums and always have. As a kid growing up in Woodstock the only one we regularly saw was Trillium erectum and it wasn't until many years later that I even knew that Stinking Benjamins had a real name. It was even later in life that one of Gail's friends told be she knew them as Nosebleeds. Regardless of the name, and there are many, many other common names, they are still a great wild flower.

Every August I pluck firm seed pods and crush them between my fingers and then with one finger, I make a hole and push the whole, broken pod full of seeds into the ground and cover. A couple years later the germination is obvious and four to six years after that there is the start of a nice colony complete with small flowers. The next picture shows some 3-4 year old seedlings I dug to line out and also pot up for future sales. You will notice a horizontal rhizome-like root at the bottom of each stem. As the plants mature past age 7-8 years, you can dig these in the spring and slice them in half to increase production. They root well and are quicker to produce nice flowers than by starting seed.

These pictures show the 3-4 year old seedlings, split out of a clump, in a clump and then leafing out in one of our gardens.









There are three native growing trilliums in Vermont although many of the 52 varieties found in North America will grow here. In New England there is a fourth native only found in Maine. In order below here are grandiflorum, erectum and undulatum. Each has it's own requirements but they will grow any place in New England. The yellow luteum at the start of this page is likewise a non native but it too will do well here.








So as winter snows turn to spring rains, give some thought to greater use of wild flowers in and around your property. Trilliums are fun to grow and still bring a lot of "What is that's?"


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the snow in the driveways tells me that I need to plow before Gail gets back home at 1. Use care on the roads and give thought to your gardens. Drop us a line with questions and we'll try to make your gardening in 2012 more successful. We are always glad to help you grow your green thumb!

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

Irish Eyes, Potato Eyes

Friday, February 24, 2012

A quiet morning here on the mountain. The temperature started at 21° before daybreak and has moved up to 25.2° Not a whisper of wind this morning and the red skies I thought I would see remain the same gray from two hours ago. The Channel 3 weatherman, Gary, just said the storm is moving into southern Vermont now and this may turn into the first substantial storm we have seen here since before Thanksgiving. The barometer is at 29.32 and has started to drop.

An indicator of how bad the economy is seems to be seed and plant catalogs this year. Over recent years I have tried to let companies know that I use on-line catalogs and try to save trees. This year, however, I am receiving a number of catalogs I've never seen before and one of these is Irish Eye Garden Seeds from Ellensburg, Washington. This company sells organic seeds and also organic garlic and seed potatoes. I have mentioned an interest in potato varieties before and often you have to resort to the Internet to get some of varieties. I have also mentioned Peaslee's in Williamstown, VT, Johnny's Selected Seeds in Maine, and Jim Gerritson's Wood Prairie Farm, also in Maine. Locally I have had some luck at Guy's Farm and Yard, Agway, and also Depot Farm Supply in Essex.

The interest in fingerling type potatoes seems to be growing and I notice that the supermarkets are selling two pound bags of smaller potatoes for $4.95 which suggests the interest and willingness to pay remains steady.



With the availability of seed potatoes comes a good amount of info available in stores and on-line on how to grow potatoes. I think they are an easy crop to grow as long as you understand their nutritional needs, forget about the use of lime and have a contingency for critter involvement. Deer will eat the plants in summer and will dig the potatoes out in fall. Insects keep you busy in between but there are organic ways of dealing with them.

Here are images of Red Patriot, Russian Banana, All Blue and Yukon Gold to serve as example of what is available to try. There are dozens of other varieties too. While the snow deepens by nightfall today, give potatoes a thought for spring planting. If space is short at your house, try just a couple in a large container while you understand what plants look like and what typical production is by fall. It's a great project for kids but kids and adults alike find great fun pulling tops and finding out what grew all summer!

Red Patriot

Russian Banana

All Blue

Yukon Gold

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where bluebirds yell at me for more food at the feeders even though they were fed at 6.

