August 27, 2025 Educational Meeting. The fall meeting of the teachers and directors of the Caledonia South Central Supervision Union is to be held at Harvey’s Pond, at West Barnet, on Thursday, September 3rd, from 10:00 A.M to 4:00 P.M. All are welcome. The towns are, Barnet, Danville, Greensboro, Peacham,[Read More…]
Columns
Sow seeds of the spirit
EAST CRAFTSBURY – It is a strange coincidence of history that the Battle of Gettysburg came only days before Independence Day 1863. I grew up in North Carolina with both Southern and Yankee family, and my great-great-grandfather was a first-generation German immigrant and Lutheran minister who studied at Gettysburg Seminary[Read More…]
Drought stress affecting Vermont’s trees, shrubs
BURLINGTON – After a very wet spring, warm and dry conditions have dominated Vermont and the Northeast since the beginning of June. According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, the driest areas of the region have received only 25% to 75% of normal precipitation. At the same time, temperatures[Read More…]
Bobolink birds are in decline, but Vermont’s fields are key to change
NEW HAVEN — Hyla Howe trudged through the high grass. She scanned the ground and took note: red clover, sedge, canary reed. Each plant said something about whether the field would be a good spot for bobolinks. Suddenly came a wave of R2-D2 chirps as 40 or more the birds[Read More…]
Rascally rabbits in the garden
SOUTH BURLINGTON – Rabbits are adorable creatures, until they devour your newly planted perennials, that is. Many gardeners find themselves quite frustrated by the damage that rabbits can cause to their beloved plants. Understanding what you can do to discourage them from dining in your garden can help gardeners and[Read More…]
Blacklight Walk on Hardwick Trails, August 23
Much cooler by late week; few showers as well
EAST HARDWICK – Another week of August, another week we’re struggling to play catch-up with some desperately needed precipitation. Total rainfall amounts from August 18 through August 25 ranged from one tenth to one half of an inch. This leaves us still two inches of rainfall short for the month.[Read More…]
Ah, yes, the job
EAST MONTPELIER – In early June of 1962, after nine chaotic, fraught, and highly educational years in Ohio in pursuit of an undergraduate degree, I finally got one. I had the degree, a great part-time job (which I had to give up), no debts, no money, a one-year old VW[Read More…]
In the Woods
Where the order of things,randomly organized in cycles isimperceptible through the passing of time or within a fraction of timeWhere everything begins and everything ends seen or unseen.I enter this timeless space belonging to it but also an intrudera naive observermeasurable and predictableyet also impetuously unpremeditatedSomething wild in the woods[Read More…]
Vermont’s Native Landscape is Under Siege
ADAMANT – For more than 40 years I have been conducting a field experiment in my Washington County home town of Calais. Literally, as in the 10-acre field that came with the old farmhouse I bought back in 1984. To be honest, this doesn’t have much to do with the[Read More…]
Hidden history of cyanobacteria
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Perhaps you saw the flyers at your town office or a warning sign posted at your favorite swimming hole. The smell might have driven you home, but maybe you crept closer, unable to see anything wrong but unnerved by the deserted shoreline on such a hot and[Read More…]
Purple coneflower is easy-to-grow perennial
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Purple coneflower’s (Echinacea purpurea) daisy-like flower adds a pop of color to a yard. They’re a great choice for an easy-to-grow, native perennial. Coneflowers are hardy in United States Department of Agriculture Hardiness Zones 4 to 9. Some varieties are hardy to Zone 3. Check the[Read More…]
