Category: Spring

Ride a Vintage Train to Visit the Easter Bunny !

The Danbury Railway Museum is planning to greet the Easter Bunny once again this spring. The Easter Bunny will make his home in a authentically restored train car where he will greet young and old alike on special weekends this April!

To reach the Easter Bunny you will first enter the historic Danbury Railroad Station where you will board a vintage train that will take you on a fun filled ride through the historic railyard to the Easter Bunny. The short train ride in a fully-restored 1953 New Haven RR Rail Diesel Car (Budd RDC), will take visitors past the fully operational turntable, over 70 vintage railroad cars and locomotives, and many unique pieces of railroad history, including a Boston & Maine steam locomotive built in 1907. Of special note is the museum’s beautifully restored circa-1910 Railway Post Office (RPO) car that will also be open.

The train ride will stop at the Easter Bunny’s special railroad car. Each child will receive a small gift from the Bunny making this a great time for memorable photos that will be cherished though out the years.

An extra treat for those visiting the Easter Bunny are the exhibits inside the restored 1903 Danbury Station that include a coloring station, temporary tattoos, Thomas® play table, and operating model train layouts. A fully-stocked gift shop will also be open.

This popular annual family event will take place on Sunday, March 25; Saturday & Sunday, March 31 & April 1; and Friday & Saturday, April 6 & 7. Museum hours are 10:00-4:30 on Friday and Saturday; noon-4:30 on Sunday. Reservations are suggested and may be made by visiting the museum’s Web site at www.danburyrail.org.

The Danbury Railway Museum is a non-profit organization, staffed solely by volunteers, and is dedicated to the preservation of, and education about, railroad history. The museum is located in the restored 1903 Danbury Station and rail yard at 120 White Street, Danbury, CT. For further information, visit the Web site at www.danburyrail.org, email info@danburyrail.org, or call the museum at 203-778-8337.

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CT’s White Silo Farm–Annual Asparagus Festival May 14 & 15


This is the fourth year that this small specialty winery is holding it’s popular Annual Asparagus Festival on May 14 and 15 from 12 PM – 5 PM in the bucolic village of Sherman CT just outside of Danbury.

Visitors to this festival are in for a treat as White Silo’s culinary experts will be serving dishes prepared from their farm fresh asparagus, freshly picked the morning of the event. Some of the mouth-watering choices include: truffled asparagus crostini, asparagus soup with fried asparagus shavings, and asparagus latkes, along with a few other items. There will be $5-6 charge per small plate.

A forte of White Silo Farm and Winery is their selection of specialty wines that include “Blackberry Sangria”, Raspberry, Black Currant, Rhubarb, and Blackberry, all made with fruit grown at the farm. Throughout the season as fruit ripens, White Silo offers pick-your-own berries, asparagus and rhubarb.

To round out the festivities live music, winery and field tours, and farm museum tours will be held throughout the day. The farm tour is especially exciting because you experience the charm of an earlier era when touring the old barn where the winery is located. The tour will also take you to visit the fermentation, bottling, and corking rooms where the classical art of wine making has been preserved. This event is perfect for a fun family spring outing. Admission to the event is free.

White Silo Farm & Winery is located on 32 Rt 37 East in Sherman, CT 06784 and can be reached at: 860 355 0271 or visit them at http://www.whitesilowinery.com.

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Trade Secrets in Litchifeld Hills

Nearly 60 vendors and garden antiques dealers from around the northeast region will set up their wares under the tents at the picturesque LionRock Farm in Sharon, CT, for the 11th annual Trade Secrets on Saturday, May 14.

The yearly event in the state’s Litchfield Hills offers unusual garden plants and topiary from specialized growers and some of the nation’s best known small nurseries, as well as unusual accessories, furniture, statuary, fencing and garden antiques.

The event also includes the opportunity on Sunday, May 15, to tour five extraordinary gardens, most rarely open to the public. These include the sublime Falls Village garden of John Rosselli and Trade Secrets founder, interior designer Bunny Williams, featuring the mock-coliseum pool house, heirloom apple trees in bloom, wild-flowers, a woodland pool, a birdhouse “village,” and a sea of tulips and bulbs,

Another highlight is the private garden of author and noted garden designer Lynden Miller, who is responsible for the beloved Conservatory Garden and rejuvenated Bryant Park in New York City. Her personal garden features mixed herbaceous borders of perennials and shrubs in lovely hues, a daylily walk, a flowering meadow with mowed paths, a woodland garden, a raised herb garden and a cottage garden for unusual plants.

Holabird House Garden in Falls Village includes three acres of perennials, bulbs, cutting, vegetable and herb gardens planted with tiers and rustic fencing, while the Cobble Pond Garden in Sharon, a vintage Olmsted Brothers landscape designed for strolling, features clipped conifers, walled gardens bursting with bulbs and spring blossoms, an apple orchard, and viburnums and wisteria at their peak.

