Did you know that you can sow seeds outdoors, in containers, in the dead of winter, and they’ll germinate with more ease and success than they will in a flat on your windowsill? Many of us didn’t.
Elaine Williamson Conway School ’11, our resident Master Gardener, is here to change that. She’s been using the Winter Sowing technique for many years, and swears by it, for the following reasons:
Simple, low-tech, low-cost process
Low maintenance
Avoids common indoor sowing pitfalls such as legginess and damping off
Seeds germinate at optimal times for growth
It’s fun!
Elaine leads a Winter Sowing Workshop for our students as part of Conway’s curriculum. This year she’s offered to lend her expertise to anyone in our community who wants to try it!
If you’d like to learn how to successfully winter sow your seeds, please join us for an upcoming Online Winter Sowing Workshop on Thursday, January 9, 2025 at 1pm EST. Attendance is free and registration is required. We’ll send registrants a confirmation email with a list of materials to collect if you’d like to follow along with Elaine’s demonstration. We’ll finish with a short Q&A session where participants can ask specific questions about the process.
If you’re unable to attend, we will record the workshop and share the recording online for folks to watch. Register at https://csld.edu/2024/12/winter-sowing/
A warming climate and increasing environmental pathogens pose an existential threat to the Arnold Arboretum’s collection of some 16,000 woody plants, trees and shrubs that are able to survive in our climate. This one hour walk on January 4 at 11 am will highlight the impact of climate change and increasing pathogens on key species in the Arboretum’s collection, describe some of the research initiatives underway to mitigate the effects of global warming and new pathogens, and identify the challenges and opportunities we face in improving our urban canopy. This tour covers slightly over 1 mile in distance over terrain of asphalt, crushed granite, and mulch. Please be sure to dress for the weather and wear comfortable, closed toe footwear you don’t mind getting dirty.Meet at the Hunnewell Visitor Center. Register at www.arboretum.harvard.edu
In January, join Friends of the Landscape Archive at Reading for the beginning of an online series of talks in partnership with the Gardens Trust, on six women – Susan Jellicoe, Sheila Haywood, Brenda Colvin, Mary Mitchell, Marjory Allen and Marian Thompson – who all contributed to the expertise, development and awareness of the landscape profession and in so many different ways. A ticket is for the series of 6 talks at £42 or you may purchase a ticket for individual talks, costing £8. (Gardens Trust and FOLAR members £6 each or all 6 for £31.50). There will be an opportunity for Q & A after each session. Please note that the 6th and final talk in this series is on 30th April. Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. For tickets visit www.eventbriteco.uk
Join us in this online series to hear from these special speakers – Sally Ingram, Paula Laycock, Hal Moggridge, Joy Burgess, Wendy Titman and Bruce Thompson – who have each known, worked with, or researched one of these six remarkable women. On January 8, the first lecture will be on The Photographs of Susan Jellicoe.
Susan Pares Jellicoe (1907-1986) joined the office of Jellicoe, Page and Wilson as a secretary in 1936 and went on to become a highly regarded honorary member of the Institute of Landscape Architects, collaborating with Geoffrey Jellicoe in all aspects of his work. When the International Federation of Landscape Architects was formed after the war, Susan Jellicoe’s skills as a linguist, and her wartime experiences, were instrumental in promoting international understanding between nations. The work of Geoffrey Jellicoe has overshadowed Susan’s contribution to the study of twentieth century landscape design, and yet she was an accomplished plantswoman, writer, editor, and a skilled self-taught photographer.
Drawing on Susan Jellicoe’s collection of thousands of small black and white photographs, taken during the 1950s and 60s and pasted on sheets of brown paper, this talk will consider her extensive journey with a camera, capturing the post war landscape. Sylvia Crowe commented of the time ‘we all thought we could make a new world’ and this unique archive creates a visual narrative of the mid twentieth century, filtered through the preoccupations of a distinctly modern eye.
After a career in education Sally Ingram completed an MA in Garden History at Birkbeck, University of London, and has continued to research aspects of garden history for a number of projects. Her particular interest is in the twentieth century landscape and her MA dissertation considered the design of memorial parks and gardens in the post war era. She studied the work of Geoffrey Jellicoe when investigating his design for the roof garden at Harvey’s department store in Guildford and discovered Susan Jellicoe’s photograph albums, in the archive at the Landscape Institute. She has continued to explore this fascinating collection of over 6,000 images – now at MERL – and its significance in the history of the post war urban landscape.
Calling all local artists! Have you wanted to deepen your relationship with Mount Auburn? Do you have a creative practice as a visual or performing artist? Are you inspired by the themes of horticulture, wildlife, ecology, history, death, and people stories? Then apply to be a 2025 Artist-in-Residence! Image below by Bill Denzer.
