Category: Outdoors

Kiddie Pool 24/09/26

Family fun for whenever

Deerfield Fair

• “147 years of agricultural family fun!” is how the Deerfield Fair describes itself at deerfieldfair.com. The fair kicks off Thursday, Sept. 26, at 8 a.m. and offers a full day of live music, performances including puppets and magic and agricultural shoes and competitions. The fair runs through Sunday, Sept. 29, and is open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets cost $12 for ages 13 and older, kids ages 12 and younger and all military get in for free. Senior days are Thursday and Friday when tickets for $65+ purchased at the gate cost $9. See the website for early ticket purchases. Ride Special Wristband Days are sold Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for unlimited rides until 6 p.m. for $35 and on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. with unlimited rides until 7 p.m. for $35. Ride ticket singles cost $1.50 with discounts for bulk purchases.

Some of the highlights from the fair entertainment and events schedule include (see the website for a full schedule):

• Thursday: BJ Hickman Magician at 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Relaxation Stage (also appearing through the weekend); Lindsay and her Puppet Pals at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. at the Bandstand Stage (also appearing Friday); Bryson Lang Juggling & Comedy Show at 1 p.m. at the Bandstand Stage (also appearing through the weekend); Pig scramble for ages 8 to 10 at 2 p.m. at the Swine Area

Friday: The Flying Wallendas at noon and 3 p.m. at the Main Stage (also on Saturday and Sunday); Pig scramble for ages 11 to 13 at 2 p.m.; The Incidentals at 7 p.m. at the Relaxation Stage

Saturday: 4-H Dairy Goat show at 9 a.m. at the Sheep Barn Area; Pig scramble for ages 8 to 10 at 2 p.m. at the Swine Area; Sheep shearing at the Sheep Barn 2 p.m.; Aim High Canines at the Swine Ring 3 p.m.; Truck Pull at the Tractor Pull Area 5 p.m.: Shakerz Band at 7 p.m. Relaxation Stage

Sunday: The Bel Airs (doowop and vintage rock ’n’ roll) at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Relaxation stage; Dog demonstration, sheep dog herding at the Special Events Area at noon; Pig scramble for ages 11 to 13 at 2 p.m. at the Swine Ring; Pig scramble for adults at 2:15 p.m. at the Swine Ring; Fry Pan Toss for women 18+ at the Tractor Pull Area at 4 p.m.; Double Take at 5 p.m. Relaxation Stage

Strolling performers throughout the weekend include Pirate Man Dan, Seacoast NH Ukulele, Wicked Witches of the Lakes Region and Mixtape A Cappella Group, according to the website.

Fall family fun

• The Harvest Moon Festival at the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum (18 Highlawn Road, Warner, indianmuseum.org, 456-2600) is Sunday, Sept. 29, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and offers something for the whole family. According to the website, the Harvest Moon Festival celebrates the traditional harvest season; it is a family-friendly event featuring craft demonstrations, activities for kids, and educational exhibits. Food for sale, prepared using Native American recipes, includes bison stew, chicken wild rice stew, several varieties of cornbread, and sweets. Tickets cost $13 for adults, $7 for children, and are available online.

Les Enfants

• The Franco-American Centre is offering Children’s Beginner French classes for ages 6 to 11 via Zoom. The classes will run Tuesday, Oct. 1, through Dec. 3, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. The kids will learn “through various fun activities and games” and no French knowledge is required, according to a Franco-American Centre newsletter. The cost is $150, with discounts for multiple children. See facnh.com/product-page/children-s-beginner-french.

Save the date

• The Joppa Hill Educational Farm (174 Joppa Hill Road, Bedford, 472-4724, theeducationalfarm.org) will hold a Fall Fair on Saturday, Oct. 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The day will feature artisan booths, food trucks, vendors, tractor rides, apples, pumpkin decorating, live music, kids’ activities and farm fun. Tickets cost $15 (plus fees) per person or $30 (plus fees) per family.

