Almost all native flowering trees can be forced to bloom indoors, ahead of nature’s schedule. As soon as buds are visible—usually by early April here in New England—branches of flowering and fruit trees such as forsythia, willow, apple, cherry, pear, peaches and honey suckle may be cut to be placed in containers of water inside […]
fruit trees
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Best Restaurants 2011
BEST MEAL WITH A VIEW Bascom Lodge, Mt. Greylock Reservation The 1930s lodge atop the state’s tallest mountain is a hot new sunset-dining destination. Chef John Dudek’s three-course menu, which changes nightly, might include herbed white-bean soup, grilled beef, or gorgonzola walnut gnocchi. Wine is served, and you can spend the night in either a […]
Gardens
Planting Buddies for Your Crops
Companion planting is a time-honored, if not always scientifically proven, technique for combining certain plants with others to protect them from pests or to otherwise enhance their growth. Garden lore includes an almost endless supply of “recipes” for supposedly beneficial plant combinations, and research by scientists and gardeners indicates that many companion planting arrangements really […]
Magazine
Five Weddings and Six Funerals
This spring and summer, it seems, has been a succession of weddings and funerals. I want the weddings to win but the funerals keep coming. One week in May I went to three funerals in six days, all at a distance so, just in terms of the driving, I felt spent at the end. A […]
Is winter the right time to prune my apple trees and blueberry bushes? — R.R., Jackson, NJ Most deciduous trees benefit from pruning while they’re dormant, so winter is a fine time to prune your fruit trees and shrubs, including apple, pear, cherry, blueberry, and currant. Some gardeners save the long, thin “water shoot” prunings […]
Magazine
In the Orchard
I felt true sadness this morning when I saw a notice in the local paper about the death of Dwight Miller, Jr., a veritable icon in the northern world of fruits and vegetables. When I lived closer to Miller’s orchard in Dummerston, Vermont, I used to go there to pick apples in the fall or […]
History
New England’s Secret Season
Welcome to the May 2008 edition of Jud’s New England Journal, the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, editor-in-chief of Yankee Magazine, published since 1935 in Dublin, New Hampshire. New England’s Secret Season It’s not ever mentioned in regional or resort promotional material. Never.Get Our FREE Yankee Best New England Vacations Guide! Email(Required) Subscribe […]
New England honey ranges from light in color and softly fragrant to dark, rich, and intense. Maple syrup isn’t New England’s only deliciously sticky homegrown product — this region is one of the country’s leading producers of honey, too. Local New England honey is worth buying for more than its heavenly taste. Supporting small-scale beekeepers […]
Drivers rolling down Boston’s Boylston Street are sometimes surprised to see — amid the concrete and high-rises — a splash of lush green, a pergola covered in purple blossoms, and bright-red rows of tomatoes, heavy on the vine. This seven-acre plot is The Richard D. Parker Memorial Victory Gardens, better known as Fenway Gardens.The names […]
“Nobody is a better landscaper than nature,” states Raina Weber, dirt-streaked and beaming, from her Housatonic, Massachusetts, native-plant nursery. It’s hard to believe that this hardworking young woman, executive director of the nonprofit Project Native, dropped out of high school and ran away to Hawaii, where she supported herself as a caretaker and by selling […]