Until Friday, the New Orleans Saints had been relatively quiet on the free agency-front. Other than signing safety Malcolm Jenkins to a 4 year, $32 million contract, the Saints had yet to make a huge splash. Then on Friday, it all erupted. News broke that New Orleans was resigning fan-favorite offensive guard Andrus Peat to a new, five-year deal. While the Saints fanbase was busy imploding over the Peat move, Mickey Loomis, Sean Payton and Khai Harley were hard at work plotting the next step.

Then out of nowhere, all fears were assuaged, and Super Bowl hopes skyrocketed when news broke late Friday night of wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders signing with New Orleans on a team-friendly deal that will span 2 years and guarantee $16 million. Now, lets take a look at what all of these moves could mean for the Saints heading into the 2020 season, and how it will reshape the look of the squad.

The signing of Peat is one that most Saints fans will be incredibly unhappy with. But the truth is, it was necessary. Arguably the best guard still available, he also understands the offense well, and contingency plans are in place in case he get injured. But seriously, take a look at Deuce Windhams piece on the new Peat deal because that sums it up better than I ever could. Bottom line, despite Peats high variance play, it keeps one of the better offensive lines intact that will be heavily tasked week in and week out with protecting an aging quarterback.

Jenkins is perhaps one of the most shrewd pickups of the free agency period. While Vonn Bell was excellent last year for New Orleans (when he was awarded a 64.6 grade from Pro Football Focus), Jenkins was slightly better at 68.6. Jenkins plays up in coverage much better than Bell, but does not have the same strengths playing the line. Furthermore, Bell turned down an offer from the Saints prior to Jenkins signing. New Orleans needed to ensure that the safety position was solidified before moving on to the next endeavor. Hence the reason why the Saints pivoted to a reunion with Jenkins. Now, none of this isnt to say a new deal with Bell isnt going to happen, but it is incredibly unlikely. After all, New Orleans still could use additional help at the position.

Jenkins will provide a much needed veteran presence on the secondary squad who is still relatively young. While cornerback Marshon Lattimore is entering his fifth-year, and fellow cornerback Janoris Jenkins will see his return, their is still plenty of green on the squad. Players such as safeties C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and Marcus Williams will do well to have Jenkins as a leader and mentor.

Finally, the move everyone has been waiting for since 2018, the signing of a legitimate wide receiver opposite of Michael Thomas. Late Friday night, New Orleans made a surprise move by signing Sanders on a two-year deal. Time and time again the Saints have stated that spending big on free agent wide receivers was not only unwise, but a direction they were reluctant to go. But, when Sanders is willing to sign on a team-friendly deal, and will help reshape the look of the offense, you pull the trigger.

Sanders had an excellent 2019 campaign. Due to a scheduling quirk, the 33-year old played in 17 games, but truly exploded when the Denver Broncos traded him to the San Francisco 49ers. In 10 games with the 49ers, Sanders was able to rack up 502 yards receiving and three touchdowns. If he continued to average 50.2 yards per game, that would have ranked him third on the Saints for any player in 2019.

Quarterback Drew Brees now has two sure-handed wide receivers on his offense, which will force defenses out of double coverage on Thomas, and running back Alvin Kamara. Couple that with the breakouts of tight end Jared Cook, and Swiss-Army Knife Taysom Hill and the New Orleans offense just became one of, if not the most potent in the league.

There is still some time to go until the 2020 season, and the Saints still have needs at cornerback, and linebacker. However, it is plausible, possibly even likely that the team will take a wide receiver in the first round of the draft due to the incredible depth. Anything more than what New Orleans has already done will just be considered lagniappe.

Read more from the original source:
An active Saints free agency is helping reshape the Super Bowl landscape - Canal Street Chronicles

When Mike and Kari Zazzara began looking for a home where their family could spread out in Marin County, Calif., they thought what they wanted was a teardown.

Experienced renovators, they had already demolished and rebuilt one home in San Francisco and were looking forward to doing the same thing in a new place, so they could create exactly what they wanted.

That was before they stumbled on a listing for a house they hadnt expected: a low-slung modern home in Kentfield, designed in 1946 by the architect Henry Hill, of Mendelsohn, Dinwiddie and Hill.

We saw this house, and it really resonated with us, said Mr. Zazzara, 49, a banker who works in construction financing.

I just fell in love with the lines, the views and the location, said Ms. Zazzara, 47, adding that the home had been featured in House & Garden magazine in 1948. It was a diamond in the rough.