• Tickets are on sale now for the Community Players of Concord’s Children’s Theatre Project production of Charlotte’s Web featuring 42 young actors ages 6 to 16, according to a press release. Catch the production on Friday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m. or Saturday, Oct. 19, at 2 p.m. at the Concord City Auditorium, 2 Prince St. in Concord. Tickets cost $15 and are available at CommunityPlayersofConcord.org or at the box office 90 minutes before each show, the release said.

Comics, Turtles and a Power Ranger

Fans of all stripes will find fun at the Granite State Comicon

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

The Granite State Comicon is here with most of its action on Saturday, Sept. 21, and Sunday, Sept. 22, at the DoubleTree Downton Manchester and SNHU Arena across the street.

“When we started Granite State Comicon in 2003, we just used a small room at the hotel, and then over the number of years we’ve been growing, [we had] to take on a larger room and larger space. And then we went for two days. And then for the past couple years, we’ve kind of noticed, ‘hey, we’re getting really tight on space.’” said Chris Proulx, owner of Double Midnight Comics and con organizer.

“There’s things we want to fit in that we can’t fit in. The attendance was getting a little tighter, and we knew if we wanted to bring in more comic artists, more celebrities, and especially if we’re getting from bigger franchises, we would need more space,” Proulx said.

Which venue should be chosen for this quest?

“If you’re looking for more of the comic-centric things, you would kind of hang out on the hotel side, because that’s where all of our guest artists are,” Proulx said. Meanwhile, at the other venue: “And then if you’re looking for more of the celebrity and pop culture stuff, you’re looking at the arena. Both of them have vendors and lots of stuff to see. So there’s unique stuff at both venues. It’s definitely worth crossing Elm Street.”

Like with Gotham or Metropolis, the city itself is integral. “What we’ve been kind of talking about is referring to the third venue [as] downtown Manchester, trying to get some of the restaurants and bars involved, you know, whether it’s if they offer some kind of special drink or, you know, some kind of special menu or get dressed up,” Proulx said.

It’ll be a day for the arts on Saturday. “We’ll be promoting the [Manchester Citywide Arts Festival], so that way people can kind of cross-pollinate and just see the more positive sides of Manchester,” he said.

“We talked to the Rex because we wanted to do a screening of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It’s a beautiful venue and they agreed to partner with us on that and it’s going to be a fun night. We decided to go all in on it and celebrate it, or ‘shell-a-brate it,’ as they say. So we’ve got actors from the 1990 movie, the ‘87 cartoon, tons of artists and writers who have worked on the Ninja Turtles over the years, including Kevin Eastman,” he said. See palacetheatre.org for tickets to the screening, which starts at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21.

But those aren’t the only stars at the con.

”John Rhys Davies, you’ll be able to find him at the hotel. He’ll be doing signatures, professional photo ops, he might have some props with him for photo ops, like Gimli’s ax from The Lord of the Rings. My business partner has met him a bunch of times and he’s the sweetest, nicest guy, so we’re very excited to have him join us,” Proulx said.

“Amy Jo Johnson, she’s the original Pink Power Ranger. There’s been many many iterations of the Power Rangers over the years but she’s one of the the original cast members so we’re very excited to have her joining us. She recently wrote a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic book mini-series. She had a couple of the artist guests that we have that had done covers for it, so it’s a pretty cool thing,” Proulx said.

“Then we have Kevin Nash, who was a two-time WWE Hall of Famer. He’s also been in a bunch of movie and TV projects, like The Punisher, and he was Super Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2. He was a nice crossover there.“

“We’ve got Nolan North, who is the video game voice of Deadpool, and Cal Dodd, who is the voice of Wolverine in X-Men, the animated series. There’s a lot of cool guests, plus we have the original four voices of the Ninja Turtles from the ’87 cartoon. It’s a big Turtle-centric thing this year because it’s the 40th anniversary of the Turtles. They’re created by Eastman and Laird in New Hampshire,” he said.

Be sure to check out the website for more information. “The full program is up there, so you can see all of our panels and workshops. There’s information on KidsCon, movie cars, all of the various features.”

