That is the question this year!
Native Plants are all the buzz this year which lead me to look closely at what is going here at the Annisquam Herb Farm.
A Step Back in Time
This property was part of the Norton Farm where Peggy & Marsha Norton lived and had their herb mail order business. The greenhouse was outfitted with tables and was heated by a stove in the potting shed attached to it on the southern end. The roof was made of small panes of glass, the roof vents operated with a hand crank, the down hill wall had vent windows held out with a hook and eye. The walnut trees beside the greenhouse were much smaller then. The terraced yard had fewer trees.
Now
A number of years ago the Norton Farm was divided. The Greenhouse and the stone building are nestled at the end of Dennis Court a ways back from busy Leonard Street.
Use to be an herb farm was what the real estate ad said. The first year no gardening was done. I was waiting to see what herbs would show themselves. One nicotiana (flowering tobacco) bloomed. Nothing was growing in the floor of the greenhouse. That was about it.
In Between
At the beginning every time we put a shovel in the ground we hit rocks. Most of the soil had a yellow tint to it. Very little that was planted survived. For years our compost was added into the floor of the greenhouse, into a compost bin out back, outside of the low fencing that was in place to keep the rabbits from dining and in the back of most garden beds.
Today most of the soil is in good health. The 2 fig trees and a 20 year old rosemary in the greenhouse are thriving as well as self-seeded parsley, cutting celery and chard. The new garden beds to the rear are terraced and are home to a variety vegetables and fruit trees plus grape vines. The south facing area has been planted as an Eatable Garden with herbs, berry bushes, grapes and strawberries. With the addition of leaf mulch, Neptune's Harvest fertilizer and Organic components from Espoma the outlook for this year is good. We still are in need of more pollinators.
Back to Pull or Not to Pull
Through my membership in the Cape Ann Garden Club I have become very aware of how much I did not understand about pollinators - native and non native and their requirements. That is leading me to start an inventory of what is growing here, which plants are native, which are beneficial to our much needed pollinators and what plants are non native and invasive.
I knew about the knotweed (Reynoutria japonica). There was so much growing beside the house that we did not know we had a well just a few feet from the front wall. Every year it is cut down. Less and less appear but it has not be eradicated and may never be totally gone. But what about the other plants brought in by the creatures who roam and fly through?
That is where the inventory will be helpful. Stay tuned :)