Although it had dated finishes, and the single-pane windows, antiquated building systems and minimal insulation were all of concern, the bones of the house were great, Mr. Zazzara said. The midcentury vibe was strong.

So they shifted their focus to planning a restoration and, after finding out there were multiple offers on the property, bid far above the listing price of about $2.5 million, to secure it for $2.9 million, in July 2013.

They moved in immediately, sold their home in San Francisco and enrolled their twins, Austin and Olivia, now 9, at a local school. Then they called Fischer Architecture, in Berkeley, to begin planning the updates and changes.

You could immediately see the beauty of the place, and that it was a prime example of postwar Bay Area style, said Andrew Fischer, who runs the firm with his wife, Kerstin Fischer. These architects were excited about this freedom and new sense of architecture, and what it could bring to how we live.

Their dreams, however, kind of outpaced the technology, he added, noting that the house was nearly impossible to keep warm in the winter and that its cantilevered sections were sagging. Some parts of the floor plans also didnt reflect the way most people want to live today.

The master suite, for example, was split in two and connected by a Jack-and-Jill bathroom, so the man would sleep in one room, and the woman would sleep in the other, Mr. Zazzara said.Also, the kitchen was closed off from the rest of the house, and the entry hall was awkward and cramped.

There are often programmatic problems when we go in to work on these older houses, Ms. Fischer said. There is a formality and separation of spaces that doesnt really apply anymore.

The big question, she said, was how to maintain the resource of this prime specimen of a house, but insert the functionality and comforts of 21st-century living.

By the spring of 2015, they had a plan. They would replace an existing cabana in the yard with a pool house that had its own kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living space; upgrade the materials, finishes and systems of the main house, while reconfiguring parts of the floor plan; and build an addition to accommodate a new master suite.

To dramatically overhaul the one-acre lot, the Zazzaras engaged David John Bigham, a landscape architect, asking him to use leftover pieces of the overgrown landscape to create walking trails, gardens and a vegetable patch. When they discovered that the original kidney-shaped pool was failing, they realized it would have to be replaced, as well.

The family was intent on living in the house during construction, so their contractor, Olson Bros., completed the work in three phases.

First, the construction crew built the pool house, which took about nine months and is intended to serve a wide variety of functions. At various times, the structure has been used as a changing room, a guest suite, a home office and a playroom.

We call it the Lego Lounge, at the moment, Mr. Zazzara said.

It served as the familys temporary accommodations, however, while workers renovated the main house, where they opened up the kitchen to the dining room with large sliding doors and expanded the entrance hall. They straightened out sagging cantilevers, replaced the glass with insulated windows and ripped up floors to replace the inefficient radiant heating system.

To preserve the original rough-sawn western red cedar wall paneling and ceilings, they tore off the roof and installed new wiring, sprinklers and insulation from above, before finishing with a new roof and solar panels for electricity and hot water.

Where the house was once a leaky energy hog, Mr. Zazzara said, now were actually putting electricity back into the grid.

Finally, after completing the restoration work on the existing structure, they added the wing that would hold the master suite.

By the time they were finished, it was the summer of 2018 and they had spent about $3.6 million roughly triple what they had anticipated at the outset.

As with any renovation project, there were many surprises along the way.

But part of it was a function of the fact that we made a conscious decision not to cut any corners, Mr. Zazzara said. We realized this is a place we could be in forever.

For weekly email updates on residential real estate news, sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @nytrealestate.

Read more here:
Instead of Tearing It Down, They Rescued It - The New York Times

THE following planning applications have been decided by Wiltshire Council and the Planing Inspectorate recently.

TROWBRIDGE: Michael Jackson, of Summerleaze, has had his appeal against the refusal of his plans to put up a 1.8m wooden fence dismissed. The fence, which was already installed, was found by the inspector to differ from the application put to the council. The inspector wrote: I do not consider that this fence offers a desirable precedent, and, in any event, it differs from the proposal before me as it screens a garden area to the side of the house as opposed to a front garden as in the case before me. Mr Jackson, in his appeal, pointed to nearby flats where some hedges are unkempt. The inspector said that this did not offset the harm the fence would bring to the character of the area.

MINETY: The council has refused to grant permission for plans by Ms Meeres of Allspheres Farm, to add an additional floor to the farm dwelling. The refusal said that the scale of the development was not justified based on the essential needs of the farm.

