MEMBER PROFILE 



NHPGA member Jackie Nooney 

 will participate in the sixteenth 

 annual Pocket Gardens of Ports- 

 mouth tour. The event is set tor Fri- 

 day June 25, trom 5 — 8 pm and on 

 Saturday, June 26 from 9 am to 3 

 PM. Nooney, who is the owner oi 

 The Flower Company in Kittery, 

 Maine, will sell a variety of exotic 

 potted plants throughout the pro- 

 gram. 



Heather Parker, publicist, said, "Indi- 

 viduals who are interested in garden- 

 ing, travel, history or architecture, 

 will enjoy this much-anticipated 

 community event that captures the 

 spirit ot picturesque, historic Ports- 

 mouth, NH." 



The approximate 3-mile walking or 

 biking tour benefits South Church 

 and includes 10 or more private gar- 

 dens and one museum garden. Held 

 rain or shine, the tour also features 

 graphics artists, musicians and re- 

 freshments in selected gardens on 

 both days oi the tour. 

 This year gardens in and around 

 the Middle Street area will be 

 featured, beginning with the large 

 expanse of lawn and garden at the 

 John Paul Jones House. In addi- 

 tion to the refreshments and musi- 

 cians at the John Paul Jones House, 

 Pocket Garden ticket holders will be 

 able to tour the artifact and antique- 

 filled John Paul Jones House for half 

 price. 



Pocket Garden tickets may be pur- 

 chased for $15 on the days of the 

 tour at South Church, 292 State 

 Street, Portsmouth, NH, or for $12 

 in advance by calling South Church 

 at 603-436-4762 (or appear in per- 

 son at the office on M-Th 10-4 and 

 Sunday 9:30-11:30). The ticket for 

 the self-guided tour contains a map 

 that includes suggested parking ar- 

 eas and detailed descriptions of the 

 gardens. If you purchase tickets in 

 advance. South Church will mail the 

 tickets, which will allow you to park 

 closer to the gardens when you begin 

 the tour. For more information, go 



to the link at or call Heather Parker 



at 433-2785. 



Credit: Heather Parker 



I*- 



In a recent issue of the Weekly 

 Market Bulletin, NH Ag Com- 

 misioner Steve Taylor reported that 

 commercial banks in the northeast 

 were discontinuing their participa- 

 tion in the area of ag lending. Garv 

 Matteson, owner of New England 

 Anemones in Epsom, NH has served 

 as a Farm Credit Board of Director 

 for 12 years. Matteson reports, "This 

 change in lending institutions will be 

 most noticeable in New York. Here 

 in New England, commercial banks 

 have been retreating from writing ag 

 loans for many years." 



As commercial banks exit this 

 business sector. Farm Credit is 

 poised to expand its financial ser- 

 vices to Northeast natural resource 

 professionals. Growers, farmers, and 

 fisherman will find the financial ex- 

 pertise required to negotiate agricul- 

 tural loans at their area Farm Credit 

 offices. 



Matteson reports that the Board 

 of Directors is keenly aware of how 

 important it is to look ahead and 

 anticipate the lending needs of the 

 region's ag borrowers. "Our track re- 

 cord in this area is excellent," Mat- 

 teson said. He mentioned Farm 

 Credit's involvement in the area of 

 funding the purchase of land devel- 

 opment rights. Ten years ago, this 

 business practice was just getting off 

 the ground. Now it's a proven meth- 

 od to keep land open and protect it 

 from development and Farm Credit 

 has worked with many borrowers 

 with these unique needs." 



In the next decade, the ag econ- 

 omy will include new practices, new 

 business organizations, and new 

 products. The Directors will work to 

 ensure that Farm Credit can respond 

 to these credit worthy needs as they 

 have done since the nationwide insti- 

 tution was first organized." 

 Credit: Melissa Moore 



D.S. COLE HOSTS TOUR 



At the end of March a Farm Tour 

 was conducted to showcase 

 the working partnership between 

 New Hampshire's ag producers and 

 UNH Extension. Three agricultur- 

 al operations in Merrimack County 

 were featured. The Yeaton Farm in 

 Epsom is a modern dairy operation. 

 At this location, participants saw a 

 state of the art dairy barn and milk- 

 ing facility. John Porter, area UNH 

 Extension Dairy Specialist discussed 

 the number of ways he has worked 

 v/ith the Yeaton Family to help their 

 operation benefit from new research 

 in the area of energy use, animal 

 feeding, and animal housing. 

 At D.S. Cole Growers Inc. in Loud- 

 on, the group's attention was fo- 

 cused on greenhouse management. 

 Paul Fisher, UNH associate professor 

 in the Dept. of Plant Biology and 

 extension specialist in greenhouse 

 management reported on the recent 

 collaborative efforts he has been in- 

 volved with at Doug Cole's opera- 

 tion. These projects range from em- 

 ployee training programs to artificial 

 lighting research. 



The last tour stop was Sunny- 

 side Maples on Rt. 106 in Loudon. 

 Richard and Elaine Moore manage 

 a busy retail/wholesale operation 

 at this site. At the Rt. 106 loca- 

 tion, their sugarbush is located just 

 behind their retail facility. The ac- 

 cessibility of this operation enabled 

 the group to see research at work in 

 the sugarbush. Sumner Dole, UNH 

 Extension Educator in Forest Re- 

 sources, discussed new tubing layout 

 designs, the effect of smaller spouts, 

 and vaccum installations, and more. 

 UNH President Ann Weaver Hart 

 took part in the Farm Tour. The 

 tour highlighted the many ways 

 UNH Extension Educators impact 

 the agricultural economy in the 

 Granite State. 



Credit: Allyson Brehm, Farm Bureau 

 Media Coordinator, contributed the 

 Farm Four News story. 



SPRING 200^ 



17 



