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INDOOR GARDENING:
A Unique Haven for Houseplants in Southbury [Connecticut]
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A Unique Haven for Houseplants in Southbury [Connecticut]
Published: Friday, November 04, 2011
Litchfield County Times
http://www.countytimes.com/articles/2011/11/04/
l_c_t_monthly/doc4eb1c52d74da6286687933.txt
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A shorter URL for the above link:
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http://tinyurl.com/4396duu
Also Found Here
http://kgre.blogspot.com/2008/11/
november-23-2008-living-in-southbury.html
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A shorter URL for the above link:
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http://tinyurl.com/42vjysa
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Is anyone else stymied by the profound lack of houseplant resources in our
neighborhood? It seems as though access to indoor plants has been
dwindling on a regular basis, and the few nurseries that offer a limited
inventory of houseplants merely acquire the same old selection from the
supermarket-issue shopping list.
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Go to your average nursery and the indoor plants offered are forlorn,
unimaginative and not even remotely tempting. No one is going to look at
that poor, thirsty, half-dead fern in the dim corner of a nursery and be
prompted toward adoption. I happen to be a houseplant addict of epic
proportions, so I feel the lack deeply. Fortunately, the prevailing sense
of indoor botanical deficiency is now a thing of the past.
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One autumn day, I was driving along and muttering about the houseplant
desert in our general vicinity when I happened to whiz by the greenhouses
at Southbury Training School. As an involuntary reaction, I threw on the
brakes and swerved into their parking lot. Their greeter directed my
parking and orchestrated my entrance into the glass house with a
choreography that would rival your average air traffic controller easing a
jet into its landing gate. Once inside, a few residents inquired about my
name, whether I owned pets and if I needed a straw hat to shield my
forehead from the sun. They showed off a few exceptional plants personally
propagated, primped, and/or potted by their comrades on the premises. They
escorted me to the check-out counter. It was like shopping with your own
personal concierge service.
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It changed my life. And it also filled my already houseplant double-parked
home to bloating with beautifully grown, insect-free, reasonably priced
plants. Not only that, but I suspect my purchases made the day for several
very special residents of Southbury Training School. Extremely talented as
gardeners, their pride and achievements shine like the sunrays that
infiltrate the glass house where they work.
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And the residents who work in this greenhouse have many reasons to be
proud. The greenhouse employs 11 individuals with intellectual
disabilities, who are led by two full-time staff members. The average age
of the residents at Southbury Training School is 62, and the average time
that people spend at the school is 50 years.
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Despite their disabilities, these gardeners are discovering their
potential, talents, interests, pleasures and abilities. Every day, they
step up to the challenge, overcoming immense physical hurdles. Against all
odds, they grow awesome indoor plants that would put your average
outdoor-dexterious but houseplant-challenged Master Gardener to shame.
Clearly, the Southbury Training School gardeners have found their niche.
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The complete articles may be read at the URLs provided for each.
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Additional Information
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November 23, 2008
Living In | Southbury, Conn.
A Town That Feels Like the Country
By C. J. HUGHES
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/realestate/23livi.html?pagewanted=print
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THERE is no shortage of warblers in Southbury, but it was the birds of
prey that drew Judith Stevens to this town rising gently from the banks of
the Housatonic River.
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Chief among them are bald eagles, which return in December to the Shepaug
Dam. Its waters, which dont freeze in cold weather, attract fish,
providing the eagles with a considerable four-month-long winter buffet.
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Whats special about this town is that you have so many different habitats
in one place, said Ms. Stevens, who volunteers at the 690-acre Bent of the
River preserve owned by the Audubon Society. About 16 percent of
Southburys land including pieces of eight sizable working farms is
preserved as open space, according to the local land trust.
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There are, of course, animals other than birds. In fact, a moose and
several black bears recently turned up in Heritage Village, the 2,622-unit
condominium complex where Ms. Stevens, a retired science teacher, owns a
two-bedroom. When she moved to Southbury three years ago, she said, she
paid $185,000 for the condo, which has 1,200 square feet and a patio.