Judy and Patrick Murphy opened Old Farm Nursery in Lakeville in 1988 on land that had been used agriculturally for generations. Living in the old farm house (c 1800) and using the farmland and barns for their landscape business, the Murphys transformed five acres of paddocks and adjacent cornfields into garden rooms with extensive plantings that include a large kitchen and herb garden, perennial borders, a fruit tree allée, a formal boxwood-lined white garden, a woodland shade garden featuring a Japanese maple collection, and a secret garden with a swimming pool.

Proceeds from Trade Secrets go to Women’s Support Services (WSS), a regional non-profit organization celebrating its 30th year in the northwest corner of Connecticut offering free and confidential services to victims of domestic violence.

Trade Secrets includes the antique and plant sale on Saturday, May 14, at LionRock Farm, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., for $35, and the tour of five gardens on Sunday, May 15, for $70 ($60 if purchased in advance). For those who want first chance at the vendors on May 14, “early buying” tickets are available for $100, and include early admittance with continental breakfast.

For more information or to purchase advance tickets, phone (860) 364-1080 or visit http://www.tradesecretsct.com.

For more information on gardens and other spring activities in the area and a free copy of UNWIND, a 112-page color guide to lodging, dining and all the attractions in the Litchfield Hills, contact the Western Connecticut Visitors Bureau, PO Box 968, Litchfield, CT 06759; (860) 567-4506, http://www.visitwesternct.com.
Contributed by Western Connecticut Visitors Bureau

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Hollister House Garden Launches 2011 Season with Escorted Daffodil Walk on April 30 Washington CT

The Hollister House Gardens sets its 2011 season in motion with a one-of-a-kind Daffodil Walk at 10 a.m. on Saturday April 30.

George Schoellkopf, the garden’s creator and steward for the past 32 years, will escort an informative and entertaining tour of the 25-acre property, speaking about what to plant for the early spring garden and sharing tricks that he has discovered for better gardening in Northwest Connecticut, all born of long experience. He will be accompanied by Krista Adams, Hollister House’s chief gardener and the person responsible for planting and maintaining the extraordinary property which combines the formality of a classic English garden with a generous abundance of common and exotic plants in surprising combinations.

Mr. Schoellkopf is well known in horticultural circles as a gifted garden designer and charming raconteur. He has written articles on gardening for Town & Country, House & Garden, House Beautiful, and Rosemary Verey’s The American Man’s Garden. The Hollister Homestead, site of the garden, was recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its significance in American history and the garden is also one of only 16 Garden Conservancy Preservation Projects.

The April 30 Daffodil Walk is the first of a series of Garden Walks planned for 2011, with a Daylily Walk scheduled for July 23 and a Dahlia Walk for August 13. In addition, there will be two festive evening events this season: Twilight in the Garden cocktail party July 9 and a Moonlight Serenade dinner dance on August 20.

Admission to the Daffodil Walk is $5, identical to the fee requested during normal garden visiting hours. Hollister House Garden is open every Saturday in season. From April 30 through May hours are 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.; from June through August hours are 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.; and September to October 1 hours are 10 a.m. to 12 noon, and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The garden is located at 294 Nettleton Hollow Road in Washington, CT. For more information on Hollister House Garden, its history, special events and directions, go to http://www.hollisterhousegarden.org.

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MAPLE SYRUP SCENTS ARE SURE SIGNS OF SPRING IN WESTERN CONNECTICUT


If it seems as though this winter will never end, take heart, The sweet scents of maple syrup in the making clearly announce that spring is coming—and they are a good reason to plan a visit to Litchfield and Fairfield counties in Western Connecticut.

Sugar maples are plentiful in these scenic areas and more than a dozen sugarhouses from private farms to nature centers welcome visitors during peak syrup season in March. Guests will view the process from tap to tastes, see how the big bubbling kettles of thin sap boil down to thick fragrant syrup and get to sample the delicious results. Some operations are open every weekend, some have special maple celebration days and some smaller farms request a call to be sure they are ready for company.

For the sap to run, nights below freezing and warm days are required, so dates can vary. A call always is a good idea before visiting.

The Maple Calendar

Lamothe’s Sugar House in Burlington starts the season early with the chance to see how syrup is made every weekend from February 12 to March 26. This family owned operation began as a hobby with seven taps and has grown to over 4500 taps and a year-round showroom. Coffee and cider are complimentary to visitors. Along with the maple syrup business the family also raise pigs, and mini-lop bunnies.

One of the busiest sugaring spots is the Flanders Nature Center Sugar House at Van Vleck Farm Sanctuary in Woodbury. Demonstrations are conducted by staff and volunteers on March 5, 6, 12 and 13th and the season ends with an annual grand finale Maple Celebration on March 19. On March 6 the day begins with a pancake breakfast, topped with Flanders’ own maple syrup. The final winter festival on March 19 features music, bird talks and walks, cooking and wood bowl turning demonstrations, maple food sampling, cooking demonstrations and special kids’ crafts and activities.

