SAXTONS RIVER — Five gardens in the Saxtons River area will be open to visitors Saturday, July 28, as a fundraiser for Main Street Arts.
Gardens that frame a 1905 village home, supply organic vegetables to the occupants of a solar-powered log house, and shelter in the remains of a barn are among those on display from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rain date is Sunday, July 29.
Tickets are $10. Children are welcome at no charge; no pets. Maps and tickets will be on sale at Main Street Arts the day of the tour.
Included on the tour are the Westminster gardens of Catherine Cadieux and John Medeiros, who have created a cottage garden in front of their purple home at Horn Corner and a brookside path featuring statuary representing the world's major religions and leading to a labyrinth modeled after that at Chartres.
The gardens of Carol and David Buchdahl on a hillside above Saxtons River are studded with raised beds that provide a generous bounty of vegetables. Visitors can see a garden house and a labyrinth cut into the field in front of the old farmhouse.
Up the road, Christine Hume has acted as steward to the brick home and lands of the former Pruden farm, where she has reclaimed acres of open fields, built a series of ponds, and created a working sugar house. The turn-of-the century stonework foundation of a massive timber frame barn that burned to the ground in the early 1950s has become the enclosure for a brick patio surrounded by a large array of perennials.
Overlooking the fertile bowl of Saxtons River valley fields where the Athens and Grafton valleys intersect, Camilla and Solis Roberts have built their solar-powered log home on an old pasture hillside facing west and north. There, they grow and preserve vegetables, strawberries, raspberries, currants, peaches, and apples. Large flower beds around the house feature perennials that thrive in strong sun, and a greenhouse supplies greens and tomatoes in cooler months.
Just off the village's Main Street lies the white clapboarded home that Carol and John Wood purchased a half dozen years ago after retiring from teaching in Louisiana. A different gardening climate has encouraged the Woods to plant species new to them, including lilies, bearded iris, and delphiniums. A rock garden installed by the previous owner remains.
Further information about the tour is available by contacting Main Street Arts at 802-869-2960, emailing [email protected], on Facebook, or online at www.MainStreetArts.org.