Boston Flora

Month: February 2018

  • Thursday, March 15, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – 177th Annual Meeting of the Worcester County Horticultural Society

    The 177th Annual Meeting of the Worcester County Horticultural Society and Tower Hill Botanic Garden will be held at Tower Hill on Thursday, March 15, 4-6pm. Admission is free; pre-registration required. Members are welcome to bring guests. However, only Tower Hill members may vote at the Business Meeting.

    Please register at www.towerhillbg.org or by calling 508.869.6111 x102

    Business Meeting – 4pm – The 177th Annual Meeting of the Worcester County Horticultural Society will include a presentation of the Society’s business over the past year, a vote on candidates for the Board of Trustees, as well as any resolutions proposed. Amendments to the Bylaws will be presented for consideration and vote. Proposed changes may be viewed on the Annual Meeting page of our website  or be requested by calling the telephone number above. The Business Meeting will be followed by a presentation by Rodney Eason.

    Please join us for a reception in the Great Hall immediately following the presentation.

    RODNEY EASON – Rodney is the CEO of the Land & Garden Preserve which stretches from Northeast Harbor to Seal Harbor on Mount Desert Island, Maine. Prior to joining the Preserve in 2015, Rodney was director of horticulture at Coastal Maine Botanical Garden and display division leader at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. Besides gardening and just an overall love of plants, his hobbies include bicycling, reading, and finding different ways to stay warm in the winter (he is a native Southerner). He and his wife, Carrie, feel extremely fortunate to be able to raise their two teens and two “tweens” in and around Acadia National Park.

  • On the Chesapeake: A Precarious Future of Rising Seas and High Tides

    Maryland’s Dorchester County is ground zero for climate change on Chesapeake Bay, as rising seas claim more and more land. High Tide in Dorchester, a film by Tom Horton, Dave Harp, and Sandy Cannon-Brown, explores the beauty of this liquid landscape and how the bay’s communities are at risk from high tides and erosion.

    Tom Horton has covered the environment for newspapers and magazines since 1972 and has authored several books on Chesapeake Bay. He currently writes for the monthly Bay Journal and teaches at Salisbury University in Maryland. Sandy Cannon-Brown, founder and president of VideoTakes, Inc., is an award-winning environmental filmmaker and teacher. She was an associate director for American University’s Center for Environmental Filmmaking. She lives in St. Michaels, Maryland and focuses her independent films on issues affecting the Chesapeake Bay. A lifelong Marylander, Dave Harp operates a corporate and editorial photography business in Cambridge, Maryland. He served as the staff photographer for the Hagerstown Morning Herald and was the photographer for The Baltimore Sun Magazine for nearly a decade.

    The short film may be viewed in its entirety at http://e360.yale.edu/features/on-the-chesapeake-a-precarious-future-of-rising-seas-and-high-tides

  • Thursday, May 31, 11:00 am – Party in the Park – Save the Date

    The 15th Anniversary Party in the Park, the Justine Mee Liff Fund Luncheon, will be held Thursday May 31 at Franklin Park.  Reception begins at 11 am, with 12 noon luncheon. Come celebrate with the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and wear your most outrageous hat.  For more information, call 617-522-2700, or buy tickets online at http://www.emeraldnecklace.org/party-in-the-park

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  • Sunday, March 3, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Edible Landscaping with Fruit

    This UMass Extension presentation on Sunday, March 3 will explore how fruit can be incorporated into an edible landscape setting. We’ll talk about common fruit like strawberries and blueberries and also more unusual fruit like Aronia and Lingonberries. Participants will learn what these plants can contribute to a home landscape and what it takes to grow them successfully. The end of the class we will tour the UMass Permaculture Garden. $35.

    The class will be taught by Sonia Schloemann at French Hall at UMass/Amherst, 230 Stockbridge Road in Amherst. Register and pay via credit card for any Mass Aggie seminar by visiting http://ag.umass.edu/fruit/news-events/mass-aggie-seminars/mass-aggie-seminars-2018. You will be taken to a secure RegOnline site where you will be able to choose which seminars you wish to attend and to pay. You will receive an e-mail receipt of your transaction. Image from www.espaliertrees.com.