At Warrups Farm in Redding, visitors also are welcome the first three weekends in March to watch the whole process, sap to syrup in the log cabin sugar house, to take a taste of the sap direct from the trees and as well as the almost-ready syrup. Guests can savor all of the harbingers of spring on a farm.

Special Maple Days

March 6

Maple Sugar Sunday at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center, the museum’s traditional family festival, will offer the chance to learn how sap from their own trees is made into syrup, to sample the syrup and to enjoy lots of fun for children including air bounces, maple-themed crafts, games, storytelling, and music.

March 12

The Fifth Annual Maple Festival at Sweet Wind Farm in East Hartland will be a busy day with a tree tapping demonstration, maple syrup and sugar making with free syrup samples at the sugar house, a narrated slide show and video, a cooking and recipe class story time for kids, and –almost everyone’s favorite activity– a sugar-on-snow candy making demonstration.

March 12, 13

At the Open House Maple Festival at the Great Brook Sugar House on Sullivan Farm, guides will escort visitors around the farm to various sites to see demonstrations reflecting a 300-year history of maple sugaring. Syrup and other maple products will be available for purchase.

March 19

This busiest March weekend is when the New Canaan Nature Center will hold tree-tapping demos, and a maple sap boil down at their Sugar Shack, as well as give a look at historic methods of making maple syrup. Families can also enjoy a delicious Pancake Brunch with maple syrup, join naturalists for a hike along “Maple Lane” to learn tree identification tips, warm up around the campfire to share tall tales, make a Maple craft and take home souvenir treats from a Maple Bake Sale.

The Institute for American Indian Studies will have a different take on sugaring at its annual festival on the 19th. Demonstrations will show how local Native Americans traditionally made maple syrup and its importance to their culture and pancakes made by IAIS staff will be served with local maple syrup.

The sweet aroma of boiling sap and syrup will fill the air and samples of fresh syrup will be handed out to guests at the annual Maplefest! at the Sharon Audubon Center on March 19th. Tours throughout the day will show how maple syrup is produced at the Center and samples will be available for purchase.

Maple Sugar Contacts
To be sure sugarhouses are in operation, always phone ahead.

Flanders Nature Center Maple Sugar House, Church Hill Rd., Woodbury Phone: 203-263-3711, flandersnaturecenter.org. March 5, 6, 12, 13, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Free.

Pancake breakfast fundraiser, March 6, 8 a.m.-noon, adults $7, children ages 5 – 11, $5; under 5 free. Maple Celebration, March 19. 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., $5 per person or $15 per family.

Great Brook Sugarhouse at Sullivan Farm, 140 Park Lane, Route 202, New Milford, 860-354-0047, March12, 13, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free.

Institute for American Indian Studies, 38 Curtis Road off Route 199, Washington, 860-868-0518, March 19, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Advance Tickets, Adults $8, Children, $6; At the door: Adults $10, Children, $8

Lamothe’s Sugar House, 89 Stone Road, Burlington, 860-675-5043, lamothesugarhouse.com. Saturday and Sunday p.m. February 12 to March 26. 1 to 4:30 p.m. Free

New Canaan Nature Center, 144 Oenoke Ridge, New Canaan, Phone: 203- 966-9577, newcanaannature.org. March 19, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Members, $8, non-member $12

Sharon Audubon Center, 325 Route 4, Sharon, 860-364-0520,Sharon.audubon.org March 19, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Adults, $5, children, $3.

Stamford Museum and Nature Center, 39 Scofieldtown Road, Phone: Stamford, 203-322-1646, stamfordmuseum.org, March 6 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Members $5, non-members, $10

Sweet Wind Farm, 339 South Road, East Hartland, 860-653-2038. Sweetwindfarm.net March 12, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Free

Warrup’s Farm, 11 John Reed Rd., off Route 107, Redding, Phone: 203- 938-9403, warrupsfarm.com, March 5, 6, 12,13, 19, 20, noon to 5 p.m. Free

These farms also welcome visitors, but an advance appointment is necessary.

Brookside Farm, 79 East Chestnut Hill Road, Litchfield, 860-567-3805

Brothers and Sons Sugarhouse, 998 Saw Mill Road, Torrington, 860-489-2719

Dutton’s Sugarhouse, 28 Sunny Ridge Road, Washington, 860-868-0345

Kasulaiis Farm and Sugarhouse, 69 Goose Green Road, Barkhamsted, 860-379-8787

West Hill Sugarhouse, 525 West Hill Road, New Hartford, 860-379-9672

Woodbury Sugarshed, 41 Washington Road, Woodbury, 203-263-4550

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