EAST HARDWICK – A little bit of a flip occurred this week, with the weekend largely dry and sunny with some showers scattered throughout the rest of the forecast period. We still stopped short of having a completely rain-free weekend, with a couple of local observing stations reporting a few[Read More…]
Columns
Savor the World to Save What We Can
GREENSBORO – The writer E.B. White, author of “Charlotte’s Web,” once wrote, “Every morning when I wake up, I am torn between the desire to save the world and the desire to savor the world. This makes it hard to plan the day!” I have loved this quote for many[Read More…]
Support Vermont’s Pollinators in a Garden or Back Yard
VERMONT – Pollinators play a substantial role in Vermont, with 60% to 80% of the state’s wild plants dependent on them to grow, but the typical American lawn may be helping drive them toward collapse. In 2024 alone, U.S. beekeepers lost an unprecedented 70% to 100% of their managed honeybee colonies. But in Vermont,[Read More…]
Goldenrod Crab Spider Master of Disguise
BURLINGTON – On a spring morning walk, I stop to smell a painted trillium and am greeted by a goldenrod crab spider (Misumena vatia). Bending down for a sniff of the white and pink blooms, I am face to face with the perfectly camouflaged white spider, hidden thanks to a[Read More…]
Red Clover is State Flower of Vermont
PANTON – Introduced to Vermont by European settlers, red clover has become an essential part of the state’s landscape and identity. Designated as the state flower in 1894, this pinkish-purple bloom symbolizes Vermont’s deep agricultural roots, particularly its dairy farming heritage, and serves as a living tribute to the land’s[Read More…]
Alternatives to the Standard Tomato Cage
MONTPELIER – For some people, tomatoes are the pinnacle of summer gardening. Who doesn’t love fresh from the vine juicy tomatoes? Tomatoes can be easy to grow with some inexpensive equipment and a little know-how about this crop. First, when choosing a tomato variety, recognize there is a distinction between[Read More…]
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up
EAST MONTPELIER – On Sunday mornings of the weekends that Bea drives up from Nahant, if the weather is warm and pleasant, we put the top down on the roadster, assure Kiki we won’t be gone long, and tool leisurely downstream along the Winooski River to Middlesex for coffee and[Read More…]
Showers Interspersed Among Sun, Seasonal Temperatures
EAST HARDWICK – It was a little warmer and a little sunnier this past week as clouds were noted to break a little both Saturday and Sunday, although we still had to contend with some showers. The persistence of precipitation seems to be waning as we enter into June and[Read More…]
Joyful June
SHELBURNE – Looking out the window sitting at my meditation altar on June 1, I saw birds, bees and a baby bunny. Bunny picked a dandelion and munched contentedly on it from stem to going-to-seed flower. The season’s first hummingbird flew overhead to bless the meal. Grace whispered, “It’s going[Read More…]
Spiritual Awareness Deepens Loving-Kindness
GREENSBORO – In her book, “The Gnostic Gospels,” Elaine Pagels describes a bounty of early Christian writings rediscovered in Egypt in 1945. They had been banned by authoritarian church leaders in the fourth century. But some faithful monks defied that dictate and carefully buried those texts for posterity. One major[Read More…]
Indigo Bunting is Celestial Creature
BURLINGTON – There is nothing like the royal blue of an indigo bunting. In the Northeast, they arrive fashionably late to the spring fling, behind the vanguard of migrating warblers and other songbirds. On my morning walk in my frequent birding spot, my “patch” as birders call it, I heard[Read More…]
June: Gardening in Difficult Conditions
CORNISH FLAT, N.H. – The very last day of May this year surprised me: we got three inches of rain in a little over 12 hours. Although not unheard of, it came after a month when we often got an inch or two of rain over a two or three[Read More…]
