Boston Flora

Category: Author Book Signing

  • Monday, July 30, 7:00 pm – Slow Money and Nurture Capital: A New Vision of Food, Money, and Soil

    On Monday, July 30, beginning at 7 pm, come hear Slow Money founder Woody Tasch speak about his new book Soil 2017, and Slow Money’s progress, including the $65 million invested in more than 728 small organic farms and local food businesses. This free event will take place Monday, July 30 at the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury, and is sponsored by the Dukes County Conservation District, Island Grown Initiative, Slough Farm Foundation, Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society, and The Polly Hill Arboretum.

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  • Thursday, July 12, 7:00 pm – One Green Deed Spawns Another

    One Green Deed Spawns Another traces the unusual path David Mahood followed to become environmentally active, which brought him in contact with some exceptional individuals. Some are as well-known as celebrities; others have flown under the radar. All of them have equally distinctive stories that have inspired and influenced his philosophy on our relationship to our habitat and fellow species. This book is a compilation of these poignant moments with his environmental heroes and friends and their insightful ideas, and a tribute to the spirit of Earth’s active stewards.

    David C. Mahood is a sustainability consultant, environmental writer and poet. He holds a BA from the College of Wooster, and an MBA in Sustainability from San Francisco Institute of Architecture. His articles have appeared in numerous publications including Interiors and Sources, International Ecotourism Society, The Environmental Blog, NEWH Magazine and Living Green Magazine. His poetry credits include Writer’s Cramp, Fifth Street Review, and Prick of the Spindle. He attributes his environmental epiphany to a desperate act of consciousness back in 1998. David spends most of his time in Massachusetts but can be found in one of various flanking airports.

    David will appear at Porter Square Books, 25 White Street in Cambridge, on Thursday, July 12 to discuss his book and sign copies. For more information visit www.portersquarebooks.com.

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  • Saturday, June 23, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm – Foraging & Feasting: Plant Walk, Cooking Demo & Tasting

    On Saturday, June 23 from 10 – 2, explore the culinary treasures hidden in local wild foods. Learn to identify, harvest, and prepare these ancient foods so you can easily incorporate them into your daily meals. Using basic sensory skills, we will survey the wild plants and herbs of the Berkshire Botanical Garden. Inside we will prep and taste a few of the delicious, nutrient-dense recipes from the instructor’s book Foraging & Feasting: A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook. Signed copies of Foraging & Feasting will be available at this presentation.

    Dina Falconi is a clinical herbalist with a strong focus on food activism and nutritional healing. An avid gardener, wildcrafter, and permaculturist, Dina has been teaching classes about the use of herbs for food, medicine, and personal care, including wild food foraging and cooking, for more than twenty years. She created Falcon Formulations natural body care products and Earthly Extracts medicinal tinctures. She is a founding member of the Northeast Herbal Association, a chapter leader of the Weston A. Price Foundation, and an organizer of Slow Food-Hudson Valley. She is the author of Earthly Bodies & Heavenly Hair: Natural and Healthy Personal Care for Everybody and Foraging & Feasting: A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook (available at: http://www.botanicalartspress.com). BBG members $155, nonmembers $175. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/foraging-feasting-plant-walk-cooking-demo-tasting

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  • Thursday, June 14, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm – United Tastes: The Making of the First American Cookbook

    American Cookery (1796) by Amelia Simmons is known as the “first American cookbook”and has attracted an enthusiastic modern audience of historians, food journalists, and general readers. Yet until now American Cookery has not received the sustained scholarly attention it deserves. Keith Stavely and Kathleen Fitzgerald’s United Tastes fills this gap by providing a detailed examination of the social circumstances and culinary tradition that produced this American classic. They will discuss the book at the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street in Boston, on Thursday, June 14, beginning with a pre-talk reception at 5:30 and lecture at 6:00. $10 per person (no charge for Massachusetts Historical Society members). Registration required at https://www.masshist.org/calendar

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  • Monday, July 30 – Friday, August 3 – 36th Annual Perennial Plant Symposium

    The Perennial Plant Symposium is the only yearly symposium devoted entirely to perennials. This industry-focused conference brings together more than 500 professionals for networking, learning, and special events. The symposium moves to a different region each year, giving participants a unique experience and insight into the region’s perennial scene.

