Arts and Recreation

Coming Up at Nova Arts in Keene

Friday, March 27, Sean Rowe with special guest Simon Gray

On Friday, March 27 we look forward to presenting Sean Rowe with special guest Simon Gray, bringing an evening of powerful songwriting and live performance to Keene.

Sean Rowe is an American singer-songwriter known for his commanding baritone voice and emotionally rich sound. NPR’s All Songs Considered describes his vocals as so powerful "he can just crush granite," while The Wall Street Journal notes his timeless style, recalling artists like Van Morrison and Johnny Cash. Rowe has performed at major festivals including Mountain Jam and Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival, and has shared stages with artists such as Robert Plant and Alabama Shakes. His music has reached international audiences through appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live and through his song "To Leave Something Behind," featured in the film The Accountant.

Joining Rowe is multi-instrumentalist Simon Gray, whose musical journey began busking on the streets of Las Vegas and has since taken him around the world, from New Orleans to New Zealand. Gray has been involved in a wide range of musical projects, including bands such as Skeeter, The Fungal Jungle Big Band, and The Six Percenters, as well as several Monadnock-area groups. He has also composed and produced scores for a variety of film and media projects.

Doors open at 7:00 p.m. and music begins at 7:30 p.m.!

Access For All tickets available thanks to support from Savings Bank of Walpole. (Note: To purchase more than one Access For All ticket, each must be done in a separate transaction.)

Shows are all ages and seating is first come first served.

Tickets and more info available at www.novaarts.org/events

Nova Arts is located at 48 Emerald St, Keene, NH.

Regional News

Financial Focus®

Ask these two questions before buying a home

You may have heard that buying a home is better than renting. After all, why "throw money away" on rent when you could be building wealth through homeownership? Financial professionals say the decision isn't that simple.

The answer depends on your personal and financial situation. Before you begin house hunting, ask yourself two key questions: Can you afford to buy? And should you buy?

Can you afford to buy? While being ready to purchase a home means having enough money for a down payment and a monthly mortgage, other financial obligations are involved.

It's important that your debt levels are manageable before you buy. Without a mortgage, it's ideal for your monthly debt payments to be less than 20% of your gross monthly income. With a mortgage, debt payments should stay lower than 35%.

You'll also need to cover homeowner's insurance premiums with a deductible, pay annual property taxes, hold emergency savings for the costs of major repairs such as roof or driveway replacement and build flexibility into your budget for routine expenses like HVAC tune-ups and lawn care. Don't forget the upfront costs, such as closing costs, that come with homebuying. They typically run between 2% and 6% of the purchase price.

Should you buy? One of the biggest factors in deciding whether to buy or rent relates to time. The longer you plan to stay in your house, the more likely it is that buying makes financial sense. Generally, professionals say it doesn't make sense to buy unless you're planning to stay in the home at least three to five years.

When you buy a home, you face high purchasing costs right away. Initially, you build equity slowly, since most of your mortgage payment goes to interest. Staying in your house longer offers more time to build equity. Overall, the total cost of buying could be lower than renting.

Many factors can impact whether it will be more cost effective to rent than buy. Job stability, potential reduction in income for one or both spouses, mortgage rates, rental costs, the rate at which homes are appreciating in value and the cost of homeowners insurance all come into play. Fortunately, many online calculators account for these factors and help you compare your options.

Beyond the numbers. When deciding whether to buy a house, don't just look at the cost. Buying a home is more than an investment. Your home is where you live your life. So, you should consider your lifestyle and preferences. Buying might be more suitable if you need stability, want to personalize your home and are comfortable with tying a portion of your wealth to a house. Renting offers more flexibility and fewer maintenance responsibilities.

Ultimately, choosing to rent or buy comes down to understanding your finances, your plans and what you want from the place you call home. Take the time to assess costs and lifestyle trade-offs to help make a choice that supports your long-term goals.

Gardening

Grow More Tomatoes

Big Beef tomato has remained one of the most popular red tomatoes in North America with its 8-to-12-ounce fruit.
Photo courtesy of All-America Selections

by Melinda Myers
Enjoy the fresh-from-the-garden flavor of homegrown tomatoes. Grow one or more in a container, a dedicated vegetable garden or plant them with flowers in garden beds.

Purchase transplants from a local garden center if not starting plants from seed at home. Check the tags and select varieties suited to how they will be used. Grow bite-sized cherry, plum or cocktail tomatoes to use in salads, on relish trays, and for snacking. Include a few paste tomatoes, like Romas, with meatier fruit for making sauces and soups. Don't forget about slicers, like Big Beef, Beefsteak and Better Boy, to enjoy on sandwiches, grilled, or on their own.

Prepare plants that will be moved from under lights indoors or a sunny greenhouse to the growing conditions in the garden. Start the hardening off process one to two weeks prior to planting outdoors. Stop fertilizing the plants and move them outdoors to a shaded location. Each day, increase the amount of direct sun the plants receive. Be sure to cover or move the plants indoors whenever there is a danger of frost.

Once hardened off and the soil is prepared, it's time to plant. Carefully slide the plant out of the container. Gently loosen the roots of pot-bound transplants to encourage them to grow into the surrounding soil. Remove any flowers or small fruit, allowing the plant to focus its energy on developing a robust root system and a more productive plant.

Plant tall, leggy plants deeper to encourage roots to develop along the buried stem. Dig a trench, remove the lower leaves and set the plant on its side in the trench. Carefully bend the stem upright, then cover the portion in the trench with soil and water.

Set stakes and towers in place at the time of planting to avoid root damage. Training tomatoes keeps the fruit off the ground, reducing insect and disease problems. That means more fruit to harvest and enjoy.

Train tomato plants on to stakes for an earlier, but smaller harvest than those grown in cages. Grow plants with less effort in sturdy towers or cages. There will be more tomatoes to pick, but a bit later with this method. Plants left sprawled on the ground yield the largest harvest, but many fruits are lost to disease, insects and gardeners' feet.

Shorten the time to harvest and help manage weeds with the help of floating row cover, clear plastic or cloches. Use these to cover the properly prepared planting space a week or two before planting. Once the soil is warm, lightly cultivate the soil to kill any weeds that have sprouted. Do not dig deep, which brings more weed seeds to the surface to begin growing. Use row covers or cloches to protect plants from early season cold temperatures and frost.

Further shorten the time to harvest by planting early ripening varieties, like Early Girl, Fourth of July, and Fantastico. Check the catalog description or plant tags for the number of days between planting and harvest. Growing these or other early ripening varieties means you'll be enjoying fresh tomatoes sooner.

Always water plants thoroughly when the top few inches of soil are crumbly and moist. Avoid overhead watering which increases the risk of disease. Instead, apply water directly to the soil surface, using a watering wand, soaker hose or drip irrigation. Extend the time between watering and increase success with mulch. Spread a two-inch layer of shredded leaves, weed-free straw, or evergreen needles over the surface around plants. This will conserve water, suppress weeds, and improve the soil as the mulch decomposes.

With proper planting and care there will be a bounty of tasty, garden-fresh tomatoes to harvest and enjoy.

Melinda Myers has written over 20 gardening books, including The Midwest Gardener's Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses "How to Grow Anything" instant video series and the nationally-syndicated Melinda's Garden Moment radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and her website is www.MelindaMyers.com.