Boston Flora

Tag: EarthWorks

  • Saturday, April 29, 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Xeriscaping

    Xeriscaping is landscaping that requires no supplemental irrigation once plants have been established. Native plants that are well adapted to the environment and climate can help reduce the need for watering in a garden. Alternatively, landscapes can be designed to eliminate the need for irrigation through water conservation. This class will explain techniques for creating a more drought-proof garden and discuss native plants for xeriscaping in New England. Benjamin Crouch is the proprietor of Land of Plenty, which specializes in edible and naturalistic landscapes for Greater Boston. Ben was previously Urban Orchards director for the Boston-based non-profit, EarthWorks. For more information about Land of Plenty, go to www.landofplentygardens.com.

    The April 29 class will take place from 1 – 3:30 at Garden in the Woods, 180 Hemenway Road in Framingham, and is $33 for ELA members, $40 for nonmembers. See more at: http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/xeriscaping/#sthash.Oj2rXJ2a.dpuf

  • 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, 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

  • Saturday, May 22, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm – Open Volunteer Day with Earthworks

    Looking for an opportunity to explore and wake up a nearby orchard this spring? Join EarthWorks in the coming months at a variety of our orchards to learn more about urban orchard maintenance, fruit in your own neighborhood, and unique green spaces throughout the city. Plus meet up with other local fruit enthusiasts in your own back yard. Please email info@earthworksboston.org or call 617.442.1059 for more details or to sign up!

    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UlwVkuxTRV8/SBULUPEjN-I/AAAAAAAACAI/ikSr9BMCegs/s400/appleblossom.jpg

  • Saturday, May 1, 10:00 am and 2:00 pm – Blossom Bike Tours with Earthworks

    EarthWorks is pleased to announce they will be taking another chance with an orchard bike tour this spring! After being successfully rained out of the fall orchard tour, they are planning a Blossom Bike Tour to visit six urban orchards in several Boston neighborhoods! Be prepared for some urban biking with minimal hills and a great opportunity to preview where delicious fresh fruit will be ripe for the picking throughout the summer and fall. The EarthWorks staff will guide the tour and point out the variety of sumptuous fruit growing just outside your door! Please join then on Saturday May 1st (rain date Sunday May 2nd) at 10 am or 2 pm, leaving from the Stonybrook T Station during the Wake Up the Earth Festival! Come with your own bike and helmet, and they’ll provide the rest! Families are strongly encouraged to attend, but all minors must be accompanied by an adult. Contact Ruby with any questions or to register: ruby@earthworksboston.org.

    http://www.historiann.com//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/crabapple.jpg

  • Wednesday, April 22 – Earth Day

    Log on to the earthdaynetwork,  ww2.earthday.net for links and up to date information on Earth Day events nationwide.  There will be an EarthWorks tree planting in Roxbury, an urban farming event in Dorchester, a Fort Washington Park Spring Cleaning in Cambridge, an Earth Day Kick-Off 2009 at Suffolk University with the Sierra Club,  a Bike, Skate, Walk Transportation Alternatives Outreach in Beacon Hill, a Boston Bike Cycling Skills Clinic, also in Beacon Hill, and dozens more events in an around our neighborhood.