Spring Splash at Old Frog Pond Farm

Buds appear on the apple trees in mid-April

One of our favorite spots, any time of year, is Old Frog Pond Farm in Harvard, Mass. Families can visit, volunteer, and purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from the organic farm stand. Adding to the experience are outdoor sculptures by Farmer Linda Hoffman and her colleagues, which surprise the visitor around every turn, and perfectly complement the farmscape.

Right now, the buds on the apple trees are beginning to open (see photo). First, a bit of green peeks out, then the bud-leaves start to unfold. Orchardists have names for every stage of the bud opening. This one is called 1/2 in green or mouse ears, an apt description for the tender leaves. The amazing small signs of life in the orchard affirm the mystery of growth about to burst forth. We're clearing out all of last year's canes, fertilizing the young plants, and beginning the spring weeding. Volunteers are always welcome, please send an email if you have a few hours to share. It's lovely out in the fields with the plants.

In Linda Hoffman's sculpture studio, "3D Play" sculpture workshops are led by Linda and

Applying bio-fertilizer.

Margot Stage. In the first class, participants made sculpture with wire, wood, apple branches, and found objects, learning to attach disparate materials and ground their project with a solid base. The next two classes will be sculpture that hangs in the air and sculpture that floats on water. To be on the list for future classes, email farmer/sculptor Linda Hoffman.

"Right now, there is a spreading carpet of greens growing - salads, kale, spinach, mesclun, and more. We will be selling greens directly from the farm. The first planting will be ready in two weeks," Linda told the Dispatches. To be to be notified, send an email to vegetables@oldfrogpondfarm.com.

Secret Spots and Favorite Places

This isn't really a secret, since it's an Audubon trail, but the High Ledges in Shelburne are beautiful. To get there you take Route 2 (Mohawk Trail) West from Boston, take a right at the sign for Davenport's Sugar House, and then follow the signs to the High Ledges. The signs are small and wooden, not big road signs. The walk is an easy, flat 30 minutes, and the view of the Deerfield Valley when you get to the ledges is spectacular. Great for little kids or older folks.

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First Snow

First Snow

The snow
began here
this morning and all day
continued, its white
rhetoric everywhere
calling us back to why, how,
whence such beauty and what
the meaning; such
an oracular fever! flowing
past windows, an energy it seemed
would never ebb, never settle
less than lovely! and only now,
deep into night,
it has finally ended.
The silence
is immense,
and the heavens still hold
a million candles; nowhere
the familiar things;
stars, the moon,
the darkness we expect
and nightly turn from. Trees
glitter like castles
of ribbons, the broad fields
smolder with light, a passing
creekbed lies
heaped with shining hills;
and though the questions
remain – not a single
answer has been found --
walking out now
into the silence and the light
under the trees,
and through the fileds,
feels like one.

by Mary Oliver
from the Busa Farms winter newsletter

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Walden in Winter

The sunlight was perfect at Walden Pond from 2 to 4 pm on on Jan. 4. My son and I found that walking the 1.7-mile pond trail loop was a great time to reconnect and have a free-flowing talk, easy and from the heart. Strangers seemed oddly familiar and wished us "Happy New Year." The parking is $5 but the machine was broken so we wrote a note that we would leave a donation; the store reopens on January 15.

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BUG Me!

Why drive thousands of miles for a vacation this year when you can have loads of fun close to home? New England Wild Flower Society’s Garden in the Woods is the exclusive 2008 New England site for 13 BIG BUGS, David Rogers’ sculpture exhibit and the Web-of-Life Extravaganza through October 31. Every week there is another festival with giant sculptures, costumed characters, crafts, live bugs, lots of outdoor activities, even a Bug-Venture Guide to help you maximize your experience. Enjoy a remarkable mini-vacation each week and share the glories of Garden in the Woods with friends and family.

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A Nature Walk Second to None

Lynn Woods Reservation is the second largest municipal park in the greater Boston area. This 2,200 acre forest reserve consists of ponds, wetlands, streams, deciduous/evergreen forest and rocky ledge. The ponds provide the drinking water for the residents of Lynn and surrounding communities. Wildlife abounds in the forest. Well over 100 species of birds inhabit or seasonally frequent the woods. A large rodent population supports such predators as hawks, owls and red tail fox. More than an aquifer, more than a wildlife preserve, more than a natural experience, Lynn Woods can provide a rare adventure.

So head on over for a nature walk second to none - and a great view of downtown Boston. You will come to love and appreciate the woods like the early settlers and citizens who wisely preserved it for future generations. For more information on events in Lynn Woods, contact the Ranger at 781-477-7123 - and send some photos to the DayTripper Divas' photo contest!

