Category: Outdoors

Kiddie Pool 21/09/23

Family fun for the weekend

Another fair weekend

• The Granite State Fair, which kicked off last weekend, continues Thursday, Sept. 23, through Sunday, Sept. 26, at 72 Lafayette St. in Rochester. The fair and midway open at 4 p.m. on Thursday and Friday; the fair opens at 10 a.m. and the midway opens at noon on Saturday and Sunday, according to granitestatefair.com, where you can buy tickets and find directions. Admission costs $10; kids 8 and under get in free. Shows, ride passes, parking and more require separate tickets, which are also available online (where you can find height requirements for the rides, in case you’re trying to figure out which kids are tall enough for which rides). One event to consider: Circus Hollywood, with shows at 5 and 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 23, and Friday, Sept. 25; at 2, 5 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, and at 2 and 5 p.m. on Sunday. General admission is included, or get a ringside premium box for $15 (each box allows up to four guests), according to the website.

Another festival weekend

• Beaver Brook Association (117 Ridge Road in Hollis; 465-7787, beaverbrook.org) will hold its 40th annual Fall Festival and Nature Art Show this weekend — Saturday, Sept. 25, and Sunday, Sept. 26, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The celebration has events for all ages; for the kids, there’s a children’s art exhibit, a petting farm and children’s nature crafts, according to the website.

• We’re still in the thick of Old Home Day season and this weekend the Sandown Old Home Day Fall Festival will come to Sandlot Sports (56 North Road in Sandown) with events Friday, Sept. 24, through Sunday, Sept. 26. Saturday, Sept. 25, is the big day with games and a bouncy house and mini steam train rides from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; a coloring contest station from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; a bungee jump from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; face painting from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; cow plop bingo at noon and a pie eating contest at 2 p.m. There will also be a bike parade at 9 a.m. and live music from about 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., when fireworks are scheduled, according to the event’s Facebook page. On Sunday, check out fire and police station tours, the schedule said.

• DeMeritt Hill Farm (20 Orchard Way in Lee; 862-2111, demeritthillfarm.com) will hold its Harvest Weekend this Saturday, Sept. 25, and Sunday, Sept. 26, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both days. The schedule includes pumpkin painting, guessing games, food sampling and more, according to the website. The farm also offers hay rides on the weekends ($2 per person) and is in the thick of its pick your own apple season. (For more places doing pick your own apples, check out our “Farm Fun” cover story in last week’s (Sept. 16) issue of the Hippo, which features stories on upcoming agricultural fairs, apple picking and corn mazes. See hippopress.com and scroll down for the e-edition of the paper. The stories start on page 10.)

• J&F Farms (124 Chester Road in Derry; 437-0535) is offering a Fall Hayride on Saturday, Sept. 25, with ticketed times at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The cost is $10 per person and includes a hayride to the pick your own pumpkin patch, cider doughnuts, a petting zoo and more, according to the farm’s Facebook page. Find tickets via a link to an eventbrite page on the Facebook page.

Put up a wall

How to build hedges and fences

While vacationing recently on the Maine coast I admired many nice gardens. Many of them had hedges or fences, more than I am used to seeing in rural New Hampshire.

When settlers first arrived in New England they dug out stones left by the glaciers some 10,000 years before. They piled them up to clear farm fields, and began making stone walls to define property borders and to contain animals — or to keep them out. Gradually dry stone wallers learned how to make them look good and last forever.

Building a stone wall or retaining wall is hard work, and expensive to have someone else build. If you want to build your own, remember three things: First, the soil moves in winter as it freezes and thaws. This can make walls tumble if not properly built. Wallers have learned to add drainage under and around a wall: at least a foot of one-inch crushed stone in a trench beneath the wall works well. Round pebbles will act as ball bearings would, allowing stones to move.

Each stone should touch four others, two below it, two above it. Stones should not be stacked one on top of another, much the way bricks are laid. This helps to tie it all together and prevent movement.

