Gardening

Hiking on the hillside along the eastern leg of the main trail at the Mills Crooked Spring Reservation in Chelmsford, we found the showy flowers of the Pink Lady's Slipper. Pink lady's slipper is a wildflower in the orchid family. It grows 6 - 15" tall with two large basal leaves at the base...
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Many of us watch birds for their beauty and the closeness we feel to nature. In return we provide them some food and even shelter in our yards. As an addition to your feeding, you could add some flowers that will provide your guests a meal and add beauty to your yard. New England has...
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Naturalist David Mizejewski discusses the benefit native plants offer in providing shelter and cover for wild birds. The video includes a discussion of using native plants, the benefits of evergreen plants, planting a living fence, creating a brush pile, providing roosting boxes, and leaving dead trees or "snags" in place to create "apartment buildings"...
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A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on October 29 to officially open the Byam Outdoor Learning Center in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Located in Byam Elementary School's central courtyard, the Learning Center will be used as an outdoor classroom with an emphasis on ecology, biology, gardening, wildlife habitats, and recycling and reusing. The Learning Center includes...
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Did you know that you can help birds by simply drinking coffee? The right type of coffee, that is. Mass Audubon, a leader in bird conservation since 1896, has joined Massachusetts-based Birds & Beans®' efforts to provide consumers with shade grown Bird Friendly® coffee to help stop population loss of North American songbirds in...
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From remote and rugged northern forests and notches to sparkling lakes and rocky shorelines this sample of bird-watching locations in New Hampshire offers destinations to satisfy all manner of bird spotting habitats. Connecticut Lakes State Forest – Pittsburg: Deep in the North Woods of New Hampshire and far away from the busy hiking paths in the...
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We had a strange visitor to the butterfly bushes at the Byam Learning Garden the other day. At first, it appeared as though a smaller than usual hummingbird had found our newly planted butterfly bushes. But after closer inspection we discovered the visitor was not a bird at all, but an insect...
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Mention pollen and you may think allergies, but did you know that our survival actually depends on the stuff. 80% of the world's crop plants depend on pollination. Pollinators are responsible for an estimated 1 out of every 3 mouthfuls of our food. They are essential to the fibers we use, the medicines...
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As I write this, I can look out my window and see a busy house sparrow going from the birdfeeder, to the suet feeder, to the blossoms of the pineapple guava bush. The sparrow eats a few sunflower seeds, takes a few pecks from the suet, and then yanks on the sweet fleshy petals...
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New Englanders are a frugal bunch.  Mention “free” and we’ll come in a hurry.  Free food falls into this category – as in“free for the picking.”  When spring arrives in northern New England, the free food abundant in the woods is fiddleheads. While the best fiddleheads spots are often  a guarded secret (akin to Provence,...
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