Green Living

Get Growing! By Bethany Mccammon Tap Spring is finally here. You can smell it in the air and see it in the budding flowers and greening grass. You can feel it on the warm breeze, in the light rain, and in the glorious sunshine. The equinox has passed and it’s official: gardening season is here!…

New Vegetables To Grow In 2015 Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor University of Vermont Five more new vegetables, including three herbs, have recently been awarded the prestigious All-America Selections (AAS) award.  These include a basil, beet, broccoli, chives, and oregano. Each year, the best of the new seed-grown vegetables are chosen as AAS winners after…

Leonard Perry, UVM Extension Horticulturist and Charlie Nardozzi, Horticulturist Cleaning garden tools, getting mowers and power equipment ready for winter, and getting any remaining spring-flowering bulbs planted are some of the gardening activities for this month. Use a brush and water to scrub dirt from your tools, then wipe with a light coating or spray…

Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor University of Vermont Various parts of the country are known for their vibrant displays of fall foliage colors, none more so that New England and, in particular, Vermont.  It seems odd that we get such joy from the annual death of leaves from “deciduous” trees (those that lost their leaves…

Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor University of Vermont Fall is an excellent time to prepare garden soils for spring, for several reasons.    You usually have more time than in the busy spring.  One of my favorite reasons is that, being at the end of the growing season, weeds don’t regrow!  Often in the spring soils…

Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor University of Vermont I love spring-flowering bulbs and, of these, daffodils are my favorite.  Daffodils provide welcome and cheerful color after a long winter, require almost no care, are quite hardy, and are avoided by deer and most other mammals. Fall is the time to plant them for bloom next…

Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor University of Vermont Just looking at the facts from scientists (www.epa.gov/climatechange), we see that our winters are becoming milder, summers warmer, our growing seasons longer, and greater variability when spring comes, but often coming quite early.  The precipitation trend is toward more in the winter but of wet snow or…

Charlie Nardozzi, Horticulturist and Leonard Perry, UVM Extension Horticulturist Spreading compost, adding soil amendments, and planting garlic now for harvest next July are some of the gardening activities for this month. As you empty annual beds this fall, there are two main ways to enrich the soil for next year: spreading compost or planting cover…

Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor University of Vermont Daily the news has articles relating to extreme weather and climate change. Whether or not you agree with all the predictions, if the climate does continue to get warmer and show extremes from one area to another, and one year to another, here are some impacts these…

Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor University of Vermont Asters are a hardy, easy-to-grow and colorful group of fall-blooming perennials.  New England asters are tall perennials that not only are hardy and low maintenance, but also provide vibrant displays of reds, pinks, purples and white in the fall.  At a time when most other perennials have…