    This year’s symposium takes place at the Hilton North Raleigh/Midtown, in the horticulturally vibrant Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina region. You can explore outstanding local gardens, visit vibrant retail garden centers, and tour innovative production facilities. You’ll also hear and engage with industry experts from around the world. Most importantly, you’ll spend time with the best in the industry.

    Registration is now open at http://ppa2018raleigh.com/register/  with early bird discount rates through June 15.  Customize your experience and maximize your time at the symposium with our range of registration options. The PPA 2018 Symposium E-Brochure is now available to download at http://ppa2018raleigh.com//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/PPA_2018_Symposium_E-Brochure.pdf. This brochure provides attendees with a detailed overview of all the happenings and events throughout the symposium.  The symposium also welcomes perennial enthusiasts with a full day of Plant Talks on Monday, which are open to the general public and industry professionals.

    The roster of 20+ speakers includes:

    Patrick McMillan – Naturalist, author, educator, and creative force behind Emmy award-winning Expeditions with Patrick McMillan
    Fergus Garrett – Head Gardener, Great Dixter
    Richard Olsen – Director, United States National Arboretum
    Christian Kress – Founder, Sarastro-Stauden Nursery
    Ron Gagliardo – Manager, Horticultural Services, Amazon.com LLC
    Ann English – Program Manager, RainScapes Program in the Watershed Mmgt. Div. of the Montgomery County, MD Dept. of Environmental Protection
    Anne Spafford – Associate Professor of Landscape Design, North Carolina State University
    Richard Hartlage – Founding Principal/CEO, Land Morphology

    Tour sites include:

    JC Raulston Arboretum
    Sarah P. Duke Gardens
    Hoffman Nursery, Inc.
    Plant Delights Nursery & Juniper Level Botanic Garden
    Metrolina Greenhouses
    Niche Gardens
    North Carolina State Farmers’ Market
    Big Bloomers Flower Farm

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  • Thursday, June 7, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Gardening for Us and Them: How Native Plants Can Feed Both Pollinators and Humans

    People typically begin to create gardens for aesthetic reasons. However, many soon find that they want more than simple beauty and look to incorporate plants that contribute on multiple levels. On Thursday, June 7 at 7 pm in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum, Dan Jaffe will address a current trend (one that we hope is lasting) for gardening with pollinator-friendly and edible plants. He’ll explain which flower shapes and colors attract insects, which edibles are more resistant to diseases and pests, and how to provide for pollinators across the growing season. Armed with a bit of knowledge and a selection of low-maintenance native plants, you can create a multi-tasking garden that nourishes the needs of both humans and pollinators. Dan’s book with co-author Mark Richardson, Native Plants for New England Gardens, will be available for purchase and signing. Fee is Free for Arboretum members; $10 nonmember. Register at http://my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

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  • Tuesday, May 22, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Humane and Happy Gardening

    In this myth-busting talk on Tuesday, May 22, beginning at 7 pm in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum, learn how common growing methods divide the natural world into false dichotomies and perpetuate misperceptions about the wild species living among us. Discover practical ways to put humane gardening philosophies into action by protecting wild nurseries of animals large and small, eliminating unintended hazards to wildlife, nurturing plants that provide food and shelter, and humanely resolving conflicts with mammals and other commonly misunderstood creatures. Nancy Lawson will provide simple principles for both attracting wildlife and peacefully resolving conflicts with all the creatures who share our world. Nancy is the author of The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife and blogs at http://HumaneGardener.com. Fee $10 Arboretum member; $18 nonmember.

    A columnist for All Animals magazine, Nancy Lawson founded Humane Gardener, an outreach initiative dedicated to animal-friendly landscaping methods. Her book and garden have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, O: The Oprah Magazine, and other media outlets. Read Nancy’s recent post, Why Should I Car About These Animals.

    Register at http://my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

  • Monday, May 21, 7:00 pm – The Guide to Walden Pond: An Exploration of the History, Nature, Landscape and Literature of One of America’s Most Iconic Places

    Porter Square Books, 25 White Street in Cambridge, welcomes Robert Thorson, author of The Guide To Walden Pond: An Exploration of the History, Nature, Landscape and Literature of One of America’s Most Iconic Places on Monday, May 21 at 7 pm for a talk and book signing. This is the first guidebook to Henry David Thoreau’s most defining place, visited by half a million people each year and widely known as the fountainhead of America’s environmental consciousness.

