LYME/OLD LYME—Snow duly fell yesterday in Lyme and Old Lyme but only a few inches of the sticky, wet variety not the double figures predicted. Meteorologists are now scrambling to explain why their predictions for shoreline snow from Winter Storm Birch were significantly less than forecasted—but it still made for some pretty winter scenes.
Lyme and Old Lyme Town Halls, Libraries and Schools are all open today.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Well, here we go, as you sit in your arm chair and dream about fragrant bloom and delicious vegetables in your garden. However, it is never too early to plan for this season in your garden. My motto has always been to plan, before action and production.
Mother Nature is waiting for us with her gifts of renewal, growth and nourishment as we begin to plan for the coming season. She tells us that in this wonderful pastime called ‘gardening,’ we can escape from the trials and tribulations of our world. Each day we move gradually from the dark into the light to a longer, brighter day to welcome spring.
A few weeks ago, I retrieved my second batch of Narcissi from the brown paper bag in the refrigerator and planted them on pebbles, with just enough pebbles to anchor the bulbs in place, or you may use potting soil. I use tall glass vases, and make sure to keep the pebbles moist with just enough water to cover the bottom of each bulb.
I brought my Rosemary plant indoors in September; Rosemary is not hardy outdoors in Zone 6. I spray the plant twice weekly with warm water and run a cold-water humidifier and two germ guardian air cleaners with UV lights for personal health and the health of my plants.
After planting the paper white Narcissi, I placed them in a dark, cool closet until the foliage was about four inches tall. Today I moved them from the dark closet to a cool room, that has indirect light and where the temperature remains at about 65 degrees.
When the buds are almost ready to open, I will place them in a brighter area to be enjoyed, not only for their bloom but also the heady fragrance which permeates the house. The new bloom draws me out of the winter doldrums and their gentle fragrance lifts my spirits.
As you know the severe negative changes that are occurring with global warming, together with pollution in the air, water and the earth, are severely damaging our planet. Your personal contribution to saving our planet is to tend the soil organically with compost, manure and natural brown mulch, which builds the humus component in your soil. With this organic method, your plants and vegetables will thrive … as will you.
Throughout the year, allow your garden to anchor you, connecting heart, body, mind and spirit to Mother Nature’s life-giving bountiful gifts and spiritual energy.
The cold harsh winds of January and February extract moisture from trees and shrubs, especially the evergreens. These winds are more harmful to plants than cold temperatures, not only causing plant breakage but also soil erosion. To help counteract these effects, it’s useful to have a few bags of topsoil and mulch in the garage. With these items on hand, any roots can be covered after they become exposed by wind or frost heave. Roots exposed to the elements for any length of time can kill the plant, so when you notice exposed roots, quickly cover exposed areas with the soil and mulch. When spring arrives and the earth warms up, the plant can be resettled in place together with composted manure and natural brown mulch to provide protection and nutrition.
On a sunny day this January, take a walk round the garden and breathe in the freshening air—as you walk, make some notes and decide what worked for you last year and what you will never try again.
Later, back indoors, relaxing in your armchair, browse through the catalogues that began arriving a few months ago. You have already begun making lists of plants that you are thinking of buying. However, a word of caution when gazing at the photos, which are meant to tempt you with their lovely but “doctored” pictures of plants. Do not allow your imagination to run amok and be caught up in the fantasy of the high-maintenance garden pictures you see in the catalogues.
Instead, suit your garden to your lifestyle as to what will work within your own time-frame and physical abilities. If you follow that construct, you will have the time to sit, relax and smell the roses, and not being exhausted by too much garden toil and quite often disappointed in the final results.
As you sit and plan for the coming season, it’s important to keep your budget in mind. It’s hard to believe as you look outside at the muted landscape, that in a few months, sunshine and gentle breezes will warm the soil and new growth will appear.
When the soil is dry enough to tread on, winter debris can be carefully be cleared away. Then, cut a clean edge on the borders; this simple task makes such a difference to the look of a garden. Then in mid-April, add that lovely layer of manure and compost (the ratio being three parts manure to one part compost). With that preparation completed, you are ready for the fun stuff—the placing and planting!
For those of you, who are vegetable gardeners and look forward to a bountiful year with fruits and vegetables, spring rain, extra irrigation and sunshine will produce that delicious bounty.
As spring advances so will the appearance of both good and bad insects—moles, voles and other critters—that can be dealt with naturally. I will share my remedies for this problem in an upcoming gardening letter.