CHIPPENHAM: Mr Murphy of Pantheon West Ltd, has been granted approval with conditions to build five houses on the land between 19 Gladstone Road and 30 Westmead Lane in Chippenham. The conditions state that no development can begin above ground floor slab level until a scheme of hard and soft landscaping has been submitted. Additionally, a Tree Protection Plan must be approved before any works takes place.

CHIPPENHAM: Approval with conditions has been granted to Mr Hart of Challows Lane to install solar panels and an air source pump. The conditions are that no installation will start until a Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) accredited installer has demonstrated the Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) installation will meet the requirements of the MCS Planning Standard.

BRATTON: A plan to build a new house and to remove an existing mobile home and concrete base and a permanent dwelling was refused by Wiltshire Council. Mr Eddington, of Lower Road, had his application turned down on the basis that the project would be an inappropriate, unsustainable form of development.

CHAPMANSLADE: A change of use for the land on the south-west side of Black Dog Hill for use by gypsies was refused by the council. The proposal, which would have created two gypsy pitches including mobile homes, touring caravans and dayrooms, was refused due to the increased use of access to the A36 and its impact on highway safety. The officers also said the site is a Special Landscape Area, and were worried about the location not meeting the needs of potential future occupants.

MALMESBURY: Dr Armstrong of Cross Hayes Lane has had an application to replace her wooden conservatory approved on condition the work follows the plans submitted.

MALMESBURY: Mr Cole of Burton Hill, has had his application to remove the internal wall of his home which divides the kitchen and dining area approved with condition it is carried out according to the plans.

GARSDON: Mr Treadaway of Heath Farm, has had his application for extensions and alterations to the outbuildings on the farm approved, on condition that they are not occupied at any time other than as ancillary to the main dwelling.

CALNE: Mr Berry, of Chippenham, has had his application for partial conversion of the White Hart Hotel to provide eight homes, retaining and refurbishing the pub, approved on condition are that no works shall begin until full details on the refurbishment have been submitted, as well as details on the extent of the repointing to be carried out on the brick and stonework.

MARLBOROUGH: Approval with conditions has been granted to Mrs Lemon of Grafton Road, for the conversion of an existing stable barn and garage block into holiday let accommodation. The conditions are that the development is carried out in line with the approved plans, no one should occupy the premise for more than 28 days, that an up-to-date register of anyone who stays is kept and that the removal and disposal of the asbestos cement roof is done by a licensed contractor.

MELKSHAM: Allim Chowdhury of Blackmore Road was given approval with conditions for a single-storey rear extension on 58 Barnwell Road, Melksham. The planning officer said that all development must be carried out in accordance with the approved plans.

Original post:
PLANNING: Here's what's happening where you live - The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald

THE Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority is calling on farmers to make their voice heard on the future of farming.

I was at Leyburn auction mart the other day and was told about a farmer in the national park who was giving up his beasts.

He had decided against toiling on, not because of the low rewards but because of public antipathy.

Very necessary declarations of climate and nature emergency do appear to have engendered very unnecessary anti-farming and anti-meat sentiment.

Nowadays there are often tears of despair around farmers breakfast tables, wrote a farmer to a national newspaper last week.

There can be no denying that changes in agricultural practices over the past 50 years have had negative impacts on the environment and wildlife here in the national park as elsewhere.

The gripping of the moors, the almost wholesale switch from hay to silage, and the reliance on bought-in feedstuffs rather than grass to fatten animals are some examples.

There is mounting evidence that current stocking levels in the uplands are unprofitable, as well as unsustainable in the longer term.

But it should be declared loud and clear that having grazing livestock in the Dales is absolutely essential for the landscape, for nature, for the fertility of the soil and for food on our plates.

From the National Park Authoritys perspective, farming also has a key part to play in tackling the challenges presented by a changing climate.

What we really need now is for farmers to make their voices heard above the din.

A little reported but very important consultation was launched by Defra at the end of February.

The department released a policy and progress update on the Agriculture Bill as well as a policy discussion document containing initial thinking for the proposed Environment Land Management scheme (ELM).

It was the detail that many people had been waiting for these past couple of years.

Policy makers in London are often accused of being out of touch.

But I genuinely think they have listened carefully. You might say I would say that.

But take the time to read the documents (easier said than done during lambing) and you cant miss the desire to reach out.