The event even attracts fans from all over the world. “We never thought people would be coming from multiple countries to Manchester, New Hampshire,” Proulx said.

“We want to make sure people are having a good time…. Our show’s very family-friendly and entry-level so you’re not like, ‘oh man, if I want to go to Comicon I gotta go to New York, I gotta travel four hours, I gotta pay for a hotel, I gotta pay for this, everything’s more expensive,’” he said.

Patrons do not need to have read a single comic book to have fun at Granite State Comicon.“We always say everybody’s a geek over something. The people that play fantasy football, that’s geeky. We’re all geeks. So there’s literally something there for everybody. So whether you’re into anime or board games or comic books or costuming, there’s literally something for everybody and it’s a great time. We’re very affordable for a family trip. There’s lots of stuff for kids to do. So it’s a really good fun time and we feel like it’s a great fun event for Manchester,” he said.

Even as the convention grows, what makes Granite State Comicon special stays the same.

“A lot of people like our vibe. It’s not hyper stressful, it’s fun, we have that focus on the fans so people really dig that. We have a really good team and we want to continue to grow at a good pace without breaking who we are,” Proulx said.

Granite State Comicon
When: Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: DoubleTree, 700 Elm St., Manchester, and SNHU Arena, 555 Elm St., Manchester
Tickets: $20 to $125 (various packages)
More: Visit granitecon.com and doublemidnight.com. Email [email protected] or call 669-9636.

Featured image: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Telescopes and caterpillars

AerospaceFest 2024 brings all kinds of STEM

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

The Hippo recently spoke with Katie Marinoff-Silk, the Director of Development at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, about this year’s AerospaceFest, the center’s yearly family festival, which blasts off on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“AerospaceFest is our annual celebration of all things STEM,” Marinoff-Silk said. “So we bring various science and education organizations from around the state. We invite them to come set up booths at our museum, both inside and outside, just to share what they do with our community.”
Granite Staters will not need to spend a penny to get inside. “It’s the third Saturday in September every year. And admission is free. We do have a suggested donation of five to 10 dollars,” she said.
There is typically a good turnout. “Last year we had about 630 people come and that was during a hurricane. So we’re hoping that the weather will be nicer this year and that we’ll see even more people,” Marinoff-Silk said.
The New Hampshire Astronomical Society will be setting up telescopes, for those who want to look up at the sky. If you’d rather keep your gaze earth-bound, you can look at bugs: the Caterpillar Lab from Marlborough will be bringing some of their caterpillars.
“So we just have a bunch of different organizations doing all kinds of science coming,” Marinoff-Silk said. The Caterpillar Lab aims “to raise awareness about the animals you can find in your local ecosystem, particularly caterpillars, and how important they are to our local ecosystems,” she said.
An activity called Mad Science will introduce children to the principles of air and pressure as they watch a hovercraft in action, according to the event page.
A special guest yet to be announced will be in attendance as well. “That guest speaker will also present the winners of the Alex Higgins Memorial Space Camp Scholarship,” Marinoff-Silk said. The scholarship was founded in 2000 in Memory of Alex Higgins of Bedford. Since 2001 it has helped more than than 50 New Hampshire children and teens attend the U.S. Space Camp & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for a week of simulated astronaut or pilot training, according to the website.
The planetarium will also be in full use, with a premiere of a new planetarium show. For that, you need tickets, which are free and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Show times will be at 11 a.m., noon, 2 p.m., and 3 p.m. The show, We Are Guardians, looks at how the world, its people and its ecosystems are connected and how satellite monitoring helps us see the effects of human activities and climate change, according to Marinoff-Silk

AerospaceFest
When: Saturday, Sept. 21, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, 2 Institute Drive, Concord
Tickets: Free, suggested donation $5-$10
Info: starhop.com

Kiddie Pool 24/09/19

Family fun for whenever

Special events

• Manchester Proud and the Manchester School District will present CelebratED! On Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Veterans Memorial Park in Manchester to celebrate the new school year, according to a press release. This free event offers entertainment, food, presentations from schools, music performances from schools, an art gallery in the park, nearly 60 organizations with booths and activities, food (including Kona Ice for kids, pizza and foods including Caribbean, Nepalese, Mexican, African, Thai and Mediterranean), the Bookmobile and more, the release said.

