BOLTON – Get a jump start on the growing season by adding a cold frame to the garden. A cold frame allows you to start some plants two to four weeks before the recommended planting time. Any cool-season vegetable is a suitable candidate for growing in a cold frame. Popular[Read More…]
Columns
Area Blanketed by Early Spring Storm
HARDWICK – Tranquil conditions returned early this week as the sun broke through the clouds and high temperatures approached 50°. Of course, the main weather feature of the previous forecast period was a significant winter storm on Saturday that turned out to be one of the largest snowfalls that we’ve[Read More…]
Aha! A cane-user
EAST MONTPELIER – Our cab arrived at 4:40 a.m. on the dot and deposited us at the entrance to United Airlines about 5:30. Check-in was amazingly easy, and the trek to our gate likewise. We took off from Logan also on the dot – it seems to be true that[Read More…]
Kathleen and George Take Care of Each Other
HARDWICK – Kathleen Hayes, of Marshfield and George Philcox of Hardwick are a brother and sister with a special bond because Kathleen is George’s legal guardian. About 10 years ago while at a hearing to transfer guardianship from their mother, Gemma Philcox, to Kathleen, George was asked what he thought[Read More…]
Coming April 8: A Total Eclipse of the Sun
READING – In the cosmic dance of heavenly bodies, no phenomenon possesses the drama of a solar eclipse, when the moon passes directly between the sun and earth. In the path of totality, where the moon completely obscures our home star, the world falls into an ominous darkness that has[Read More…]
It’s Not too Late to Prune Fruit Trees
by Debra Heleba, Extension Community Horticulture Program director, University of Vermont BURLINGTON – This time of year, when plants are normally in their dormant stage, usually finds gardeners conducting late-winter pruning of apple and other fruit trees. However, recent warmer temperatures may have encouraged many trees to prematurely wake up,[Read More…]
Late Winter Woody Plants Provide Seasonal Interest
by Bonnie Kirn Donahue NORTHFIELD – Late winter is a great time to notice how certain trees and shrubs provide seasonal interest and complement each other in the landscape. As the snow recedes, the grays, tans and browns in the landscape offer a subtle background for plants with color to[Read More…]
Hit-and-Miss Snow Showers Welcome Spring
HARDWICK – Just as quickly as the snow returned, most of it melted during several days of rainfall over the past forecast period. We saw intermittent spurts of snow Sunday afternoon and evening into Monday night as a couple of weak disturbances passed, leaving an inch or two in their[Read More…]
Mannings Blend Family, Become Abenaki Citizens
HARDWICK – Love, family and tradition are three words that seem to characterize everyday people, Dale and Joanne Manning of Hardwick. Sitting around their dining room table, looking through their wedding album, pictures of their children and sharing their journey to become Citizens of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk[Read More…]
U.S. Postal Service Instrumental in Name Changes
HARDWICK – In 1781, the Republic of Vermont granted a charter for a town named Hardwick to a group of 67 people known as proprietors. Most of them had some connection to Hardwick Massachusetts. The name Hardwick first appeared in a newspaper when, on January 22, 1787, Bennington’s Vermont Gazette[Read More…]
For White-throated Sparrows, Opposites Attract
by Jackie Bussjaeger ST. PAUL, MN. – Finding a suitable mate in the wild is no simple matter. It’s an extra complicated affair for one familiar resident of the woods and underbrush. With its chunky build, boldly striped head, and namesake white throat, the white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) is among[Read More…]
