Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz
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Dave and Pam Durrant show Tom Aciukewicz an app that quantifies their savings by charging their hybrid SUV during off-peak hours.
A stuffed river otter greets and draws in visitors to the Nashua River Watershed Association’s booth, as Stephanie (left) and Holly Cavicchi can attest.
The Tortora family, from left, Nicholas, Daniela, Hobson, and Brian check out a Ford F150 Lightning, brought over by John Delaney from Jarvis Ford. Asked about how it does getting onto the highway, Delaney said the truck is “probably the fastest vehicle we’ve ever sold.” Because the truck doesn’t have a combusion engine, the front of the vehicle contains a trunk. .
Richard Jenson points to one of two batteries that power his house and his electric car. When his solar panels have filled the batteries, he sells the extra energy back to National Grid.
A corner woodstove is all that is used to heat the Jensons’ net-zero home on Mill Road when the temps dip well below freezing. Most winter days, the house stays warm enough with passive solar and heat provided by solar-powered minisplit heaters.
The Adams family shows off their Ford Mustang Mach E.
Steve Walz (left) of Harvard Outdoor Power talks to Caroline and Emily Wild about the batteries used in the electric chainsaws and leaf blowers on display.
Rene Turnheim tells visitors about his honeybees and which plants provide bees with the most pollen at Good Spirits Farm on East Bare Hill Road.
Margaret Kusner gets to work turning over the soil with a pitchfork in her community garden plot on Littleton Road.
Community gardener Christine Spielvogel picks up dandelion greens. She has an easy recipe for cooking the greens, which are high in antioxidants and can lower blood sugar. She warns, “Pick them before they flower, or they’ll be bitter. Leave the roots for next years greens."
The recently reopened farmstand at Good Spirits Farm offers honey, herbs, homemade jams, lip balm, and flowers.
Christiane and Rene Turnheim grow native trees, flowers, and herbs—many with healing properties like tansy, shown here, which can cure skin ailments.
The Turnheims recently added a greenhouse to get an early start on seedlings during rainy, cool springs. Their gardens are open Saturdays and Sundays from 1-3 p.m. May through November for self-guided tours.
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