Your memory of your garden from last season may be lost in the enthusiasm of a new season, therefore, I am asking you to be kind to yourself. If last year you became overwhelmed with too much work labor and no time to relax and enjoy your garden; the following are some ideas, you can enact to rectify that problem:-
For example, send some of your borders back to grass, and if you are tired of grass-mowing, spread wildflower seeds in the grass and enjoy the pleasure of a prairie meadow.
Also, make some of the high-maintenance perennial borders into mixed shrub borders. To accomplish this, take out some of those perennials and donate them to a worthy cause. In their place, plant small and medium size evergreen shrubs; some green, blue and some of the lovely gold species of evergreens. With these shrubs, which display all-season beauty, add small flowering deciduous trees and shrubs that begin flowering in April and successively through June.
The Carlesii viburnum, also known as Korean Spice, is a favorite small shrub of mine, with its white buds that open to a pale pink with the most delightful fragrance.
Plant a Ben Franklin tree with its white cup like blooms and gold center that flowers in August through September.
Nestle three Blue Mist shrubs in the mixed border; this plant will delight with purple blooms and fragrant leaves into September.
On a fence or trellis, plant white autumn clematis.
Add a groundcover as an evergreen framework – my favorite is Myrtle with its glossy leaves and miniature blue flowers that bloom in April.
For the children or grandchildren in your family, I believe it is never too soon to introduce your children and grandchildren to the wonders of the garden by bringing garden fairies into their lives. Through the years I have asked children to draw a picture of the garden fairy and make a list of questions to ask the fairies, who live in the wild patch in the garden. We all have a wild patch in the garden; and at this point you may be saying, “Maureen, my garden is one large ‘wild patch!’
Children became so excited and enthused about their lists and pictures of the fairies; as what you are showing them is nature’s transformation of science into magic. These days we seem to have forgotten about fairy tales, dreams and magic; it’s way past time to bring those wonderful energies back into our lives and into the lives of our children.
In spring and through summer, I would find my children or their friends impatiently checking the garden wanting to see their own planting efforts come into bloom. In the vegetable garden they gathered to check what was ready to eat from the produce they had planted. I have found that this introduction to the garden has inspired the children and when they become adults, they enthusiastically plant and tend gardens of their own.
My son Ian is a great example of this as he has partnered with me through the years in the garden and is living proof of the old adage, ‘The student is better than the teacher.’ Ian is a designer par excellence and I invite you to check his website at LandscapesbyIan.com and his Facebook page for lovely examples of his work.
In my March gardening tips, I’ll offer you some suggestions of ornamental trees, shrubs and long blooming perennials. With that list in hand, I suggest that you buy your plants from local garden centers as these centers carry tried and true plants that will flourish in Zone 6.
On the other hand, if you feel that over the years, you have been throwing good money after bad and you are becoming desperate as you feel that your garden, no matter what you do, never looks right. Then, get in touch with a landscape company, who will keep your budget in mind whether you want to do your own work, or wish for a design to install yourself.
On the other hand, when you are planning your garden for this coming season, there are important facts to keep in mind:
What are the requirements for sun, shade, soil, and water of the plants?
Will they survive in this zone, Zone 6?
What are the growth patterns of the plants? Do they grow fast or slow?
You do not want a 50 ft.tree up against the house with tremendous roots that will play havoc with the foundation of your home. Or do you want that lovely but very large, Catawbiense Rhododendron, all 10 ft. of it, climbing through your dining room window in five years?
To find those facts, either check the plants in a book, on the Internet or read the labels attached to the plants in the nursery.
Check every aspect of the plant before you buy. The red or green Lace-Leaf Japanese Maple looks lovely in spring but is it something you can enjoy, without its leaves in the winter? Personally, I not only enjoy the foliage of plants and trees, but also the shape and bark of trees without foliage in winter.
For those of you just beginning to garden, I must be honest and dispense with the myth that gardening is always a relaxing hobby. At the end of that first day of digging, lugging soil, manure and fertilizer, and planting everything at the proper depth; you will feel somewhat exhausted.
At that juncture, you remember that you still need to water the newly-installed plants as you drag your tired body to switch on the hose. Thank goodness, the mulching can wait until tomorrow or next weekend.
Watering can be meditative to some of us, myself included. Imagine that the hose is your umbilical cord so that as you nourish the earth and the plants, the earth can nourish you.
By now the sun has gone down, and you trudge indoors muttering to yourself, “What the heck did I get myself into?” To this comment I say, “You did not have to tackle all of the garden in one day”.
