Boston Flora

Tag: Concord

  • Saturday, September 7, 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Garden Club of Concord Garden Tour

    The Garden Club of Concord will sponsor a self-guided tour next Saturday, September 7, from 2 – 5.  The four gardens on tour are free, open to the public, and all are within one mile of Concord Center.  Please pick up tour tickets with garden locations from the Garden Club of Concord Table at the Farmers Market, Main Street, Concord from 10 – 2 on the day of the tour, or email concordgardentours@gmail.com.  No pets or strollers, children welcome accompanied by adults, gardens not handicapped accessible.

    The first garden is a three season organic garden, with veggies, herbs, chickens and bees.  Using biodynamic and organic methods, the host’s vegetable and herb gardens provide much of the family’s produce starting in early spring through late fall.  Tucked to one side of the property at the edge of a tiny brook is a chicken coop and yard, home to the family’s hens when they are not free ranging.  The owner, an avid biodynamic beekeeper, has her hives placed on the opposite edge of the yard, overlooking the gardens.

    Next, the raspberry batch garden which was created by a family who moved from Michigan to Massachusetts with 12 raspberry canes in tow.  Nineteen years later there are now 11 varieties, some cross-pollinated by the owner, a recently retired molecular biologist who has made it his passion to grow and breed raspberries.

    The chicken coop and kitchen potager is a little bit of country in the heart of Concord.  The owners have created several gardens, including a small formal kitchen potager in the center of the yard, with herbs and vegetables planted within brick pathways.  Soon the garden shed was transformed into a chicken coop and family and friends have been enjoying fresh organic eggs.  A pergola, later attached to the building, adds an element of whimsy to the scene as well as providing a space to sit in the gardens and enjoy the charming antics of the hens.

    Finally, meet the goats at a low maintenance garden!  If this gardener could pass on one piece of wisdom it would be that anyone can garden and grow food.  She and her partner have transformed their backyard into a low maintenance and highly productive garden of vegetables, herbs, and fruit, using a system of hoops and row covers over raised beds.  In 2009, she fulfilled a long-time dream of raising goats.

    http://cf.ltkcdn.net/garden/images/std/110386-400x266-When_to_Move_Raspberry_Plants.jpg

  • Friday, April 12 – Sunday, September 15 – Early Spring: Thoreau, Concord, and the Citizen Science Tradition

    Drawing upon its outstanding Thoreau collection, in April 2013 the Concord Museum will present an exhibition and related programs that explore the work of Henry Thoreau as a scientist studying seasonal phenomena. These phenomena include such episodes as the flowering times of flora, arrival dates of migrating birds, leafing out of trees, and ice-up at Walden Pond.

    Thoreau’s choice of Concord as a subject was emulated by a number of citizen scientists, some amateur and some professional, over three centuries.

    Currently, Dr. Richard Primack, Professor of Biology at Boston University, and his team have been systematically comparing the data collected by Thoreau with current data gathered in identical Concord locations. Early Spring will offer general audiences a new understanding of Thoreau and the importance of his work in a contemporary context. The Museum is located on the Cambridge Turnpike at Lexington Road in Cambridge, and hours and directions are available at www.concordmuseum.org.

    http://www.bu.edu/bostonia/winter-spring12/climate-change/climate-change.jpg

  • Tuesday, March 19, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation

    The Concord Museum and the Concord Museum Guild of Volunteers will host author Andrea Wulf on Thursday, March 19 at the Concord Museum, Cambridge Turnpike at Lexington Road in Concord, for a lecture beginning at 1 pm.  The talk is the 2013 Mary M. Lesneski Memorial Lecture, on Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation. 

    Founding Gardeners offers a fascinating look at the revolutionary generation from the unique and intimate perspective of their lives as gardeners, plantsmen, and farmers. For the founding fathers, gardening, agriculture, and botany were elemental passions, as deeply ingrained in their characters as their belief in liberty for the nation they were creating. Wulf’s stories of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Madison reveal a guiding, but previously overlooked, ideology of the American Revolution.

    Andrea Wulf was born in India and moved to Germany as a child. She lives in Britain where she trained as a design historian at the Royal College of Art. Her most recent book, Chasing Venus, was published in 2012 in eight countries in conjunction with the last transit of Venus in our century. Wulf has written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, and many other newspapers. She has lectured widely to large audiences at the Royal Geographical Society and Royal Society in London, the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, Monticello, and the Chicago Botanic Garden, among many others. She is a three-time fellow of the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello and the Eccles British Library Writer in Residence 2013.

    During her visit to Concord, Ms. Wulf will be a Scholar in Residence at the Concord Museum, exploring both the Concord Museum’s collection and the collections of other area institutions for research for a new book.

    As is tradition, Afternoon Tea organized by the Concord Museum’s Guild of Volunteers follows the lecture. The annual Mary M. Lesneski Lecture, begun 34 years ago in memory of a dedicated Concord Museum volunteer, has brought nationally renowned speakers on a variety of topics to the Museum each March. Tickets to the lecture and tea are $30; $25 Concord Museum Members. Reservations are required as space is limited; (978) 369-9763, ext. 216. Books will be available for purchase in the Museum Shop, with a book signing to follow the lecture.

    http://media.cleveland.com/books_impact/photo/9464746-large.jpg

  • Thursday, March 14, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm – Seeds of Change: Reclaim the Legacy of Seed Saving

