Home & Garden

Home and garden section

No Curbside Leaf Pickup in Brattleboro this Fall, Explore Eco-Friendly Alternatives

by Not Signed In | Home & Garden

The Town of Brattleboro will not be offering curbside leaf collection during the fall 2025 season. The program was discontinued during the fiscal year 2026 budget development process. While curbside collection will no longer be available, the Town encourages the community to explore alternative, environmentally friendly methods for managing their fall leaves.

The information below draws on guidance from the University of Vermont (UVM) Extension Community Horticulture programs, the Windham Solid Waste Management District, and Brattleboro’s Sustainability Coordinator.

Solar for All Beneficiaries File Suit Against EPA to Restore the Program

by Not Signed In | Home & Garden

Today, October 6, 2025, the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), Lawyers for Good Government, and others filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island on behalf of beneficiaries of the Solar for All program to restore the program that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sought to terminate in July.

Please Feed the Bees Instead of Mowing Your Lawn! Happy Bee-Mommy Day!

by CrisEricson2016 | Home & Garden

Daisy and I are not mowing our lawn as long as there are dandelions, wild strawberries and other wild ground cover the BEES need for food! I never had children and like many women I was bruised by Vice President J.D. Vance’s remark, before he was elected V.P., calling women with no kids “childless cat ladies” or something like that, so, after sending flowers on social media to women family and friends who did have children, then, I declared today “Happy Bee-Mommy Day” for all the childless cat ladies like me, even though Daisy is a dog!

Twenty Years And The Need Continues

by RDavis | Home & Garden

Twenty years ago Daryl Pillsbury and I wanted to do something to help people struggling to pay home heating bills. The price of fuel was high and we figured that, in a short time, the situation would get better and we could suspend our operations. We had no idea what we were getting into when we started the Windham County Heat Fund.

Over the years we have learned that the price of heating fuel has only a little to do with people’s ability to pay for it. There are a host of factors feeding into the situation. Global and national politics enter into the mix. The gap between the have’s and the have-not’s is wider than ever, and as long as that continues more and more people will struggle to pay for life’s necessities.
Wages have not kept up with the rate of growth of the economy and too many people who are making their best efforts to stay above water have to have two or three jobs and they still often teeter on the brink of homelessness.

aBrattleboro

by AnneODyne | Home & Garden

Writing from outside and away from the area now, not quite self-imposed exile but with the place in the rear view mirror.  What comes to mind; ghost roads, places only inhabited in memory, a distilled distance.  A somewhat heavy thing to have a home and then not live in it. Circumstances, fate, who knows what controls our comings and goings?

Clearly space and time are connected as being far away throws spectral light on long years of residence. People, snippets of conversation, smell of certain hallways, the bank of various turns, particular potholes… funny what’s recalled of its own accord. 

Low Income Senior Citizens Notified We Will Lose Program That Helps Pay For Internet In April!

by CrisEricson2016 | Home & Garden

Hello, I’m 71 going on 72 years old, I live alone with my dog, and I don’t know if I will be able to afford internet when this program ends in April. This email was sent to me by VTEL:

On Tuesday, January 16, 2024 at 04:06:05 PM EST, vermontel-no-reply@smarthub.coop wrote:

Dear Valued ACP Customer,

We regret to inform you that the FCC has advised us of the potential ending of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) in the very near future.

Learn About Native Bees

by JillStahlTyler | Home & Garden

On Monday, March 13, at 7 PM at Brooks Memorial Library, the Brattleboro Garden Club will host a free presentation given by Aliza Fassler, a graduate researcher at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, on native bees.

Come to learn about where do bees go in winter; how to distinguish a bee from a wasp or a native bee from a honey bee and which native bee species might be in your yard.  In North America there are approximately 4,000 species of wild bees that are critical for pollinating plants in our forests, gardens and fields. Learn about the diversity of bee species in New England and how to help them in your yards and gardens.