In gardening, there is always tomorrow, or next week, and even though the label says to plant it by the end of May or June, believe me folks, a few weeks later does not matter, the garden will wait for you.
You may be saying to yourself at this point, “Maureen, are you trying to put us off gardening”? No folks, but I would remiss, as someone who has gardening in my blood (as well as manure!) for over 400 years to tell you, however reluctantly, not only the pleasures, but some of what can cause aches and pains.
The idea is not to bite off more than you can chew. For first-time gardeners, don’t scatter your energies all over the garden, rather tackle and complete one area at a time. That area should be priority one until it is complete.
If you have a new home with no landscaping, some hardscape may be required. Hardscape is walls, walkways, patios, ponds, decks and so on. The sound and look of a water feature in the garden is delightful and need not be elaborate—a fountain is fine—the reflection of water is Mother Nature’s mirror. If you are not able to do this construction yourself, get in touch with a landscape contractor now, so that a plan can be done now, installed and ready by spring. I say to connect now as Ian tells me that many landscape products are short on supply this year.
These endeavors mean you getting yourself in shape physically, so get off that couch, put away the catalogues and your plant lists, stretch, then wrap yourself up in warm gear and take that walk.
As you walk, look at the trees in winter, the elegant shape of them, the lichen on the stonewalls, and the moss tucked in cracks and crevices. Clear your mind and allow nature’s spirit to surround you. As you walk, look at a few gardens in your neighborhood; gardens that you have admired when they were in bloom, and see what they look like in winter.
I remember one of my professors saying to me when I studied at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, “In winter, you can tell a really good landscape by its bones, without the flesh of flora and foliage.” In spring, get in touch with those neighbors whose gardens you admired and ask them some of the secrets of their garden. They will be happy to talk with you, not only of their successes but their failures—true gardeners are realists when they speak about their gardens and love to share.
Well folks, I’ve given you plenty to think about right now so enjoy your daydreaming of the season to come and I’ll see you next month in your garden.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at MaureenHaseleyJones@gmail.com
About the author: Maureen Haseley-Jones is a member of a family of renowned horticultural artisans, whose landscaping heritage dates back to the 17th century. She is one of the founders, together with her son Ian, of, The English Lady Landscape and Home Company. Maureen and Ian are landscape designers and garden experts, who believe that everyone deserves to live in an eco-conscious environment and enjoy the pleasure that it brings. Maureen learned her design skills from both her mother and grandmother, and honed her horticultural and construction skills while working in the family nursery and landscape business in the U.K. Her formal horticultural training was undertaken at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in Surrey.
OLD LYME — UPDATED 11:30 a.m. with Ward’s response to receiving the award and more photos: James ‘Jim’ Ward, founder and president of the Lyme-Old Lyme Food Share Garden (LOLFSG), was named Old Lyme’s 2023 Citizen of the Year at Monday night’s Annual Town Meeting held in the Meeting Hall of Old Lyme’s Memorial Town Hall.
Despite the cold, many friends and supporters of Ward turned out to celebrate his success, although, in keeping with years of tradition, he himself knew nothing about the impending award. Ward was tricked into attending the meeting having been advised that a friend was receiving it!
Old Lyme First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker opened her announcement of the 2023 honoree for the award with the words, “In my opinion, choosing the Citizen of the Year award is one of the hardest decisions the board of selectmen make all year. The reason for that is because we have so many deserving citizens in Old Lyme.”
She noted that the board of selectmen appreciated all the letters of recommendation for the 2023 Citizen of the Year that were sent this year.
Shoemaker continued, “As a teacher, I always taught my students to not judge a book by its cover. Our 2023 Citizen of the Year has been called by his neighbors, “A quiet man.”” She then gently joked, “After hearing his accomplishments, you may wonder how he can be quiet.”
Quoting Mahatma Gandhi’s famous words, “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.,” Shoemaker said, “This year’s recipient is a master at figuring out how to create and lead a non-profit organization, build grassroot financial support, and oh, rally people to grow, harvest, and send over 5,000 pounds of fresh vegetables to food banks across the region. All on an accelerated timeline.”
She then announced, “Our 2023 Citizen of the Year is Old Lyme resident Jim Ward, President of the Lyme-Old Lyme Food Share Garden, and a Champion for creating community around local environmental and food security solutions.”
Asked early Tuesday morning, his reaction to being named to the honor, Ward responded via email, saying, “Having processed last night I would like to thank my better half, Sheila, the LOLFSG Board of Directors, the garden volunteers and all those who have supported us financially.”