The picture of the little potato gardener up top is Alex when he was 10. He's 19 now and stands a head above me. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

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

Moving Daylilies

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

A nice morning here on the mountain. 22.6°, windless, quiet down the road at the log landing, noisy at the bird feeders. My friends are coming in for their newly placed breakfast buffet of sunflower, cracked corn and mixed seed treats. I'll get back later today with some peanuts for the blue jays but I want to get the cameras set up first to get some better pictures of the gluttons that jays are.

It's been four full years that we have been at our nursery on Route 2 in the village and one might think that by now all the plants from here at the house would be moved. It just doesn't work that way when you have a two person business. As we enter year five, we shake our heads in disbelief but that's nothing compared to the fact that Gail and I started gardening together in Shelburne in 1983. Our first joint task was planting a hundred eggplant in early June on a day that turned so cold it was spitting snow instead of welcoming summer. Looking back, I guess that should have been a harbinger to what was to come.

So here we are, thinking seriously about spring planting and scared about what is going to happen with sales. As I ever so slowly finish up income taxes it's a sad reminder to what we didn't sell last year. Those floods in May and then Hurricane Irene really kept customers away and sales were off by numbers that startle. No wonder we are still tired as there was a lot of rebuilding that is yet to be completed and deposits to the bank were few and far between at the beginning and at the end of the season. Sales were off by almost 30% for the year but factually customers can't get to a place without a road and Vermont suffered some of the greatest devastation in America.

But despite the sadness, farmers are built to rebound. They have to. I used to say that farmers had great confidence but now I describe them as resolute because I think it's a stronger statement of bucking up to adversity and moving along.

I haven't counted but I know that here at the house there are over 200 different daylilies left to move and 2012 is the year for this. This picture shows one of the gardens that needs to be dug and moved and when worker bee Michael gets out of college in May, this will be one of his early chores. We'll dig the clumps, divide them and then plant some in pots for resale and we'll line the rest out in the gardens to grow along for future sales. These are big old clumps so I'll probably help with the tractor getting them out of the ground.

Over near the peony display garden there are about 50 daylilies including 25 that Alex picked out back when he was nine and just interested in hybridizing. Almost every daylily he picked from catalogs to grow along has become a good seller and that shows the good eye he has for color and vitality. I also have +20 late bloomers I purchased from Olallies in Newfane Vt. These are very nice daylilies from an old and very nice nursery that faced the same flood challenges we did as their road was washed away too. Southern Vermont really took it heavy and there are still places that need attention down there.

So if you happen to stop by come May and don't have anything planned for the day, I'll be happy to exchange labor for daylilies as we move along, Maybe I will be surprised and things will be more positive but yesterday after I started to write this I went to Montpelier and in one day the gas prices went to $3.69.9 and I saw people on ladders changing prices ever higher. My research a month ago said $4.50 in Vermont by Memorial Day and more than $5 a gallon by July 4th. It isn't necessary but it's a reality.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where I can hear a beagle barking across the balsams chasing a rabbit. I don't know who is hunting here today. My sport will be installing a new dishwasher for Gail.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm

On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens (Like?) and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
Helping everyone grow their green thumb!

Valentines Day Flowers

Valentines Day
Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Already past six here on the mountain and Karl the Wonder Dog has already been outside for a walk and is back in front of the wood stove snoring dog dreams and offering up an occasional involuntary leg movement as if thoughts of chasing a rabbit have taken over his mind. It's still dark out and the lights along the snow fence since Christmas provide a guide through the morning darkness. I'm actually glad we walked earlier as there has been a line of tractor trailers going by since we got in. They are all headed to the logging project down the hill and this morning their responsibility is transporting wood chips to the electric plant in East Ryegate. The first trucks will be loaded and on their way in less than two hours and the sound of the chipper will continue until about 4 tonight when it's time to shut it down and perform daily maintenance for tomorrow morning's repeat performance. When the project is completed, an old sugar bush will have been cleaned up and a crew will appear with plastic tubing by the mile and get things ready for maple sugaring season. This is big business in Vermont and last year a record setting million gallon production brought smiles.

