Blog

Vertical Gardening

by | | Crafts • TPL Gardens

Inspired by gardens she saw from her trip to Tuscany, Master Gardener Ann Marie Bartoo has proposed a vertical garden project for the TPL Gardens.

What’s a vertical garden? Here are some examples of vertical gardens and vertical garden elements.

Urban living wall

Vertical garden sample pix

Modular garden cylinders

Hanging gutter garden

Another living wall

Why do it? You can probably think of reasons on your own, but some that come to mind:

  • wicked cool looking
  • universal accessibility- no stooping necessary, wheelchair accessible
  • efficient and aesthetically pleasing use of space
  • possibilities for re-using/up-cycling materials.
  • modular and movable

TPL garden committee members can comment on this post or send Bernardo ideas. We’d like to build some systems over the winter and install them in the spring. Keep an eye out for this and other posts.

A Thank You from The Friends of the Topsham Public Library

by | | Topsham Tales

Thank You, Topsham

The Friends of the Topsham Public Library once again want to extend a sincere thank you to the amazing citizens of Topsham and the entire community. We had a very successful book sale.  Your support is never ending and much appreciated. We brought in over $8,000 which will be used to support programs and activities at the library that are not part of the town budget.

Volunteers help by sorting books into categories; moving boxes of sorted books to and from their storage spaces; getting tables set up; putting books up on the tables; keeping books neat during the sale; cashiering; breaking down after the sale; and in dozens of other ways. Our list wouldn’t be complete without thanking the people who donated their beloved books and those who bought them. See you next year.

The following is a list of individuals and local businesses that deserve special thanks for their contributions.

Area Businesses:  Hannaford Supermarket, Androscoggin Animal Hospital, Androscoggin Dental Care, Atlantic Regional Federal Credit Union, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, Brunswick Business Center, Cosmic Stone & Garden Supply, Flying Point Construction, Lakeside Crafters, Lynch & Newman LLC,  McConnell Motors Inc, Merrill’s Bookshop, MSA Architects, Northern Sun Family Healthcare, Shines & Jecker Labs, Smith & Associates CPA, Keith Spiro Photography, T. Kevin Sullivan DMD-LLC, Sunset Farms, The Barn – Yoga, Topsham Garden Club

Town of Topsham Staff, with special thanks to Ed Caron, Dennis Cox, Pam LeDuc, Kelly LaFountain

The Highlands, book donors and staff

Library Trustees: President, Matt Newman, Jerry Davis, Jen Ecker, Anne Eustis, Bruce Kingdon, Larissa Vigue Picard, Teri Schultz, Megan Therriault, Joe Trafton, Sally VonBenken

Library Staff: Jen Balser, Cyndi Burne, Bernardo Feliciano, Emma Gibbon, Julie McDuff,  Linda Meadows,  Dale Morgan, Lynne Morgan, Susan Preece, Mariah Sewall, Helen Tomer

Keeping volunteers fed: Topsham Public Library Board of Trustees

Bowdoin students for “Common Good Day” who moved boxes out of the shed: Chandler Tinsman, Carolina Deifelt Streese, Elena Gleed, Lee Moriarty, Taryn Watkins, Axig Fuksman-Kumpa, Venecia Xu, Emily Mumford, Brewster Taylor, Samuel Monkman

Members of the Friends and other volunteers who sorted books, set up tables, worked during the sale and helped with clean up: Alison Harris, Melissa Hoy, Nate Hoy, Mathea Hoy, Shirley Davis, Ruth Mlotek, Anne Eustis, Phyllis Kelly, Ross Lewis, Ann Lewis, Becca Lewis, Jessica Lewis, Barbara Laurie,  Barry O’Neil, Sue Mooney, Lori Aliberti, Teri Schultz, Kim Fletcher, Claudia Beckwith, Sally VonBenken, Liz Volckening, Carol Williams, Mike Whitehead, Marge Whipple, David Whipple, Monique Barker, Jen Ecker, Rory Ecker, Jerry Davis, Kitty Hill, Ruth Ann Specht, Liz Pettigrew, Cynthia Crawford, Rhonda Lemieux, Diane Hender, Nancy Audet, Ruth Peck, Peg Nulle, Bill Keleher, Gloria Tomsa, Bill Tomsa, Joyce Munier, Bob Munier, Nancy Swinbourne, Kelly Bradshaw, Chris Almy, Sheila Cook, Sula Demers, Nancy King, Jay Collier, Lilly Collier, Doris Nieman, Troy Pelletier

For comments or suggestions for improving the sale, to add a name that has been left out, or to volunteer to help next year, please contact kim.fletcher9@gmail.com.