  • Saturday, March 3, 9:00 am – 6:00 pm – Local Environmental Action Conference 2018

    Registration is open for the Toxics Action Center’s Local Environmental Action 2018. Register now for the opportunity to join community leaders, environmental advocates and activists from across New England for an exciting day of skills training, networking, and inspiration. Whether you have been to every conference or are attending for the first time, be sure not to miss this amazing opportunity to connect and grow our grassroots movement.

    Join community leaders, environmental justice advocates and activists from across the region to build skills, discuss new ideas, and be inspired for the work ahead. Co sponsored by Clean Water Action, Sierra Club Massachusetts, Irving House at Harvard, Environmental Massachusetts, 350 Mass for a Better Future, the League of Women Voters, Northeastern University, CRECE, Elders Climate Action, MassPirg, New England Wind, Protect, Mothers Out Front, and the National Wildlife Federation.

    Keynote speakers are Loretta Ross and the Reverend Mariama White-Hammond. Loretta Ross started her career in the women’s movement in the 1970s, working at the D.C. Rape Crisis Center, NOW, the National Black Women’s Health Project, and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, among other social justice organizations. She is one of the co-creators of the Reproductive Justice framework and has lectured extensively on human rights, racism, appropriate whiteness, Calling In the Calling Out Culture, and violence against women. Her most recent publication is Reproductive Justice: An Introduction co-written with Rickie Solinger and published in 2017. She was the Co-Director of the 2004 March for Women’s Lives with 1.15 million participants. Rev. Mariama White-Hammond serves on the ministerial staff at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church where she is the Minister for Ecological Justice and the Interim Youth Pastor. She is committed to engaging the faith community, and particularly Black church, on climate change and ecological justice issues. Rev. Mariama challenges the Christian church to be responsive to issues like street violence, mass incarceration, climate change, AIDS, food security, and human rights. From 2001-2014, Rev. Mariama was the Executive Director of Project HIP-HOP (Highways Into the Past – History, Organizing and Power), where she used the arts as a tool to raise awareness about social issues and help young people to find their voice and share their ideas with the world. She speaks throughout the country and serves on both local and national boards and committees like the New England Grassroots Environmental Fund, Clean Water Action and Green the Church. In addition to her work at Bethel AME Church, Rev. Mariama is also a fellow with the Green Justice Coalition, a collaborative of people-of-color-led environmental groups. She was the MC for both the Boston Women’s March and Boston People’s Climate Mobilization.
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    This is a fragrance free event, to be held at Northeastern University. Thanks for bringing your own water bottle and coffee mug. Have questions about the event? Email us at info@toxicsaction.org. The complete list of 16 workshops may be found at http://www.localenvironmentalaction.org/workshops1.html. Individual tickets $55, student tickets $25, tickets for members of co-sponsoring groups $35.

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  • Sunday, March 4, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm – NOFA/RI Winter Conference

    Join Northeast Organic Farming Association of Rhode Island on Sunday, March 4 from 8:30 – 4:30 at Hope & Main, 691 Main Street in Warren, Rhode Island for a full day of workshops with speakers locally known and nationally recognized. There will be a potluck lunch.

    Featured in the award-wining documentary, A Small Good Thing, Jennifer and Pete Salinetti (pictured below) have been farming together for over 16 years and have created a thriving farm and CSA business in the Berkshires. Woven Roots Farm focuses on bio-intensive growing using no-till and environmentally sound farming practices. For the past 15 years, Jen has taught classes and has lead garden education programs throughout New England and has been actively involved in the local food movement within the Berkshires. She is currently developing an education center at their homestead in Tyringham. Jen holds a degree in Sustainable Agriculture and Herbal Studies and Pete has has a degree in horticulture.The Salinettis grow more than 75 crops, “all the usual stuff,” plus a considerable amount grown to extend their season. In recent years they have not been using tillage to grow their vegetables. Jen feels that by not disturbing the soil they have a considerable positive impact on carbon sequestration on their land. They have experienced and found a significant increase in quality and yields which has enabled them to create a viable business on a small amount land.