My Good Friend Mark Is Looking For An Apartment

by SK-B | Home & Garden

I have a friend, who wishes to rent an apartment in Windham County. His name is Mark Laurence. I have known him for about 5 or 6 years. Through a VA program, Mark’s rent can be up to $1,000 per month. He currently lives and rents in Massachusetts.


I think that Mark’s good character makes him a desirable tenant. He is guided by an internal compass, so that he can be counted on to meet his obligations. In fact, Mark goes beyond his obligations. When he visits me and Donna, he cannot stop himself from noticing something that needs to be fixed, and insists on taking care of it. He is skilled, and has a knack for knowing exactly what needs to be done. (He even fixed a clothes dryer for us which we thought needed to be junked, and now works perfectly) At his present residence, Mark has made repairs at no charge to his landlady.

Gordon Hayward Talks About Art & the Gardener at Next Stage Arts on 1/29 at 4pm

by hahrenholz | Home & Garden

Gordon Hayward will give an illustrated talk for just over an hour on the design elements shared by the painter and garden designer. This talk comes out of Hayward’s 2008 book Art and the Gardener (Gibbs Smith). Admission is by donation, and all proceeds will directly benefit Next Stage Arts and Sandglass Theater. Tickets may be purchased at nextstagearts.org or at the box office on the day of the event.

Juxtaposing an image on the large screen of a fine painting (Van Gogh, Monet, Magritte, Derain, Renoir, Klimt, Rousseau….) next to a garden image, Hayward will explore a variety of elements of composition: straight lines vs. curved lines in paintings as well as paths and planted beds; the itinerary of the eye; positive and negative space (as in the positive space of planted beds and the negative space of adjacent lawn); color, light and shadow, the role of background, placing easels to paint as being akin to placing garden chairs to sit.

Shopping Day at Swap Shop

by rbrem | Home & Garden

Another SHOPPING DAY (no donations accepted) at Swap Shop at WSWMD on Old Ferry Road, Brattleboro on Saturday, September 17, 8:30 am to noon. ALL ITEMS ARE FREE.

SCHEDULE & HOURS:
Shopping Days- 1st & 3rd Saturdays of the month
Donation Days- 2nd & 4th Saturdays of the month
If a month contains 5 weeks, the Swap Shop will be closed
Hours are 8:30am-12pm.  (Large donation loads may not be accepted after 11:30am)

Another Shopping Day at Swap Shop

by rbrem | Home & Garden

Another SHOPPING DAY (no donations accepted) at Swap Shop at WSWMD on Old Ferry Road, Brattleboro on Saturday, September 3, 8:30 am to noon. ALL ITEMS ARE FREE.

SCHEDULE & HOURS:
Shopping Days- 1st & 3rd Saturdays of the month
Donation Days- 2nd & 4th Saturdays of the month
If a month contains 5 weeks, the Swap Shop will be closed
Hours are 8:30am-12pm.  (Large donation loads may not be accepted after 11:30am)

Another Free Shopping Day at Swap Shop

by rbrem | Home & Garden

SHOPPING DAY (no donations accepted) at Swap Shop at WSWMD on Old Ferry Road, Brattleboro on Saturday, August 6, 8:30 am to noon. ALL ITEMS ARE FREE.

SCHEDULE & HOURS:
Shopping Days- 1st & 3rd Saturdays of the month
Donation Days- 2nd & 4th Saturdays of the month

Another Shopping Day at Swap Shop

by rbrem | Home & Garden

SHOPPING DAY (no donations accepted) at Swap Shop at WSWMD on Old Ferry Road, Brattleboro on Saturday, July 16, 8:30 am to noon. ALL ITEMS ARE FREE.

