A Bouquet of Ideas for Spring
by Elizabeth Bassett
March 25, 2010, page 8

Wildflowers
We can expect to find early wildflowers any day now, especially if spring continues dry and warm. Look for snowdrops and hepatica. The latter are evergreen. While most spring ephemerals use stored energy to produce leaves and flowers, hepatica have been sunning themselves (photosynthesizing) since snowmelt. I have seen hepatica flowers in March on the dry summits of both Pease Mountain and Allen Hill in Shelburne Bay Park. Flowers can be white, pink, blue or purple. Keep your eyes open and tread carefully.

Sheri Larsen will lead a Green Mountain Club Wildflower Hike on Sunday, April 25 (easy, 3.5 miles). Contact the GMC at greenmountainclub.org.

Order your seeds now!
For a host of reasons there is renewed enthusiasm for gardening: to eat fresh produce, a return to basics, the recession, localvore interest, food safety and transportation concerns, support of local agriculture and land use. Even if you join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), you may want a small patch of greens or herbs. For the best selection buy your seeds soon.

Take a hike – carefully
Many of Vermont’s trails are wet and muddy at this time of year. The Green Mountain Club reminds us that stepping on saturated soil creates gullies, encourages erosion and destroys soil structure. The state closes hiking trails on state land from mid-April until Memorial Day. This includes Mt. Mansfield and Camel’s Hump.

From my Mud Season file I propose some lower-elevation outings: Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail, logging roads at Cotton Brook (accessed from Moscow), Winooski Valley Park District Six Easy Walks (wvpd.org), Niquette Bay State Park (an excellent spot for wildflowers), Burlington Bike Path connecting across the Winooski River to Causeway Park in Colchester. Closer to home, the dirt roads at Thompson’s Point, especially on the south side, offer comfortable walking and trillium viewing. For more ideas check Nature Walks in Northwest Vermont and the Champlain Valley, by this writer, and Green Mountain Club’s The Walker’s Guide to Vermont.

Plant a row
Hunger is escalating in Vermont. One of eight Vermonters does not have enough eat. According to the USDA, more than 14,000 households in the state, one in 20, suffer from the most severe form of hunger, where adults frequently go without food. Vermont is the sixth hungriest state in the nation. What can we do about this?

Plant a row (among other things). Last summer Elizabeth Berger helped children at the Charlotte Congregational Church plant a garden for the Charlotte Food Shelf. “But the bunnies ate most everything!” she says. They are not giving up however. “This year we decided to plant a row,” Elizabeth says. They are encouraging and supporting gardeners across town to do the same. “Two companies have donated seeds, Vermont’s own High Mowing Organic Seed Company and Burpee. On May 23 the children will distribute them to anyone who is able to plant a row in their home gardens. The children will include information on how and where to donate vegetables at harvest. Any leftover seeds will be available at the Charlotte Library or Town Hall.”

Elizabeth adds, “If anyone can start plants indoors – tomatoes, peppers, onions, herbs and peppers – I will leave seeds in the church office. This is a wonderful opportunity to show our children how we can reach out to help our neighbors.”

Call the church office, 425-3167, or e-mail cccsundayschool@gmavt.net for seeds or more information.

Safety on bikes
Are you and those you love safe while bicycling? Here’s a way to learn important skills. Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition will offer Traffic Skills 101, a bike-handling skills course for adults, on Saturday, May 8, in Montpelier. Daylong training includes four hours each of classroom and on-bike instruction with a certified teacher, a course manual, breakfast and lunch for the $75 registration fee. Contact at 225-8904 or Nancy@VTBikePed.org.

Nordic Season Pass Opportunity
I know the daffodils are up but indulge me for a paragraph (you’ll thank me in December). Bolton Valley is offering a 2010-11 Nordic Ski Pass for $110 from now through April 4. With the highest base lodge in the East (elevation 2,100 feet), Bolton has a long season of reliable snow (as of deadline skiing is still great). You could be forgiven for recalling that Bolton has a history of poor drainage and grooming on its cross-country trails but in recent years both have improved significantly. This pass will also include access to the pool, sauna and hot tub in the Sports Center. This is a great deal. Information at boltonvalley.com.