Gail has worked for her good friend Jerome of Jerome the Florist in Barre for three days now. If you're down that way today and need an arrangement or cut flowers for a loved one or one you wish would love you, stop by. Gail is always squirreled away in a corner but she loves to help and although she returns home each day with an obvious tiredness, there is a leftover story and a big smile that makes me know they all worked hard and had fun. Each year some people just kind of show up to help on a process of flower prep, flower arrangement, sales and deliveries that you actually have to see to understand its complexity. Bazillions of flowers go out the door in a short amount of time. Yes, love is in the air but it takes a lot of busy hands to move through the holiday. Thankfully the weather has been good this year and although flower deliveries had to be covered this past weekend due to the cold, yesterday and today are better.

Each year around this time I write about a favorite perennial flower, Bleeding Heart or Dicentra. I have written about it on The Vermont Gardener many times before so for this year, in kind of a tax time laziness, I just want to reference previous writings if you are interested. If you are not, I'll understand. Just the same, warm Valentine's Day wishes. Be sure that before the day ends you have not forgotten anyone. Love is a funny thing but just caring about people is the real thing!

Fringed Bleeding Hearts
Two Friends
Valentines Greetings


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where yet another truck just headed to the chip site. They downshift before making the turn in front of our house and I can count trucks without even looking. Busy day!

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

Biologicals and Blue Jays

Thursday, February 9, 2012

7 AM and I just returned from a morning walk with Karl the Wonder Dog. It's 9° right now but 5° if you factor in the 2 mph breeze. The sky is clear and the sun is rising above Peacham Pond suggesting it will be warmer by noon. February is a busy time for the animals and birds of the adjacent fields and woodlands. Coyotes, which I have been studying lately, mate this time of year and lately they have been frequenting a compost pile I have out back. Red squirrels mate now too and as Karl and I exited the back door this morning, three ran right between us chasing each other in a frenzy that forgot safety. Sometimes love is like that. Barred owls call each other frequently now and for consecutive nights I have been outside listening for them but oddly they have been silent this year.

As I walked by the compost pile last night I thought for a minute about all the questions gardeners bring to us every summer--plant questions about discolored leaves with strange looking spots or colors or curls, or dried edges or falling leaves. Many of these problems are related to the assortment of fungal issues that I feel can be dealt with if you grow your soil before you grow your plants. Building good soil is a long affair and Gail and I are not proud of what we have at the nursery but we are happy with our progress. Our soil there is comprised of four different types with thick clay predominant. Amendments are called for and we work in as much as we can gather up.

Many gardeners are impatient and many garden centers are pleased to sell expensive chemical products guaranteed to erase problems without telling what else they might erase. The world of biological controls is growing and there are some interesting things to research and consider to meet your needs. Yesterday I was reading the Bioworks site and learning what new things they offer. Back in the days when we grew lilium by the thousands we were interested in controlling fungi on our lily bulbs and found a Bioworks product named RootShield. The product is OMRI certified (Organic Materials Review Institute) so it can be used safely for food we eat and still do the trick dealing with problem fungi. I'm not suggesting that we eat lily bulbs although some do, but I am recommending the use of biologicals instead of "kill everything and anything" chemicals. During the remaining winter months, research some of the available biologicals and consider them this year. Your first reaction might be that they are expensive but wouldn't the bees and butterflies you enjoy be a sacrifice too if the only place their names could be found was on a list labeled "EXTINCT"?

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where a single young blue jay is sitting on the platform outside my office window yelling at me to bring out some seeds. He has the makings of a fine blue jay politician, yelling for change but not looking in the right direction.

Have a nice day!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook at Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
And always helping you grow your green thumb!

Finding New Things

Monday, February 6, 2012

A morning here on the mountain with many weather changes. An hour ago it was ten degrees warmer than right now. The sun may be shining and saying "Good Morning, America" in Eastport, Maine but it's a dreary day here. The wind has come up and it's forcing the temperature down so we're at 13.9° right now with the wind chill. Karl the Wonder Dog has been out twice but the bite of the wind was more than he cared for. I agree.