Master Gardener Volunteers

by | | TPL Gardens • Update

The Maine Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Volunteers Program has been crucial in supplying volunteers, know-how and inspiration to the Topsham Public Library Gardens. The project began by bringing community volunteers together around an Eagle Scout project to shape the Children’s Garden into a learning and event space that would extend the library’s mission to its outdoor property. Master Gardeners turned out to be the best volunteers because they could be counted on to contribute knowledge, ideas, and commitment as well as sweat.

Image

Sarah Wolpow started working at the TPL Gardens as a Master Gardener Volunteer. When she started her perennial garden design business SweetFern Perennial Garden Design, the library was her first customer.

Sarah_Barrow Image

Her “lower” maintenance, low water, spiral design can be seen in the garden today.

Image

Echoes of the design, if not whole portions will be retained in the future plan. This one was also designed by Irene Barber, another Master Gardener Volunteer turned professional.

Image

More than ever, implementing our future designs for the garden will take careful planning, thought, and organization. More than ever, we are looking for Master Gardener Volunteers to share their skills and passion for cultivating gardens AND community.

IrenePopcornsue2 WinterSeeds

Please include TPL Gardens on your Saturday, May 17

by | | TPL Gardens • Update

Image

….to help us dig and have a good time this Saturday May 17th.

Volunteers are tremendously important to the TPL Gardens.  Saturday May 17, from 10AM until 1PM we are looking for energetic individuals to help us with a variety of duties.  We’re building different sorts of raised beds. We’ll need extra muscle power to dig, move soil, and shift pavers. The work will go quicker and be more fun the more people we have!

And for those of you that like the idea of doing something healthy – a couple hours of garden activity will burn a couple hundred calories.  Why not?  To sign up, please contact development@topshamlibrary.org or just show up with work gloves  in the Children’s Garden between 10AM and 1pm on Saturday May 17.

The results are in….

by | | Special Events • Topsham Tales

Topsham’s favorite book is…. Harry Potter!

Joint Second Place: Divergent by Veronica Roth, Elephant and Piggie by Mo Willems
Joint Third Place: The Bible, Cave of the Clan Bear, Curious George, Geronimo Stilton, Gone with the Wind, Little Blue Truck, Pride and Prejudice, The Secret History, Smile, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Under the Tuscan Sun

Topsham’s favorite author is…Stephen King!

Second Place: J.R.R. Tolkien
Joint Third Place: Kenneth Roberts, Mo Willems, Neil Gaiman, Raina Telgemeier, Diana Gabaldon, Elisabetta Dami, John Bunyan

Here’s the full list: Tops of Topsham 2014

Spring is HERE!

by | | News • TPL Gardens • Update

Robert and Yota

Robert and Yota are back!

Yes!!! We started cleaning up the garden and gearing up for the season. Big THANK YOU to volunteers Robert DuBois and Sue Ham who started the spring clean-up and  gathering materials. This year we hope to

  • put in at least 2 if not 3 raised beds, all of them slightly unconventional– hugelkultur, spiral, tray height;
  • have a monthly volunteer gardener activity;
  • get more folks out enjoying the gardens;
  • put in universally accessible pathways.

Now for more pictures:

sue2

Sue cleaning up.

Robert hauling wood for hugelkultur bed

Sue1

Sue cutting back.

compost and bed materials

Compost pile and staging area

Signs of Spring

by | | News • TPL Gardens

ARE WE THERE YET?

Garden Tripod DIY Birdfeeders

Who ate all the seeds?

Ok, ok.  It’s been a long winter.  As we approach March-end with temperatures still averaging in the mid thirties, the snow is melting.  We promise!

We may not force the snow to disappear any faster, but the Garden Committee is dedicated to making this the best launch ever of the gardening season!  While we wait for buds to appear, we are busily planning family-friendly programs and events to roll out this year.  Please stay tuned for ways you and your family can get involved!

In the meantime, explore the garden.  There are many signs of spring, and we’d love to hear about your experiences.  Capture bird sightings, tree and flower buds glimpses, and describe the sounds and smells of spring.  Instagramers, please use #TPLgardens when capturing images.  We’d love to see what you discover.  Facebook users, please share your images with us via https://www.facebook.com/pages/Topsham-Public-Library.

Bird feeder Activity

by | | Crafts • Maine Get Outdoors Weekend • TPL Gardens

WINTER IN THE GARDEN
Bird Feeder Activity Day February 15, 2014
DIY bird feeder made out of toilet paper rolls and garden twine .
Hanging edible bird feeders.  Each was made with a birdseed/flour mixture and left to harden.
Volunteers making popcorn garland to hang in the trees and bushes.
Volunteer rolling the toilet paper roll in birdseed after covering with shortening.
Bernardo hanging an abstract bird feeder.
Bird feeders in the bushes.
Garden teepee covered with bird feeders.
Orange peel bird feeder.