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.

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.