Category: Outdoors

Kiddie Pool 22/04/14

Family fun for the weekend

Easter fun

• Charmingfare Farm (774 High St. in Candia; visitthefarm.com, 483-5623) will host its Egg-Citing Egg Hunt this Saturday, April 16. Sign up for a time between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. for a hunt for a dozen chocolate-filled eggs, a horse-drawn or tractor ride, a visit to the barn decorated specially for Easter, a visit with the animals (including spring baby animals) and a visit with the Easter Bunny, according to the website. Tickets cost $22 per person.

• New England Vendor Events is holding an Easter Family Fun Day on Saturday, April 16, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the VFW at 15 Bockes Road in Hudson. Tickets cost $1 (plus fees) to reserve a spot for a specific egg hunt time. The event will also have music, food, vendors and more. See eventbrite.com/e/4th-annual-easter-family-fun-day-in-hudson-tickets-248074586767.

• The Saturday, April 16, storytime at the Bookery Manchester (844 Elm St. in downtown Manchester; bookerymht.com) will feature the bookThe Easter Egg by Jan Brett. After the story, kids can participate in a craft making paper Easter eggs with tape and wet chalk.

• The Hudson Mall will host an Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 16, with egg hunt times at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon.

• On Saturday, April 16, Our Promise to Nicholas Foundation will hold an indoor maze to an egg hunt and the Easter Bunny at the NH Sportsplex (68 Technology Dr. in Bedford; ourpromisetonicholas.com) from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Hop along a bunny trail to play games, do a bunny craft and more and then head to the egg hunt field at a specific “egg hunt time” and take photos with the Easter Bunny (as well as other mascots and characters), according to the website. Tickets cost $8 per person; family tickets are also available through Friday, April 15, at 6 p.m. Tickets at the door cost $10 per person.

Chicks!

Kids can make Chicken Clucker crafts at Goffstown Hardware (5 Depot St in Goffstown; goffstownhardware.com) on Saturday, April 16, from 10 a.m. to noon. The event is free.

Movies for all

• Chunky’s Cinema Pub (707 Huse Road, Manchester; 151 Coliseum Ave., Nashua; 150 Bridge St., Pelham, chunkys.com) will hold a sensory-friendly screening of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (PG) on Friday, April 14, at 4 p.m. At sensory-friendly screenings, the volume is down, the lights are up and moving around is allowed, according to the website. Tickets cost $5.99.

Trout for kids

• The Basil W. Woods Jr. Chapter of Trout Unlimited will sponsor a Youth Fishing Day at Merrill Park on Eastman Street in Concord on Saturday, April 16, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free and kids under 16 years old can fish in a stocked trout pond with tackle and bait provided. The event will include refreshments, fly casting instruction and fly tying demonstrations, according to a press release.

Save the date: for Peppa Pig

Peppa Pig’s Adventure, a live show based on the popular cartoon, will come to Capitol Center for the Arts (44 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com) on Friday, April 22, at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5 p.m. Tickets cost $39 through $59; a $50 VIP add-on gets you a post-show photo experience.

Save the date: for mom

• The Educational Farm at Joppa Hill (174 Joppa Hill Road in Bedford; theeducationalfarm.org) is holding a Mom & Me Spring Hike on Saturday, May 7, with time slots at 9 a.m., 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. for a hike around the farm. The cost is $18 per family; go online to reserve a spot.

Save the date: for summer theater

Tickets are on sale now for the eight productions of the Children’s Summer Series at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org, 668-5588) starting July 5 and running through Aug. 26. The series starts with the BJ Hickman Magic Show and wraps up with a presentation of Frozen Kids. The shows run Tuesdays though Fridays at 10 a.m. and Tuesdays through Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. The shows are younger audience-friendly. Tickets cost $10.

