Granby Drummer (https://granbydrummer.com/category/grow/page/38/)
A couple of months ago, Farmer O’Grady talked about all the work that has to be done in the winter months on a big farm such as Holcomb Farm in West Granby. These photos capture the Farm on a single day, Feb. 21, which happened to be a 50+ degree day, so the crew could work without the usual layers of cold weather protection typical for mid-winter.
It doesn’t seem like it now but spring will be here before you know it. If you love to garden, but don’t have a garden spot at home, the Granby Community Garden might be just the place for you.
If you enjoy hiking in the Granby Land Trust’s preserves, you have probably noticed on the kiosks at the entrances to the properties that there is information on how you can download a map of the trails therein. The man behind this technology, who also happens to have made the kiosks, is Steve Perry.
As I write this, the thermometer is having trouble reaching 20 after dipping close to zero last night. The ice throughout the woods and trails makes hikes without micro-spikes downright dangerous. But, spring springs eternal! By the time you read this, a drive around Granby will reveal the buckets hung and sap tanks filling, and maybe steam rising from a sugar house or two.
Just before the December holidays began, the pumpkin field at the Coward Farm on North Granby Road took on a radiant green color! Too soon to be planting pumpkins—what was going on there?
February is hunker-down, tend the fire, bundle up, and order the seeds time for most of us in New England, and the Friends of Holcomb Farm are no exception. Still, there is much to be done to assure that this place will continue to serve the people of Granby, and its region, once the frost is gone.
It’s tempting to take winter out of the relentless calendar of invasive plant removal. But invasive plants have become incredibly well-established since we brought them to our shores during the last two centuries and restoring our native balance is going to take a long time.
The Friends have adopted a strategic plan built around sustainability, and to inform our work, some of us have recently been knee-deep in Holcomb Farm history. To that end, we thought a little history quiz might get Drummer readers’ juices flowing.
Members of the Metacomet Post 1926, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Simsbury recently donated $500 to Foxfield F.A.R.M, made possible by the donations collected during three VFW Buddy Poppy Drives held in Simsbury during 2021.