A local logger is cleaning up a very nice old sugar bush just down the road from us and that means wood chips for a nearby power plant, firewood which he works up mechanically, and also logs. The logs go to sawmills in Maine because there just aren't many left here in Vermont and those that are left have specialties. When you go to a mill, hardware store, box store, etc. and buy a piece of lumber you might complain about the price but you have to stop for a minute and think through the process. Kinda like buying a gallon of milk if you're a complain-about-price person. It's a lot of work to get the board from a tree in the woods to the board you want to buy. Logging is one of the most dangerous professions going and it's not easy work to boot. Anyway two log trucks just headed out after stopping in front of our house here and taking off their snow chains. They have easy sailing now except for school bushes that they will start meeting in half an hour as they cross into New Hampshire.

Just before the logger in charge of this cutting started, he stopped by to introduce himself. The 80 acre piece will take all winter to finish but with no snow this year, everything can go quicker. The land belongs to a family named Chase from Barre and they are all good people. There is a deer camp on the property and I remember my father in law used to go there at the start of deer season every year for an afternoon shot of whiskey. He has passed on now, and Henry, the owner and family leader, is hunting in a different world now having left last year at age 91. For Ralph, the visit was an annual affair, one of those things he had to do and he'd be gone some time as there were stories to share, some repeated annually. Sometimes in summer he'd go down to see if Henry was cutting wood and he'd ride the old John Deere 320 down as if it was a car or truck. Ralph is gone and now I have that tractor but the stories didn't come with it. Good stories.

So anyway, what's the point of a logging operation in winter and a blog entitled "Finding New Things"? When loggers, or even homeowners like you, begin to reopen forests that have been closed for some time, it's like someone unlocked a new world. The first summer you can walk where trees once stood and look at the ground and make mental comment on how good a job the logger did (or didn't do) caring for the balance of the environment. The thing that's guaranteed to prevail is your notice of the sunlight no longer blocked from entering the land and it's that opportunity that makes the difference.

After year one, many seeds will have germinated that had been dormant for many, many years. Wildflowers will be included and you will be surprised during years two and three with the beauty that you never knew existed. This piece of property is adjacent to Marshfield Reservoir and there is no doubt that the wild orchids that I find once in a while will begin to surface. Trilliums, both erectum and undulatum will probably be everywhere in 3-4 years and bunches of bunchberries will be covered in white next spring and red berries by the next fall.These are guesses but I have seen this happen repeatedly and know it will happen here too.

When spring awakens land that you know, take a hike on a piece of newly logged forest and keep an eye on what grows. State forests most always have a new piece you can walk. I'll bet you'll be surprised. Right now three blue jays and two doves are surprised that it's 7:30 and the feeders are empty. Have to get going here. From the mountain above Peacham Pond, good wishes for a nice day. Think about "finding some new things".

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens (please "Like") and also George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
Always helping you grow your green thumb!

Business Thoughts in Horticulture

Thursday, February 2, 2012

22.5° here on the mountain this morning with a 4 mph breeze and a slow-to-start sunrise above Peacham Pond. There's a while left before the sun really gets going and the weatherman says expect to see lots of gray clouds by 7:30. It's Groundhog Day too and that's a different story as the very few woodchucks we have around here are fast asleep and not thinking at all about any media hype with guys wearing protective, bite-proof gloves and stovepipe hats and yanking their round, buggy eyed brethren out of sleep for the cameras. I'm sure you've seen this courageous behavior before.

The news has been all politics but my horticulture trade magazines spend January trying to project what the summer will bring. Gail and I read the forecasts in various journals and then spend a little time researching weather forecasts from continents far away. We usually do quite well with the forecasts and less well with the outcomes. Last summer was the worst.

I just read a brief and also general economic view in Nursery Management Magazine. There are clearly some positives from a government perspective but I'm not seeing it in Vermont. I stopped last night for gas and it was at $3.59.9 for Unleaded. A year ago yesterday the national average was $3.10, a month ago it was $3.26, yesterday it was $3.42 nationally but just the same I pumped in $85 to get to "F". A warm winter so far has kept heating oil costs under $4.00 a gallon here, and all the costs associated with running the winter sports industry in the east that consumes a lot of energy has flattened due to lack of snow. Internationally there are big and little challenges. China is gobbling a bunch of oil, Israel is short on natural gas as it's in between fields with one almost out and another half a year away from coming on line. The list goes on but it all impacts on US prices. What that means to horticultural endeavors is that sales will repeat 2011 at best and food sales will continue to rise with diesel prices.