Starting inside

Plant summer-blooming flowers now

I like dahlias. They are bright and come in many colors with blossoms from the size of daisies to the size of dinner plates. My wife, Cindy, loves dahlias. Every year we have discussions about how many we should plant and where they might go. I believe there is such a thing as too many dahlias. Cindy does not.

Dahlias make nice cutflowers. Courtesy photo.

Each fall we dig up our dahlias a week or so after the first hard frost but before the ground freezes. We store them in a cool basement in boxes filled with sphagnum moss or sawdust that is lightly moist. The problem is, each plant produces a dozen or more tubers, and each and every one will produce a new plant the next summer.

If you have purchased dahlia plants at a greenhouse in the past, maybe this year you would like to try planting some tubers. They tend to be less expensive, and there is definitely more variety. Go to your local garden center or go online and order tubers.

Choose a 6-inch pot and fill it three quarters full with potting soil. Place the tuber so that it is lying flat on the surface, and cover with a few inches of potting soil. Pat it down, water lightly, and let it be. When it is ready, it will send up shoots and then it will need some bright lights. They have tiny “eyes” or growing points, and if you can spot one, be sure to plant it on the top side. But eyes are not always easily identified.

I grow ours on a plant stand with fluorescent lights and have never tried them on a bright windowsill, but I guess that would work, too. If you find your plants on a windowsill are floppy or pale, switch to artificial lights if you have them.

I love calla lilies. These beauties are not true lilies at all, but members of the Arum family (which includes Jack-in-the-pulpit, skunk cabbage and the house plants dieffenbachia and philodendron). Calla lilies are perennial in warm climates but, like dahlias and gladiolas, must be dug and brought inside before the winter here. Now is the time to start some calla rhizomes (a bulb-like modified stem) indoors. Plant them with the smooth side down.

Calla lily growing in a pot on my front steps. Courtesy photo.

One of the advantages of growing calla lilies is that they are not true lilies, hence not bothered by that dastardly red bug, the lily-leaf beetle. The lily-leaf beetle attacks Oriental and Asiatic lilies that I do so love but have given up growing. Calla lilies also bloom for a much longer time than true lilies, though they lack the fragrance of Oriental lilies.

To start calla lilies indoors now, buy rhizomes now at your local garden center or from a reputable supplier. The rhizomes need to be planted about 3 inches deep, then covered with potting mix. It is a good plant for people who tend to overwater their houseplants, as they thrive in moist soil. (By the way, start doubling the water to your rosemary plants if you over-wintered any. Otherwise they will dry out and die).

Once summer is here you can either transplant your potted calla to a nice sunny spot, or keep it in the pot and move it outside. Come fall, you will need to bring them inside, as temperatures around 20 will kill them. Callas need to go dormant in winter.

When buying some calla lily rhizomes at my local garden center, I also bought some gladiolus corms (commonly called bulbs). My gardening grandfather loved growing gladioli, and won ribbons at the Worcester, Massachusetts, county fair most years.

Gladiolus corms are relatively inexpensive so most gardeners don’t bother saving them. Classic colors are red, yellow, pink and purple. I recently bought bulbs that will produce flowers with pink, white, and white with pink designs at my local garden center. I will wait and plant them directly in the soil in my garden in June.

This canna lily has purple leaves and stands nearly 6 feet tall. Courtesy photo.

Another summer beauty is the canna lily. We grew some that were 6 feet tall last summer and they bloomed from mid-summer till fall. Buy rhizomes now and start them indoors to get a good jump on the season. They come in various sizes, and with green or purple foliage.

My favorite summer bulb plant is called a variety of common names: peacock orchid, sword lily, or fragrant gladiolus (even though this plant is not an orchid, a lily or a gladiolus). That’s why I like Latin names. If you ask for acidanthera murielae, plant-knowledgeable people around the world will know what you mean. But for now, I’ll refer to it as sword lily.