    Also featured is Ben Hewitt of Lazy Mill Hill Farm, speaking on The Family Cow and The Nourishing Homestead. Born and raised in northern Vermont, in a two-room cabin situated on a 165-acres, Ben knows about a thing or two about homesteading. He now lives in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom with his wife and two sons, where they run a small-scale, diversified hill farm. Their focus is producing nutrient dense foods from vibrant, mineralized soils for their family and the immediate community. He’s a freelance writer and author. He is currently working on his sixth book.

    Ryan Bouchard and Emily Schmidt of RI Mushroom Hunting Foundation will give a talk on Spring Mushroom Season. Ryan Bouchard and Emily Schmidt created the Mushroom Hunting Foundation, to educate people about safely hunting for wild mushrooms. It is a nonprofit organization that aims to make mushroom hunting better understood and well-known as part of our culture. Ryan is the author of Gourmet Mushrooms of Rhode Island, the first book and calendar about mushroom hunting in the Ocean State. Look for a new 2019 edition titled Gourmet Mushrooms of the Northeast.

    Learn about Growing Medicinal Herbs from Mary Blue of Farmacy Herbs. Since 2001, Mary has taught classes on herbalism at local businesses, hospitals, universities, conferences and to special interest groups and non profits. Her programs were so popular that Mary started developing the Farmacy’s Herbal Education and Training Program. Her programs focus on herbal medicine, health justice and nutritional healing. Mary holds a teaching associate position at the Brown University Medical School, teaching Western Herbalism to the Integrative Resident Program.

    Chuck Currie of Freedom Food Farm will discuss Onions & Garlic Grown Organically. Chuck studied biochemistry and chemistry before taking a sustainable agriculture course, visiting a small farm run by someone not much older than him, and instantly realizing he had wanted to be a farmer his entire life. After many years of farming in Vermont, Chuck moved back to Southeastern Massachusetts with the goal of providing equal access to good food in more urban communities, and to be closer to family and friends. He started Freedom Food Farm in 2012.

    Julie Rawson and Jack Kittredge of Many Hands Organic Farm will speak on Practical No-Till Carbon Farming. Julie, the Executive Director of NOFA Mass, and Jack, editor of NOFA’s “The Natural Farmer”, are in a unique position as educators and advocates of carbon farming as their farm is one of many to demonstrate that building soil makes both economic and ecological sense for farmers. Over the years, Julie has experimented with various tillage practices and can offer many insights to the challenges of moving to a no-tillage operation. Julie and Jack run a 70-person CSA, raise and sell pasture-raised eggs, broiler chickens, turkeys, beef, and pork, and operate a non-profit, Many Hands Sustainability Center.

    Rick Hermonont presents Tools for a Profitable Livestock Business. After operating a dairy farm for over 30 years, Rick converted the farm to diversified agricultural including turkeys, chicken, pork, beef, misc. cash crops and agri-tourism. For over 20 years, Rick has held sessions to train those interested in records keeping, budgeting, business planning, financial and feasibility analysis, succession planning, business benchmarking and more. Rick is a Farm Business Consultant with Farm Credit East. He holds a BS in Animal Science from the University of Connecticut.

    Finally, Dan Bensenoff, a father, farmer, forager, and fermentation freak, will give a talk entitled Garden Like a Farmer. Before working with NOFA/Mass, he worked as a vegetable grower for 4 years.

    Register at http://nofari.org/events/winter-conference/#.WohhS4JG06d. NOFA member price $50, nonmember $60.

  • Wednesday, February 28, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – How Forests Will Define the Future of Our Climate

    Join The Kestrel Land Trust  and the Smith College Center for Environment, Ecological Design and Sustainability in the Weinstein Auditorium in Wright Hall at Smith College in Northampton for a talk by internationally renowned climate scientist Dr. Bill Moomaw: Forests, the Critical Component for Addressing Long-Term Climate Change.