Lastly, use a long string to keep the wall straight and level. Or if you are creating a curved wall, define it carefully before starting. You can place a garden hose on the soil to help define the curve.

Early settlers also made wattle fences. I talked to Crow Boutin, who makes his living making wattle fences in the Kennebunk area of Maine. These fences are simple: He cuts lengths of fresh yellow birch that are 1 to 2 inches in diameter. First he makes “pencils” that he drives in the ground with a hammer after he cuts them to length and sharpens them with an ax. Then he weaves pieces of birch 8 to 10 feet long between the vertical pencils that he spaces about 16 inches apart. The tension of the bent stems holds the fence in place. Simple? You bet, and something you could try.

But why do people need fences or hedges? Some are just for the looks, or to create a backdrop for flowers. Others are to keep others from looking into the yard, or to keep animals in (or out). Let’s take a look at a few I saw.

The nicest fences I saw were white picket fences. Maybe I like them because my grandfather had one, and I remember it from my youth. They show off flowers well, and allow climbers to climb on them. But generally you have to pay someone to install them, and, as Tom Sawyer knew, you must paint them from time to time. Now these fences come in a variety of materials including fiberglass or plastic that needs no painting.

Living fences — hedges — come in a variety of species. Evergreen hedges like yew or arborvitae can look good summer and winter, but are often eaten by deer. Hemlock and pine are less likely to be predated by deer, but they will grow to 60 feet tall unless they are trimmed every year and most somehow escape and do get tall.

Rugosa roses are commonly used as hedges on the Maine coast. They will grow in sandy soil and produce copious fragrant flowers and handsome red fruits in the fall. But they look bedraggled over time, and aren’t green in winter. Their thorns do keep people and pets from cutting corners through the yard.

Lilacs look great when blooming and have handsome green leaves eight or nine months of the year, but do little to block the view of your house and yard in winter. They do best in sweet soil, so add limestone every year or three to keep them blooming nicely. Lilacs, too, need trimming or they can get gangly.

The split rail fence is generally made of cedar, which lasts a long time — up to 20 years. It creates a rustic look, but neither keeps animals out nor blocks the nosy neighbor’s view. It will keep cars from parking on your lawn, and can support vines like roses or clematis.

Less common fences include stockade fences, which are tall wooden fences that block all view of the yard. These are what you need if you like to sunbathe nude in the garden and have a near neighbor. Definitely not a friendly signal to neighbors. Iron rail fences, wire fences and chain link fences all have their uses, but I can’t imagine having one installed.

Lastly, there is the deer fence. Many gardeners use them in order to grow vegetables, or to have tulips in the spring. Nowadays there are woven plastic fences that are inexpensive and come in 8-foot widths that work well to keep out deer. You can install them yourself on posts or stakes you cut in the forest. They work — unless you leave the gate open! Me? I have depended on having dogs to scare away the wildlife for many years. They did the job well, though I am now looking to adopt a dog as my corgi, Daphne, passed away a year ago. And I love dogs, too, which I can’t say for fences.

Featured photo: You could build this simple wattle fence. Photo courtesy of Henry Homeyer.

Kiddie Pool 21/09/16

Family fun for the weekend

GraniteCon!

• As you may have read on page 24 of last week’s Hippo (find the e-edition at hippopress.com) or on page 9 of this week’s issue, this weekend is the Granite State Comicon 2021. The Con will run Saturday, Sept. 18, and Sunday, Sept. 19, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown (at 700 Elm St.). Kids under 8 get in free with adult admission (which costs $25 on Saturday, $20 on Sunday and $40 for a weekend pass). Organizers for Kids Con New England (which is returning to in-person cons with a Kids Con in Portland, Maine, in November and in May 2022 in Concord) will have a setup in the Fan Zone during the convention. See the full program for GraniteCon at granitecon.com.