The sword lily has long, narrow leaves — like swords — that stand 18 inches or more tall. The blossoms are white with deep purple markings in the center of the six-petaled flower, along with a little yellow at the very center. You get two or three blossoms per stem, and they are enticingly fragrant, particularly in the evening. I’ll plant them now, eight to 12 bulbs 3 inches deep in a 12-inch pot, and grow them on the deck this summer.

I don’t know about you, but I need all the green growing things around me I can get as mud season lingers on. So get your summer bulbs now, before they are all sold out, and start a few indoors.

Featured photo: Sword lilies are highly fragrant in the evening. Courtesy photo.

Kiddie Pool 22/04/07

Family fun for the weekend

Easter events

• The Educational Farm at Joppa Hill (174 Joppa Hill Road in Bedford; theeducationalfarm.org) is holding an Easter egg hunt on Saturday, April 9, with open slots at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m., as of April 4. For $20 per child, each child can collect 20 eggs, visit farm animals and meet the Easter Bunny, according to the website, where you reserve a time slot.

• The Easter Bunny will drop 1,500 chocolate eggs from a helicopter in the field just outside the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire (27 Navigator Road in Londonderry; nhahs.org) on Saturday, April 9, at 11 a.m., according to a press release. After the candy is dropped and the helicopter clears the area, kids ages 12 and under will be able to pick up some treats, the release said. The Easter Bunny will then hang out at the museum until 1 p.m. to meet kids and pose for photos, the release said.

Participating families should arrive by 10:30 a.m. and children participating in the candy drop will be put in three groups: age 6 and under, ages 7 to 9 and ages 10 to 12, the release said.

The museum is open Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and admission costs $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 6 to 12 and for seniors and military; children ages 5 and under get in free.

• Or go hunting for Easter eggs at the YMCA of Londonderry (206 Rockingham Road in Londonderry) on Saturday, April 9. The YMCA and Beacon Church co-host the event featuring eggs hidden across the YMCA property with hunts slotted for 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m., noon and 12:30 p.m., according to a YMCA social media post. The event is first come, first served for each time slot and will offer off-site parking at Londonderry Park and Ride off Exit 5 with shuttle service to the event, the post said. The day will also feature a petting zoo, snacks, a craft and more. There will be a separate toddler zone for egg hunts at each time slot, according to beaconnh.com. Next weekend, Saturday, April 16, the Londonderry Y will hold a Kid’s Night when kids can be dropped off from 5 to 8 p.m. The cost is $25 per child (ages 4 to 12; $15 for additional siblings) and includes a pizza dinner. See https://bit.ly/ygl-kids-nights; register by April 13.

• Charmingfare Farm (774 High St. in Candia; visitthefarm.com, 483-5623) will host its Egg-Citing Egg Hunt this Saturday, April 9, and Sunday, April 10, as well as next Saturday, April 16. Sign up for a time between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. for a hunt for a dozen chocolate-filled eggs, a horse-drawn or tractor ride, a visit to the barn decorated specially for Easter, a visit with the animals (including spring baby animals) and a visit with the Easter Bunny, according to the website. Tickets cost $22 per person.

On stage

The Southern New Hampshire Youth Ballet presents Cinderellaat the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org, 668-5588) on Sunday, April 10, 1 to 4 p.m. The show is appropriate for all ages and runs about 75 minutes long (with a 10-minute intermission), according to the website. Tickets cost $25 for adults and $20 ages 12 and under.

Save the date: for more eggs

On Saturday, April 16, Our Promise to Nicholas Foundation will hold an indoor maze to an egg hunt and the Easter Bunny at the NH Sportsplex (68 Technology Dr. in Bedford; ourpromisetonicholas.com) from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Hop along a bunny trail to play games, do a bunny craft and more and then head to the egg hunt field at a specific “egg hunt time” and take photos with the Easter Bunny (as well as other mascots and characters), according to the website. Tickets cost $8 per person; family tickets are also available through Friday, April 15, at 6 p.m. Tickets at the door cost $10 per person.