He added, ” It takes a village to raise a community garden. It is has been an honor for me personally and for the garden community to be recognized as the Citizen of the Year.”
Ward concluded, “Thanks to all who nominated me and wrote letters of support and to the Board of Selectpersons for their selection.”
The full text of Shoemaker’s explanation of and justification for Ward being this year’s honoree follows in italics:
A passionate environmentalist, Jim quietly takes actions to help others learn how to make a difference in our environment, because teachers believe every moment is a teachable moment – The catalyst for his community building efforts began when Jim participated in the 2020 UConn Master Gardening Program. Jim’s required outreach hours for the program were met by volunteering at the Food for All garden in Clinton.
His admiration for how the Food For All garden and other similar gardens in the region met the increasing needs of community food banks was equaled by his appreciation for the sense of community they created. This was something Jim thought the Lyme-Old Lyme community could replicate.
In seeking a potential site for a food bank community garden here, Jim presented his ideas to the Old Lyme Parks & Recreation Commission and the Inland Wetlands Commission; and through his thorough and considerate presentations to both, gained support to utilize a parcel of land at Town Woods Park for his envisioned community garden. He and his wife Sheila thought the location perfect because of its close proximity to the onsite playground, sports fields, and the Lymes Senior Center, making the garden accessible to all ages in both towns.
In March 2021, Jim held a Zoom meeting open to all residents to plan the food bank community garden at Town Woods Park. The goal would be to provide fresh produce to help alleviate food insecurities and support healthy nutrition to families in Old Lyme, Lyme, and surrounding communities.
That Zoom meeting resulted in a handful of volunteers ready to take on Jim’s challenge. The rest of 2021 was spent raising money, building garden fencing, and preparing the soil. In 2022, their first growing season, the Food Share Garden logged more than 700 hours of volunteers’ time in producing and donating over 2500 pounds of fresh produce to the Shoreline Soup Kitchens & Pantries, and the United Way of Southeastern Connecticut.
During this past year’s second growing season, Jim’s leadership contributed to 31 volunteers logging over 1000 hours, again producing more than 2500 pounds of produce, and converting over a thousand pounds of food waste to compost for next year’s garden.
Still in just its second growing season, the Lyme-Old Lyme Food Share Garden was one of three giving gardens to receive the Innovation Award from the United Way of Southeastern Connecticut.
Liz Rubitski, has volunteered with Jim and the LOLFSG for three years and says it’s been an absolute pleasure. She goes on to say “Jim’s leadership style is impressive. He balances inclusivity with decision making so that everyone stays focused and this results in accomplishing tasks efficiently with high quality. This can be seen with how far the garden has come in just 3 years. In addition to board leadership his hands-on work ethic is inspiring, he literally never shies away from getting his hands dirty.” Liz concludes with “and as if that wasn’t enough, Jim is fun to be around!”
Peter Hunt who serves on the Board of Directors for the Lyme Old Lyme Food Share Garden was happy to share that, “Jim is a down to earth guy with a great idea and the drive to realize it. Jim is a good leader in that he can set an agenda but be flexible and a good listener. He shares decision making and credit for accomplishments. He really works year-round on the garden and is there early and stays late during the season.”
From the beginning, Jim’s holistic thinking for the garden included not just growing vegetables, but also ensuring the garden was healthy through pollination and compost initiatives. Early in the planning process Jim reached out to Pollinate Old Lyme to promote the future food share garden as a public pollinator garden where people could visit and see what a pollinator meadow looks like. Cheryl Poirier, a co-leader of Pollinate Old Lyme said, “Jim reached out to us as soon as the Town Woods property was secured to talk about supporting a pollinator meadow. Suzanne Thompson and I stood with Jim out amidst a tangle of invader species and the occasional native plant and heard Jim’s vision for not only the vegetable garden that would support food banks, but also for a pollinator garden that would attract the butterflies and bees that would naturally pollinate the proposed vegetable plants. That February afternoon in 2021 it was clear there was still a long way to go, including building his team. But you look at that garden today with the adjacent pollinator meadow of native asters, milkweed, rudbeckia, and more, and you think wow, here is someone who can make things happen.”
Suzanne Thompson added, “Jim Ward is visionary, pragmatic, and resourceful. He is a quiet source of inspiration and has a can-do attitude. He accomplishes big things. We are fortunate to have Jim and his wife Sheila living in town.”