We want to co-design the ELM scheme with those people who know best, says Defra. And, further, We are keen to avoid the mistakes of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and learn from those people who know best.

Note the repetition of people who know best, by which is meant farmers and land managers.

They might as well have written stick your oar in now, please!

There is an opportunity to be seized here.

The National Park needs an English agriculture policy that supports sustainable farming in the uplands.

It also needs an ELMs which invests big in helping farmers to farm in a way that produces landscape-scale environmental enhancements.

Over the next few weeks, groups that the National Park Authority is involved in including the Northern Hill Farming Panel and the Dales Farming and Land Management Forum will be submitting their responses to the consultation.

As the analogy goes, the policy is in the mixer and its time for farmers and land managers to shovel in their thoughts before the pour and set.

Anyone wishing to read Defras Farming For The Future report which was published in February can see it by going to the website at: https://bit.ly/38YATFb

It cover such topics as food production, plant and tree health , rural resilience and moving away from farm subsidies.

Read the rest here:
Make your voice heard on the future of farming - Craven Herald

The innate need for a beautiful looking lawn should be self-evident. After all, having a nice, well-kept yard is always of the utmost importance for any savvy home-owner. Here at M3 Miami, we aim to give your yard a well-needed boost with our fabulous, ingenious turf lawn services. We will work on any lawn, regardless of the size and shape, truly making M3 the turf one-stop-shop! Trust me, when looking for the best in the business with regards to turf lawn care and related services, M3 Turf and Grass easily shines above the rest.

When dry spells hit your beloved lawn, your grass will naturally turn brown and unpleasant especially in dry regions of the country. With turf grass, your lawn will be looking nice and healthy throughout the entire year, thus allowing you to get some much needed rest and worry-free living. You can also forget about harmful pesticides and weed killing products, thus helping you do your valued part in protecting our beloved planet!

M3 has become the obvious leading supplier with regards to turf grass and related services and for good reason. With us, you get the best Miami has to offer! Our products are extremely top of the line, consequently allowing you to sleep-easy knowing your cherished lawn is going to be absolutely taken care of!

Here at M3, we have the perfect mix of awesome prices and high-quality products and services. With us, you truly save money while protecting and investing in your loved home. Our prices blow our competitors out the water, while still keeping up with the standards that made M3 great to begin with. With us, we would not feel right giving our great customers anything less than the best. Trust me, we have the best that Miami has to offer, rest assured!

At M3, we always work to help our customers leave happy. For these reasons, we sped ample time and energy devoted to our beloved customers and will work with you and your family, 100% of the time. We also always encourage hands on customer satisfaction when considering out customers, and we will work tirelessly to achieve this!

We are conveniently located at:

To speak to one of our great, friendly staff members, you can always give us a call at:

M3 has worked extremely hard for its notoriety and incredible reputation with regards to turf grass installation and related work. Here, we truly are the best people to speak with when considering giving you cherished yard a boost in quality. We will work tirelessly to earn and keep your business, and we sincerely hope you consider us for any and all future lawn needs!

View post:
Artificial Grass & Turf New Jersey | Artificial Grass ...

New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association represents the entire Green Industry in New Jersey including landscape contractors, landscape architects, sod growers, nurseries, growers, garden centers, horticulturists, floricultureand the industries that supply them.

Immediate NJLCA events are postponed until further notice. The safety of our industry is our top priority. Updates will be available here or you can reach us at 201-703-3600.

For more information on Coronavirus (COVID-19) from our partners at Association Master Trust, click here.

As COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, continues to spread rapidly around the world and throughout the United States, concern for member health and safety are foremost in our minds.... keep reading

Design Processes, Recruiting Employees, Snow and Ice Lawsuits, Plant and Project Warranties and more... keep reading

In this episode, Phil Harwood of GrowtheBench.com discusses the best ways to overcome the labor shortage.... keep reading

In this episode, Ramblin' Jackson Jostes discusses digital marketing tactics for getting qualified leads.... keep reading

The 2019 NJLCA/IANJ Golf Challenge was a great success!... keep reading

In this episode, Michael Reed of Synatek discusses reduced risk and low impact pesticides, including alternatives to the controversial RoundUp.... keep reading

View post:
njlca.org

DeForest residents will now need a sticker for entry into the villages yard waste collection site, located at 610 N. Stevenson Street. The village board approved the decision at its March 17 meeting.

Its a decision that will better regulate the site to village residents only.

