The Boston Natural Areas Network will hold a Seed, Sow and Grow class on Saturday, October 18 at City Natives, 30 Edgewater Drive in Mattapan, from 10 – 12. Learn to grow cold hardy, nutrient rich greens to provide color and flavor to winter meals. Using a variety of methods we demonstrate ways to extend harvest into the winter months. Registration required, to register call 617-542-7696 or email info@bostonnatural.org. Image from www.prevention.com.
The Boston Natural Areas Network will hold its 8th Annual Harvest Festival & Perennial Divide on Saturday, September 13, from 10 – 2 at City Natives, 30 Edgewater Drive in Mattapan. Bring plants to swap and containers to carry them home. You’re invited to exchange, donate or simply take home plants. Shop for hard-to-find native plants, fall gardening supplies, soil amendments, cover crop and season extension supplies, and enjoy the harvest season with fellow gardeners. Image from www.commonweeder.com. For more information visit www.bostonnatural.org.Â
The Boston Natural Areas Network, an affiliate of the Trustees of Reservations, will hold a class on Saturday, June 28 from 10 – noon at City Natives, 30 Edgewater Drive in Mattapan, entitled Grow and Preserve Herbs. Herbs are easy to grow and provide instant flavor to any meal. Learn how to grow some of the most popular herbs and preserve them through freezing, drying or steeping in vinegars and oils. Registration required by contacting 617-542-7696 or info@bostonnatural.org. Image from University of California Sonoma County Extension.
Why not grow organic apples in the backyard? This Northeast Organic Farming Association workshop on Tuesday, August 16, from 6 – 8:30 pm, will go over how to plant and care for fruit trees using organic methods. After a pruning demonstration, John Bemis, from Hutchins Farm, will cover materials, varieties, rootstocks, as well as disease and pest management. He will be sure to touch on the likely challenges growers face and variable responses to those challenges. $25 NOFA members/$30 Non-members. The event will take place at City Natives, 30 Edgewater Drive in Boston.
John Bemis is a partner at Hutchins Farm in Concord, MA. He has been organically growing vegetables for over 35 years and currently oversees nine acres of apple trees. He studied agriculture and construction in Peru through the Peace Corps and has a degree from MIT in Architecture.
To register for the workshop or for more information visit www.nofamass.org or contact Laura Eppstein at (617) 913-0538, or by email at laura@nofamass.org. Ulla Norup Milbrath’s Gravenstein apples below from www.ullam.typepad.com.
Learn to prepare quick, healthy and affordable dishes using your own fresh picked herbs and produce at this Summer Cooking in the Garden workshop hosted by Boston Natural Areas Network on Wednesday, July 27, beginning at 5:30 at City Natives, 30 Edgewater Drive in Mattapan. Phoebe Flemming, Registered Dietitian and community gardener, will demonstrate some fun and exciting ways to use your garden crops, reduce sodium and saturated fat in your diet and cook healthy and save money at the same time! Registration required. To register call 617-542-7696 or email info@bostonnatural.org.
Start your warm season vegetables with Boston Natural Areas Network on Saturday, April 23, from 9 – 11 at City Natives, 30 Edgewater Drive in Mattapan. Learn methods of sowing seeds and raising seedlings to produce fruit and vegetable starts for your own garden. Registration is required – call 617-542-7696, or email info@bostonnatural.org. Image from gardenofeaden.blogspot.com.
Boston Natural Areas Network urges you – Don’t Stop Now! Join Jo Ann Whitehead, BNAN Garden Educator, on Saturday, October 16, at 10 am at City Natives, 30 Edgewater Drive in Mattapan, and learn what vegetables you can keep growing with a little low-tech protection against cold weather. This workshop will cover what plants will thrive in cool and cold weather, and inexpensive ways to keep growing longer in the fall – and earlier next Spring. Free, but registration is required. To register, email info@bostonnatural.org, or phone 617-542-7696.
City Natives, 30 Edgewater Drive in Mattapan, is the location of a second class on Saturday, June 12, from 1 – 2:30, this time dealing with the subject of container gardens, which offer many benefits to the urban gardener in terms of beauty, practicality, and most importantly, produce close at hand. Jo Ann Whitehead, BNAN Garden Educator, will cover the techniques used to design, create, and maintain successful container vegetable gardens. Reservations required. Call BNAN at 617-542-7696, or email info@bostonnatural.org.
This Spring, just as it comes time to plant the garden, NOFA/Mass presents its third annual Statewide Spring Organic Gardening Day. On April 10, there will be organic gardening workshops in every region of the state. The closest workshop to the Back Bay will be held at City Natives, 30 Edgewater Drive in Mattapan from 9 – 12, led by Jean-Claude Bourrut, who manages production at Natick Community Organic Farm. Jean-Claude will cover soil basics, practical organic techniques, and he will share a hands-on seed starting activity to increase your confidence in starting your own seedlings. Growing our own food is an excellent way to save money, lessen our carbon footprint, improve our health, and connect with neighbors and nature. Isn’t now a good time to learn skills that will help you plant a garden and make it productive throughout the year?
These workshops are all led by experienced gardening educators, and they are intended to meet the tremendous resurgence of energy and action for backyard and community gardening. In addition to explaining and demonstrating some key steps that can empower to you start your own garden, these workshops provide a great opportunity for you to ask questions. Whether you are a complete newcomer to gardening or you just feel that you could use some brushing up on growing skills and concepts, these workshops are for you.
Registration cost is $30, and if you are a member of NOFA you will receive a $5 membership discount. Early registration is recommended ($5 discount before March 27). Contact Ben Grosscup at 413-658-5374, or email him at ben.grosscup@nofamass.org – Put April 10 in the subject line. For a complete list of all ten locations and specific topics throughout the State, log on to www.nofamass.org/programs/extensionevents/workshopday.php.
Horticulturist Jeremy Dick will present a program at City Natives, 30 Edgewater Drive in Mattapan, on Saturday, October 3, from 9 – 11 am. Learn how to collect, process, and store seeds from your garden and from the wild. This program will cover the proper handling and preservation of seed to greatly increase your success with germination. Become a seed saver, grow your favorite plants year to year, and share seeds with friends. Registration is required, although program is free of charge. To register, call 617-542-7696, or email info@bostonnatural.org.