Nuts and berries

Easy to grow and trouble-free

Every year you probably plant tomatoes. Wouldn’t it be great if they would come back every year without the bother of preparing the soil, starting seedlings in April and setting them out? Well, that’s what nut and fruit trees and berry bushes do: Once planted (and mature), they produce food every year. To me, there is a definite allure to plants requiring less work.

I recently was sent a review copy of a wonderful book by Allyson Levy and Scott Serrano: Cold-Hardy Fruits and Nuts: 50 Easy-to-Grow Plants for the Organic Home Garden or Landscape printed by Chelsea Green Publishing. When I got it I could barely pull myself away from it because it has so much to teach me.

Each of the species included has five or six pages devoted to it and at least five excellent photos. The information starts with “Growth Difficulty Rating” — how hard is it to grow? Most are easy. It includes taste profile and uses, pollination requirements (is it self-pollinating?), site and soil conditions, zone hardiness, good cultivars to look for, and a paragraph on pests and problems, and more.

I called the authors and asked about their experience growing this diverse group of plants. They live in Stone Ridge, New York, a town about 100 miles north of NYC and 10 miles or so from the Hudson River. They are in Zone 6, where winter temperatures only go a little below zero most winters.

They are both artists, and originally started growing plants to use in their art. About 20 years ago they bought 8 acres across the street from them and started their own arboretum, later adding another 10 acres. Their arboretum is Hortus Arboretum and Botanical Garden and is a Level II arboretum according to the Morton Arboretum.

I asked them what they would recommend for fruit if someone had none and wanted to start with winners. Scott suggested blueberries and blackberries. Both are easy and tasty. Elderberries are good, too, they said, although you need to cook the berries to make them palatable. Elderberries, honey and lemon juice make a nice syrup, which I use to help prevent colds in winter.

We talked about honeyberries. It’s a fruit I will definitely plant this year. Although the fruit looks a little like a big oblong blueberry, it is actually in the genus with honeysuckle. It is native to the northern U.S., Canada and Siberia. A friend gave us a few to taste last summer, and I like the flavor.

According to the book, honeyberry is the first fruit to ripen here, a couple of weeks before strawberries. But it is a couple of weeks after they turn blue and look ripe that they actually lose their astringency and turn sweet. This is the kind of information that most books or plant tags don’t have, and only comes from someone who grows and knows the plant. Allyson said she discovered that lots of berries are hidden under the leaves. The fruit gets better every year, apparently.

Another fruit in the book is pawpaw, a somewhat tropical-flavored tree fruit (banana crossed with mango flavor?). As the book explains, you need two different trees (not clones) to get pollination and fruit. I am growing it, but started out with only clones, so I have not gotten fruit yet.

Of the nuts, they recommend hazelnuts. These produce nuts as much younger plants than things like black walnut or pecans, which are tall trees that require years to produce nuts. You need to have two or more hazelnuts as they are not self-fertile. Scott pointed out that the native species has smaller nuts than some of the named varieties.

Pecans are discussed in the book. The biggest difficulty is not growing the tree, but having a growing season long enough for the nuts to ripen. They need 150 to 180 days. But as the climate changes, perhaps this will not be a problem in 25 years. They note that you must have two compatible grafted varieties to get nuts, as the trees are not self-fertile. These are big, handsome trees and should be grown in full sun and rich soil if possible.

A tree that is not native but produces a lot of food for deer is the Korean stone pine. The pine nuts we use for pesto are most often from these trees grown in Asia. The cones open up in winter and drop their seeds, which are rich in oil and high in calories. Scott said in Siberia tigers indirectly depend on the stone pine because they feed the deer and boar the tigers need to survive.

The Hortus Arboretum and Garden is open from Mother’s Day in May until the end of October, Friday to Sunday. Admission is by donation. Because of Covid, they have been scheduling visitors online during the season at their website, hortusgardens.org.

