Search Results

Keyword search: Plants

By NANCY PICK

Asparagus, strawberries and sunflowers are, to my mind, three of the best reasons to live in western Massachusetts. It won’t be long now before the first asparagus spears poke out of the ground; those fertility symbols that usher in our dazzling farm produce season. To pose a riddle, what cool characteristic do these three plants have in common, one you might not notice unless you look quite closely?

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Leverett resident Ben Goldberg is well-known for displaying worm bins and fielding questions about vermiculture, also known as composting with worms. At the recent Garlic & Arts Festival, Goldberg’s booth also featured toilets, because he’s also an...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

When anyone mentions teaching children about plants, I recall a scenario from when my son, now 20, was very young. I’ll save that for after we’ve had a chance to meet two local women who mentor kids in plant identification, responsible foraging, and...

By JACOB NELSON

Sometimes, medicine comes from a pill bottle. Other times, it grows right in your backyard, if only you knew how to access it.Blending modern chemistry with traditional wisdom, Blue Crow Botanicals puts locally grown herbal medicine right at people’s...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Ryan Nestor comes from determined people: his grandfather emigrated by himself at age 11 from Greece, found work in restaurants, and became a citizen, homeowner, and family man. Like his grandfather, Nestor is passionate about gardening, and now...

By BILL DANIELSON

One of the hazards of working in a school is the annual reunion of large numbers of people in small, confined spaces. The students get antsy and the adults get antsy, but this is just a temporary annoyance. The bigger problem is the confinement of...

By MICKEY RATHBUN

Anyone with a passing knowledge of art history is familiar with the acanthus plant, whether they know it or not. The acanthus leaf, broad and serrated, is the decorative motif on the capital of the classical Corinthian column, more ornate than the...

By MICKEY RATHBUN

After long weeks of yearning for gardening weather, we’re suddenly inundated by spring. Endless outdoor chores beg for our attention — composting, mulching, edging, scrubbing birdbaths and, at least in my garden beds, pulling out multitudes of maple...

By HENRY HOMEYER

Despite late snowstorms that dumped deep snow over much of New England, spring is finally here. Let’s take a look at some keys to a successful year in the vegetable garden.Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Yes, I grow about 40 tomato plants each...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

This week’s feature is my 100th Home & Garden column for the Recorder, and I’m pleased to celebrate by sharing the plans of two local women who are organizing a remarkable event for anyone interested in learning about herbal remedies and natural...

By MICKEY RATHBUN

The word “herbarium” sounds a bit quaint, even antiquated. We may think of Emily Dickinson’s herbarium, which she created during her year at Mount Holyoke in 1847-48. Although she had begun studying plants at age 9 and was helping her mother in the...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

We celebrate today’s Spring Equinox with Colrain resident Jocelyn Demuth, who designs curricula to encourage Massachusetts children to improve environmental health.Through her “Five hundred Yard Field Trip” website, Demuth provides teachers with free...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Lynn Golan’s Conway home and her Greenfield work space are both filled with materials and tools related to herbalism, yet her early life gave no hints that this would become her chosen path. While growing up near New York City, Golan did not grow a...