Ginkgo trees are beautiful in autumn
By Donna Williamson | 11.06.09
It’s one of those blue-sky days in Virginia, rare and exquisite - a perfect day to check on the ginkgo grove at the State Arboretum of Virginia at Blandy Experimental Farm in Boyce.
For weeks, I have swung by there, watching the slow departure of chlorophyll from the leaves of the ginkgo trees. While not so noticeable at other times of the year, the autumn show is spectacular.
Ginkgoes are among the most beautiful trees for the landscape. The leaf shapes are lovely, and they grow very well in my climate. They don’t attract diseases or pests and have the handy habit of dropping their leaves almost all at once.
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Onions of great flavor and questionable character
By Doreen Howard | 11.05.09
Italian Red Torpedo, Yellow Globe, and Spanish Sweet White onions harvested from the garden a couple weeks ago are finally dry enough to store in mesh bags for the winter.
I grow a variety of onions, because they have different flavors. They keep for at least six months if placed in mesh bags, which I fashion from bird netting. Cool, dry air that’s above freezing provides the perfect environment for storage.
I put them in the basement, but if your garage is heated or you live in a warmer climate, use it.
As I sort the globes, my old friend Dr. Jerry Parsons and his onion laws come to mind. The retired Texas A&M University horticulture professor was fascinated with onerous laws that malign the humble onion. Some regulations are more 100 years old and still enforced.
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Variegated forsythia in the fall
By Craig Summers Black | 11.04.09
I’ve never before gardened anywhere cold enough for forsythia. (Can you tell I devote far too much time trying to dream up advantages to this nasty climate?)
My Iowa-gal wife has regaled me with stories about growing up with them, her dad’s love of them, harbingers of spring etc., and any interest she has in horticulture I try to foster. So I knew I our weedy little acreage would have some forsythias in its future.
But …
Most of the year these shrubs really look kind of rangy – humdrum bordering on ratty. And in the spring, those klieg-light yellow flowers look – depending on my mood at the time – either perky or alarmingly strident.
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Community Supported Agriculture is great for farms, environment, and locavores
By Karan Davis Cutler | 11.03.09
The Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, farm nearest my house has switched from its summer to its fall menu.
Instead of organically grown peppers, green beans, melons, and other warm-weather crops, members are filling their baskets with autumn vegetables — cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, leeks, potatoes, winter squash, pumpkins, onions, garlic, and a few “surprises,” according to Judy Stevens, co-owner with her husband, Will, of Golden Russet Farm.
Despite Vermont’s rural character, there are more than 85 CSAs in the state, and well over 2,500 nationwide. While some also offer fruit, dairy products, and meats, most CSAs, like Golden Russet, are small, family-owned farms to which subscribers pay an upfront fee for a season’s share of fresh, organic, locally produced vegetables and herbs.
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A waterfall that really rocks
By Mary-Kate Mackey | 10.30.09
This is the first in an occasional series of stories that will profile people and the water features they love. In Portland, Ore., it took the pressure of a wicked deadline, the good will of neighboring families, and a break in the weather to get this waterfall into the ground.
With a storm threatening, landscape contractor Michael McQuiggin stood in the backyard of the Southwest Portland home, and waved his arms again. High overhead, outlined against a cloudy winter sky, a five-foot-diameter boulder dangled from a long thick cable.
On the hillside above, a large crane, engines growling, shifted the rock to the left, and slowly lowered the enormous load to the place where the Michael was pointing. He gestured one way, and then another. The crane operator responded to the adjustments like a long-distance dancer.
