The fungus-like organism that wreaked havoc with tomatoes and potatoes in 2009 is back again this summer in Vermont.

What is a CSA? Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a term used to describe buying a share of the produce of a farm for one season. CSAs are here to stay. A farmer needs up-front cash at the start of the season to buy seeds, fertilizer, and machinery.

It's summer finally! Most of us are in the mood to kick back, put our feet up, and relax, welcoming summer's slower pace. Reading about lowering your carbon footprint is not likely to be at the top of your list during the summer months.

Some years ago, when the kids were young and my husband was out of town on business, I discovered a couple of bats flitting around the house.

Ecological experts have proposed countless ways to improve the environment, but something as simple as changing the way you dispose of your trash could have a significant impact on the future of our planet.

As the growing season is finally upon us and the garden is planted, I ponder the cost of not gardening. It is almost unimaginable. I could not bear to let the garden spot lie fallow for even one season. Should any garden be absent of a full vegetable crop, Vern Grubbinger of University of Vermont Extension Service recommends planting a cover crop. Cover crops keep soil intact, hold off weeds, and feed the soil as a green manure.

Zucchinis, vine ripe tomatoes, fragrant basil, thyme, and brilliant yellow sunflowers. If the rain ever stops, we can look forward to one of the many joys of summer: fresh local produce, cheese, breads, and colorful flowers. Our state was developed as an agricultural economy, and we seem to be returning to our roots (pun intended) as opportunities to grow, purchase, and eat local foods become more plentiful. Whether you visit the local Shelburne farmers market, join a CSA, toil in your backyard or in a community garden, or purchase local products from your town market, we are all eager to enjoy fresh local foods.

For the third year in a row, the Shelburne Community School Food Education Every Day (SCS FEED) committee is organizing a "grow-a-row" initiative to help provide fresh vegetables to hungry families in our community.

One hundred years ago Lila Webb created the Italianate gardens that are a focal point of a visit to the Inn at Shelburne Farms.

Marcella Chiarello, a key organizer of the Shelburne Green Home Tour explains the map of seven homes open for touring on Saturday. She estimated that 50 to 60 people attended the event. Over 10 vendors set up in the Town Gym as part of the day's activities. The events were organized by the Shelburne Energy Committee.

Celebrate spring and a new season at Shelburne Museum's Lilac and Gardening Sunday on May 15. The day is full of fun things for the whole family, including walking tours, lilac planting, and bird watching.

For more than 25 years, Shelburne Farms has hosted tours of The Inn at Shelburne Farms on Mother's Day. It's been a tradition for many families to explore the historic mansion, its beautifully restored public rooms, and authentically decorated guest rooms as part of their Mother's Day celebration.

Flood insurance options will be discussed at three meetings in Chittenden County during the month of May. These meetings are particularly important for the owners of older structures that have been newly identified as being in a high flood hazard area.

As of April 22, Vermont Gas customers were eligible to receive a rate reduction of approximately 5.4 percent under the company's "Alternative Regulation Plan," as a result of the continuing decline in wholesale gas costs. Vermont Gas has proposed establishing a System Expansion and Reliability Fund, which will generate approximately $4.4 million each year - representing what would have been a rate reduction of about $5.40 per month for the average residential heating customer.

Clean water. Healthy fish. Happy people. Lake Champlain International, Inc., (LCI) a non-profit organization with a focus of maintaining quality water in our precious lake touts this tag line.

Join Mary Lou Terko, owner of Outdoor Living Spaces, to learn all the "secrets" to planting ahealthy, vibrant hanging basket. You'll learn how to prepare a basket, choose the optimum annuals for the look you strive to achieve, and then put it all together for a season of enjoyment at your home.

While we all have been busy this winter skiing, staying warm by the fire, and watching the show, "American Pickers" (two guys finding antiques), Tom Cross, owner of Champlain Valley Antiques, and the shops' antique dealers, have been very busy changing the look of the store as well as bringing in lots of amazing and unique pieces.