The sticker, which will need to be renewed every three years, can be placed in the corner of the vehicles windshield. Stickers are available for single-family residences, duplexes and up to a four-plex. Theres a maximum of two stickers per single household.

Residents can apply for stickers at Village Hall or on its website, then a sticker can be mailed to the household or available for pickup at Village Hall. With the current health concerns, the village is advising residents to conduct business via the website, if available to do so.

With the boards approval, it will now be illegal to use the yard waste site without a sticker. However, Public Works Project Coordinator Greg Hall noted in a memo that as the year gets started, the village will be lenient in the first few months as residents learn that a sticker will be needed for the site. Hall said that the village will also notify its residents on social media and through email.

Hall said that the sticker will reduce the costs associated with non-resident dumping and alleviate the pressure of enforcing it. Any person violating the restriction in the future will be subject to forfeiture and not be allowed to use the waste site.

The yard waste site will open April 1, as the village does not have current health concerns about doing so. It was noted that people dont usually come in large groups and dont generally touch a lot of village equipment.

The operating hours are 5-7 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, with additional 8-10 a.m. hours on Tuesday. The site is also open Saturdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and is closed Fridays and Sundays. The schedule is subject to change.

Accepted items are brush, branches, sticks, twigs, grass clippings, sod, dirt, leaves, garden waste, flowers, pine cones and pine needles. Residents are asked to separate grass clippings and leaves from other brush for placement at the site. No garbage is allowed. Firewood, by paid permit, and wood chips are available to residents.

Also at the meeting, the board passed a resolution to vacate and discontinue a portion of Bear Tree Parkway, Williamsburg Way and a portion of Pederson Crossig Boulevard. It was part of the Hooper development project and the resolution vacates those roads so new roads can be platted in replacement. A public hearing is scheduled during the May 5 board meeting.

Board approves to road repairs, grant process for Yankee Conservancy Basin

At the March 17 meeting, the village board approved the bid from Scott Construction, Inc. a company based in the Wisconsin Dells area to seal chips and fill cracks on several of the roads. The total bid was for $165,653.50. Chip sealing would cost $105,066.50 and the crack filing would cost ($60,587).

It is part of the regular street maintenance to prevent water intrusion and prolong the life of the asphalt. A road can typically be chip-sealed two times during the asphalts life span.

The areas identified for chip sealing include Yorktown Road (from Vinburn to Rumley); Shooting Star; Rumley Run; Star Gazer (from Rumley to the transition); Apple Blossom; Linde Street; Valeria Drive; Sunset Drive; Campbells Street; Clover Lane; Constitution Lane (Yorktown Road to transition); Eaglewatch Drive; Eagle Nest Lane; and Overlook Terrace.

The areas identified for crack filling include: Yorktown Road (Vinburn to Rumley); Valeria Drive; Campbell Hill Court; Regal Court; Natchez Court; Schuykill Court; Cumberland Court; Lincoln Green Court; Lincoln Green Road; Little Potato Way; North Towne Road; Liberty Drive; Shooting Star; Apple Blossom; Rumley Run; Star Gazer; Williamsburg Way; and Linde Street with large cracks on clover Lane; Overlook Terrace; Eaglewatch Drive and trails Southbound Drive to Mack Lane, the south side of Innovation Drive and a few spots on Upper Yahara River Trail.

The board also approved the submission of a state grant regarding the Municipal Flood Control Grant Project for the Yankee Conservancy detention basin.

The proposed project would cost an estimated $1.5 million with Dane County willing to commit $500,000 to the project with $500,000 matching funds through the Urban Water Quality grant program. Additional funding may be available through Yahara WINS. The village board indicated it would fund up to $250,000 with an additional $220,000 needing to be secured.

Director of Public Services Kelli Bialkowski said, We need to find $220,000 or modify the project. She went on to say that just submitting for the grant is not committing (the village) to (the project).

Here is the original post:
Sticker needed for use of yard waste collection site - HNGnews.com

How many times in your life have you said, "If only I had time for ... " Perhaps you regret many things you couldnt do the carpentry project or the book you intended to write or the gardening because of your job and duties and social commitments?

I have often said aloud: "If I could just stop time ... " Well, some of you may be feeling time has practically stopped, and this is the year you do have time for gardening.

These suggestions are especially for people who havent done much gardening or yard work before new homeowners or renters who are just learning to take care of a yard.

Its also for people who might have hired others to do the work during a busy time of life, but things have changed now its DIY time.

