Articles by Margaret Tearman

From Vine to Wine

2010 was a very good year for Maryland grapes

It’s been a wild weather year — record winter snowfall followed by record summer heat followed by record daily rainfall. Weather that’s been inconvenient for most us has been terrible for Maryland farmers who grow conventional crops like corn and soybeans. But for Maryland grape growers in all corners of the state, 2010 has been a very good year. “A good year is an understatement,” Rob Deford, president of Boordy Vineyards in Hydes, Maryland, told...

Article - Green Living; by Margaret Tearman; 10/14/10

Horses Count, Too

Maryland’s horses, ponies, mules, donkeys and burros are being counted in their very own census.

The Maryland Horse Industry Board has enlisted the United States Department of Agriculture to count Maryland’s equine population. More than 21,000 census forms were mailed in April to equine owners and stable operators across the state. This is only the second count of Maryland’s horses. The first census was taken in 2002. “The first equine census gave us an important baseline for measuring the size of our equine industry,” said Maryland Agriculture Secretary...

Article - Creature Feature; by Margaret Tearman; 4/29/10

Update: Get Your Cash for Clunker Appliances Now!

Time runs out when the money’s gone-

Maryland’s appliance rebate program, begun on April 22, will last only until the $5.4 million runs out. Better act fast. The state-administered rebates are going quick. In Illinois, energy- and money-wise customers went through their state’s $6.2 million in one day. As part of last year’s federal stimulus bill, the U.S. Department of Energy distributed $300 million among the 50 states for energy-efficient appliance rebates. When and how the funds were distributed was left to...

Article - Things; by Margaret Tearman; 4/29/10

Old Stuff Is Good Stuff

Doug Sisk can’t bear to see anything go to waste

Doug Sisk can’t stand to see stuff — good, solid, reusable stuff — go into the landfill. He knows firsthand that just about anything can be made into something useful. It just takes creative thinking and handiwork. Like the 40-year-old deck on the circa-1960 ranch house the Sisk family had begun to remodel. “There was nothing wrong with the deck,” says Sisk. “The wood was clean. It wasn’t warped. It wasn’t full of insects. And the builder...

Article - People; by Margaret Tearman; 5/13/10

For the Love of Luca

A little boy gives you a big chance to fight childhood cancer

Luca Assante will be three years old on June 20. He and his two sisters, Isabella and Gabriella, live with their parents Lucy and Vinnie in Annapolis, not too far away from Grandpa Ray and Grandma Geraldine. Or from Lucy’s sister and her kids. Aunt Maria and Uncle Sal live in Dunkirk. The other dozens of aunts, uncles and cousins are spread out, many in Italy. They are part of a large, loving family, a family that understands the need to stick together. Especially for the children...

Article - People; by Margaret Tearman; 5/20/10

-Sneak a Peek-

Once a year, Hammond Harwood House opens the gates to the capital city’s secret gardens — and invites you to look inside

High walls, secured gates and similar impositions block out the curious and provoke questions: What grows on the other side? Is that water I hear? What flower can smell so sweet, even from a distance? Even on tiptoes, the answers are evasive. Nothing tempts as much as something one cannot see, as we learned in The Secret Garden from little Mary Lennox, who sought the hidden walled-in garden and unlocked its secrets. But unlike the mysterious garden in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s...

Article - Places; by Margaret Tearman; 6/3/10

The Tall Price of Power

For SMECO, it’s a big job feeding our demand for electricity

Something alien is growing in Calvert County. The aliens have sprouted up in the front yards of homes along quiet, winding Bowie Shop Road. Still more are appearing on Route 4. They are big, very big, towering over the landscape. Eventually there will be 23 of them. These aliens are behemoth power poles, erected by Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative in the name of progress. The new metal poles bear little resemblance to the old wooden poles they are replacing, and they don’t exist...

Article - News; by Margaret Tearman; 9/30/10

Unclogging the Bog

Goats, sheep clear the way for endangered turtles

Drive north past Baltimore into Carroll County on Maryland Route 30, and you may rub your eyes and wonder if they’re playing tricks on you. No, your imagination is not running wild. Those are goats and sheep grazing alongside the highway. But they are not just any goats and sheep. They are state contractors, hired to mow the lawn — and save the turtles. - The Turtles Several years back, the Maryland State Highway Administration purchased land along the old Hanover Pike...

Article - News; by Margaret Tearman; 6/10/10

Amazing Maize Mazes

Making these marvels is just as much a puzzle as finding your way through them

Well-trod paths lead to dusty dead-ends. Back to the last turn. Go right instead of left, left instead of right. Until, finally, light at the end of the corn row. High fives all around. A corn maze has been successfully navigated. A sure sign of fall, these tricky trails through acres of dried cornstalks are a growing business as agri-tourism blossoms. It’s next to impossible to see on foot, but the maze-trekker has just walked the outline of a giant pirate ship. Or a soldier. Or a...

Article - News; by Margaret Tearman; 9/23/10

Chesapeake Shuckers Sidelined

With oyster supplies stifled by the Gulf oil spill, demand for shell grows

The oil itself may not soil the Bay, but the effects of the massive spill are being felt along its shores by the people who depend on the Gulf fisheries for a living. Jobs are being lost as Virginia and Maryland oyster shucking houses have already begun to see their oyster supply dry up as Gulf fisheries close, one by one. Louisiana supplies Maryland shucking houses with between 60 and 70 percent of their oysters. In turn, those shucking houses provide shells for Maryland’s seed...

Article - News; by Margaret Tearman; 7/8/10