Not Done Yet…. As of this writing, we have not had a frost. Many of you will still be harvesting vegetables and hopefully canning, freezing, drying or giving away produce. The bounty won’t last, so enjoy it while you can. Now is not the time to give up on your garden. What you do now […]
Local autumn travel
What is your favorite New England season? For lots of us, it’s autumn — the fantastic hues of foliage, the bountiful garden harvests and apple picking, the bug-free, warm days and cool nights. There are so many great things about autumn, and most of them involve the outdoors. Recently, I’ve had some pleasant conversations with […]
This has to be one of the worst gardening years ever for many people. July and August were non-stop rain and clouds. The vegetables really struggled to fight off foliar diseases. Without at least two or three days of sunshine in a row, the plants were slow to grow or they died from too much […]
Hornworms, mosquitoes, Japanese beetles
As a follow up to the last article in the August Beacon, Yes, a black light does work to find tomato hornworms. Now if only it could help us find actual tomatoes! By now, everyone has probably had their worst gardening year in the last decade. Tomatoes are as scarce as a sunny day this […]
They'll be five weeks old around September 1
By the time the September issue of the Beacon arrives at your door, the Highland Lake loon chicks will be five weeks old. They hatched on July 27 after 28 days of incubation. As I write this update, they are 17 days old and thriving. They are now too big for both chicks to sit […]
By now, you are hopefully enjoying the fruits of your labor. With the wet start to summer, the vegetables are thriving but so are the weeds. One of my favorite things to use to vanquish weeds is the Hoedag (see link below, Duluth Trading). This handheld tool is the best ever for quackgrass (Elymus repens, […]
The above-average rainfall New Hampshire has experienced this month is causing our lakes and rivers to swell, which creates hazards for our residents and visitors. Naturally, once the rain stops and blue skies return, people will want to recreate in the water, but be aware that the rains bring certain risks that remain, even on […]