Boston Flora

Tag: apples

  • Saturday, September 27, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Apples, Apples, Apples

    Apples aren’t just for eating! They have played an important role in Harvest and Winter celebrations for at least two thousand years. Learn apple history, folklore and magical traditions at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive in Boylston, on Saturday, September 27, from 10 – noon with Betsy Williams. Watch a demonstration of apple pomanders and apple cinnamon ornaments, then make an apple candle and a fresh Autumn Apple Potpourri to enjoy at home. Recipe and craft handouts included. Visit www.towerhillbg.org for more information, or click HERE to register. $60 Tower Hill members, $80 nonmembers.

  • Saturday, May 3, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm – Insect Pests & Diseases of Apples

    The University of Massachusetts Extension will sponsor a seminar in Insect Pests & Diseases of Apples – And How to Manage Them on Saturday, May 3, from 10 – 1 at Tangerini’s Spring Street Farm, 139 Spring Street in Millis. The class will be led by Dan Cooley and Jon Clements. One of the most challenging thing about growing your own fruit is knowing how to identify the insect pests and diseases that might afflict them. Learn the basics of pest and disease identification and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in the home orchard. Hands-on, scouting, monitoring, placement of traps, etc. will be covered. $50 fee.  Register on line at https://classic.regonline.com/builder/site/?eventid=1460640. Image by Jon Clements.

    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ybCFMx_tULE/T_z6QEwcp1I/AAAAAAAAAGM/N4nsQYVWLOs/s1600/bitterrot.jpg

  • Saturday, April 26, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm – The 100 Square Foot, 25 Tree, 5 Variety Backyard Apple Orchard Fruiting Wall

    The University of Massachusetts Extension has a fabulous class and hands on seminar scheduled for Saturday, April 26, from 10 – 2, with Jon Clements at Wards Berry Farm, 614 South Main Street in Sharon. Your fruiting wall will produce two bushels each of five apple varieties in just 3 years from planting using just over 100 square feet of backyard! We will spend some time indoors talking about site, variety, rootstock selection, planting, and annual care (including pest management) of your fruiting apple wall. Then, we will go outdoors and actually plant the orchard from start to finish including site preparation, fertilization, pruning, and tree support. Voila! Instant orchard. There will be a break for participants to enjoy a BYO lunch. $85 fee.  Register at https://classic.regonline.com/builder/site/?eventid=1460640.

    http://fruit.umext.umass.edu/2013appleharvest/honeycrispappleB118o0o913.jpg

  • Thursdays, July 21 – August 25, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm – Beverage Confidential: The History of Libations

    This Berkshire Botanical Garden series covers history, lore, and practical know-how about some of life’s best indulgences. Learn about coffee, chocolate, beer and cider, how they have been used throughout history and are now celebrated in contemporary society. Consider the amazing artisan beer, cider, coffee and chocolate available in the Berkshires and learn tips and techniques from the experts for steeping, brewing, pressing and baking at home. Lectures will include demonstrations and participants will enjoy tasty samplings following the talks.

    The first of the series is entitled Sweet Perfection – Chocolate from Seed to Sweet.  Cacao (Theobroma cacao) known as chocolate, once considered only as a beverage, has a long delicious association with humans. Chocolate has been considered a delicacy for centuries, beginning with the pre-Columbian Mayan cultures, to the chocolatiers of Europe and is now ending as a mass produced commercial product of modern society. Learn about the natural history of this tropical plant, consider its culinary properties and learn about the art and craft of chocolate making from an expert. The talk will include some tasty samples. Instructor Joshua Needleman is creator and chocolatier of Chocolate Springs Café and has been fascinated with chocolate all of his life. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, has studied in France and had the opportunity to work at several prestigious establishments, including a stage with Maitre Chocolatier Michel Chaudun.

    Then, on Thursday July 28, hear Beyond the Buzz … All About Coffee. Enjoy a stimulating program on the history of coffee, and learn about its remarkable journey from ancient Ethiopia to the latte shops of modern society. Consider caffeine, the natural stimulant found in coffee, derived from shrubs in the coffea genus and explore the many different coffees available today. Instructor Barth Anderson will explain sustainable, organic as well as fair trade; what they mean and why it’s important. Learn how to brew a great cup of coffee, how to discern a good coffee from a great one and enjoy a delicious sample of the Barrington Coffee Roasting Company summer menu. Barth Anderson co-founded Barrington Coffee Roasting Company in 1993. He is an environmental scientist by education, was drawn to coffee at the age of 14 and clearly hasn’t shaken it since.

    Continue, on August 11, with Brewing Up a Storm: The Art & Science of Beer Making.   One of America’s most popular libations, beer, is enjoying a renaissance through artisan beers, microbreweries and home brewing. Join two brewmasters from The Barrington Brewery for an in-depth look at beer, beer making and the history and science of this popular drink! Learn about the essential ingredients of beer including the hops plant. This talk will cover the basic home brewing process, ingredients and equipment needed. Andrew Mankin is head brewer and co-owner of Barrington Brewery. He began as a home brewer twenty seven years ago and then completed an apprenticeship at the Vaux Brewery in Sunderland, England in 1989. Scott Craumer has been a home brewer for six years and is now a brewer at the Barrington Brewery.

    Finally, on August 25, join John Vittori of Hilltop Orchard for The Big Squeeze: Making Apple Cider, Hard & Sweet, for a look at the art and science of making cider both sweet and hard. This lecture/demonstration will cover the history, culture and lore of cider making. Practical information will include selecting apple varieties, cider making techniques, timing, and preserving of both sweet and hard cider. Following a demonstration with a beautiful two-bucket cider press (courtesy of Denis Mareb at Windy Hill Farm), enjoy a tasting of this local sweet (or hard) drink. John Vittori has owned and operated Hilltop Orchards and Furnace Brook Winery for the past twenty four years. His main interests are, sustainable agriculture, integrated pest management, and land preservation.