• Unitarian Universalist Church of Manchester (669 Union St. in Manchester) will hold a Fall Equinox Celebration on Sunday, Sept. 22, with a service at 10 a.m. followed by a free family concert and activities on the lawn from 11:30 a.m. through 2 p.m., according to a press release. Amy Conley will play the guitar and banjo from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; there will be pumpkin painting and a chili luncheon from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (with a suggested donation of $5); there will be raffles and a free recital in the sanctuary from 3 to 4 p.m. featuring violin and piano performances by Elliott Markow, the release said.

On the pitch

• This weekend at Southern New Hampshire University, see the Penmen Men’s Soccer team take on Southern Connecticut State University on Saturday, Sept. 21, at 4 p.m. at Mark A. Ouellette Stadium (Victory Lane in Hooksett). The next home game for the Women’s Soccer team is next Saturday, Sept. 28, at 1 p.m. See snhupenmen.com.

• At Saint Anselm College, the Hawks Men’s Soccer teamwill take on Adelphi University on Saturday, Sept. 21, at noon at Melucci Field at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. The next Women’s Soccer home games will be Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 3 p.m. versus Saint Michael’s College and Saturday, Sept. 28, at noon versus Adelphi University. See saintanselmhawks.com.

• At Rivier College, the Raiders Women’s Soccer team will play their next home game on Saturday, Sept. 21, at noon against Simmons University at Joanne Merrill Field, 438 S. Main St. in Nashua. The Men’s Soccer home game this weekend is Saturday, Sept. 21, at 3 p.m. at Merrill Field, versus Thomas College. See rivierathletics.com.

Town celebrations

• Hollis Old Home Days take place Friday, Sept. 20, from 5 to 10 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Nichols Field and Lawrence Barn on Depot Road in Hollis. The schedule includes midway and rides both days, kids’ art activities and scavenger hunt (Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.), a pony pageant (Saturday starting at 11:30 a.m.), Granite State Disc Dogs (Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m.), dance and cheer performances, a DJ on Friday, live music on Saturday, a petting zoo, and fireworks on Saturday at 8 p.m., according to hollisoldhomedays.org.

• Derryfest will run Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at MacGregor Park in downtown Derry. The day will feature food, crafts, games, a line-up of vendors and a schedule of music and performances that runs throughout the day, according to derryfest.org, where you can find a map of the event.

• Hooksett Old Home Day is Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with fireworks scheduled after dusk. The day starts with a parade from Lamberts Park to Donati Park (behind Town Hall, 35 Main St., Hooksett) at 10 a.m. Check out the Heritage Trolley Tour from noon to 3 p.m. Free amusements including a rock wall and bungee jump, photo booth, module rainbow house, a dry slide and more will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A petting farm will run from noon to 4 p.m. A magic show with BJ Hickman is slated to start at 11:05 a.m. and 2 p.m. Music and performances will run throughout the afternoon and fireworks are slated for 7:30 p.m., all according to hooksettoldhomeday.org. The event will also feature eating competitions — watermelon at 12:15 p.m., pizza at 1:30 p.m. and pie at 3 p.m., the website said.

• And for something a little more low-key and eats-focused, the East Kingston Summer Market will be held Sunday, Sept. 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the East Kingston Public Library (47 Maplevale Road, East Kingston, 642-8333, eastkingstonlibrary.org). Find produce, crafts and live music, according to the library website.

Fun with wings

• Wheels & Wings 2024 will feature fire trucks, police vehicles, airplanes, helicopters, DPW vehicles, electric cars and other things that go ready for exploration on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Nashua Airport (93 Perimeter Road in Nashua), according to the Nashua Parks and Recreation Facebook page. This event is free.

