July 17, 2010

The Allagash Wilderness Waterway in northern Maine is one of the great canoe-camping rivers in America. It flows for 92 miles through some of the wildest country left in New England, emptying into the St. John River on the Canadian border.

Kevin Slater in the stern navigating the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in northern Maine

If the great rivers and mountains of New England speak to you, summon you, soothe you, then the Allagash is one of those places you have to experience. I’ve paddled all or part of the waterway three times, but until a couple of months ago, I hadn’t been on the river since 1975 – way too long to be away from the ‘Gash. My account of the latest Allagash trip appears Sunday, July 18, on the Travel section cover of The Hartford Courant.

Our trip in late May was typical river travel, which is to say, unpredictable. Weather, as always, was the master, determining more than almost anything else what a day would be like. You pay attention to the weather when you are canoe camping. We didn’t have rain, but we had wind in our faces, and we adjusted. Sometimes you just don’t paddle as far as you planned.

Our group of seven was led by Kevin Slater of Mahoosuc Guide Service in Newry, Maine. We traveled in grand style, late 19th Century style, in wood-and-canvas canoes Slater built himself. Our meals were prepared from scratch over wood fires.

Meanwhile, I got my first good look at the Allagash in 35 years. Unlike so much of the rest of the U. S., it was comparatively unchanged, as if Gerald Ford was still president, as if decades of the nation’s suburban sprawl were erased. Thank goodness that the Allagash, a nationally-designated and state-administered Wild and Scenic River, is still a linear waterway of connected river and lakes, cradled by forest, forever protected. Woods and water and wildlife and almost nothing else. We need more of that.

July 1, 2010

It is not a bike race. It is a bike ride. It is not a foot race. It is a walk.

Cyclists take a break during the 2007 Discover Hartford Bicycle Tour that attracted more than 1,200 participants

Actually, organizers say it is: “an anti-sprawl, pro-fun, pro-sustainable-city, anti-pollution, anti-couch potato, pro-bicycle, pro-pedestrian event.”

The 2010 Discover Hartford Bicycle & Walking Tour, the third in recent years, will be held Saturday, September 11, starting and ending in Bushnell Park. The first one attracted more than 1,200 riders.

Sponsored by Bike Walk Connecticut, formerly the Central Connecticut Bicycle Alliance, the tour is just that – a rolling tour of Hartford neighborhoods, historic sites, parks and riverfront. There is a 10-mile bicycle tour, a 25-mile bicycle tour and, new this year, a tour that includes a spur to the city’s Batterson Park, which will total about 40 miles.

Walkers will have a choice of two walks of about 1 mile or 1.5 mile each offered at two different times.

Check-in begins at 7 a.m., and the tour starts at 9:15 a.m. The registration fee varies: Under 18 years old, $15. Early bird registration, on or before August 9, is $25 for Bike Walk Connecticut members and $35 for non-members. From Aug. 10 to Sept. 9, registration is $30 for members, $40 for non-members. Anyone registering the day of the event pays $45.

Walking tour registration is $20 on or before Aug. 9, $25 after. On-line registration is available at www.hartfordbiketour.org. Printable mail-in forms also are available at the site. Brochures and forms will be available by mid-month at many Connecticut bicycle shops.

A tour t-shirt and route map are included with registration. Free snack bars and water will be available at stops along the routes. Crews also will be available at sites along the tour to assist cyclists with mechanical problems, though organizers suggest bringing your own materials for tire repair.

Visit www.hartfordbiketour.org for more information.

June 23, 2010

Bad news for vegetable gardeners and farmers. Late blight, a plant disease which spread rapidly throughout the Northeast last year and destroyed tomato and potato plants by the thousands, has been confirmed again this year in Connecticut.

Sharon M. Douglas, head of the Department of Plant Pathology and Ecology at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, said the blight was confirmed in recent days on tomato plants in New Haven County.

Late blight damage to a tomato

Gardeners tending plots in the Kolp Community Garden in Farmington also suspected the blight had reappeared, but a station scientist checked today and found no evidence of the pathogen.

Late blight is caused by a fungus-like organism that appears as olive-brown to black blotches on leaves and stems. Tomatoes develop brown or black lesions. Entire fields of tomatoes or potatoes can be rapidly infected and killed.

Because the potential for a widespread outbreak in Connecticut is again possible, Douglas said “all tomato and potato plants should be considered at risk.”

Farmers and gardeners must be aggressive in dealing with the blight, she said. Tomato and potato plants should be inspected often. Any plants with symptoms should be immediately removed and placed in a plastic bag to avoid spreading the blight. Affected plants should never be composted.

Avoid overhead watering, which can spread the blight, and stake and mulch plants if possible. Fungicide sprays also may be necessary, she said. Organic fungicides such as copper are one option.

Douglas said the massive outbreak last year was initiated by the sale of infected tomato transplants from chain stores throughout the Northeast. Once planted, a long period of wet, cool weather from May into July provided ideal conditions for the blight to flourish.

Because some infested plant material could overwinter, the potential for the disease to affect plants again this year was considered high.

Late blight is infamous as the pathogen associated with the Irish potato famine of the 19th Century.

An excellent fact sheet on late blight is available from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.