Boston Flora

Month: July 2015

  • Wednesday, August 19, 6:30 pm – Pickling and Preserving 101

    Join Julia, Formaggio Kitchen’s senior buyer and avid home pickler/jamming enthusiast, as she takes you through preserving some of the tastiest summer fruits and veggies at the Formaggio Kitchen Classroom Annex off Concord Avenue in Cambridge on Wednesday, August 19 at 6:30 pm. Julia will show you some of her tried and true pickling and jamming recipes and explain matching spices, fruits, vegetables, and brines. You’ll leave with a knowledge of how to make quick pickles, shelf stable pickles, and jam. In pickling lingo, learn how to “put up” your produce before winter and save some of the fantastic flavors that summer has to offer. Each participant will also leave with their own “pickle kit” so that you can put your new skills to use! NOTE: This class is held at our classroom annex, not our retail location. The annex is located at 67 Smith Place in Cambridge, and we highly recommend reviewing the directions available at www.formaggiokitchen.com. Please be aware of our cancellation policy. General Admission, $65.00 per person, register on line.

  • Sunday, August 16, 11:00 am – 1:30 pm – Japanese Summer Picnic Bento and Book Signing

    Learn to make a sumptuous bento box lunch for a summer picnic at a Sunday, August 16 class (11 – 1:30) at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston. In this hands-on workshop you will create the colorful rice salad called chirashizushi: a mélange of vegetables, and shrimp atop seasoned rice, Accompanying the rice will be a variety of tasty side dishes like seaweed salad, miso salmon and, for dessert, an icy treat called kakigori. We will use some of the garden’s Japanese herbs in the bento box. Debra Samuels, author of My Japanese Table, will include a short presentation on Japanese cuisine and culture. $55 for THBG members, nonmembers $65. Register online at www.towerhillbg.org.

  • Saturday, August 8, 1:00 pm – Birds and Bees and Tulip Trees

    Natalya Zahn’s Birds and Bees and Tulip Trees illustrates the relationships between North American plants and their pollinators. The Tower Hill opening reception and gallery walk for this Boston area artist will be Saturday, August 8, at 1 p.m. The nonprofit Tower Hill Botanic Garden is located at 11 French Drive in Boylston, Mass. For more information, visit towerhillbg.org or call 508-869-6111.

  • Sunday, February 21 – Tuesday, March 1 – Garden Tour of Costa Rica

    Costa Rica, ‘rich coast’ in Spanish, has a wealth of natural diversity and wildlife — over 10,000 plant species and more than 850 species of birds, including many endemics found nowhere else on earth. This 10-day study program February 21 – March 1, 2016 will expose you to some of this stunning array of exotic tropical plants and animals, the ecology of the rainforest and other ecological habitats, and tropical horticultural production.

    Join Susan Mahr, Wisconsin Master Gardener Program Coordinator, on a special trip as we leave the typical tourist route to visit some of the most exclusive areas of this stunningly beautiful country to discover the vast array of endemic plants in the rainforest, learn about tropical horticulture and crops, see abundant wildlife — monkeys, butterflies, birds, frogs and more — in their natural habitat, and much more.  See the complete itinerary at http://hiddentreasurestours.com//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/CR2016regbrochure.pdf. For more information call 573-303-2872 or email kari@hiddentreasurestours.com.

  • Wednesday, August 19, 12:00 noon – 2:00 pm – Boston Public Market Vendor Highlight

    Stop by the Trustees of Reservations‘ Kitchen every week to taste the bounty of the Boston Public Market and talk with vendors. During this time, Boston Public Market highlights one of its Market vendors with sampling, demonstrations, and vendor Q&A sessions. The first such session will take place on Wednesday, August 19, from 12 – 2.

    The Boston Public Market is a permanent, year-round, self-sustaining market featuring fresh locally-sourced food brought directly to and from the diverse people that make up Massachusetts and New England. At the BPM, local farmers, fishermen, and specialty food producers come together with the residents of Boston and Massachusetts to create a new civic institution, a vibrant marketplace that lets people from all walks of life taste, buy, and understand their food, from how it is made and sourced, to its nutritional value, to its impact on our environment and, of course, how to prepare it to make delicious meals that bring their friends and families together. Boston Public Market is the only locally-sourced market of its kind in the United States. For directions, click HERE.