Meeting of the makers

• See the hobbies and inventions of the makers at the NH Maker & Food Fest at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (6 Washington St. in Dover; childrens-museum.org, 742-2002) on Saturday, Sept. 18, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. People with a variety of experiments, creations and hobbies will show off their work at this event, which will also feature food trucks and food vendors. Admission is pay-what-you-can (suggested donation of $5), according to the website.

Town celebrations

• Derryfest will run Saturday, Sept. 18, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at MacGregor Park on East Broadway. The day will feature kids activities, live animals, demonstrations and performances by local groups throughout the day, food and more. See derryfest.org.

• Head to Pelham’s Old Home Day for a parade, food trucks and chicken poop bingo on Saturday, Sept. 18, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The day kicks off with a pancake breakfast from 7 to 10 a.m., craft fair vendors open at 9 a.m., a cornhole tournament starts at noon and the parade steps off at 2:30 p.m., according to pelhamoldhomeday.org, which also explains chicken poop bingo — it features a chicken pooping every hour throughout the day, and if the poo lands on the square corresponding to the number you’ve picked, you win prize money. Kid-specific amusements include face painting, touch a truck, inflatable ax throwing and more, the website said.

• The annual Fall Equinox Festival hosted by TEAM Exeter will run 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 18, at Swasey Parkway. The day will feature food vendors and live music as well as kids activities and artist vendors, according to teamexeter.com, which suggests a $10 donation per person or $20 per family.

Movie time

• See Indiana Jones in his first (and best) adventure, Raiders of the Lost Ark (PG, 1981), on Friday Sept. 17, in Wasserman Park (116 Naticook Road in Merrimack) as part of the town’s summer movies in the park. The screening starts at dusk and the films are free and open to residents and nonresidents, according to the town’s Parks and Recreation website.

School spirit

Manchester community invited to first CelebratED festival

Manchester’s schools are starting off their year by inviting everyone in the community to come see all the positive things they’re doing at the first annual CelebratED MHT!, happening Saturday, Sept. 18, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Veterans Park.

The festival is free for all Manchester residents and will feature multicultural performances, activities for kids, food and a celebration of some of the school district’s accomplishments.

“There are good things happening in the Manchester School District that aren’t celebrated as much as they should be,” said Barry Brensinger, president of Manchester Proud, which is organizing the event. “Then with the whole Covid matter of the past year and a half and the incredible challenges that has presented us … [we thought], wouldn’t it be nice if somehow the community could come together and launch the new school year with a celebration?”

Manchester Proud — formed a few years ago to promote the success of the city’s public schools, with the intent of building a stronger city through those successes — started working with the Manchester Chamber of Commerce and the school district a few months ago to get this festival off the ground. Since then, it’s become a whole-community effort that includes support from the mayor’s office, city departments, youth organizations and other nonprofits.

“One of the things we said from the beginning is that we really wanted this to be all-inclusive,” Brensinger said.

It’s shaping up to be exactly what Manchester Proud envisioned. Entertainment includes African drummers, a Mexican band, a performance from hip-hop performer Martin Toe, the high school marching bands, an aerial show and more. Manchester Police Department will be there with its equestrian and K9 units, and the city’s fire department will have a fire muster.

The event starts at 10 a.m. when City Year — a group that works in Manchester’s schools to help support students — will welcome its new core members, followed by welcoming remarks from the mayor.

“Then we roll right into the entertainment,” Brensinger said.

Aside from the performances, there will be an activity area for kids with yard games and contests, and each student will be given a free book.

There will be three high school teachers acting as emcees throughout the day who will be highlighting some of Manchester’s standout teachers and students.

“We have designated three blocks of time during the day when on the main stage there will be a celebration of kids,” Brensinger said.

There will also be a tent filled with students’ stories, artwork and other achievements.

Brensinger said about 20 to 25 organizations who provide youth-related services will set up booths around the perimeter of the park to offer information to parents and small giveaways for kids.

At 1 p.m. the Fisher Cats mascot will show up to give away 1,000 tickets to that night’s game.

“This celebration will continue at that game,” Brensinger said. “Students will sing the national anthem and throw out the first pitch. … It should be a fun night.”

