Through The Garden Gate—December 2015
December Is For The Birds By Leslie Watkins It’s very nice to sit by a cozy fire with a cup of coffee and watch the birds on a snowy winter day. Brilliant blue jays, cardinals, and gold finches are a delight as they flit from perch to perch. They perform a carefully choreographed ballet, each […]
Through The Garden Gate—November 2015
November is Elemental By Leslie Watkins Earth, wind, fire and water—without any one of these elements, there is no life and no garden. While each plays its part in supporting life on earth, soil is most closely associated with gardening. The living soil, so easily taken for granted, is a seething eight-inches of bacteria, […]
It’s Only Natural—November 2015
Abandoned Charcoal Hearths Affect Today’s Forest Ecology Hans M. Carlson Recently, we got our first dusting of snow. When it’s not enough to cover the ground completely, the darker fallen leaves poke up through the veil of white, and small contours on the ground appear. The contrast highlights slight topographical variations, particularly with the […]
Norfolk’s Weather—September 2015
Warmest September on Record By Russell Russ Our warm and dry conditions continued throughout most of September. This was a continuation of the weather we have had here since early July. Last September was the driest September on record, and this year was the warmest. It was just about set to be the sixth […]
The Winsted Diner, Where the Food Is Finer
By Colleen Gundlach Tucked sideways next to the Odd Fellows Building, two doors up from the YMCA in Winsted, is a piece of local history that is often overlooked. The hand-carved wooden hot dog man in front is the only reason that a driver traveling through town would have reason to give it a […]
Through The Garden Gate
October By Leslie Watkins ”How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.” –John Burroughs Shorter days, colder nights and here is autumn. By day, glorious warm colors blanket the trees and fields. Russets, burgundies and gold mixed with spots of bright scarlet thrill us, but the night comes […]
It’s Only Natural—October 2015
Lichen Communities on Bald-Topped Mountains By Hans M. Carlson Until roughly 13,000 years ago, glaciers scoured and sculpted New England’s hills into the ridges, domes and cliffs we find so familiar today. The melting ice deposited soils in some places, but much of the post-glacial landscape was scraped, barren and rocky. Even in the thinnest […]
Norfolk’s August 2015 Weather
Hard to Complain about the Weather By Russell Russ To define great summer weather most people would say warm and sunny. Since July, we have seen much more than our fair share of warm and sunny. Admittedly, the lack of rainfall has been a problem for some, but there have been no huge wildfires in […]
Botelle Beat—September 2015
Ready for Opening Day By Matthew O’Connell Botelle School is clean, refreshed and ready for the opening of school on Thursday, August 27. Thanks are due to our custodians and to our office staff. In addition, our new entryway and office remodeling project is quickly drawing to a close. We have several new staff […]
Through the Garden Gate
September, Botanical Enlightenment By Leslie Watkins The autumnal equinox, September 23, marks the beginning of fall. The sun sinks lower in the sky, reminding us of shorter days to come. This is the light artists love. With some thoughtful planning gardeners can use light like this to great advantage. One of the first considerations […]