We can preach "Buy Local" and we should as that effort is beginning to show more merit to buyers. The problem is getting people to change behaviors and think more about what they are doing. Yesterday in a grocery store I noticed large packages of flowers and pussy willows for sale for 3 packages for $15. It costs us $3. 95 a package equivalent just to grow those so by the time you account for harvest, packaging, delivery or waste/non-sale you almost have the store's sale price in costs. Not a good thing. As you shop, continue to learn about local resources and buy locally whenever you can. Be kind and don't ask for a discount before you start shopping.

Thoughts?


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where blue jays scold me repeatedly for empty feeders as mourning doves compete with red squirrels for the leftovers on the ground. Gotta scoot, hungry birds beckon.

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

Farming

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

A dark morning here on the mountain very much unlike usual February introductions. It's now up to 31.5° and freezing rain has been falling for a couple hours but ever so lightly here. The weather folks say it will change to all rain soon but since before daybreak the schools and businesses along the Connecticut River over near Wells River, Vermont and Woodsville, NH on up through Bath and to Littleton, NH have had delays due to ice. It has been a strange winter for sure. I was in Monroe, NH two days ago visiting a friend's farm and a brand new snowmobile groomer sat in a field surrounded by grass, not snow. It was a sad view and I am sure the club members feel the same way. Snowmobiling contributes a lot of income to the northern New England economy but not so this year.

The free standing, open concept barn pictured here is a big investment but clearly to me, a non-dairy farmer, the way to go. As I walked through the barn the heifers seemed extremely content and they all looked healthy and happy. The happiest animal of all was the Jersey bull pictured just below here as these are his ladies and he makes that clear.

I did not know until my visit but first calf Holstein heifers (the black and white cows if you aren't familiar) are usually bred with a smaller bull like a Jersey so the first calf does not present a difficult birth for the young mother. Every time I go to a farm or a farm show, I learn something new. The thing I learned long ago was to respect farmers for all that they do for us and never, never question the price of a gallon of milk. Whatever the price, it's probably still too low for what it costs to produce



The wind was blowing and it was cold on the day of my visit but the top of this barn is tight as can be. A garage door company is coming soon to install doors but the company has been very busy and "doors by Thanksgiving" is still a few weeks out. Once installed, this will be quite a package.

The owner/farmer told me that with this arrangement he can feed 75 head in half an hour. There is space for three times that many heifers so you begin to see the sense in this type building which affords the opportunity to use larger equipment to do more in less time. With the difficulty getting good (or any at all) farm help, this mechanization is even more important.

The perplexing thing about agriculture right now relates to fuel costs. I have read several horticultural trade magazines recently and here's the deal. By Memorial Day gasoline is expected to be in the $4.50 a gallon range and by July 4th it should be no surprise that west coast fuel prices will exceed $5 per gallon IF we don't end up in a shooting match with Iran. This is not a favorable thought. It has caused many farmers, even flower farmers like me, to rethink what they are buying and what they are selling and how. All farming has challenges so do what you can to continue to buy local and support farmers and businesses in your area.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the temperature is now rising to 33° and the rain looks "all rain, no sleet". Best wishes for a good day. Drive with care!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
OnTwitter as vtflowerfarm
Always helping you grow your green thumb!

Composted Thoughts

Sunday, January 29, 2012

23° here on the mountain this morning. There's a 4-6 mph wind that comes and goes, and as it moves a little, temperature corrected to wind speed drops to 16°. The sun is rising over Peacham Pond and the sky has rows of black clouds that look as if someone took a paint brush and dabbed gray-black paint across a light blue backdrop. The recent weather has offered up a variety of sky colors lately and this one will change too before night approaches.