Each year, a diverse group of chosen artists are charged with creating an original, site-specific work based on an in-depth experience at the Cemetery that conveys a fresh and innovative perspective of Mount Auburn.
Award amount: $500 – $4,000 Accepting Applications: November 1, 2024 – January 31, 2025 Notification date: March 1, 2025 Residency: April 1, 2025 – March 31, 2026
Join Anna Juhl of Cheese Journeys, and Jilly Sitch, our Mary Poppins of Cheese Travel on a Downton Abbey-style Cheese Journey. You will have the unique opportunity to learn from cheese and wine expert Patrick McGuigan, you will spend time with and learn from Britain’s most renowned artisan cheesemakers, all while staying in a beautifully restored English Manor. A day in London and a trip to the historic and food-loving city of Bath adds to this cheese lovers experience. This tour is open to all travelers. For complete itinerary and information visit www.cheesejourneys.com
Come join Dan Proulx, founder of Dan’s Wildlife Rescue in Marblehead, MA and a Coyote Certified Problem Animal Control Agent in Massachusetts with many years of experience in wildlife rehabilitation and animal control as he shares his expertise with Eastern Coyote populations throughout Massachusetts. Dan will discuss coyote habitat and behavior; how to avoid conflicts between household pets and coyotes; and what to do and who to call if you experience problems with coyotes or come across a sick or injured one. Dan will offer tips on how to deal with the growing coyote population that calls Woburn home.
The overall goal of this program is to promote safe community coexistence with the local coyote population as well as to identify the benefits of having coyotes in the community.
The Charles River Watershed Association, the Neponset River Watershed Association, and the Mystic River Watershed Association invite you to participate in an effort to make our community more climate resilient. If you see street or sidewalk flooding in Boston, let them know. By visiting bit.ly/floodsurveyboston and completing a brief form with a photo (a less than perfect shot from your phone is just fine!), the City of Boston Office of Green Infrastructure will develop a map of flood-impacted areas to inform policy decisions and design flood mitigation efforts. You may spot a corner drain that always overflows, a dip in the sidewalk that becomes a pond in heavy rain, or something much more significant, but please do report it. Add the link to notes on your phone so you have it the instant you see something.
UMass Extension will work with three urban farms across Massachusetts to provide tailored and sustained technical assistance to help them tackle their most challenging issues over the course of the next year. Application deadline is Wednesday, January 15. For more information email urbanag@umass.edu.
Last year’s farms were Nordica Street Community Farm in Springfield, the Regional Environmental Council’s YouthGROW program in Worcester, and Boston’s Urban Farming Institute. Each farm chose a program focus on pest management.
Join the Greater Worcester Land Trust for the annual winter solstice celebration on Saturday, December 21 from 3:30 – 6:30. Lanterns guide you from the parking lot to a bonfire, where hot cocoa and s’mores await!
If the skies are clear, the site is particularly great for stargazing. We encourage those with knowledge of astronomy to join and share what they know. New this year: at 2:30, Board Member Mike Peckar and David Prouty High School teacher, James Barnett, will lead a group for a longer hike from the David Prouty parking lot. Please indicate if you will be joining the earlier hike in your RSVP.
We suggest dressing warm and bringing a flashlight/headlamp and something to sit on.
RSVP is appreciated, but not required. Please email Olivia at olivia@gwlt.org. Parking: 131 Greenville St, Spencer, MA 01562.
Now in its twenty-seventh year, The Trustees’ Master Urban Gardening course (MUG) has long been a forum where both novice and experienced gardeners come to build their skills, sharing innovative and best practices for growing anywhere from the front porch to the community garden plot. MUG is an intensive, skill-building training for community and home gardeners from Greater Boston and beyond. Whether you’re just getting started or have been gardening for decades, MUG covers everything you need know to thrive in a community garden: soil science, botany for gardeners, organic pest and disease management, edible native perennials, garden planning, starting a community garden, preserving the harvest, composting, and more. MUG is not an official Master Gardener training—it requires fewer class and volunteer hours and focuses on small-space growing of edible crops. Master Urban Gardener is open to any community and residential gardeners who demonstrate a commitment to sharing skills with others. The program content is tailored to the climate and resources of Greater Boston but is open to gardeners from farther afield. We will have Spanish translation available upon request.
The course will take place primarily Zoom 10AM-12 PM Saturdays and 5:30-7:30PM on Tuesday, with in-person gatherings at the beginning and end of the course (January 26th and March 15th). To receive their certificate, students will be expected to complete at least 10 hours of volunteer service for the Trustees Boston Community Gardens–and/or another approved garden/urban farm project over the course of the next year.
