By Elizabeth Farnsworth
When I tell people I live in Royalston, they tend to stare blankly. “Boylston?” they say. Or, “Where’s that, New Hampshire?” And I smile to myself that my town of 1,200 people in north-central Massachusetts is still one of the best- kept secrets in the Commonwealth. But among its many charms, Royalston has three treasures that shouldn’t be hush-hush: the Doane’s, Royalston and Spirit waterfalls.
By Michael Dover
Once in a while, if we’re lucky, something comes along that expands our perception of the world around us. What was once “background” becomes discernible: we add depth and breadth to our experience of our surroundings. This happened to me when I read Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New England (Countryman Press, Woodstock, Vt.) by Tom Wessels, and later went to a workshop that he led. Wessels, an ecologist at Antioch University New England in Keene, N.H., opened a new dimension—time—to my walks in the woods, helping me see the history of the land and its use by observing what’s there today.
By Rebecca Reid Gazette Contributing Writer A couple of years ago, my husband and I decided to see if we could get all of our food from local sources. We […]
By David Spector
In the fall, yellow goldenrods and pink to violet asters provide a colorful foreground to the changing leaves of trees. Such flowers are examples of fall composites, members of the aster or composite family. (The name “composite” refers to the flower head consisting of numerous small flowers. The scientific name for this family, Asteraceae, indicates their shared similarity to asters.) For a naturalist who wants to put a name on each species, the fall composites also provide a challenge—and sometimes frustration—as the many similar species can be quite difficult to identify.
By Rebecca Reid
In central Vermont in June, the roadsides are lined with little white flowers and feathery green foliage reminiscent of Queen Anne’s lace. To the unsuspecting, it is a pretty Vermont scene. But lurking in those innocent-looking flowers is a plant so fiercely adaptive, so good at what it does, that it’s rapidly spreading over open land wherever it can get a foothold—crowding out native species, and irrevocably changing local ecosystems. It’s doing in Vermont what many of the Pioneer Valley’s imported species (the so-called invasives: bittersweet, purple loosestrife and others) are doing here: taking over.
By Ted Watt
Lots of us have waded into our favorite pond or swimming hole on a warm summer day and seen the green frogs leap out from under our feet at the last moment with a startled squeak. You may have seen how the painted turtles swim quietly into deeper water when people arrive and how the great blue heron fishing in the shallows flies off.
By David Spector
Kites are a diverse group of lightweight, medium-sized hawks that includes carrion eaters, mousers, aerial insect catchers, and a few that feed primarily on snails. Their way of flying gave rise to the name of the child’s toy. Most kites live and breed south of us, but recently one species appears to be spreading northward.
By Elizabeth Farnsworth
Most people I know (including me, until quite recently) know one thing about ferns: They all look alike. But move in for a closer look, and it quickly becomes apparent that ferns are really much more complex and beautiful than we think at first. They are everywhere, greening up forest floors, meadows and rock faces even in the depths of winter. Each species has its own identity, with gorgeous fractal leaf patterns, unique shapes and interesting lifestyles.
By Michael Dover
Earlier this year, I was on one of my longer walks, following a series of back roads that included Teawaddle Hill Road in Leverett. Most of the trek to the top of Teawaddle is wooded on both sides of the road, but at the top the view opens to a farm’s fields and the Leverett-Shutesbury hills beyond—one of the nicest views anywhere.
By Deb Habib and Ricky Baruc
America’s industrialized agriculture system is ecologically unsustainable. It requires 10 calories of fossil fuel energy to deliver one calorie of food energy, and uses fossil fuels for fertilizers, pesticides, transport and packaging. Repeated tilling of our earth releases carbon dioxide from the soil into the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming. Food grown through this arrangement travels an average of 1,500 miles from farm to table.
Hitchcock Center for the Environment
at Hampshire College
845 West Street | Amherst MA 01002 | 413.256.6006 | 413.253.2809 fax