Some folks may be pinch-hitting, indoors and out, for someone in health care or doing other essential services. Whoever you are, there are some things everybody with a yard ought to know:

First two hints for your and the yards health:

Do not walk on wet lawn or soil. Your feet or equipment harm turf grass and other plant roots, and make the soil compacted so plants cannot thrive. When the soil is crumbly in your hand and you cant make a mud cake, then its time to get out of there.

Do prepare for a workout. This is no time for weekend warriors to be seeking physical therapy. Warm up your muscles before you do garden work. Stretch. Its easy to underestimate what gardening is really like: It looks so pretty.

Actually yard and garden work can be more strenuous than a gym workout, even if you could join your favorite exercise class.

What the yard wants

1. Pick up sticks: Pile them somewhere on your property. Even if you are not allowed to build a compost pile using food waste, you can make a pile of branches, twigs, leaves and cut grass. Eventually the pile of organic matter will decompose and form a fine soil amendment.

2. Do the weeding: Stroll your property and try to identify the weeds. Show pictures to other gardeners online, or do research to figure out whats a weed or a perennial ground cover or desirable plant. In case of an unknown plant, a good trick is to put it in a pot to grow until it reveals itself.

Once you are clear which are weeds, dig or pull them up. If they have deep roots (dandelions) dig straight down and dont leave pieces behind or they will regrow. No chemicals needed. Its another workout.

3. Fix weak lawn patches: If you see a thinning or bald patch of lawn, the DIY method would be to scratch up the area with a rake, add some good compost or garden soil (up to one-half-inch thick), and spread some grass seed that is suitable for the site. Dont hesitate to call a lawn care professional with questions about seeding, sod or soil.

Also consider: If your lawn is more than you need, or there are areas where its never pleasing, replace it with native flowering plants or ground covers that will delight many birds and beneficial insects.

4. Do corrective pruning: Pruning is one of the earliest spring tasks if you do it correctly.

If you are new to this, do not attack a poor shrub with your hedge clippers or electric saw to make it shorter. Shearing or topping most plants (haircut style) is simply bad pruning.

Instead, first look at your landscape shrubs and small trees for broken or dead branches. Remove them using hand pruners, loppers or a small pruning saw. Always make the cuts just above (outside) another branch or a node where a new branch can grow. Choose a branch or node that points outward, where you would like a branch to be.

If you see an odd, disproportionate shoot or branch, also cut if off. But dont get carried away with pruning. Get a good book or online instructions from International Society of Arboriculture, Davey Tree, or other arboriculture sources. For large trees, contact an arborist.

What flower beds want

In addition to picking up sticks and weeding (once the soil has dried), early spring is the time for first steps:

1. Cut back dead perennial debris: It is better to stay out of a perennial garden or a mixed border if you dont know whats in there, as you can damage the crowns of many plants that show up much later in spring.

But if you see stems and leaves from last season, cut or rake them out. Be gentle around emerging plants. Hellebores the first perennials to flower are probably blooming already, so do cut away any of the old, raggedy leaves from last season.

2. Dont uncover most perennials: Generally it is too soon to remove the mulch thats protecting most plants. Leave them covered, since wide temperature fluctuations can be expected. Plants prefer to wake up gradually.

3. Help the flowering bulbs: If you see patches of crocuses or daffodils trying to poke through the mulch or ground covers, pull back whatever is smothering them. They can handle the cold and deserve to have their moments in the sun, literally.

If you have tulips, consider protecting them with chicken wire or netting, if deer or rabbits are likely to visit. Repellent sprays may work, too.

Time to do these things is a gift, even if it may be for reasons we would not have chosen. For those who are new to landscape and garden care, this could be your time to take charge of your own place. Enjoy the process.

Sally Cunningham is a garden writer, lecturer and consultant. She and Jim Charlier are the authors of Buffalo-Style Gardens: Create a Quirky, One-of-a-Kind Private Garden with Eye-Catching Designs (St. Lynns Press, $24.95).

Take a look at another recent column fromSally Cunningham:

Relieve stress in your garden, as pressures from pandemic increase

See the original post:
The gift of time in the garden, given the pandemic - Buffalo News

Even an introvert like moi was getting stir-crazy at home, where my husband, Lee, and I are taking the coronavirus pandemic seriously. People who can choose to follow the CDCs preventative guidelines and dont are invasive weeds in our national garden.