At 2 p.m. comic characters who will be across the street at Granite State Comicon will make an appearance and may have a few giveaways as well.

“I think there’ll be something for everyone,” Brensinger said.

And of course there’s food. Brensinger said there will be food trucks and other food available for purchase, but there will also be plenty of free food, including pizza, bottled water and healthy snacks.

To make the event as accessible as possible to everyone in the community, fliers were sent home to students written in the top six languages in Manchester. And free trolleys will run every hour on both the east and west side to make sure anyone who wants to get there can. Pickups and dropoffs will be at Parkside/Gossler Park to West High School to Veterans Park, and at Karatzas Avenue/Eastern Avenue to JFK/Beech Street School to Veterans Park, starting at 10:30 a.m.

Brensinger said precautions will be taken for Covid, including guidelines posted throughout the park and free masks and hand sanitizer. The event will be held rain or shine.

CelebrateED MHT!

When: Saturday, Sept. 18, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: Veterans Park, Elm Street
Cost: Free for all Manchester residents

Featured photo: Hip-hop artist Martin Toe. Courtesy photo.

Build better soils

How to make your own compost

Most gardeners do some composting. Some compost anything that was part of a living plant, mixing it with barnyard waste; they turn and aerate the piles, making terrific compost in record time. Others are lazy composters who throw kitchen scraps or weeds in a pile and let it decompose. I’m a lazy composter. I have too much to do in the garden to take the temperature of my compost pile or check it weekly for moisture content — let alone turning it regularly.

Let’s look at the basics: Organic matter — leaves, weeds, moldy broccoli or cow manure — is digested by bacteria and fungi. These microorganisms exist in amazing numbers in biologically active soil or compost. But for them to multiply and break down organic matter, they need a good supply of materials containing lots of carbon and a little bit of nitrogen. Both are needed to build cell walls of the little critters and the proteins and oils in their bodies.

Scientists say your compost pile should be 25 or 30 pounds of material containing carbon for one pound of nitrogen. Carbon-containing materials include dry grass or leaves, straw and, in general, brown materials. Nitrogen-containing things are also referred to as “green” materials — fresh grass clippings, weeds and household kitchen waste. Just to confuse you, all manures — which are brown — are also full of nitrogen.

We keep a 55-gallon drum of dry leaves next to our compost bin. We fill it in the fall and pack down the leaves to get in as many as possible. Each time we empty our 5-gallon bucket of kitchen scraps into the bin, we add some leaves on top. This adds carbon to the pile and helps to keep flies away from the goodies. These leaves are certainly not in the ratio of carbon to nitrogen needed for the fastest composting, but it helps. We count on the kitchen scraps to have some carbon, too.

For weeds, we just pile them up and let them decompose over time. We suffer from an infestation of goutweed, a noxious invasive. We try to keep any goutweed out of piles that will eventually be used for compost as even a scrap of root can start a new place for it to grow. Other invasives we do not have — but would separate if we had them — include Japanese knotweed and black swallow wort. In fact, anything invasive should not go in any compost pile you hope to use later.

What else should stay out of compost piles? Meat scraps, oils and fat, dog and cat feces. Shredded newspapers and office paper can be used in compost piles — they are carbon-based, and their inks now are made from soy products. Shiny color inserts and magazines I avoid using. If you add shredded paper to your compost pile, mix it in well — thick layers will not decompose easily.

What about weed seeds in compost causing problems when you use your homemade compost? Ideally, if you’re doing everything right, your compost pile will heat up enough for a few days to kill the weed seeds, curing it for three days at 140 degrees. I’ve done experiments using annual grass seed and a soil thermometer, and found that even a day or two at 135 will kill those seeds. Weed seeds may be tougher, and it’s tough to get an entire compost pile hot at the same time.

