Monday, January 23, 7:00 pm – All About Citrus

There are some things that are just better in winter.  Oysters, slowly simmered stews, and perhaps the most overlooked – citrus!  Ever wonder what exactly a Meyer lemon tastes like, or what to do with the crates of clementines that pop up during the holiday season?  In this Stir class, to be held Monday, January 23 at 102 Waltham Street in Boston, beginning at 7 pm, you’ll cover everything from blood oranges to kaffir limes and how to incorporate citrus into a range of sweet and savory dishes – and cocktails.  $145, and early sign up is a must.  Call 617-423-7847 to reserve your spot.  Classes are non-refundable and due to limited seating, exchanges for future classes are not possible.  If a guest is unable to attend a reserved class for any reason, the individual will still receive a copy of that class’s cookbook, if applicable.  Picture below from www.thekitchn.com.

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram

GLOW Competition Announcement

Garden Club of the Back Bay member Susan Ashbrook brought this Copley Square competition to our attention. SHIFTBoston is asking artists, architects, urban planners, sculptors, lighting designers, and landscape architects around the world to envision a new approach to activating Copley Square in Boston with a lighting installation. In their GLOW Competition, SHIFT is looking for proposals which will make the space one of the greatest squares in the world to visit at night. Teams are invited to enter, and winners will be given two months to work with a professional from Boston Light Source to develop lighting specifications for their proposal. In April, a jury will review the three final proposals and select the one that is most technically feasible and suitable to the overall program goal. The winning proposal will be featured as part of the upcoming Fairmont Copley Plaza Anniversary celebration and planned for installation in 2013. Entries are due by February 3, 2012. All eligible entries will be promoted on the SHIFTboston blog and website and will become part of the SHIFTboston GLOW book in 2012. The international jury includes the following:

– Ana Bassat: Architect, Principal of b720; Barcelona, Spain
– Helmut Bien: Director of Luminale and Luminapolis.com; Germany
– Bill Kenney: General Manager of Copley Place Simon Property Group; Boston, MA
– Mark Loeffler: Lighting Designer, Director of Atelier Ten; New Haven CT
– Otto Piene: Painter, Artist, Lighting sculptor; Groton MA
– Nader Tehrani: Principal of NADAAA, Boston MA
– Paul Zaferiou: Lighting Designer, Principal of Lam Partners; Boston MA

The Garden Club of the Back Bay has taken no official position on the appropriateness of additional lighting in Copley Square, but is in conversation with The Friends of Copley Square, The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, and local government officials reviewing the proposed competition.

lighting competition, sculpture competition, lighting design, green design competition, eco design competition, architecture design competition, landscape design competition, sculpture design competition, art competition, GLOW competition, SHIFTBoston

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram

Wednesday, January 18, 6:00 pm – Strange New Worlds: From Meteorites in Antarctica to the Search for Life Beyond Our Solar System

Renowned astronomer Ray Jayawardhana, University of Toronto and current Radcliffe Institute fellow, will give a lively talk on cutting-edge science of today’s planet hunters, the prospects for discovering alien life, and the debate and controversies at the forefront of extrasolar-planet research, at the Harvard Museum of Natural History on Wednesday, January 18, beginning at 6 pm.  Jayawardhana will also discuss his recent travels to the frigid ice of Antarctica where he went to look for meteorites—and found them. Following the talk, he will sign copies of his recent book, Strange New Worlds. Free and open to the public, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Free parking available in the 52 Oxford Street garage.  For directions, visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram

Saturday, January 14, 12:30 pm – Nepenthes Cutting Event

Join the New England Carnivorous Plant Society on Saturday, January 14, at 12:30 pm at the Roger Williams Botanical Center in Providence for the Nepenthes (Tropical Pitcher Plant) Cutting Event.  Members will leave with a cutting for propagation, and may bring in overgrown Nepenthes vines and share the fun with other members.  To join, or for more information, visit www.necps.org.