  • Sunday, August 9, 10:00 am – 11:00 am – Planting the Seed for Our National Parks

    Planting the Seed for Our National Parks, The 150th Anniversary of Frederick Law Olmsted’s Yosemite Report, will be celebrated Sunday, August 9, 10:00–11:00am.
    Location: Outdoors, by a giant sequoia, Conifer Collection of the Arnold Arboretum, honoring the 150th anniversary of Olmsted’s Yosemite and the Mariposa Grove: A Preliminary Report, 1865 and its vision for national parks

    Known to many for creating public parks in cities, Frederick Law Olmsted was also an important advocate for scenic preservation across America. In his 1865 report, Olmsted articulated – some say for the first time by anyone – the role of government in protecting and making accessible our nation’s scenic landscapes for the enjoyment of all people in a democracy. Join us in the landscape by a giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) as we read aloud portions of the report with Olmsted’s eloquent and prescient prose on the actual anniversary of its first public reading by its author.

    Special guest reader: Dayton Duncan, Emmy Award-winning producer/writer of PBS’s The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. Performers: Maliotis Chamber Players, flute ensemble; Diane Edgecomb & Margot Chamberlain, Celtic harp and spoken word.

    Parking: Park on Bussey Street. Enter the Arboretum through the Bussey Street or Walter Street Gates and follow signs for Conifer Path to the giant sequoia.

    Public Transportation: Take the T to Forest Hills. Exit the T station on the upper level. Cross Washington Street and enter the Arboretum through the Washington Street Gate. Follow Blackwell Foot Path to South Street. Cross South Street to reenter the Arboretum. Turn left at the intersection on Hemlock Hill Road and follow signs to the event.

    Note: bring a low chair or cushion to sit upon. Wear comfortable walking shoes as Conifer Path traverses a steep incline. For general information: www.nps.gov/frla, 617-566-1689

    For directions and parking information: www.arboretum.harvard.edu, 617-384-5209. Co-sponsored by Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, and the Emerald Necklace Conservancy. This program is made possible in part by generous support from the Friends of Fairsted.

  • Sunday, August 9, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Caterpillars of Great Blue Hill

    Come with Sam Jaffe and The New England Wild Flower Society to explore Great Blue Hill and learn about its surprising caterpillars! From the ski-slope meadows to the pitch pine and scrub oak barren tops, the area is home to many strange and wonderful creatures. Past trips have uncovered the clown-eyed spicebush swallowtail, the giant polyphemus, the hydraulic tailed furcula (image from www.bugguide.net,) and the simply indescribable monkey slug. The session takes place Sunday, August 9 from 1 – 4 in Canton, Massachusetts, and is $28 for NEWFS members, $35 for nonmembers. Register online at http://www.newfs.org/learn/our-programs/caterpillars-of-great-blue-hill. 

  • Saturday, August 8, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm, and Tuesday, August 18, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Wildflower Pressing Workshop

    Join artist Linda Ruel Flynn of Flora-Ly at Skyfields, 1461 Old Keene Road in Athol, for a Wildflower Pressing Workshop on Saturday, August 8, from 1 – 3. Linda will teach how to select and press wildflowers to make memorable botanical collages. After picking and pressing flowers on the 8th, we will reconvene at 6pm on Tuesday the 18th to arrange the flowers, creating a small collage for you to keep. $10 fee. For more information call 978-413-1772. Image from www.greetingsofgrace.com.

  • Tuesday, August 11, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Making Herbal Salves

    Holly Bellebuono of Vineyard Herbs returns to the Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury, Martha’s Vineyard for her popular salve-making workshop on Tuesday, August 11 from 1 – 3. This fun hands-on workshop starts with a walk to identify and collect medicinal herbs and weeds on the Arboretum grounds. Next, participants make their own oil infusions and beeswax-based ointments. Learn practical knowledge on when and how to use herbal salves and take home your useful creations. Supplies included. Please pre-register at www.pollyhillarboretum.org, since space is limited. $45/$40 for PHA members.

  • Tuesday, August 11, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm – Hydric Soils

    This course for environmental professionals, to be held at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, Massachusetts on Tuesday, August 11 from 9 – 4, serves as an introduction or refresher on hydric soils, with a focus on understanding the current field indicators of hydric soils in the United States (USDA-NRCS), the basis for USACE soil descriptions. During the morning classroom session, we will review basic soil descriptors including color, texture, and soil development, specifically hydric characteristics, and redoximorphic features. In the afternoon field session, we will learn to apply these indicators to soils. Bring available field equipment and a bag lunch; wear footwear appropriate for muddy conditions. The course, taught by Amanda Atwell, is $88 for NEWFS or Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions members, $110 for nonmembers. Register online at http://www.newfs.org/learn/our-programs/hydric-soils.