Daily Archives: March 30, 2024

Tuesday, April 16, 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern – Native Lawns: Biodiversity, Beauty, and Function, Online

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In this April 16 NDAL online presentation, Kristine Boys will illustrate the results of her multi-year native lawn experiments at Cornell Botanic Gardens. She will discuss the species selection criterion, planting protocols, and management procedures that were employed. She will also discuss the native plant/insect/animal interactions that occurred during these trials, as well as the experimental lawn’s ability to sustain itself over time with minimal additional inputs. Particularly when associated with other native plantings, these lawns can provide a key component for the maintenance reduction, habit creation, and visual delights that so many of today’s property owners desire.  $42. Register at https://learning.ndal.org/courses/native-lawns-2024 The session will be recorded and viewable to registrants for 3 months after the live session date. 

Wednesday, April 10, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm – The Taste of Water

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Have you ever wondered why your tap water tastes the way it does? Christy Spackman will be joining the BU Food Studies Programs as a guest in the spring 2024 Pépin Lecture Series to discuss her book, The Taste of Water: Sensory Perception and the Making of an Industrialized Beverage.

The Taste of Water explores the increasing erasure of tastes from drinking water over the twentieth century. It asks how dramatic changes in municipal water treatment have altered consumers’ awareness of the environment their water comes from. Through examaming the development of sensory expertise in the United States and France, this unique history uncovers the foundational role of palatability in shaping Western water treatment processes. By focusing on the relationship between taste and the environment, Christy Spackman shows how efforts to erase unwanted tasted and smells have transformed water into a highly industrialized food product divorced from its origins. The Taste of Water invites readers to question their own assumptions about what water does and should naturally taste like while exposing them to the invisible – but substantial – sensory labor involved in creating tap water.

Copies of Spackman’s book will be available to purchase on-site at the event. Lecture is free. Register on Eventbrite HERE