How do you get your compost to heat up? Layer green (nitrogen-containing) and brown (carbon-based) materials. The key is the nitrogen layer. Fresh grass cuttings are high in nitrogen and easily collected with a bagger. Mix them in your compost pile, and it will heat up. Poultry manure, or any manure, is also high in nitrogen and will heat up your pile. Compost thermometers look like meat thermometers with a longer probe and are sold at garden centers or online.

Moisture level is important for making compost. The pile should be neither dry nor soggy. A handful should feel as moist as a squeezed-out sponge. I place tree branches underneath a new compost pile to help with drainage. Never put a pile where a roof dumps water. Your compost should be well-aerated. You want aerobic decomposition. Some gardeners turn and fluff their compost regularly.

I add compost to the planting holes for my tomatoes and kale, and work some in for everything, in fact. Why? Because even though I have great soil, compost gets oxidized and breaks down. Plants extract minerals from it. Beneficial bacteria and fungi use it to build their bodies. I try to keep my soil fluffy — roots do better in soil that’s loose and aerated — and compost helps me to create that most desirable of soils: a nice loam.

Even though I make compost, I also buy it by the truckload. It’s available from farms, garden centers and others. Ask for hot-processed, aged compost to avoid weeds.

There are no poor gardeners, just poor soil. Add compost and perhaps a little organic fertilizer and you will have a “green thumb.” It takes time to make compost and build soils, which is why you should start now!

Featured photo: Simple compost bins made of pallets allow old compost to age, and new materials to be added. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

Kiddie Pool 21/09/09

Family fun for the weekend

Movie night

Nashua’s SummerFun program wraps up for the year with an outdoor screening of this year’s excellent animated featureRaya and the Last Dragon (PG, 2021), a Disney movie featuring the voices of Awkwafina (as a dragon), Kelly Marie Tran (Raya), Sandra Oh, Gemma Chan and Daniel Dae Kim. The movie screens on Friday, Sept. 10, at dusk at the Greeley Park Bandshell (100 Concord St.).

Outside the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center (2 Institute Dr. in Concord; starhop.com, 271-7827) on Friday, Sept. 10, you can sit under the stars and watch a robot come from the stars in WALL-E(G, 2008), that Pixar classic featuring the voices of Sigourney Weaver and Jeff Garlin and an interstellar opening segment scored to (as Wikipedia reminded me) “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” from Hello, Dolly!. The movie starts at 7 p.m.

Catch Honey I Shrunk the Kids (PG, 1989) on Tuesday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. at the Rex Theatre (23 Amherst St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org) as part of the ongoing Movies For a Cause. Tickets cost $12. This week’s movies (1989’s PG movie Field of Dreams screens Wednesday, Sept. 15) benefit CASA.

Playtime can recommence

The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (6 Washington St. in Dover; childrens-museum.org, 742-2002) reopens Tuesday, Sept. 14, after its regular end-of-summer refresh. The museum will also feature its annual Toddlerfest, with drop-in activities for younger visitors (now that older kids are back in school) such as wacky art projects, bubble dance parties, science experiments and bug investigation in the museum’s Learning Garden, according to a press release.

And make plans now for the NH Maker Fest, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 18, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., which will be held inside and outside the museum with no tickets required, the press release said. The museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays with timed tickets for 9 a.m. to noon or 1 to 4 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to noon. Buy tickets in advance online; masks are required for all visitors over 24 months. Admission costs $11 for everyone over a year of age ($9 for seniors).

Fireworks & a parade

Hollis will hold its Old Home Days on Friday, Sept. 10, and Saturday, Sept. 11. On Friday, events run from 5 to 10 p.m. and include a midway and rides, exhibitors and food vendors and DJ Carryl Roy, at Nichols Track and Field. On Saturday, Sept. 11, the midway and rides are open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Old Home Day parade starts at 10:30 a.m. and runs from the middle school to Nichols Field. A firemen’s muster will be held from 1 to 2 p.m., also at Nichols. A pet pageant takes place at 3 p.m., live music is scheduled throughout the afternoon and into the evening and fireworks are scheduled for 8 p.m., all according to hollisoldhomedays.org.

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