Tom Atwell

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Published
June 17, 2010

What Ales You: Six summer beers face a panel of judges

The national-brand summer beers I tasted for this column posed a bit of a problem. First, it was difficult to find an interesting variety, and when I did find them, all but one had a connection to Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser. Five of the six beers were wheat beers, and one wasn’t, so it […]
Published
June 13, 2010

Maine Gardener: You can still enjoy late-planted vegetables

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote that the garden push was over. The Memorial Day planting deadline had come and gone. But you can still do a lot of planting in your garden now. I’m not even talking perennials, trees and shrubs, which you can plant until the ground freezes sometime around Thanksgiving. I’m […]
Published
June 10, 2010

What ales you: The ales have it

Summer has not officially arrived, but summer weather has. That means it’s time to taste some summer ales for the first edition of “What Ales You.” This column should be a lot of fun. I have been drinking beer for more than 40 years, drinking it with some critical approval since I was introduced to […]
Published
June 6, 2010

Maine Gardener: Questions crop up after an odd start to growing season

This week I’m catching up on the mailbox. It’s spring, the gardening season is going well, and there are a lot of little things you should know. This is something I’ve mentioned in my blog, but not in print, and a lot of people have been asking about it: The damaged foliage, blooms and buds […]
Published
May 30, 2010

Maine Gardener: Talk about peer pressure: It’s a bug-eat-bug world out there today

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a column about the spread of integrated pest management in greenhouses. The almost universal response was: What about IPM at home? Yes, it works. And more assistance exists than there was just a couple of weeks ago. James Dill – who was one of the main sources for […]
Published
May 30, 2010

Books Q & A: A funny thing happened

Portland comic strip artist Lincoln Peirce lands a book deal thanks in part to a fan letter from years ago.
Published
May 23, 2010

Maine Gardener: New beauties to plant this season catch the eyes of garden experts

This gardening season seems to have an air of excitement to it. The spring started warm and people were eager to get out. The economy seems to be turning around, so people have money to buy plants. Traveling can be a pain, so people want to make their yards nice. And, to finally get to […]
Published
May 16, 2010

Maine Gardener: Bugs in the greenhouse? Not necessarily a bad thing

Gardeners know how difficult it is to keep insects from eating their plants while in the garden. And when they get hit with aphids or whitefly in their indoor plants, that can be even worse. Now, think about controlling harmful insects in a commercial greenhouse, where local business operators grow from seeds or plugs (really […]
Published
May 9, 2010

Maine Gardener: Extension branches out for gardeners digging online

The Cooperative Extension wants to reach out to gardeners who are just beginning to grow vegetables who would go online for information. “We are looking to help people, probably nontraditional extension clients,” said Barbara Murphy, an extension educator who works out of the South Paris office. “These are people who would use the computer as […]
Published
May 2, 2010

Maine Gardener: Celebrate spring with flower-filled May baskets

People of a certain age — I’ll place it as 50 and up, but that is just a guess — remember May baskets fondly. They traditionally were giving on May 1, or May Day, and it is a different kind of May Day than the one from the Cold War newsreels of Soviet troops and […]

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