Hope blooms in Marshfield July 7 -13, 2010

ORGANIZATION PLANTS GARDEN FOR CANCER PATIENT

".....Eisenberg, who was diagnosed in 2004, died less than a year later in August of 2005. The loss prompted Hershon, a resident of Dedham, to start Hope in Bloom, an organization that relies on volunteers to help plant free gardens at the homes of both female and male breast cancer patients around the state"............

".......Some days when I don’t feel good, looking at the garden brings a kind of peace to you,” she said, noting that about a year after getting on the organization’s wait list, the garden was completed. “It’s pretty and restful.”

Hershon said that while the idea for Yelverton's garden was initially for a container garden, it morphed into a smaller, easy-to-maintain ground garden, which seven volunteers, including landscape designer Peggy Connors, all worked to help make a reality.

"This is something that helps get people through the dark days," said Hershon. “It’s in the front of Nancy's house so when you drive in it looks really happy."

As for the daily watering, Yelverton said Amy Yelverton-Sullivan, Nancy’s daughter and “health care advocate” who researched and found Hope in Bloom, would help her maintain it on days spent elsewhere.

Hershon credited several entities for the construction of Yelverton’s garden, including The Friends of Mel Foundation in Hingham, which donated the vases, and The Green Connection in Scituate, which donated all the loam and mulch.

"We often don't get donations," said Hershon, explaining that gardens and the work that goes into them usually doesn’t come cheap, a hurdle Hope in Bloom continues to deal with. "We usually pay for things ourselves, so this is kind of a fluke. Right now we're only in the state but the goal is to one day go national.”

Hope in Bloom has approximately 150 people on a waiting list and, according to Hershon, help of any kind, including donations, is greatly appreciated.

Scituate company turns yard waste into landscaper's gold 7/11/09

LANDSCAPER'S GOLD

The Green Connection in Scituate makes mulch, compost and other soil amendments out of grass clippings, leaves and brush.

Paul Nielsen of Scituate was "green" long before it was fashionable. In 1991, he launched The Green Connection, a company that makes mulch, compost and other soil amendments out of grass clippings, leaves and brush.

"When I was in the landscape business, I was dumping green waste at other people's sites," Nielsen said. "I thought, why not accept it at my own site and do it myself?"

His timing couldn't have been better; in 1990, the Legislature passed the Waste Ban, a regulation prohibiting the filling of landfills with leaves and yard waste. Yard waste that is compressed in a landfill does not get enough oxygen to decompose properly, Nielsen explained. And without sufficient oxygen, it emits methane gas, which contributes to global warming.

The Green Connection diverts about 40,000 yards of green waste from landfills every year. It is at 108 Stockbridge Road in Scituate.

For the past 18 years, Nielsen's top-selling product has been organic dark mulch made from local yard waste.

Patriot Ledger - read article

Scituate company turns yard waste
into landscaper's gold

Save the planet Save some cash 4/22/09

GREENSCAPING

Ever wonder what happens to all the grass clippings, leaves and branches hauled away from the curb on yard waste collection days?

By law, green waste cannot be dumped in landfills because poor air circulation will cause the organic material to emit methane gas as it decomposes, which contributes to global warming.

In Quincy, Braintree and Weymouth, green waste is collected by Capital Waste Services and trucked to commercial composting facilities, including The Green Connection in Scituate, where it is ground up, aged, screened and mixed to create mulch and compost.

Undoubtedly, some of the grass clippings come from chemically treated lawns. But according to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the chemicals will break down biologically during composting and the resulting product will be environmentally safe, said Laura Nielsen, business manager for The Green Connection. The mulch and compost is produced naturally, and is therefore, organic. But the products are not "certified organic" because they are not tested.

The Green Connection, owned by Scituate native Paul Nielsen, sells natural and colored mulches, loam, compost, aged horse manure, stone products and firewood. There is free delivery with an order of one cord of firewood and with three yards or more of landscaping products.

Patriot Ledger Home & Garden - read article

The Green Connection, owned by Scituate native Paul Nielsen, sells natural and colored mulches, loam, compost, aged horse manure, stone products and firewood. There is free delivery with an order of one cord of firewood and with three yards or more of landscaping products.

Firewood is a Hot Seller 11/1/08

The best time to order firewood is in the spring or summer, so many local suppliers are nearly out of seasoned wood. Seasoned firewood has been cut and split and left to dry for at least a year, according to Paul Nielsen, owner of The Green Connection Inc. in Scituate.

Patriot Ledger - read article

Firewood is a Hot Seller