- by Laurel Collins

Going to Walden

by Mary Oliver

It isn’t very far as highways lie.
I might be back by nightfall, having seen
The rough pines, and the stones, and the clear water.
Friends argue that I might be wiser for it.
They do not hear that far-off Yankee whisper:
How dull we grow from hurrying here and there!

Many have gone, and think me half a fool
To miss a day away in the cool country.
Maybe. But in a book I read and cherish,
Going to Walden is not so easy a thing
As a green visit. It is the slow and difficult
Trick of living, and finding it where you are.

From The River Styx, Ohio and Other Poems, published in "New and Selected Poems," 1992. Found in the Busa Farm newsletter, November 2007

"A Rotten Log Is Never Board"

In this video clip, Lauren Hefferon, who heads up the Arlington Outings Club and the Arlington-based European bike touring company Ciclismo Classico, explains a bit of nature at Great Brook Farm State Park. Hiking, biking and cross-country skiing are fabulous on the well-maintained trails, where we found, it's even fun getting lost. And the ice cream shop is awesome, with inside seating and a viewing window into the milking barn. Call ahead to book a farm tour. 984 Lowell Street, Carlisle, MA 01476; 978 369-6312.

How to Like a Monadnock Hike

Monadnock is a great climb - the 3rd or 2nd most climbed mountain in the world, they say. (Weekdays are more 'tranquil' as a result). I've hiked it to the summit twice. My daughter and wife made it most of the way up and then we decided to take another trail back down, but it doesn't get harder as you go - the difficulty level for 5-8 year olds is 'moderate to a lot' but fun, I would say. This is due to the scrambling up and down that you do. I wouldn't take them on a day when rain threatens, because a lot of the trail is scrambling over rocks and you don't want water pouring over those when feet are trying to get a good foothold - and would recommend you take children that you feel comfortable supervising, since the last thing you need is a daredevil kid bounding ahead and not taking his/her time on the rocks. - by Carl Wagner, Bishop "Green Bees" Roots & Shoots parent

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Click here for a good photo tour of Monadnock hiking.

Art of Farming at Old Frog Pond

Around the farmer's art
glow bountiful raspberries
accenting green bushes;
ample apples invite
your pies and crisps
as Old Frog Pond Farm
yields autumn fruit.

Visitors to Old Frog Pond Farm are picking organic Macs, Cortland and Golden Delicious in the orchard - Heritage is the variety of their splendid fall raspberries (photo).

Pick-Your-Own
Farmstand on the front porch
Sculpture in the studio and around the farm
Certified Organic by Baystate Organic Certifiers
Directions

Great! Brook Farm

We love Great Brook Farm! The parking fee is only $2; there are easy hiking trails, the pond has a canoe launch and they claim it has fish. You'll see farm animals, there are honey bees in a see-through enclosure (my son loves that part), and the ice cream is delicious! Arguably, the best time at Great Brook Farm is the winter - the trails are open for cross country skiing. They even have one trail that is lit by lanterns so you can cross-country ski under the moonlight. The directions are on the DCR website. - Sue Leone Linder, Arlington

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Botanical Delights in Acton

The Day Tripper Divas recently rediscovered that Acton Arboretum, near the town's center, is an easy place to take a stroll and get a beautiful botanical education. Choose from the Orchard Loop, the Wildflower Loop, or the Highland/Bog Loop; and/or take a picnic and visit the nearby nursery. Enter via Wood Lane, Minot Avenue, or Taylor Road. Information is availalble at the website or by calling the arborists at 978-264-9631. The site is in Acton, about 15 minutes from 2/128. Many pathways are wheelchair/stroller friendly, and the Arboretum is working on making more trails accessible.

Discover the Forest on Drumlin's New Trail

Drumlin Farm's new Forest Discovery Trail is a favorite with younger children, reports Banks Poor of Mass Audubon - a fact confirmed by my own daughter, who is attending Explorers Camp for incoming 2nd graders there this week. This interactive trail through the famous Red Pine Forest lets visitors explore the forest as one of the animals. You can get a hawk's-eye view of dinner, build a gnome home, and cozy up in a giant bird's nest. The trail habitat is a unique change of pace from the farmyard and a wonderful place for nature lovers of all ages to hike, explore, and learn more about the forest and the animals who inhabit it. - by Charlotte Pierce

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Art Goes Wild! at Garden In The Woods

Garden in the Woods' ART GOES WILD! exhibit runs daily through October 31, 2007. The site-specific environmental art installation features eleven "Destination Gardens" by W. Gary Smith, and celebrates 75 years of New England Wild Flower Society’s Garden in the Woods. Live demonstrations and exhibit are included with admission.