    To register for all four classes (BBG members $75, nonmembers $85), or for any individual class ($22), visit www.berkshirebotanical.org.

  • Sunday, April 3, 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm – More Fruit Please! Expanding Your Home Harvest

    With proper planning and plant selection, fruiting trees and shrubs can be an attractive and low-maintenance option for growing food in the home landscape.  Former City Fruit program director for Earthworks Ben Crouch will provide basic tips and outline resources for planning, planting, tending and harvesting a home orchard at this Sunday, April 3 workshop at the Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum. Learn the particulars of growing blueberries, apples, pears, plums and other less common fruit. There’s nothing fresher than home grown.$30 for Arboretum members, $35 for nonmembers.  Register at www.my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?EventID=1#April.  Photo of plum tree by Joshua James Evans.

  • Saturday, November 6, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm – Second Annual Esplanade Fall Clean-Up

    The Esplanade Association invites you to join them for the Second Annual Fall Clean-Up on Saturday, November 6th from 10 AM-3 PM, to help beautify the park and ready it for its annual winter coat of snow.

    Volunteers are needed to help with leaf raking and general clean-up. To make sure that everyone’s in the fall spirit, we will provide apples and cider. Gloves and rakes will be provided, but volunteers are encouraged to bring their own gear as well. All ages are welcome!

    They are also in need of volunteer leaders for Fall Clean-Up Day to staff 4 check-in stations at the park (2 leaders each): Lee Pool, Hatch Shell, Dartmouth Street, and the Exercise Course. Volunteer leaders will help with check-in, handing out cider, apples, and tools, and any other emergencies that may come up. Leaders are asked to be at their stations from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM.

    For more information and to RSVP, please contact Jessica Blohm, Park Project and Volunteer Coordinator at 617.227.0365 or jblohm@esplanadeassociation.org.

  • Saturday, October 9 – Monday, October 11, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – Shades of Autumn Harvest Arts and Crafts Market

    Entertainment, apples, and children’s crafts will highlight Tower Hill Botanic Garden’s Shades of Autumn, an annual celebration of the harvest season, taking place Friday, October 9 – Monday, October 11, from 10 – 5.  Arts and Crafts Vendors feature stained glass, trellises, quilting, plants, edibles, photography, pottery, jewelry, and garden accessories.  Taste testing tours of the Preservation Apple Orchard will take place at 2 pm each day.  Enjoy a hayride (weather permitting) through the trails.

    Free admission for residents of Boylston and Clinton, courtesy of the event sponsors, the Boylston and Clinton Public Libraries. For directions and more information, log on to www.towerhillbg.org, or E-mail: thbg@towerhillbg.org . Phone: 508-869-6111

  • Saturday, August 28, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm – Edible Landscape Design and Maintenance, A Walking Tour

    The Ecological Landscaping Association will sponsor Edible Landscape Design & Maintenance, A Walking Tour, on Saturday, August 28, from 10:00 am – 12:30 pm, beginning at 493 Centre Street in Jamaica Plain.  Join tour guide Benjamin Crouch for a walking tour of EarthWorks urban orchards in Jamaica Plain.  Earthworks urban orchards are publicly accessible sites that grow fruit for community consumption (ranging from a handful to over 30 trees at a given site.)  The tour will begin at the Curley School in JP and will highlight five different sites, covering approximately 1 1/2 miles.  Each site will present a different application of edible landscaping.  Sites include two schoolyards, a pastoral pocket park, a community garden and an urban-wild park. The workshop is geared toward professionals and avid gardeners who would like to learn more about the various applications of fruit trees in the landscape.  You will look at the ecological functions of the sites, design and planting choices, innovations in and challenges to maintenance, and get to sample some of the fruit, including both antique and modern cultivars of apples, pears, plums, and peaches.  Registrations are limited.  For more information, call 617-436-5838, or email ela.info@comcast.net.

    http://farm1.static.flickr.com/33/54070471_1f5ffba40a.jpg

  • Sunday, November 1, 2:00 pm – An Infinite Variety of Fruit

    Garden History Consultant Christie Higginbottom’s illustrated program at Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts on Sunday, November 1 beginning at 2 pm will explore the role played by apples at the table and on the farm landscape in the past, and will look at the revival of interest today.  The program is free with admission to the Museum.  For more information, log on to www.fruitlands.org.

    http://www.globalmr.com/images/Omaha/Desserts/Caramel_Apple_Tartlets.jpg

  • Saturday, October 17, 10:00 am – Eden’s Gems: A Walk in the Village Orchard

    Garden Thyme programs are held on the third Saturday of each month and are FREE for members of Old Sturbridge Village. Led by Village horticultural and agricultural staff, these programs and workshops are held at various sites and deal with a variety of plant-related themes and topics. Participants gather at the Visitor Center at 10 a.m. each month and are led to the appropriate site or setting.  On October 17, enjoy Eden’s Gems: A Walk in the Village Orchard, with Christie Higginbottom. Did you ever wonder why 1800s cooks and cider makers had over 800 apple varieties to choose from and we only have a dozen or so? Meet the Village’s historic fruits — the Mothers, the Spitzenburgs, the Russets, the Baldwins and the Sheepsnose apples. Learn about seedlings, scions and rootstocks. Find out how the art and skill of propagating these trees keeps our apple heritage alive.  For more information, and directions, log on to www.osv.org.

    http://www.cardcow.com/images/set301/thumbs/card00435_fr.jpg