This book is terrifically useful to anyone interested in growing fruit and nuts. I should note that it does not cover apples, plums and peaches because those fruits are well-covered by other writers, and, as they say, much prone to pests and diseases. The plants discussed are generally easy to grow and trouble-free. Just what we all want!

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

Embrace the muck

The best time is the mud time

By Dan Szczesny

There is no better time to hike with kids in New Hampshire than during mud season.

That’s right, you heard me.

I’m not talking about the ecologically sensitive places among alpine flowers starting to thaw. I wouldn’t suggest that you let your kids go bounding off trail into the deep, wet, tick-infested leaves. But there is a proper way to play outside during this most New Hampshire of seasons. And be warned — it does involve getting dirty. But that’s the point.

On this clear, cool early spring day, there is no greater testament to the allure of mud season hiking than the rolling hills and oh so muddy beaches of Kingston State Park. Somehow, we forgot my daughter’s boots, but no matter, the mud would find a way to her feet regardless of how we protected them. Little Bean charges headlong across the wide lawn, through the old-school metal playground and right up to the cold, clear water of Great Pond. For a moment it looks like she’s going straight into the water, but she screeches to a halt a half foot from the water and drops to her knees.

In the mud.

She doesn’t wait for permission to get dirty on trips such as this anymore because she understands that getting dirty is the whole point. In my day pack I have a packet of wet wipes, a towel and an extra pair of socks for both of us. My wife and I have raised our daughter to accept the natural world not as a brief interlude or vacation, not as something that is special and happens occasionally, but rather as a part of everyday living. And life can be messy. Therefore, nature is messy — and never so messy than during mud season.

“Daddy, look,” my daughter is calling. “What are these things?”

All along the muddy shore are thousands of tiny squiggling sand shrimp. The warmer weather and perfect shoreline conditions must have contributed to a recent spat of hatchlings and they are everywhere. She decides they need a hotel. No, better than a hotel, they need a shrimp resort.

Using a series of shells, small rocks, and even a small loon feather, she constructs a sand and mud mound resort, digging a channel from the hotel to the pond, scooping out a pool area and even a small stone shed where the shrimpys, as she calls them, can rest out of the sun. Then she goes and gets them, plucking them up and plopping them in their new resort.

It’s a long project. She doesn’t need my help. She cares not at all about the mud. I’ve seen that look in her eye and figure it’s going to be a long afternoon, so I find a nearby park bench, also filthy and covered in dog paw prints, spread out our picnic and lean back to watch her.

I think of naturalist and journalist Richard Louv, who wrote, “Passion is lifted from the earth itself by the muddy hands of the young.” He may not have had a luxury hotel for sand shrimp in mind when he wrote that, but either way, my daughter’s passion is on display.

Kingston Park is beautiful this day, in mid-March, mild with an occasional sharp wind that cuts across the lagoon to remind us that winter hasn’t quite let go yet. There are a few dog walkers, but this is one of those New Hampshire places that, during off-season, becomes magical — a place where only locals and those willing to get filthy would dare to go.

Meantime, my daughter requests that I be present for the opening of her hotel, so I lumber down to the squishy shore and hand her a tin cup of hot chocolate, the steam rising up in front of her smiling face.

“Daddy, we should go check out that staircase,” she says. “And then let’s find some rocks.”

The days grow longer now, and soon swarms of both bugs and tourists will descend on small parks like this all across the state. But today, the mud is ours.

If You Go

Don’t be afraid of the mud

For more information on official park openings and costs, navigate over to nhstateparks.org for a park list scroll-down menu. A couple other off the beaten path state parks you’ll likely have to yourself until the official season begins include Ahern State Park in Laconia and Northwood Meadows State Park in Northwood.

Kingston State Park

124 Main St., Kingston: Located in southeastern New Hampshire, Kingston State Park is a 44-acre park located on Kingston Pond/Great Pond. During the regular season, usually starting mid-May, the park offers boat rentals, a park store (Friday through Sunday only), a small walk around the pond and a clean beach for swimming and picnicking. But go now and you’ll have the place nearly to yourself.