The high point of the morning is that it's birdiferous out there and I do not know why. Karl the Wonder Dog and I just headed out for a second walk and just off the back steps where the overgrown Miss Kim lilac shivers, we were surrounded by a Hitchcockian flock of chickadees like I have never seen before. These are family oriented birds I hear but this was one big family, chasing each other in circles and surrounding us to the point that Karl was smacking his teeth as they went by. They are usually such docile birds and they tame quickly to hand feeding with little patience. But today they were little whirlwinds, covertly signaling a bird convention of sorts here at the house and feeders.

The eruption of evening grosbeaks from two days ago is still here feeding heavily on the Thundercloud crabs but my real amazement came when I heard the windy wings from a flock of 38 cedar waxwings landing in the sugar maple as they waited for blue jays to leave the Dolgo crab apples. I was so happy to see these birds as they landed and flew, landed and flew away but in between time crushed open frozen apples and consumed the seeds they cherish. I remember the waxwings as my mother's favorite winter bird.

The early rising juncos are everywhere on the ground under the feeders in company with about 20 mourning doves so we have quite a collection this morning. Perhaps these are not the kind of birds that birders marvel over but to me they are my day's entertainment and like old friends who show up unannounced, the waxwings produced a morning smile on my face as Karl gave a shiver and headed for the steps.

But it was the crows fighting in the compost pile that produced a thought for today and that thought really is about compost. I don't want to brag about Vermont but factually there is deep concern for what goes into landfills and what doesn't need to. The composting industry is very well established and it has reached the level from single composters to community composters to "let's make a bunch of bucks" composters. A while back I saw a lady enter the local store and leave off two spanky clean 5 gallon buckets in exchange for the two that had been filled at the back deli. Entrepreneurship at its best! Last year at Town Meeting there was a vote to change solid waste districts and part of the concern was who would pick up the food waste at the local school. Within 20 miles of here there are three or four commercial operations that take major food and waste scraps and turn them into black gold that is sold by the truckload or bagged. IN the case of the school, the worry was worked out with a new provider.

So yes, it is cold outside today but that doesn't mean it's the wrong time to think about compost. Time flies and before you know it you'll be walking your gardens and thinking about amending soil and getting better looking crops than last year. Just remembering last year's floods in May and the hurricane in August will remind you how much nutrient rich soil is in Lake Champlain now and how much you need to replace. So-o-o-o as you think gardening, think compost and begin to research what's available, how much you need and what the price will be. The Composting Association of Vermont might be the place to start although I'm not sure all the composters who have product to sell are members. For example Grow Compost Of Vermont in Moretown is one of the newer commercial endeavors. They are located on Route 100 between Middlesex and Waterbury and they have a very good product too.

Up top is an image of fall leaves. When spring arrives and you have to rake what you forgot last fall, get the leaves into the compost pile you always thought about building but didn't. It takes a while before leaves turn to gold but when they do, you might remember my hint.

And from the mountain above Peacham Pond where late waking ice fishermen are heading down to set up tip ups for fat brown trout, happy composting thoughts and if all else fails, fill the bird feeders.

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

Vermont Farm Show

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Yesterday was the first day of the 2012 Vermont Farm Show as well as the first day at its new location at the Robert Miller Exposition Center at the fairgrounds in Essex. Big changes always require a shakedown cruise of sorts but I have to say this is a wonderful show that will knock your socks off even if you aren't a farmer. It's also admission free.

At the entrance some equipment is on display that stopped the farmer in me with a "what's that???" question. This gigantic Kuhn Merge Maxx 900 is a hay conditioner for the kind of Vermont farms that mostly only exist along the western side of the state. They are commonly used out west where turning big equipment around is not a problem. This piece is 28 feet wide. Here's a YouTube video of it in operation so you get a hint of the size.

Here's a quick series of other big equipment. If you have younger kids who have an interest in machines, this is a place they can see some things they won't forget. Hold them tightly and listen for excited voices.






More farm show thoughts and images to follow.

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
Helping you grow your green thumb!