• Portsmouth Fairy House Tours take place Saturday, Sept. 21, and Sunday, Sept. 22, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Portsmouth at the Strawbery Banke Museum, John Langdon House, Prescott Park and Gundalow waterfront, where you can find hundreds of fairy houses on display, according to fairyhousetour.com. Saturday will kick off with an opening day fairy parade at 9:30 a.m. Through the weekend, see “fairy-inspired performances” by the Southern New Hampshire Dance Theater, The Players’ Ring and the New Hampshire Theatre Project, the website said. The weekend will also feature a fairy book and photo display and a live creation of a fairy house sculpture for permanent display in downtown Portsmouth, the website said. Tickets cost $12 for adults in advance ($15 at the gate), $8 for 65+ ($10 at the gate), $5 for children ages 3 to 12 ($7 at the gate) and $30 for a family pack of four tickets ($35 at the gate). Children under 3 get in for free, the website said. See the website for information about joining the parade.

Celebrate pie

• The Great New Hampshire Pie Festival will take place at the New Hampshire Farm Museum (1305 White Mountain Highway, Milton, nhfarmmuseum.org) on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission costs $15 ($5 for kids 12 and under, and free for pie-bakers). Local bakeries will have pies for sampling while local pie makers will compete in a pie contest (kids 12 and under can enter a pie in their own category). The day will also feature a pie crust rolling demonstration, a raffle, a silent auction, tractor rides, visits with the animals, tours of historic buildings and live music from Lance Maclean and the Moose Mountain String Band, according to the website. Lunch will be available for purchase, the website said.

Pick for your own pie

Looking to pick apples for pie or other fall treats? Check out the story in last week’s paper, the issue of Sept. 12, which includes listings for some area pick-your-own orchards. The story starts on page 10; find the issue in our digital library at hippopress.com. Some locations with special offerings this weekend include:

• Applecrest Farm Orchards (133 Exeter Road, Hampton Falls, 926-3721, applecrest. com) Open seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The orchard also features a corn maze and weekend festivals, such as this weekend’s Autumn Equinox Festival, Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. featuring live music including Back Woods Road on Saturday and Unsung Heroes Band on Sunday. Fall festivals may also include a traditional corn roast, fresh press apple cider and lawn games, the website said.

• Appleview Orchard (1266 Upper City Road, Pittsfield, applevieworchard.com, 435- 3553) is open Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 7 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Find a playground, farm animals, picnic areas and more, the website said.

• Gould Hill Farm (656 Gould Hill Road, Contoocook, 746-3811, gouldhillfarm.com) Open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and this Saturday, Sept. 21, from 1 to 4 p.m. catch internationally touring folk rock singer-songwriter Justin Cohn, according to the website.

• Mack’s Apples/Moose Hill Orchard (230 Mammoth Road, Londonderry, 434- 7619, macksapples.com) has opened its pumpkin patch. Find more about the weekend’s happenings on their Facebook page, such as last weekend’s Bee Train ride for kids.

On stage

• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland will be presented by the Powerhouse Theatre Collaboration (powerhousenh.org) at Prescott Farm in Laconia Saturday, Sept. 21, and Sunday, Sept. 22, with performances beginning every 20 minutes from 1 to 4 p.m. Tickets cost $10. Book a time slot online.

• Camp Rock The Musical is presented by the Palace Youth Theatre, with performers in grades 2 to 12, on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester, palacetheatre.org). Tickets cost $12 to $15.

Save the date

• The Players’ Ring (105 Marcy St. in Portsmouth; playersring.org) will present Lindsey and Her Puppet Pals on Saturday, Sept. 28, at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. “Lindsay’s funny, fast-paced, and highly interactive variety show delights the young and the young at heart!” according to the website. “This program is a great fit for ages 3-8 and families.” Tickets cost $18 general admission, $15 for ages 12 and under.

