Horses, Scythes, Tomatoes, and Ice Cream. Sunday at the Pearl Buck Birthplace.

Sam Arbogast and his Suffolk Draft Horses

The Historic Garden Tour at the Birthplace today took a hands-on turn as participants were invited to take a turn at turning up a row in the field using the plough horses and cut down some cover crops using a scythe before sitting down for homemade ice cream.  

It turned out to be a perfect day for the event, in spite of a rainy morning that had us thinking we might have to postpone or even cancel the event again.  Fortunately it cleared and because the rain hadn't been as hard and concentrated as it had last Sunday morning, the ground was fine for ploughing.   

Today's Event Postponed One Week

PLEASE NOTE: Today's events at the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace have been postponed due to wet ground and grass. Join us next week, August 26, at the same time!

Check out events at the Pretty Penny for an alternative event today!

Historic Garden Tours Begin at PSB Birthplace

Last Sunday, June 17, the Birthplace hosted the first of four "Historic Garden Tours" planned for this summer as part of the Calvin W. Price Appalachian Enrichment Series, sponsored by the Pocahontas County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Photo by A. Jiordano of volunteer gardener Joe Heathcock talked about buckwheat and other cover crops, and their function in the museum's organic garden.

It was an interesting program, but I was staffing the Birthplace that day and kept getting pulled away by other things.  Fortunately, Angelo Jiordano from The Pocahontas Times was there and describes the event in an excellent article that appeared in the paper this week.

Sunday visitors to the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Gardens enjoyed a return to "The Good Earth," with free garden tours, demonstrations, and a little bit of history behind the famed author and humanitarian.

Event organizers invited local "mostly-retired" farmer Cad Tyler to talk about some of the tools he uses, and share some tricks he's learned in his 60 years of farming. Tyler also talked about organic gardening author Elliot Coleman and some of the methods he employs.

Read "A step back in time at the Pearl S. Buck historic garden" and see more photos from the day on the website of the Pocahontas Times.

Summer Garden Tour Series Begins with Presentation on Mulching

Freshly plowed and unplanted, in late April

On June 17th, 2012 at 2:00pm we will kick off our 2012 Summer Garden Tour Series with a tour of the gardens at the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace that will focus on properly mulching your garden. Sam Arborgast will be our featured presenter and will show attendees the techniques he uses to mulch his garden, ensuring proper nutrients and adequate weed cover are established.

This “hands on” tour individuals will demonstrate proper mulching techniques and ways to incorporate these ideas into their home gardens. In conjunction with our discussion on mulching we will also have individuals on hand to discuss marketing opportunities at local farmers markets and the farmer’s market system. Make plans to join us on June 17, 2012 for a fun filled afternoon of gardening discussions!

Subtle and Not So Subtle Changes

Sometimes when I close the office at the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace something catches my eye and instead of leaving right away I linger, my attention captured by something that is going on on the grounds.  Our groundhog guests have moved from under the porch of the Stulting House to under the Carpenter Shack.  That's good because they're no longer undermining the porch of a National Historic Structure, not so good because it's awfully close to the garden!  But they're as cute as ever, darn those things! 

This would be the Good Earth Garden

After locking up I walked around outside to see if things were growing in the garden yet, and if they had done any damage.  Whenever I seem them out of their borrow they are nibbling on wild flowers, in other words, the weeds in the yard.  But that may well be because that is all that is available so far this year.  Once that garden is producing delicious vegetables, it may be too much to pass up.

Pocahontas Times Article on Good Earth Garden

The Pocahontas Times has published an article on the Farm to Schools program in Pocahontas County that mentions the garden planted by the 3 through 5th grade students of Hillsboro Elementary School in the Good Earth Garden of Pearl S. Buck Birthplace.  It also includes photos of the the students' visit to the garden on Thursday, May 3.

Click the link to read, "Farm to School teaching students about gardening, healthy foods."

(Photo by: Suzanne Stewart)  Farm to School AmeriCorps volunteer Adrienne Cedarleaf, talks to students from Hillsboro Elementary School. 

Opening Week at the Birthplace

Students from the elementary school await instructions.

It's opening week at the birthplace.  We've not marked it with any fanfare, and you won't find any sales in the gift shop, but it's been busy.  Until today, that is.  It's now 11 am on a drizzly Saturday, and there have been no visitors today.  A few cars have pulled into the parking lot briefly, did what they wanted to do, then left, but that's a topic for another post.

Rainy days tend to be slow, but I'm not complaining.  It gives me time to tell you about Thursday and yesterday, our first of the season of the season.  They were not at all slow!