Boston Flora

Tag: Helia Native Nursery

  • Friday, September 9, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Exploring the Demonstration Meadows at Helia Native Nursery

    Explore three beautiful meadows at Helia Native Nursery, 95 East Road in beautiful Alford, Massachusetts in the Berkshires, on September 9. Learn about the importance of a meadow ecosystem, different methods for meadow building and how to maintain existing meadows to maximize wildlife benefits. Helia Native Nursery is situated on Sky Meadow Farm, a beautiful 109-acre farm. Its mission is to preserve native genotypes through creating seed banks on the farm and propagating native plants in our nursery.

    Helia’s land stewardship on the farm focuses on restoring wildflower meadows for pollinators. Planted 4 and 5 years ago, this tour will feature three mature meadows that demonstrate a variety of planting techniques, seeding and planting, and different maintenance strategies. There will be discussion of invasive species control, meadow mowing regimens, and meadow disturbance opportunities.

    All of the meadows display rich color palettes, showing what can be achieved using native plants. The meadows are all designed with four season interest – a feature that invites frequent visits to experience the changing views.

    An important feature of well-designed meadows is the opportunity for habitat restoration. Plant selections consider the various stages of pollinator life cycles and provide appropriate plants for each. Join tour guide, Bridghe McCracken to learn more. This Ecological Landscape Alliance tour is $33, and members of ELA will receive a discount. Register and learn more at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/eco-tour-exploring-the-meadows-at-sky-meadow-farm/

  • Friday, July 12, 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Edible Native Plants

    The Berkshires are home to over 100 species of edible wild plants. Many of these species are more nutritious and flavorful than their cultivated counterparts. On July 12 from 2 – 5, join wild edibles enthusiast and author Russ Cohen, for a three-hour ramble around Sky Meadow Farm in Alford, Massachusetts to learn about edible wild plants. Keys to the identification of reach species will be provided, along with info on edible portion(s), season(s) of availability and preparation methods, as well as guidelines for safe and responsible foraging.
    $30 RSVP @ helianativenursery@gmail.com

    Groundnut (Apios americana)

  • Saturday, May 26, 10:30 am – 12:00 noon – Native Plant Propagation

    Learn how to propagate native plants using organic earth-based techniques at Helia Native Nursery on Saturday, May 26 from 10:30 – noon. Helia Native Nursery is situated on Sky Meadow Farm, a beautiful 109-acre farm in Alford, Massachusetts. They are a small nursery in Berkshire County that specializes in growing native perennials, as well as trees and shrubs.

    Their mission is to preserve native genotypes through seed banking on the farm and propagating them in our plant nursery. Their plants are available for the landscaping community, homeowners, and nature enthusiasts. Many of the species propagated are not available in the standard nursery industry.

    Their land stewardship on the farm focuses on restoring  wildflower meadows for pollinators, woodlands and fens for rare fauna. They have a long term forestry plan written with help from Massachusetts Woodland Institute and Peter Tucker to remove invasive shrubs to create song bird habitat. Removing the invasive species will benefit the wildlife on the farm as well as reduce the number of ticks in the community at large. A high volume of native plant diversity will create optimal habitat for birds, butterflies, pollinators, amphibians, and dragonflies and boost the resilience of this ecosystem.

    Their techniques of propagation are strictly organic and earth-based. They use the highest quality organic potting material and inoculate the potting soil with compost, topsoil from the farm, and mulch to create a diverse soil food web. These practices allow for healthier, less disease-prone plants. If pest or disease control is required, they only use organic methods.

    To achieve greener nursery practices they only use a passive solar greenhouse, and reuse all  pots. They are conscious about daily water use and have a strict non-chemical approach to plant propagation and pot maintenance. All of these efforts lower their ecological footprint.

    The workshop costs $20 per person and includes an eco-tour of Sky Meadow Farm. If you are interested in attending email helianativenursery@gmail.com.

    Image result for Helia Native Nursery

  • Project Native Nursery & Farm Becomes Helia Native Nursery

    Award-winning landscape designer Bridghe McCracken is the new owner of Project Native’s 52-acre farm in Great Barrington and will continue to run it as a native-plant nursery, seed bank, and wildlife habitat sanctuary.  In addition to the native plants available from the nursery, she will operate a sustainable living garden store that includes handmade tools, organic garden supplies, artisan outdoor pots and furniture, as well as local goods such as teas, medicinal plants, honey and candles. Project Native Founder Raina Weber returned to the Berkshires for two months to help McCracken sustain the nursery and expand upon the native habitat restoration work that has been underway since Project Native first acquired the former dairy farm twelve years ago.  The farm will be now known as Helia Native Nursery.  For more information visit http://helianativenursery.com/about/.