• July 28: Demo "Best Native Plants for Fall Color"
• July 29: Family series "Les Julian and Color Outside the Lines"
• Aug 6, 10 am: Live Animal Show "Owls of New England"
• Aug 26: ART GOES WILD Meadow Madness festival
• Aug 11, 5:30 pm: ART GOES WILD Twilight Music Series with D'Rafael of Gitano
• Sept 15, all day: Gardener's Day Festival
• Oct 14, 12-4 pm: Fall Family Festival

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"WILD" gift purchases, native plant purchases, and memberships support the Society’s plant conservation programs. Click here for Exclusive Garden in the Woods Dispatches Coupon

Golfing for Crabs

Netting crab on a small brook that runs into Cape Cod Bay this week yielded some improvement in her golf swing as well as 20 tasty crabs, said Dispatches reader and Gather member Elizabeth Mills Evans While her friend Laurun snapped photos, Elizabeth said she "got into the swing" of it and started to "feel like an old pro." After enjoying crab salad the first day, she was inspired to write up another recipe:

Crab & Rice Casserole

INGREDIENTS: 1 cup cooked rice; 6 to 8 oz. crab meat; 5 hard-cooked eggs; 1 C. mayonnaise; 1/2 Tsp. Worcestershire sauce; grated onion; 1 6 oz. can evaporated milk; pinch of tarragon. DIRECTIONS: Mix all ingredients. Put in buttered shells or casserolle dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

"While I was crabbing, Laurun took these pictures of this 'old pro' with my camera," noted Elizabeth. View more photos and read about our upcoming Compleat Day Tripper: Cape Cod & South Coast edition.

Wonderment

Loss Gives Permission

I walk through broken landscape
---that's been around a long, long time.
It's beautiful, these cornices now at knee level.
---Wrong, but beautiful.
A mist floats me to a different place
---I couldn't have gotten to on my own.
The greens of the garden are heightened, multitudes of smells effuse.
I belong, it is familiar. A bit of wonderment as to how.
No frolicking, no running.
---Slowness seeps in.
A new speed to step into.

By Julie Kuhn, Jamaica Plain

Organic Education

Strawberry picking with 3 kids last week at Land's Sake Farm was a great experience, and even though it was the day after their Strawberry Festival, we managed three quick pints. The farm stand offered a nice selection of early greens, shallots, jam & honey, and the promise of much more was growing nearby.

This 30-acre organic farm emphasizes education with camps like Green Power for middle schoolers going throughout the summer, programs for urban kids, and after-school and weekend educational offerings during the school year.

The Word Is the Bird

Did you find a robin's egg in your yard this year and look up to follow the chirping you heard admid the foliage? Report it to Mass Audubon and help enhance our understanding of how populations of Massachusetts' breeding birds have changed in the previous three decades. Noted local birder Marj Rines reported that scores of volunteers are now fanning out across 970 ten-square-mile blocks to spot nesting birds and collect data on them for the Massachusetts Audubon Breeding Bird Atlas II. After five breeding seasons, the new data will be compared to that collected for the 1974-1979 breeding seasons, detailed in the first Atlas. MBBA II will serve a critical role in documenting population trends – not only of the rarest species, but of all of the 200-plus breeding birds of the state. For information on how to join this vast and amazing volunteer effort, please visit MassBird.org, which is coordinated by Rines, or contact the Massachusetts Audubon Society project website.

Easy! Fast! Sublime! You Saw It On TV!

Sometimes, you never know where a day trip's going to take you. My son and I stumbled upon the Home Show at Boston's Seaport World Trade Center the other day, and ended up spending an absolutely sublime afternoon, four straight hours of wandering up to friendly vendors desperate for human contact (the convention center was nearly deserted) and happy to answer in endless detail my son's hilarious questions about how boiler condensors are engineered, and happy to listen to his stories about Zammy, our darling dog. And then it was topped off by winning a gadget (A Handy Dandy Super Sized Space Saving Space Saver Storage Bag!) at Dr. Gadget’s presentation and crowned with a cup of clam chowder on a table of crystal and china at Anthony’s Pier Four. The most amazing day trips can start out as accidents like this one. We’d go again if we could (still pining for a Miracle Mop, or maybe an Easy! Fast! Simple! You Saw It On TV! Sushi Maker!). Contributed by Robin Schoenthaler , Day Tripper Diva extraordinaire and co-author of The Compleat Day Tripper: Metro Boston Edition

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Care for Some Nettle Tea, My Dear?

Care for some Stinging Nettle tea with your Milkweed muffins? Russ Cohen, noted local wild foods enthusiast and environmentalist, and the author of Wild Plants I Have Known...and Eaten, will be giving several of his engaging lectures and walks on wild foods foraging in Greater Boston this summer. Some talks & walks require pre-registration (see website).

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