Boston Flora

Month: September 2026

  • Tuesday, September 10, 11:00 am – 12:00 noon Eastern – 1 Staff, 40 Gardens, Designing Systems That Support Self Governance

    The Urban Garden Project is holding a free webinar on Zoom on September 10 at 11 Eastern with Omar Brownson of the Los Angeles Community Garden Council.

    How do community gardens remain self-governing while still receiving meaningful support? The Los Angeles Community Garden Council operates with one full-time staff member supporting nearly 2,000 gardeners across 40 volunteer-led gardens. This constraint has forced a design question that many garden networks now face: what systems are necessary—and which ones to let go of to support better local autonomy?

    This workshop shares how LACGC experiments with lightweight systems of support—including peer learning, a self-guided Community Garden Manager Certificate (hosted on Mighty Networks) and a separate Garden AI prototype— to strengthen leadership, continuity, and shared standards without centralizing control. Participants will explore how different governance contexts (all-volunteer gardens vs. gardens supported by nonprofits or government agencies) call for different system designs—and how right-sized tools can support self-governance rather than replace it.

    To register visit https://theurbangardenproject.world/connect-%26-learn-1

  • Sunday, September 20, 11:00 am – 1:30 pm – Preserving

    Join farmer, chef and educator Tracy Hayhurst for this farm-to-table class on Preserving on Sunday, September 20, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The participants will harvest from the BBG vegetable garden, then head into the kitchen with Hayhurst to make a multiple-course meal or in this case, preserved produce.

    September is peak harvest time, and with fall around the corner, we want to save all the season’s goodness. We’ll cover several different preserving techniques, including fermentation and water-bath canning.

    Tracy Hayhurst began her culinary training in the late 1990s, attending Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland. In 2002, she co-founded Chubby Bunny Farm in Falls Village, Conn. In 2015, she returned to the kitchen in her dual role as chef and community outreach director at Plantin’ Seeds, connecting farmers and the community through meals that highlighted the best of the season. Her passion for sharing both farming and cooking has led her to Husky Meadows Farm, first as farm manager and now as culinary director for Husky Meadows’ Seed and Spoon Culinary Farm Stay programming.

    BBG members $90, nonmembers $110. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/farm-table-lunch-series-tracy-hayhurst-september-20. Image from Roger’s Gardens.

  • Friday, October 2, 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Save the Date: An Evening with Author Robin Wall Kimmerer

    Tickets are now on sale on Eventbrite for our Evening with Author Robin Wall Kimmerer, generously sponsored by a Friend of Coastal Foodshed, the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, Rockland Trust Bank, and Peabody Properties. Dr. Kimmerer will give a talk highlighting the importance of local food systems. She will also sign books afterwards – bring your own copy or purchase a copy at the event

    The event takes place at Weatherlow Farms in Westport, Massachusetts. Tickets are on a Sliding Scale: $45 – $125. Click HERE.

    We are hosting this event in partnership with @dnrt_ and Westport Land Conservation Trust and all proceeds will go to support stronger, more resilient local food systems.