Kiddie Pool 24/09/12

Family fun for whenever

Indoor and outdoor fun

• Auburn will hold its 31st annual Duck Race on Saturday, Sept. 14, at 2 p.m. as part of 2024 Auburn Day, which runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Auburn Village on Hooksett Road. Winning ducks get their ticket-holders prizes — from $1,000 for first prize through $25 for 6th through 10th place. The day will also feature an apple pie contest, a cookie baking contest for kids, a small petting zoo, music by Ray Zerkle, the Pinkerton Marching Band, a New Hampshire National Guard Black Hawk helicopter, food trucks, children’s games and more. See auburnhistorical.org.

• Friends of Benson Park’s third annual Family Fun Day will take place Saturday, Sept. 14, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Benson Park (19 Kimball Hill Road, Hudson, friendsofbensonpark.org). Cub Scouts Pack 21 and Girl Scouts Troop 12070 will be in attendance, as will Balloons by Michelle, UFO Party Rental and the Carriage Shack Farm Traveling Petting Zoo with their fuzzy animals. Participants will enjoy music from SNHUG, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and Let’s Play Music soloist Aryanna Cabrera throughout the day.

• The Granite State Fair at 72 Lafayette Road in Rochester will run Thursday, Sept. 12, through Sunday, Sept. 15, and Thursday, Sept. 19, through Sunday, Sept. 22. Find a ride list with height requirements at granitestatefair.com. One-day tickets cost $10 per person through Sept. 11, or $12 per person Sept. 12 and beyond (children 8 and under get in free).

• Pelham Old Home Day is Saturday, Sept. 14, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 3 Main St. in Pelham. The day will include music, fitness demonstrations, dance and martial arts demonstrations, food trucks (meat pies, poutine, hot dogs, fries, chicken fingers, ice cream, beverages and desserts), a pancake and sausage breakfast at the Church Fellowship Hall, crafts and goods vendors, a white elephant yard sale, a 5K road race, kids’ games, touch a truck, a cornhole tournament, a grand parade, a performance by the Windham Community Band, a penny sale raffle and more, according to pelhamoldhomeday.org.

Especially for the littles

• The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (6 Washington St., Dover, childrens-museum.org, 742-2002) will hold Toddlerfest, its annual celebration of the littlest museum-goers featuring special activities and events, Tuesday, Sept. 17, through Sunday, Sept. 29. A visit to the museum requires online reservations.

• Different Drummer Farm (55 South Road, Candia, differentdrummerfarm.com ) wants Granite Staters to pack up their picnic baskets and favorite teddy bear or other stuffed friend on Sunday, Sept. 15, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for their Teddy Bear Picnic. Children can enjoy petting and feeding the farm animals, creating teddy bear crafts, going on a bear hunt or wagon ride, a storytime put on by Ballet Misha, a family photo at the photo op spot, and an optional pony ride. A limited amount of picnic basket lunches are available in advance. There will be sweet treats, teddy bear gifts, souvenirs and additional food at the snack bar. Tickets are $50 for a family of three or more, or $20 per individual ticket. The rain date is Sunday, Sept. 22.

Especially for the pups

• The Humane Society for Greater Nashua will hold its Wags to Whiskers Festival Saturday, Sept. 16, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Anheuser-Busch Brewery (221 DW Highway, Merrimack, 595-1202, anheuser-busch.com/ breweries/merrimack-nh). It will be a day of fun, featuring vendors, food trucks, demos, games and raffles. There will be an adoption tent on site with puppies. Visit hsfn.org/wags-whiskersfestival. Tickets are $15 for adults 21 and up, $12 for ages 17 to 20. Ages 16 and younger attend free.

Fall gardening chores

Never make mulch volcanoes

By Henry Homeyer
[email protected]

Despite some hot sunny days, fall is fast approaching and it’s time to start thinking about cleaning up the garden and putting it to bed. No, I am not suggesting you cut back all your perennials or pull all your vegetable plants. But October, the time most gardeners put the garden to bed, may be cold and rainy. We even got 5 inches of wet snow one October. So get started!

