by Meghan McCarthy McPhaul FRANCONIA, N.H. – It is a question I face each year as March winds into April: when to take down the bird feeder. Our avian feeding station is basic: a single run-of-the-mill hopper, which I fill with a local mix of seed that seems to keep[Read More…]
Columns
To-do List for Spring Gardening
by Deborah J. Benoit, Extension Master Gardener, University of Vermont NORTH ADAMS, Mass.– Spring may be upon us, but winter is reluctant to let go. In the meantime, we’re all eagerly awaiting the time when we can head back to our gardens and get them into shape for the coming[Read More…]
You’d Think We’d’ve Learned by Now
by Willem Lange EAST MONTPELIER – Most of us, I daresay, learned the story of Bluebeard as children (though, apparently, it’s too frightening and thus off-limits to some modern children). The wealthy, but grotesque nobleman, before leaving on a trip, gives his new wife the keys to all the rooms[Read More…]
Plant CSI: Solving Crimes with Plants
by Jodi Larison, Extension Master Gardener, University of Vermont Plant materials have been used to solve crimes on television shows, in books and in real life. The use of plant materials in solving crimes is called forensic botany. Plant materials that have been utilized in solving crimes have included flowers,[Read More…]
Owls on the Nest
by Anna Morris QUECHEE — Among the very earliest signs of spring are the strange caterwauls of the barred owls that haunt our woods: “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?” Their hooted conversations, thrown back and forth through forests all over New England, signal the territory disputes,[Read More…]
Bringing Spring into the House
by Henry Homeyer CORNISH FLAT, N.H. – Even though spring has arrived according to the calendar, I fear winter is not done with us yet. Mother Nature is full of tricks, so I am not packing away my snow shovel just yet. But to reassure me that she will provide[Read More…]
This is Kind of Peaceful
by Willem Lange EAST MONTPELIER – The switch from nursing home to personal home went off without a hitch. The multiple family members here to help effect it then left one by one, till I’m down to: Kiki; Herschel my four-wheel, silk-smooth walker; and Hagar, the hybrid SUV parked two[Read More…]
Managing Salt in the Landscape
by Bonnie Kirn Donahue, Extension Master Gardener, University of Vermont NORTHFIELD – Salt can be a great asset in the winter for deicing roads and walkways. Salt prevents ice from forming by lowering the freezing point of water, creating safer surfaces for people to walk and drive on. However, salt[Read More…]
The Unsung Music of Birds
by Kenrick Vezina LOWELL, Mass. — With spring creeping closer, our year-round avian residents such as cardinals and titmice are already raising their voices. But there’s more than one way to make music, and birds have evolved means for using everything at their disposal to fill our forests with whistles,[Read More…]
Pruning Apple and Other Fruit Trees
by Henry Homeyer CORNISH FLAT, N.H. – Ask a farmer, “When should I prune my apple trees?” and you will most likely hear, “March.” That’s an old tradition, but not because it is the only time to prune. You can prune any time. But March is a month on a[Read More…]
Surviving Cabin Fever
by Deborah J. Benoit, Extension Master Gardener, University of Vermont NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – It’s that time of year when the groundhog has retreated back into its burrow, but the temperature tempts us with the possibility of spring. We all know there’s still plenty of snow and cold weather yet[Read More…]
Ups and Downs, Ins and Outs, Yin and Yangs
by Willem Lange EAST MONTPELIER – January 2023 was a month of Sundays, ending abruptly on the January 29, with a fourth and final Sunday fall on ice underfoot. My friend Bea and I left my house for church that morning, and that was the last time I saw the[Read More…]
