My garden, Sweetside, is located in a small New England town called Amherst Massachusetts, home to the University of Massachusetts' Amherst Campus (pictured here courtesy of ccohen,flickr) as well as to Amherst College. Nearby there are 3 other colleges, Smith, Hampshire and Mt. Holyoke. Hence the region is often referred to as the Five College Area.
The colleges attract a wonderful array of cultural and educational events so there is always a number of things to choose from when one is looking for something to do. Another great thing about being near all these colleges is that some of them have beautiful gardens and greenhouses. The Smith College gardens & greenhouses are among my favorite.
Amherst is also very close to the beautiful Connecticut River which runs from the Canadian border down to the Atlantic Ocean in Connecticut. In the summer the river is wonderful for boating (photo courtesy marc72, flickr)
Nearby are the historic towns of Hadley and Deerfield founded in 1659 and 1677 respectively.
The nearest homes to the east of mine are the homes of poet Emily Dickinson and her brother Austin. Emily's is the yellow one pictured here. They are preserved as museums. There is lots of rich history all around.
I also like living in this area because though it is relatively rural, we are only two hours from Boston, and the ocean and 3 hours from NYC. Montreal Canada isn't all that far, though we don't get up there much.
My garden is in zone 5 but Amherst is in the Valley and my home is in town so the gardens are relatively protected. This Fall I still had roses blooming in November. Sweetside garden is 2 years old as we moved here from 12 miles up in the hills in 2006. There I had huge perennial gardens but it was mostly shade with significantly harsher winters.
8 comments:
Cabs, this is great! I was intrigued by your blog name--Terra Nova means New Land, of course, and there are a lot of Terra Novas in Newfoundland (the Rock of My Birth). Your countryside looks wonderfully inviting, and good on you for having roses in November. Thanks for taking part, and introducing me to a new blog--yours! :-)
My first visit to Amherst was to install an irrigation system in one of the greenhouses at Uconn. I worked out of Boston but lived in NNY. I still remember going out of my way going between Rt 2 and Rt 9 whenever I traveled to and from home. (the scenic route) When I only had Sundays off I'd head to the area to get the urban taste out of my system.
It truly is a wonderful area and I'm happy you reminded me of it.
Hi,
I'm so glad you commented on my blog as it gave me the chance to read yours.
Your place in the world seems lovely with the river and nature and college atmosphere.I've never been close to where you live but I went to California (Santa Barbara) in October to visit my son who is studying there, and I was amazed by the beautiful garden surrounding the college.
Have a good day - I'll come back to your blog again soon. /Katarina
Awesome summary of the beautiful valley...some of my favorite gardens too.
Hello there !
I really enjoyed the pictures and information of where you are !
Thank you for sharing : )
I have a Main Coon/Himalayan mix cat .. Sophie and she is something else ! They are small lions aren't they ? LOL
Joy
So very beautiful in New England. I wish I could go back. I never visited Massachusetts much and now really wish I had.
Welcome!! You did a great job on Jodi's project. I'm jealous you live by such an inviting river. I hope you enjoy Blotanical.com. I don't get around to all the beautiful things folks write every day. It's impossible to keep up. But you will have fun trying.
Have you ever read any of the mystery novels by Jane Langton? They are set in Amherst (& 1 concerns the Emily Dickson house). It sounds & looks like a great place. Is it true that everyone has a Ph.D. or is working on a dissertation? ;^)
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