    Using this guide, both armchair readers and trail-walkers alike can amble around the pond’s shoreline, pausing at fifteen special places to learn about people, historic events, and the natural world. Thoreau will be a constant companion via quotes from Walden. Stop by stop, the place of his book will merge with the book of his place.

    Abundantly illustrated with photographs, drawings, and maps, this guide is a must-have for a meaningful, engaging tour of Walden Pond as well as a souvenir of a visit. For more information visit https://www.portersquarebooks.com/event/robert-thorson-guide-walden-pond

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  • Sunday, May 20, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – The Garden in Every Sense and Season

    Your garden could be so fulfilling, if you plug in. This Boot Camp for the Senses at Tower Hill Botanic Garden on Sunday, May 20 from 1 – 2 explores the garden on all levels by attuning your nose to its scents and training your ears to listen. Learn to garden with eyes wide open, ears to the ground, and hands outstretched. Tailored to the current season, this lecture will awaken your senses and spark perceptions on all levels. Subtleties that you never noticed before will be uncovered and defined. We’ll share advice and ideas; we’ll explore a “Smellathon” to help get nostrils in gear. Want to broaden your horizons? After this presentation, your garden will be more savory, you will know its touch, smell its aromas, hear its voice, and see it anew.

    An avid (verging on obsessed) gardener indoors and outside, Tovah Martin is the author of many gardening books – most recently The Indestructible Houseplant (2015, Timber Press), The Unexpected Houseplant (2012, Timber Press) and The New Terrarium (2009, Clarkson Potter) as well as the popular Tasha Tudor’s Garden (1994, Houghton Mifflin). A freelance writer, her articles have appeared in publications throughout the country including Country Gardens, Garden Design, Traditional Home, Martha Stewart Living, O the Oprah magazine, Old House Interiors, Horticulture magazine, Yankee, Connecticut Cottages & Gardens and numerous others as well as The Daily Telegraph in Europe. In addition to being the 2012 Writer in Residence for the new Victoria magazine, she is an accredited Organic Land Care Professional through NOFA, an honorary member of the Garden Club of America and the recipient of their medal for outstanding literary achievement. In 2013, she received the Gustav Mehlquist Award—the highest honor bestowed by the Connecticut Horticultural Society. She has appeared on the Martha Stewart Show, PBS television series and the CBS Sunday Early Show as well as many other television and radio broadcasts. She speaks throughout the country and has lectured aboard the QE2. Tovah can be found at http://www.tovahmartin.com and she blogs at http://www.plantswise.com. $10 for THBG members, $20 for nonmembers. Register at https://towerhillbg.thankyou4caring.org/pages/event-registration-form—the-garden-in-every-sense-and-season–talk–book-signing

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  • Wednesday, May 16, 6:30 pm – Michael Pollan

    Harvard Book Store welcomes renowned writer Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, for a discussion of his latest book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. He will be joined in conversation by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind. The event will take place at the First Parish Church, 1446 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge on Wednesday, May 16.

    When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction, and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third. Thus began a singular adventure into the experience of various altered states of consciousness, along with a dive deep into both the latest brain science and the thriving underground community of psychedelic therapists. Pollan sifts the historical record to separate the truth about these mysterious drugs from the myths that have surrounded them since the 1960s when a handful of psychedelic evangelists catalyzed a powerful backlash against what was then a promising field of research.

    A unique and elegant blend of science, memoir, travel writing, history, and medicine, How to Change Your Mind is a triumph of participatory journalism. By turns dazzling and edifying, it is the gripping account of a journey to an exciting and unexpected new frontier in our understanding of the mind, the self, and our place in the world. The true subject of Pollan’s “mental travelogue” is not just psychedelic drugs but also the eternal puzzle of human consciousness and how, in a world that offers us both struggle and beauty, we can do our best to be fully present and find meaning in our lives.

    Tickets, $28.75, includes a book, and will also be available at Harvard Book Store and over the phone at 617-661-1515. Unless the event is sold out, any remaining tickets will be on sale at the door of the venue when doors open. Tickets are non-refundable and non-returnable.

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