On Saturday, September 3 from 11 – 4 enjoy Tomato Day at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive in Boylston. There will be tomato tastings, tours, cooking demonstrations and much more. From 2 – 3, Craig LeHoullier will give a lecture on Epic Tomatoes. Discover great tomato varieties appropriate for New England and learn tips on how to grow them successfully. The talk will be followed by a book signing. All events free with admission.
Mushrooms are tremendously diverse and play an important ecological role. In this New England Wild Flower Society class, to be held at Garden in the Woods in Framingham on Saturday, August 27 from 10 – 2, we will first learn about basic fungal biology and identification and then head out to the Garden for a mushroom foray. After lunch, we will identify our finds using field guides and microscopes. Bring a bag lunch and a hand lens if you have one. The class will be led by Clark University mycologist David Hibbett, and is $50 for NEWFS members, $62 for nonmembers. Register online at www.newfs.org.
A landmark Broadway musical from the swing era is reborn on the Esplanade on Wednesday, August 31 beginning at 7 pm. The Boys from Syracuse, based on Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, is often considered the finest of all Rodgers and Hart creations. Familiar songs include ‘Falling in Love with Love,’ ‘Sing for Your Supper,’ and ‘This Can’t Be Love.’ This ‘concert performance with dancing’ marks only the 2nd professional performance of the inimitable big-band style original 1938 orchestrations. This Boston Landmarks Orchestra concert performance is performed in collaboration with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, with Christopher Wilkins, conductor, Steven Maler, director, and Yo-El Cassell, choreographer. The DCR Hatch Shell is located at 47 David G. Mugar Way. Free. Rain date Thursday, September 1.
On Wednesday, August 31 at 6:30 pm, join Julia, Formaggio Kitchen’s senior buyer and avid home pickler/jamming enthusiast, as she takes you through pickling and preserving some of the tastiest summer veggies. Julia will show you some of her tried and true pickling and canning recipes and explain matching spices, vegetables, and brines. You’ll leave with a knowledge of how to make quick pickles, shelf stable pickles, canned tomatoes and a couple more unique preserves. 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. If you are unable to attend a class, please let us know at least 48 hours before the class is scheduled to take place and we will give you a full refund or a credit for a future class. No refunds are offered for cancellations within 48 hours before an event. There are no refunds, transfers, make-ups or deferments for missed classes.
General Admission, $65.00 per person. Register at http://www.formaggiokitchen.com/classes/
An exciting new program exists in Ashfield, Massachusetts, at the Ashfield flower and vegetable farm Gloriosa. The opportunity to help area farmers and get a first taste of hands-on agricultural training is part of the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. An excellent article and video may be found at http://www.recorder.com/Area-farm-apprentices-learn-a-lot-more-than-farming-3328818. For those who may be interested in applying for 2017, visit www.wwoof.net. Volunteers usually live with their host and are expected to join in and cooperate with the day to day activities, and, if you have a farm, smallholding, garden, allotment, vineyard or woodland and follow organic or sustainability principles, you might consider opening your home to WWOOFers.
Join The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum for our annual series of engaging and inspirational presentations from leading voices in the field of landscape architecture. Internationally renowned designers present their recent work articulating landscape as a medium of design for the social, cultural, and ecological life of the city. On September 8, at 7 pm in Calderwood Hall, Chris Reed will give the inaugural 2016/2017 lecture. Chris Reed, the founding principal of Stoss, is known for his innovative approach to the design of public spaces. Reed’s recent work includes the award-winning Plaza at Harvard University, which sits above the Cambridge Street underpass on the Harvard campus. This flexible open space accommodates events, pedestrians, and visitors who come to pass the time. Reed’s research interests include the impact of social sciences on design thinking and city-making strategies informed by landscape systems and dynamics. His work at Stoss has been recognized with the 2012 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Landscape Architecture and the 2010 Topos International Landscape Award. Tickets can be reserved online, in person at the door, or by phone: 617 278 5156. Museum admission: adults $15, seniors $12, students $5, free for members.
Garden Club of the Back Bay member and internationally renowned arranger Kaye Vosburgh will teach four single sessions of Sogetsu Ikebana at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive in Boylston, on Thursdays, September 8, October 13, November 10, and December 1. All classes except for the December session run from 9:30 – noon, but the December session begins one hour later. Register online at www.towerhillbg.org. Tower Hill members $35 per session, nonmembers $50.
Mushrooms are a fascinating part of the diverse habitats found in Berkshire County. Come to Bartholomew’s Cobble in Sheffield, Massachusetts on Saturday, August 27 from 10 – 12 and learn about the different varieties of mushrooms in our community and how to identify them. This Trustees of Reservations program is $5 for TTOR members, $10 for nonmembers. Sign up by calling 413-298-3239, x 3013, or email cpetrikhuff@thetrustees.org. For directions visit http://www.thetrustees.org. Image from www.dogchannel.com of a muscarinic mushroom poisonous to dogs.
During cherry blossom season, venture along the historic shores of Japan and South Korea on an incredible botanical journey. Enjoy a 14 night trip including an 11 night small ship cruise exploring ancient castles, peaceful Japanese gardens and opulent temples with Botanica World Discoveries. The itinerary is below. Request a quote from www.botanicatours.com.
Every year, the farmers at Red Fire Farm, 7 Carver Street in Granby have an unbelievable selection of amazing and often award-winning tomatoes for you to taste. It’s a great day at the farm, with everything from a 5K Tomato Trot field race to wagon rides to cooking demonstrations to live music to crafters and a smorgasbord of local fare from area producers. There will be canning and herb workshops, plus tomato tastings in the barn, along with flower crown making. Over 100 varieties of cherry, slicing, saucing and heirloom tomatoes will be available to try. $5, kids under 10 free. Directions and more information at www.redfirefarm.com.