Let’s look at the most neglected area: the vegetable garden. By October many gardeners are sick of weeding, so they pick their peppers, pull the carrots and quit. I recommend cleaning up each bed as soon as all the food has been harvested. So far I have pulled my garlic and dug my potatoes. Each time I took half an hour or so to weed the bed, cover it with old newspapers (four to six pages) and then covered that with 4 to 6 inches of straw. That way, next spring, weeds and grasses won’t take over beds while the soil is still too cold and wet for planting vegetables.

The leaves and stems of any vegetable that showed signs of blight should be treated with care: Instead of putting the diseased plants in the regular compost pile, put them in a separate pile, one that will not be used to produce compost. Spores are the “seeds” of disease and can survive most composting. Squash family plants often have fungal diseases, as do tomatoes and potatoes.

Your flower beds need weeding, too. If you don’t use an edging tool to create an impenetrable canyon around your flower beds, it is important to pull creeping grasses and vines like ‘Creeping Charlie’ that have probably been sneaking in all summer. Use a good weeding tool to go down deep when you weed. I like the CobraHead weeder best. (www.cobrahead.com). It is a curved single-tine cultivator that can get below weeds so you can pull from below as you tug on the tops. It can tease out long roots of things like goutweed.

Once Jack Frost visits, you can cut back any annuals to the ground. If you pull them, you leave a bare spot for wind-borne weed seeds to settle in and wait for spring. And on slopes, leaving loose soil exposed is likely to allow hard rains to wash away some of your good soil. You can pull the roots of those annuals when you plant more next summer.

I use three methods for minimizing weeding each year in my perennial beds. The best is to just fill every square foot of each bed with plants you love. Groundcovers like barren strawberry or foam flower will spread and fill in around the peonies and coneflowers – even if they are shaded by them. With time, most perennials create bigger clumps until weeds are shaded out and new airborne seeds don’t easily find a place to thrive.

The next alternative is to mulch those bare spots around existing plants with chopped autumn leaves. Chopped leaves break down more quickly than chopped branches or bark mulch. They provide organic matter to feed the soil organisms, enriching the soil. They also provide a soft landing and good places to hide for caterpillars that are ready to make their cocoons that become butterflies and moths. This fall think about running your lawnmower over the leaves on the lawn and either using a bagger, or raking them up. You can spread them this fall, or save in a pile to use in the spring.

Since I rarely have enough leaves, the third alternative for keeping down weeds is to buy finely ground bark mulch in bulk. For big gardens like ours it would be expensive to buy mulch in bags, but for around $50 a scoop of a front end loader, I can get a pickup truck load from my local sawmill or garden center.

I recommend buying a natural-colored bark mulch. The orange or black mulch has been dyed with chemicals, and I don’t want them in my garden. Hemlock and cedar are probably the longest-lasting bark mulches but hardwood mulch may be better for your plants and the soil. Never apply more than a couple of inches of bark mulch on your beds — otherwise moisture from short rains will not seep through to water your plants. And NEVER make “mulch volcanoes” around your trees — they will rot the bark and eventually kill the trees.

When your perennials look bedraggled it’s time to cut them back. But I leave flower stalks with seeds that birds can eat in winter. These include purple coneflower, black-eyed susans, Joe Pye weed, sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ and anything else that would feed the birds.

You can cut back your perennials with your hand pruners, but I find it slow and tedious. I prefer to use a harvest sickle or even a serrated steak knife. These allow me to grab a handful of stems and slice right through them all. You can use a string trimmer to work even faster, or even a lawn mower, I suppose.

By the way, if you haven’t cut the tops off your Brussels sprouts yet, do so today. This will keep the plants from getting taller, and they will instead produce big, fat “sprouts.” I did it much earlier than usual this year, and I am already getting nice big sprouts. Kale is very frost hardy, so I will leave mine alone, just harvesting what I need for smoothies or soups. It can last until Christmas in the garden.

So enjoy the warm and sunny days of September to get a jump-start on your fall cleanup. And read a good book by the woodstove on those cold, gray, drizzly days of October.

You can reach Henry at [email protected].

Featured image: Photo by Henry Homeyer.

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