My Church of Dirt and Flowers has always been a place of peace for me. So when the temperature recently reached 40 degrees, I realized I could stay healthy and safe working outside in a patch of dirt Id nearly forgotten. Time to carpe the diem. Carrying a spade, weed bucket and hand trowel, I marched out to face the Garden of Dread, a curbside swath on the east side of our backyard past the gate, with a flowering quince at one end and a bed of wild roses at the other. In the unkempt area between them, tall knots of quackgrass were trying to smother the struggling hollyhocks and irises.

I love taking care of the flower garden in our front yard, and I watch for shagginess in the narrow beds of sweet peas, honeysuckle, hollyhocks and roses that grow along our fence lines. But its easy to ignore the Garden of Dread lurking behind a small thicket of lilac trees. Those lilacs became our toddler granddaughters secret hideout during the year that Lee and I took care of her.

Sammy found magic among the lilacs low-growing limbs. Many mornings I stood guard while she scrambled over the branches and explored their cozy shelters. Our fairy child, I thought, with her red-gold hair and polka-dot boots. We turned a tangle of leafy branches into the hideouts front door, which Sammy and I decorated, using imaginary paint and twigs as our brushes. She frowned when I suggested red for the door, with happy yellow trim. Everything pink, she said in a voice as stern as a 2-year-old charmers can be.

We needed the Garden of Dread then, because its quackgrass and roses formed a scratchy, thorny boundary between Sammys hideout and the street. From her first trip to the lilac grove, her grandpa and I taught her never to go farther than the edge of the tall grass. Our weekdays with Sammy ended when she started preschool, but we left the garden untouched for another year. It became even more dreadful as the roots of the quackgrass grew deeper and more defiant. Soon it had become a jungle for Benjamin BadKitten, the tiger king of B Street, useful as camouflage when BBK flattened himself into a rotund pancake to spy on sinister-looking cats or dogs.

Last week I made a good start on taking down Bens espionage headquarters, digging down to those long root ends with as much torque as my brittle knees permitted. After every few shovelfuls, I knelt, used the trowel to bang off loose sod and then carefully threaded out the roots by hand. After four hours, during which every muscle below my waist moaned in protest, I had cleared a fine patch. Ill have another go at the rest of the roots soon, to help me remember that the Garden of Dread is only a season in natures cycle of renewal and hope.

Sydney Craft Rozen recently discovered that, of more than 7,500 tomato varieties in the world, five out of the nine plant varieties she wanted to grow were already sold out. This is why she never buys lottery tickets. Email her at scraftroze@aol.com

See the original post here:
Feeling healthy and safe outside in the Garden of Dread - Moscow-Pullman Daily News

What if I were to tell you that the ancient royal capital of Connacht still exists today, with many of its ceremonial and ritualistic buildings still visible?

Rathcroghan in Co Roscommon is one of the most important prehistoric and early medieval landscapes in all of Ireland, according to Daniel Curley, manager of the visitors centre in the local village of Tulsk. Most archaeologists would agree that the 240 ancient monuments in the area make up an archaeological landscape on a par with Newgrange or Tara.

Yet Rathcroghan is barely known to most of us. Why?

While ground-breaking research and excavation were being conducted on the great sites of Co Meath from the 1960s onwards, Rathcroghan was largely forgotten until relatively recently, Curley explains. Anything west of the Shannon tends to get ignored, particularly in Roscommon and east Galway.

The story of how the local community has begun to lure visitors to this neglected region of linear earthworks, burial mounds, ringforts, field boundaries, temple sites, and even a ritual gate to the otherworld is remarkable.

This land was, and still is, some of the most fertile territory west of the Shannon, says Curley, and so over five millennia was able to attract and sustain populations better than anywhere else in Connacht. Locals knew the monuments in their fields were potentially the same ones described in the great tales of the Ulster Cycle about Queen Maeve, who had her royal seat at Rathcroghan, and of the great cattle-raid of Cooley, which began here.

The traditional farming methods practised here meant the remains have been remarkably well preserved, so you can actually see in the landscape scenes described in these Iron Age tales, says Curley.

In 1999 the local community built a visitor centre to share the rich lore of their area, but it was a forlorn-looking place akin to a GAA changing room, offering little reason for people travelling along the N5 to stop. This was how things remained until about five years ago, when people started taking notice of Rathcroghan and murmurings began to spread about a new lost citadel at the sacred centre of Connacht.