It's been a long winter for all of us — and perhaps more so for Shelburne's Mary Lou Terko, who opened Outdoor Living Spaces on Webster Road late last year. To celebrate the coming season, Terko has scheduled a series of workshops aimed to take advantage of enjoying your garden inside and out.

Last week Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) launched "Solar Shelburne." The new program is designed to assist homeowners interested in producing their electricity through solar power.

Those who have walked through the inviting threshold of chez bohéme on Falls Road know that owner/artist Jennifer Blanchard has a unique eye for color and texture, evident in every piece of furniture and eclectic accessory on display in her shop.

How many Towns can claim their very own compost maven? Shelburne can. After a brief conversation with Holly Rae Taylor, co-owner of Home Ecology, I found myself totally engrossed and curious about the process of how compost is made. She clearly loves compost and her mission to begin a grassroots effort to energize our community to increase local composting through education, training, and access to resources is taking shape.

The new year offers an opportunity to renew our pledge to participate actively in creating a more sustainable lifestyle.

Brrrr...it's cold outside! The following guidelines will help you protect your companion animals when the mercury dips.

Another round of climate talks wrapped up earlier this week, this time in the resort city of Cancun, Mexico where world leaders convened at a climate change conference to continue the ongoing dialogue focused primarily on international actions needed to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

This holiday season, electronics like TVs and computers are likely to be some of the hottest items on everyone's wish list. Vermonters can save when they spend by choosing energy-efficient products, which use less energy to attain the same level of performance.

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, Vermont State Parks is offering three brand new holiday gift packages that give recipients something fun to open and use right away, and something to look forward to next summer.

Andrea Hildebrand, a Shelburne resident, who has just completed a home building project, is a perfect example of why women should never be underestimated in the building and design field.

There is a new ecology in home decorating and design that is fueled by an increased awareness of the need to take better care of the earth and of ourselves: to waste and want less, and to value our lives and planet more.

Brad Hume opened City Lights in Winooski on 8-8-88, hoping that date would give him just a little bit of luck.

Artists often revile the thought that someone would consider purchasing a painting to match a sofa; understandably, they would rather that someone love the painting and act on their desire to have it simply for all its compelling emotional resonance and artistic merits.

"It's such a treat for me when a bride calls to ask if I can do her hair for her wedding day," says Susan McLellan, owner of Special Touch Hair Salon in Shelburne.

The Winooski Valley Park District (WVPD) preserves and maintains an "emerald necklace" of 16 parks and natural areas for public recreational use, including hiking trails, canoe and boat accesses, wetland walks, and community gardens.

Every day, twice a day, as I enter the duck pen I have to remember to check for and duck under spider webs when I open the barn door. The spiders there tend to extend their wicked webs to include the areas that I regularly have to touch.

Rosie is a neighbor's pig and she is beautiful. I have known her since she arrived at their farm last summer. She is orange, black, and pink and a real cutie. In early June she moved from her pasture pen to a nice, cool, cozy, hay-filled, concrete-bottomed, in-barn pen.

The fungus-like organism that wreaked havoc with tomatoes and potatoes last year is back again. Phytophthora infestans, the pathogen causing Late Blight of tomatoes and potatoes, was identified in the UVM Plant Diagnostic Clinic August 3, on tomato foliage from two different backyard gardens located in Lamoille County. It is assumed the disease originated from infected volunteer potatoes in the area.

Harry Truman was rumored to have formed conclusions about his protégés when dining with them. He noted whether his dining companions seasoned the food on their plate before tasting it first; he believed the food should be tasted before concluding that it lacked something. This approach applies to soils in your garden as well.

Ten years ago, I granted a local beekeeper's request to host his hives on my farm. I agreed and we scouted my property to find the most favorable site to locate the colony. Over the three years that he had his hives on my land, I did loads of welcoming things to keep the bees busy.

Mazza's corn is ready in Colchester, blueberry farms are open early, and in Monkton at Norris Berry Farm, owner Norma Norris reported that the conditions this year have been excellent for her strawberry and raspberry fruit production.

Over the last four years, the Shelburne News has encouraged folks in the community to dig in and green up our yards and plant trees.