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram

Wednesday, January 18, 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Organizers Gathering

The National Organizers Alliance is planning an Organizers Gathering to bring together social justice organizers to build relationship across a wide spectrum of issues and campaigns on Wednesday,  Jan. 18 (snow date: Thursday, Jan. 19) from 5:30 to 8 pm, with a healthy catered dinner, at MIT, Building 9, 105 Mass Avenue, Rooms 9-450 A and B (note: 105 Mass Ave is right next to the Main Entrance at 77 Mass Ave).

We have found that organizers rarely speak to people outside our own circles or “silos” and therefore don’t develop the relationships that can nurture a broad movement for social justice. Rather than examine the things that divide us, let understand and learn from one another.

SPEED MENTORING We will also have a time for organizers who want to mentor others and for organizers looking for mentors to connect.

Sponsored by the National Organizers Alliance (see: www.noacentral.org) and an organizing committee (in formation).

To sign up for dinner, go to: www.noacentral.org to the “donate” button, and donate $15 for dinner. ($10 for NOA members)

For more information, Contact : Ron Bell, 617 378-1889, email:RonBell400@gmail.com; Michael Jacoby Brown, 617 645 0226 or mjbrown246@gmail.com, Nurys Camargo at nuryscamargo@gmail.com, or Ceasar McDowell, at ceasar@mit.edu.

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram

Thursday, January 12, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Lighthouse Opening

The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy invites you to the opening of Lighthouse, a temporary art installation on the Greenway at the Boston Harbor Islands Pavilion.  On Thursday, January 12, from 6 – 8, there will be a brief presentation from the team of artists followed by an after party at a Greenway Neighborhood establishment to be announced.  Lighthouse combines color and light through a series of projections, and is designed and created by GoodGood Studio and by New American Public Art.

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram

Wreath of the Day 2011 – Happy New Year

Our final wreath of the day for this season is one of the volunteers’ favorites.  The mosaic mirror “disco ball” ribbon was the inspiration for a wild, Saturday Night Fever design which sparkles on a door between Fairfield and Gloucester on Marlborough Street, should you be walking by.  We wish you all a very happy New Year, filled with joy, and look for more “wreath talk” next autumn.

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram

Wreath of the Day 2011 – Billing and Accounting

As December progresses, The Garden Club of the Back Bay wreath project wraps up with the final submission of expenses to our intrepid Treasurer, and a final mailing of bills to last minute wreath buyers who didn’t get their payments in with their orders.  We rarely have had any collection problems, but sometimes we do have to send out gentle reminders once or twice – December and January can be hectic, we know.  Once we reconcile the accounts, we’re on to our next projects – this year the Twilight Garden Party, which will raise funds for our 50 for 50 Magnolia planting celebrating our fifty year history with the planting of fifty magnolia trees throughout Back Bay.  We’ll be reporting on this in the coming months, but right now our focus remains tying up all loose ends to finish our 2011 wreath project with a healthy profit.   Every cent of net revenue goes right back into the community, so we like to know how much we have to spend.  Below is a pretty wreath with a burgundy bow that looks ready to go out for New Year’s Eve.

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram

Saturday, January 28, 2:00 pm – Gardening Mixed Media – Growing Vegetables and Fruit in the Ornamental Landscape

The Edwardian kitchen garden sequestered behind walls is long gone. Enthusiastic gardeners with limited space and sun exposure unabashedly mix food production within the most ornamental of landscapes, even the front yard. Landscape designer and horticulturist Warren Leach will show how the ‘vegetable patch’ can be transformed, structured within raised beds, provide abundant production, and be the focal point of the landscape, in this free (with admission) Tower Hill Botanic Garden session on Saturday, January 28, beginning at 2 pm at Tower Hill. Warren, as many of you know, is the co-owner of Tranquil Lake Nursery in Rehoboth. For more information, visit www.towerhillbg.org.  Photo from www.veggiegardeningtips.com.

RSS
Follow by Email
Instagram