SCHEDULE & HOURS:
Shopping Days- 1st & 3rd Saturdays of the month
Donation Days- 2nd & 4th Saturdays of the month
If a month contains 5 weeks, the Swap Shop will be closed
Hours are 8:30am-12pm.  (Large donation loads may not be accepted after 11:30am)

Another Shopping Day at Swap Shop

by rbrem | Home & Garden

SHOPPING DAY (no donations accepted) at Swap Shop at WSWMD on Old Ferry Road, Brattleboro on Saturday, July 2, 8:30 am to noon. ALL ITEMS ARE FREE.

SCHEDULE & HOURS:
Shopping Days- 1st & 3rd Saturdays of the month
Donation Days- 2nd & 4th Saturdays of the month
If a month contains 5 weeks, the Swap Shop will be closed
Hours are 8:30am-12pm.  (Large donation loads may not be accepted after 11:30am)

Shopping at Swap Shop

by rbrem | Home & Garden

SHOPPING DAY (no donations accepted) at Swap Shop at WSWMD on Old Ferry Road, Brattleboro on Saturday, June 18, 8:30 am to noon. ALL ITEMS ARE FREE.   Photos of some available items are posted on Facebook’s Brattleboro, Vermont group page. MANY NEW ITEMS! WE’RE OVERSTOCKED!

SCHEDULE & HOURS:
Shopping Days- 1st & 3rd Saturdays of the month
Donation Days- 2nd & 4th Saturdays of the month

Shopping Day at the Swap Shop

by rbrem | Home & Garden

SHOPPING ONLY DAY at Swap Shop at WSWMD on Old Ferry Road, Brattleboro on Saturday, June 4, 8:30 am to noon. ALL ITEMS ARE FREE.   Photos of some available items are posted on Facebook’s Brattleboro, Vermont group page. Loads of new treasures came in last Saturday!

SCHEDULE & HOURS:
Shopping Days- 1st & 3rd Saturdays of the month
Donation Days- 2nd & 4th Saturdays of the month
If a month contains 5 weeks, the Swap Shop will be closed
Hours are 8:30am-12pm.  (Large donation loads may not be accepted after 11:30am)

Swap Shop is Overflowing!

by rbrem | Home & Garden

SHOPPING ONLY DAY at Swap Shop at WSWMD on Old Ferry Road, Brattleboro on Saturday, May 21, 8:30 am to noon. ALL ITEMS ARE FREE.   Photos of some available items are posted on Facebook’s Brattleboro, Vermont group page.  WE ARE OVERFLOWING WITH TREASURES! Please help us clean out our space.

SCHEDULE & HOURS:
Shopping Days- 1st & 3rd Saturdays of the month
Donation Days- 2nd & 4th Saturdays of the month
If a month contains 5 weeks, the Swap Shop will be closed
Hours are 8:30am-12pm.  (Large donation loads may not be accepted after 11:30am)

No Mow May

by cgrotke | Home & Garden

Need an excuse to be lazy for a month? I have one for you. No Mow May.

It started in England and is a movement to NOT mow lawns in May, to let dandelions, violets and other plant life have a chance to feed some bees.

Swap Shop Shopping Day

by rbrem | Home & Garden

SHOPPING ONLY DAY at Swap Shop at WSWMD on Old Ferry Road, Brattleboro on Saturday, April 16, 8:30 am to noon. ALL ITEMS ARE FREE.   Photos of some available items are posted on Facebook’s Brattleboro, Vermont group page.

SCHEDULE & HOURS:
Shopping Days- 1st & 3rd Saturdays of the month
Donation Days- 2nd & 4th Saturdays of the month
If a month contains 5 weeks, the Swap Shop will be closed
Hours are 8:30am-12pm.  (Large donation loads may not be accepted after 11:30am)

Beating Speculation: Requiring A Wait Period Before Renting Out

by cgrotke | Home & Garden

Here’s an interesting idea to curb speculative investing: Create a rule that any new homebuyer must wait a year or two before renting out a property.

The Washington Post has a story about it being tried in a few places. Not a perfect solution, but slows that out-of-state speculation and the big investment companies are squealing so it must be working to some degree.