    Human civilization evolved in a global climate that enabled us to thrive over the past 10,000 years. Unfortunately, this relatively benign climate is being dramatically disrupted because of human activities. Science tells us that to slow or reverse this trend, it’s essential that we quickly reduce heat-trapping gas emissions, and begin removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. What role do forests play in all of this?

    On Wednesday, February 28 at 7 p.m.,  Dr. Bill Moomaw, Professor Emeritus of International Environmental Policy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, will conduct the  discussion of how our forests can help mitigate global climate change. Dr. Moomaw will present his perspective on a crucial part of the solution — how the protection and restoration of forests, wetlands, and grasslands could enable us to sequester carbon dioxide for many centuries to come. He will also share his insights on the drawbacks of using bioenergy as an alternative to fossil fuels. There will be time for a facilitated Q&A session after the presentation. Free and open to the public, but registration is strongly encouraged at https://www.kestreltrust.org/calendar/bill-moomaw-2018/

  • Faye Campion

    Garden Club of the Back Bay member Faye Campion unexpectedly passed away Sunday, February 18. Faye was born in Ballinakill, County Laois, Ireland, and graduated from Mercer’s Hospital, Dublin as a registered nurse.  She worked for many years at Massachusetts General Hospital and at Massachusetts Eye and Ear.  She was a fixture at the gym, as many of our members can attest.  We found a lovely picture of Faye from a past Twilight Garden Party event – she was always a supporter. Faye will be buried in Ireland, but we will remember her fondly here in Boston.

  • Thursday, March 22, 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm – 2018 Emerald Necklace Conservancy Annual Meeting

    Join the Emerald Necklace Conservancy on Thursday, March 22 at the Landmark Center, 8th floor, 401 Park Drive, in celebration of its 20th anniversary. Hosted by Conservancy President Karen Mauney-Brodek, the Annual Meeting, Parks as Infrastructure for Living, will feature a series of succinct presentations from area thought leaders on the multifaceted role of parks in the urban setting. Topics and speakers include:

    Water
    Pallavi Kalia Mande, Charles River Watershed Association

    Infrastructure
    Dan Adams & Marie Law Adams, LANDING STUDIO

    Access
    Peter Costa & Alyson Fletcher, Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates

    Art
    Jen Mergel, Public Art Curator

    RSVP at https://www.emeraldnecklace.org/events/annualmeeting/ by March 15! Doors open at 5:30, and at 6 pm the series of seven minute presentations will begin. At 7, there will be a reception and conversation. Come to the from entrance of the Landmark Center (the old Sears Building for those who remember that far back). Parking is $15 with event validation. Host Sponsor is Samuels & Associates, and FOCUS Real Estate also is a sponsor of this event.

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  • Tuesday, February 27, 6:00 pm – As the Seas Rise, Can We Restore Our Coastal Habitats?

    Steven Handel, Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolution, Rutgers University Visiting Professor in Landscape Architecture, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, will present a free lecture at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge, on February 27 at 6 pm.

    As sea levels rise, the potential loss of coastal habitats is a threat across the globe. This is of particular concern in the eastern United States, where coastlines are largely developed and offer few open spaces for habitats to move inland if present natural lands are lost. Considering the current conditions of coastlines, as well as future development scenarios, Steven Handel will discuss strategies to help maintain our coastal character and the ecological services of coastal habitats that are critical to the social, cultural, and environmental well-being of our region. Free and open to the public. Free event parking at 52 Oxford Street Garage.

    Presented by Harvard Museum of Natural History in collaboration with the Association to Preserve Cape Cod. This event will be livestreamed on the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture Facebook page. Check https://hmnh.harvard.edu/event/seas-rise-can-we-restore-our-coastal-habitats the day of the program for a direct video link. A recording of this program will be available on our YouTube channel approximately three weeks after the lecture.

    http://envirostewards.rutgers.edu/Colloquium%202014%20Environmental%20Stewards%20Duke%20F.%20&%20Rutgers%20033-002.jpg