    On Thursday, March 14, Thoreau Farm, The Concord Seed Lending Library (Fowler Branch), Gardening for Life, and ConcordCAN will present Seeds Of Change: Reclaim the Legacy of Seed Saving, at Thoreau Farm, 341 Virginia Road in Concord, beginning at 7:30 pm.  Speaker Bryan Connolly, noted field botanist, homestead farmer, FEDCO seed saver, and author of The Wisdom of Plant Heritage, will address the history and utility of seed saving within the context of climate change, plus give practical advice for most common garden products.  If Concord Schools are closed due to bad weather, the program will be canceled.  Free, but donations are always welcomed.  For more information, visit www.concordfood.ning.com.

    http://www.hamiltonbook.com/media/image_240x320/4403312.JPG

  • Saturday, November 3, 9:00 am – 12:00 noon – Hands-On with Gaining Ground

    Tour Gaining Ground’s fields and greenhouse, and help plant the last crop of the season, garlic! Learn more about this group’s mission of growing food for hunger relief with the help of volunteers of all ages and abilities. Gaining Ground grows organic vegetables and fruit with the help of hundreds of community volunteers and donates all of this fresh food to area meal programs and food pantries. Based in historic Concord, Massachusetts, Gaining Ground raises and distributes approximately 20,000 pounds of produce each growing season. Meet at Gaining Ground, 315 Virginia Road in Concord; park in the lot next to the sugar house. 9:00-noon; free. Water is available at the farm, reusable water bottles are encouraged.

  • Invasive Plant Photography Contest

    Photographs are an important tool for the Sudbury Weed Education and Eradication Team (SWEET) to bring attention to the harm invasive plants do to our private, historic and conservation properties.  SWEET is seeking photographs which are either (1) scenic shots showing a site in the Sudbury, Assabet or Concord River watershed being affected by invasive species, (2) detailed close ups which could be used for education, or (3) photo collage highlighting your creative skill using photographs of invasive plants and digital software.  All photographs must be framed or core foam boarded and should measure at least 8 x 10 and no more than 16 x 20.  Judging categories are: professional, amateur adult, 12 – teen, and Kindergarten – grade 5.  To learn about the Sudbury, Assabet and Concord Watershed areas, visit www.Sudbury_Assabet_Concord.org.  The website covers the wild and scenic rivers and activities which highlight the wonders and concerns of these important river watersheds in which we live.

    Images must show one or more of the species as listed by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.  Find the Massachusetts Prohibited Plant List, images and identification information at www.mass.gov/agr/farmproducts/prohibitedplantlist.htm.  Photographs will be previewed on Saturday, September 15 from 10:30 – 12 noon, or Sunday, September 23, from 2 – 4, at Ames Hall, 26 Concord Road, Sudbury.  Works meeting conditions of the contest will be installed and judged at Goodnow Public Library on November 1 and displayed through the end of the month.  There will be a people’s choice award voting box set up in the library – please stop by to cast a vote for your favorites!  Winning photograph will be used for educational and public outreach projects.  For more information, email SWEETinvasives@gmail.com.  Photo of water chestnuts below from New England Wild Flower Society.

  • Friday and Saturday, June 1 – 2, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm – Concord Museum Garden Tour

    Private Concord area gardens will be open for a garden tour to benefit the Concord Museum on Friday, June 1 and Saturday, June 2, from 9 – 4 each day, rain or shine.  Discounted tickets may be purchased in advance by visiting www.concordmuseum.org, or calling 978-369-9763.

  • Friday, June 3 and Saturday, June 4, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm – Concord Museum Garden Tour

    Plan to attend a garden tour of private Concord area gardens on Friday or Saturday, June 3 and 4, sponsored by the Concord Museum.  This event has been a New England garden tradition for 22 years.  Discounted tickets are available in advance by calling 978-369-9763, or by logging on to www.concordmuseum.org. The 22nd annual Garden Affairs tour features exceptional properties that range from a Cotswold cottage-style garden to a serene, river-view garden. A benefit organized by the Museum’s Guild of Volunteers, the tour of Concord’s lovely gardens is self-guided and self-paced, beginning each day at 9:00 a.m. and continuing until 4:00 p.m., rain or shine.

    Garden-goers should arrive at the Museum to pick up their maps prior to starting out. Tickets are good for either or both days, but each garden may only be visited once. Tickets through May 27: $26 Members, $32 Nonmembers; after May 27 or at the door: $32 Members; $38 Nonmembers. No refunds; no photography.

  • Saturday, July 31, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Iris Rhizome Sale

    A large selection of iris rhizomes grown in the gardens of members of the Iris Society of Massachusetts will be offered for sale on Saturday, July 31, from 10 – 4, at Verrill Farm, located at the corner of Sudbury and Wheeler Roads in Concord, Massachusetts.  The irises are hardy in New England, and some of the member hybridizers are nationally recognized.  Some of their prize irises will be for sale, and there will be demonstrations during the day on dividing and planting irises, plus information sheets on their cultivation.  Contact Barbara Schmieder at 978-369-3383 for additional information, or email dotmac@verizon.net.

    http://www.thedailygreen.com/cm/thedailygreen/images/xu/yellow-iris-051109-lg.jpg

  • Saturday, May 29, 11:00 am – Asparagus Festival

    On Saturday, May 29, beginning at 11 am at Verrill Farm, 11 Wheeler Road in Concord, Massachusetts, Steve Verrill will lead a trip into the asparagus field, followed by a buffet lunch under the tent featuring dishes made with asparagus.  Chef Kevin Carey gives tips on preparing and cooking asparagus, and everyone leaves with, you guessed it, a bunch of Verrill Farm asparagus.  $25 per person, and reservations and prepayment are required by May 28.  Call 978-369-4494 to sign up and get directions.

    http://whats4dinnersolutions.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/asparagus.jpg