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But for all its natural assets, the town has an ample share of asphalt and
concrete. Interstate 84 cuts across its 40 square miles; two enormous
shopping centers flank the highway.
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Commuters make up a majority of Southburys 19,722 residents, traveling to
and from places like Hartford, Stamford or New York City. They have little
choice but to do so by car, because Southbury does not offer rail service.
During rush hour some days, long lines can form at traffic lights on Main
Street North, especially if I-84 is backed up.
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The mix of rural and suburban appeals to residents like Jenna Murphy, who
moved to the area three years ago from a two-family house in densely
settled South Norwalk, in part because she wanted a country lifestyle with
the convenience of shopping close by.
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snip
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THE COMMUTE
Southbury hasnt had trains since 1948, when the Danbury-Plainville line
had three stations in town, said Joyce Hornbecker, a local historian.
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Commuters take Peter Pan buses to New York daily, but this month, the
company reduced its subsidy to the Southbury Travel Center, a waiting-room
facility on Main Street, forcing it to close, said Nancy Devine, a clerk
there. Tickets will now be sold at a Mobil station nearby.
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Buses depart three times between 6:05 a.m. and 9:05 a.m. on the two-hour
trip to Port Authority, with a stop in Danbury. A 20-ticket pass costs
$260.
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THE HISTORY
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The Southbury Training School, a campuslike complex on 1,600 acres along
Route 172, has been open since October 1940. Its mission is to teach job
skills to the developmentally disabled.
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Today, 490 people live at the school, with its striking collection of
red-brick buildings and a greenhouse for growing poinsettias to sell at
Christmas.
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Southbury: Paradise Hill Preserve
October 26, 2009
Posted in: All, Outdoors
Hidden Connecticut
http://www.hiddenct.com/?p=163
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I traveled to the Paradise Hill Preserve (officially the Henry and Dorothy
Bassett Preserve), maintained by the Southbury Land Trust. At 112 acres,
it is the Land Trusts largest holding. There are two access points: one on
Turrill Brook Road, and another on Gilbert Road. From Turrill Brook Road,
the most popular entrance, one can access the 2.8 mile loop of the Blue
Trail. But I was specifically interested in one area of the preserve more
easily reached via the Gilbert Road entrance.
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In the mid-1800s, a commercial laundry operated on the pond located in the
southeastern portion of the preserve. Ruins of the facility can be found
there today, reached via the 0.3 mile Yellow Spur Trail. The Land Trust
has a helpful map of the property online (but not at the preserve). From
the map, it appeared I could use the Gilbert Road entrance and pick up the
red trail (.3 mile), then turn left on the Blue Trail, which would then
bring me to the Yellow Spur Trail and the old laundry. Download map
(.pdf).
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It turns out Gilbert Road is a bit hard to find. From route 172, I took
Spruce Brook Road, which winds around. With beautiful vistas of the
surrounding countryside, the rural scene reminded me of driving through
Vermont. I could see farms as well as some abandoned buildings on a campus
of some sortperhaps associated with the Southbury Training School. I
spotted a large red tail hawk perched in a tree overlooking a field and
open woods. Spruce Brook Road ends suddenly at Gilbert Road, which at
first it looks like a long driveway. The narrow, rocky road is surrounded
by woods and very few houses along it. I came to a section with a pull-off
and two trail entrances, one on either side. The trail on the left is
clearly marked as the Gilbert Road entrance to the preserve.
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The Preserve
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The trail enters a dense wood of beech, sugar maple, and oak, where all I
could see was a spectrum of gold, from yellow to orange to amber. There
are rock outcrops and large boulders along the way. I was grateful that
the trail is marked clearly and regularly, because with the carpet of
leaves, it would have been very difficult to follow the path otherwise.
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snip
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Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
[log in to unmask]
http://daviddillard.businesscard2.com
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Bushell, R. & Sheldon, P. (eds),
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Wellness Tourism: Bibliographic and Webliographic Essay
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