ESSEX — The Essex Conservation & Trails Committee (CTC) received a 2022 Greening Schools Grant offered by Horsford Gardens & Nursery and the Vermont Urban & Community Forestry Program. The
Eileen Schilling watering plants at Horsford Gardens & Nursery The daffodils are blooming along the driveway to Horsford Gardens & Nursery in Charlotte. At the edge of the greenhouses, tulips that two weeks ago were bent and obscured by spring snow have rebounded in vibrant colors. The black locust trees by the garden shop, growing side by side for a century, will soon leaf out. The two trees were in rough shape when Eileen Schilling (April 13, 1958-March 19, 2021) and Charlie Proutt purchased Horsford 35 years ago. The couple planted a flower garden around the trees, built a small stone wall, and rerouted a road that ran past them. Before long, the black locusts started growing like teenagers, according to Proutt.