We received some funding to renovate the information displays at the centre, says Curley. This chance to retell the story in our own words, based on our own research and our interpretation of the latest scientific investigations was like a jolt of adrenalin.

The tiny team of locals became newly enraptured by the wonder of the place, spurred on to find more funding to renovate the exterior of the building, and the cafe and shop. Each improvement led to more tourists coming through the doors, says Curley, and the impact was dramatic: between 2015 and 2019 visitor numbers rose from 9,000 to 22,000.

For a tourist site in an unprepossessing patch of mid-Roscommon to experience such growth without any significant support from Filte Ireland or the OPW, or any outside agency, was verging on miraculous. Most of it was due to word of mouth, and a continuous stream of ecstatic reviews on sites like TripAdvisor, where visitors who just happened to wander into the centre and sign up for a tour would write glowing accounts of discovering a lost archaeological world, brought vibrantly to life by the passion and intensity of Curley and his tour guiding colleagues, Elaine Conroy and Mike McCarthy.

Rathcroghan is an extraordinary site, once a skilful guide has pointed out the scores of ancient remains that lie all around, mostly now covered in a layer of earth and sod. Geophysical investigations of the most prominent earthwork, Rathcroghan Mound (known locally as Queen Maeves fort), reveal broad parade ramps and enclosures where ceremonial processions of dignitaries, high priests and perhaps even sacred animals may have been led in great public rituals of kingship or burial or nature worship.

Southwest of it is what was once known as a hell-mouth, or an entrance to the otherworld, called Oweynagat Cave. Its a small hole in a field at the bottom of a grassy lane that youd never notice unless it was pointed out. It looks like a foxs den until you crawl inside and see the carved ogham stone hidden above you. A long tunnel leads into an enormous limestone fissure beneath the earth. References in lore suggest it may have been a chamber of transformation, or a place of connection to the divine.

With Rathcroghan set to become an increasingly popular tourist site, the community has turned their attention to making the region more sustainable for themselves. Until now the archaeology had largely been a burden.

The old remains have been a massive negative for farmers here, explains Curley. It stops them from cutting silage, from ploughing and from modernising their farms. Its actually removing them from the landscape because for decades they havent been able to get planning permission. The local primary school closed down because there were no young people left.

While interest in taking up farming is low enough in Ireland, here it has become chronic as young farmers see no chance of modernising due to the archaeological constraints. The only option seemed to be to sell the land off to some agricultural conglomerate who would have no connection with the areas ancient lore. The team behind the visitor centre realised something had to be done, and managed to secure the first grant given by the European Innovation Partnership to an archaeological rather than a natural landscape. They now have 1 million to be spent over five years to help farmers shift to a more suitable and sustainable type of farming.

Farmers will spearhead the process, taking minor steps like fencing off a ringfort that is being eroded by cattle, or more elaborate transformations, such as replacing modern breeds of heavy European cattle with the smaller native breeds referred to in ancient historical and mythological tales of cattle raids in the area. A next step could be to replace the monocrop of modern Italian rye grass with a native meadow of biodiverse grasses and herbs, as was here for eons.

One farmer has sought funding to re-establish a virtually extinct species of Roscommon sheep famous in the area for centuries, while another wants to establish a traditional fruit orchard, says Curley. Others are investigating the potential of native woodland.

Rathcroghan could become not just a major archaeological tourism site, but also a unique food-producing region cultivating meat, vegetables, cheese, nuts and fruit in similar ways to our ancient ancestors. Ambitiously, it could even become the first area in Ireland with its own EU-recognised designation as a re-established Iron Age farming landscape, producing unique products in a biodiverse ecological sanctuary.

It will take time for farmers to abandon slurry tanks and chemical sprays, and shift to the mindset and practises of their forbearers who tended this land for millennia, but the fact that the current farming model cannot work for their children encourages at least some of them to take the leap.

Its about thinking outside the box, says Curley, getting people to imagine a different future. In truth, we can only offer relatively small financial assistance to farmers over the five years, but we can provide training too, in skills like working with traditional animal breeds, stone wall construction, etc. Im certainly not promising its going to be easy, but the opportunities to create something truly world class here in Roscommon is palpable. It just requires us working together.

Weve got this far as a community, whos going to stop us now? r

athcroghan.ie

Originally posted here:
It's one of Ireland's most important prehistoric sites, but you may not have heard of it - The Irish Times