Jim also serves our town as co-chair of the Solid Waste and Recycling Committee. Although this committee doesn’t have the most glamorous of names, we rely on them for policy recommendations and opportunities to reduce the Town’s trash, which is not just important for our environment but also for our taxpayers’ wallets. One important way to reduce trash is to encourage our residents to compost their food waste. Jim’s enthusiasm for nature’s way of recycling led to his creation of a pilot composting program in his Library Lane neighborhood. Just this summer, the neighborhood collected over 700 pounds of food waste for composting. As Suzanne Thompson added, “Jim is showing the rest of us that yes, we can do this.”
And stay tuned, this committee is working to bring us closer to better composting options for all our residents.
Jim will always be the first to give others credit and there are many people who have become involved in these projects whether making financial donations or digging in the dirt. But the success of any volunteer endeavor depends on someone who can provide enthusiasm, guidance, and recognition to others. Jim’s neighbors Christine and Tom Gotowka said, “We are impressed that he always acknowledges the role of his core team and the large cadre of volunteers in what has certainly been a successful endeavor that has reflected well on our community.”
And as Peter Hunt further shared, ” Old Lyme is blessed to have the nonprofit sector and schools that it does, but the blessing would not be possible without the contributions and leadership of folks like Jim.”
Growing, Caring, Sharing. These are the guiding words of the Lyme-Old Lyme Food Share Garden. These three words also represent why the Board of Selectmen is happy to present Mr. Jim Ward with the 2023 Citizen of the Year award.
Shoemaker concluded, “Jim, I am sure your family, friends, and your fellow citizens of Old Lyme, will join me in thanking you for not just thinking about solutions for food insecurity and environmental issues, but for also taking action and bringing the rest of us along for the ride. Congratulations Jim!”
Editor’s Note: We add our own hearty congratulations to Jim — such a well-deserved award for a truly remarkable man. Well done, Jim!
ESSEX/LYME/OLD LYME—The Lower Connecticut River Land Trust invites nominations for their 2023 fourth annual award of the Melvin Woody Lower Connecticut River Conservation Award. Nominations can either be for an organization or an individual that you feel has significantly contributed to the conservation of the lower Connecticut River region.
This award is named after one of the Lower Connecticut River Land Trust’s prominent board members. Melvin Woody has been an ardent supporter of the Lower Connecticut River and Coastal Region Land Trust Exchange (LTE) since its inception in 2009. He has also been the guiding voice in the transformation and growth of that informal organization from a conservation tool of the Lower Connecticut River Gateway Conservation Zone to a broader geography that encompasses and supports the conservation needs of all of the communities of the lower Connecticut River Region.
Woody has been a member of the Connecticut River Gateway Commission since 1973, served as its Chair for many years, and is currently the Commission’s first ex officio member.
Last year’s award went to John Hall and the volunteers of the Jonah Center for their work in control of the aquatic invasive Trapa natans or water chestnut in the Connecticut River. Other awardees are Janet Stone of the Deep River Land Trust and Marilyn Gleeson of the East Haddam Land Trust. Their contributions to the region can be found at https://www.lcrlt.org/awards .
The Commission is responsible for protecting over 1,000 acres within the Gateway Conservation Zone and has supported many environmental studies and restoration projects.
Nominations must be submitted by Jan. 31, 2024 to ELoPresti@rivercog.org
HARTFORD—The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) is leading the development of the state’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Priority Climate Action Plan with proposed actions the state may implement to reduce the air pollution that is warming our planet, clean up our air, and provide important benefits to communities in the state, such as reduced energy bills, improved public health, and more jobs.
It is important that CT DEEP incorporate public comment from individuals and organizations on the most significant community challenges and potential benefits to communities related to these actions to reduce greenhouse gases as part of its Notice of Request for Public Comment issued on December 22, 2023.
In order to facilitate the receipt of public comment, the DEEP has created a Public Comment Survey on challenges and benefits, which takes about 10 minutes to complete. It also offers the option to spend more time to provide detailed comments on each climate action proposed by the state.
Responses to this survey are considered public and will be posted publicly. on the DEEP Climate Action Plan website after the survey closes as official public comment on the Priority Climate Action Plan.
The public comment survey results will inform CT DEEP’s analysis of the benefits and potential negative impacts of the 14 actions and plans to address those impacts on communities in Connecticut to be included with the Priority Climate Action Plan. All updates on the Priority Climate Action Plan will be shared via our Climate Solutions Newsletter and posted on the DEEP Climate Action Plan website.
This survey will be closed at 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 12, 2024.