Parking and Trail Access

The park entrance sits right in the center of Kingston, directly along Main Street and across the wide, long, central lawn. In off season you’ll have to just park on the side of the street and walk in. There is a small parking lot near the entrance but that’s just for Kingston residents. The walk to the ponds can be reached along a short well-groomed trail or by taking the empty road. Either way, it’s only about 1/4 mile.

Featured photo: Photo courtesy of Dan Szczesny.

Kiddie Pool 22/03/31

Family fun for the weekend

Thursday night live

Cowabunga’s Indoor Playground (725 Huse Road in Manchester; cowabungas.com, 935-9659) will hold a “Dinner & a Dance Party” on Thursday, March 31, from 5 to 7 p.m. For $25 per kid, children get a meal, two hours of play time and a meet and greet with a special character. Similar events are scheduled through April — the guest for Thursday, April 14, is scheduled to be the Easter Bunny.

See a show

• The Epping Middle High School Drama Club will presentBeauty and the Beast Jr. on Friday, April 1, and Saturday, April 2, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, April 3, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $10 at the door in cash or check. The show, a youth adaptation of the 1994 Broadway play and 1991 animated film, will feature kids in grades 6 through 12, according to a press release. The show will take place at the Epping Playhouse (38 Ladd’s Lane in Epping). See eppingtheater.org.

• The Methuen Ballet Ensemble will present an all-ages-friendly ballet of Cinderella on Saturday, April 2, at 2:30 p.m. at the Derry Opera House (29 West Broadway in Derry). Tickets cost $25. See derryoperahouse.org.

• The Palace Youth Theatre will present The Descendants The Musical on Monday, March 4, and Tuesday, March 5, at 7 p.m. at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org). Tickets cost $12 to $15. The show features student actors in grades 2 through 12.

The spring sky

• “The Stars and the Planets of Spring” is the focus of the virtual Super Stellar Friday Online program on Friday, April 1, at 7 p.m. via the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center (2 Institute Drive in Concord; starhop.com, 271-7827). Register for the free discussion to find out what planets can be seen in the spring sky without a telescope.

The center itself is open to the public Fridays through Sundays with sessions from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1:30 to 4 p.m. There will be four planetarium shows daily, according to the website, which recommends purchasing timed tickets in advance. Admission costs $11.50 for adults, $10.50 for students and seniors and $8.50 for kids ages 3 to 12 (admission is free for children 2 and under; masks required for visitors over the age of 2). Planetarium show tickets cost $5 per person (free for children 2 and under); see the website for the schedule of planetarium shows.

Spring storytime

• The storytime and craft at the Bookery Manchester (844 Elm St. in downtown Manchester; bookerymht.com) on Saturday, April 2, will celebrate spring. The book will be First Notes of Spring by Jessica Kulekjian, illustrated by Jennifer Bower. The craft will be making spring wands, according to the website.

A little more syrup

Ben’s Sugar Shack, with locations in Temple and Newbury, has its final scheduled weekend tours of maple season this weekend, Saturday, April 2, and Sunday, April 3, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. See the syrup process from tree to finished product and enjoy some maple samples, according to bensmaplesyrup.com.

Save the date: For PJ Masks

To celebrate National Superhero Day, local theaters will present PJ Masks We Can All Be Heroes, an event featuring a four-part PJ Masks adventure, music videos and other PJ Masks clips. The presentation will screen Saturday, April 23, at 2 p.m. at AMC Londonderry (16 Orchard View Drive in Londonderry) and Cinemark Rockingham Park (15 Mall Road in Salem) and at 10 a.m. at the O’neil Cinemas Brickyard Square (24 Calef Highway in Epping). Ticket prices vary at the different theaters; see fathomevents.com.

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