Boston Flora

Tag: Kitchen Gardens

  • Tuesday, February 20, 5:00 am – 6:30 am Eastern (but recorded) – Ancient Roots: Of Cabbages and Kings, Roman Kitchen Gardens, Online

    Join The Gardens Trust and Gillian Hovell and discover how the ancient Romans set the seeds of the shape and uses of our modern gardens. Explore the truly ancient, vibrant and fascinating origins of our personal garden spaces and of the grandeur of public gardens. Find out why, if the Romans could have had ‘House and Garden’ magazines, they would have reveled in them! See gardens anew through ancient kitchen gardens, mythological stories, attitudes to wildlife and public parks that all still flourish in our green spaces. Then stroll through the gardens of Roman Pompeii, now blossoming with new insights. This second session on February 20 will follow the origens of Roman Kitchen Gardens.

    The surprisingly not-so-humble cabbage and gardens fit for royal kings were very real themes in the kitchen gardens of Ancient Romans. It’s a spicy, fruitful and fragrant story of a society in which your kitchen garden said far more about you than you might imagine … ingredients (rich and poor) were once tied up with morality and virtue. As the Roman influence grew, taking gardens into new lands, Roman philosophers, poets and garden experts wrote of these private supplies as big business, a personal medicine cabinet and a feast for all. Discover what they grew in their kitchen gardens 2,000 years ago and why, as well as their varied uses. We peer into the ancient growing of vegetables and fruit across the Roman Empire and we see the produce of our gardens from a very Roman viewpoint. Has it changed much in 2,000 years, or is there a timelessness here, despite some very culturally-specific beliefs?

    After graduating with 2-1 (Hons) in Latin and Ancient History from Exeter University, Gillian Hovell worked in BBC Television and became an award-winning freelance writer, author, public speaker & broadcaster in the media and online. As an independent expert in the ancient world she specialises in archaeology, prehistory and in the Greek and Roman eras. She is a lecturer at York University and can be seen and heard on TV & Radio.

    Gillian has excavated at major sites in the UK and Europe (hence ‘The Muddy Archaeologist’) and she shares her expertise and her passion with diverse audiences in the UK and internationally. For history and archaeology are everywhere, and they add colour, depth and meaning to every aspect our lives today.

    Her series of The Muddy Archaeologist Online Courses enables you to explore ancient history, archaeology and Latin with her at any time. An ever-growing collection is available, and they can also be found on Gillian’s website here.

    This ticket (REGISTER HERE) is for this individual session and costs £8, and you may purchase tickets for o the entire course of 6 sessions at a cost of £42 via the link here. [Gardens Trust members may purchase tickets at £31.50 for the series or £6 each talk]. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.

  • Tuesday, March 8, 6:30 pm – Early American Kitchen Gardens & Gardeners, Online

    Learn about early America’s kitchen gardens, and those who created and tended them, in a Morven Museum & Garden event presented by Holly Gruntner on March 8 at 6:30 pm.

    As any gardener knows, nothing grows in a garden without skill and effort. According to Holly Gruntner, the same was true in early America as she explores the lives of those who created and tended kitchen gardens of that era.

    This enlightening virtual presentation will be an overview of some of the themes of Ms. Gruntner’s PhD dissertation, Fertile Ground: Kitchen Gardens and Knowledge Production in Early America.

    Holly’s work seeks to understand the intellectual lives and influence of lower-class, enslaved, and bound people living in eastern British North America – and the early United States – by focusing on their kitchen gardens and gardening activities.

    Holly Gruntner received her BA from the University of Minnesota, Morris. After working for three years in Congressional Relations at the Library of Congress, she completed her History MA at William & Mary in 2017. Her MA portfolio explored how botanists in early America relied upon their spouses, children, enslaved people, and servants for crucial scientific labors.

    She is currently a PhD candidate in the History Department at William & Mary, working on a dissertation about kitchen gardens and scientific knowledge in early America, 1650-1830. Her work parses the intellectual and manual garden labors of non-elite people. Her dissertation views even the smallest garden plots as scientific laboratories; units of intense and extensive intellectual work, experiment, and exchange. Discoveries and practices originating with these common gardens and gardeners also transcended households and communities and served as the basis for published and otherwise formalized scientific discourse of the day. $5 for Morven members, $10 for nonmembers. Register through Eventbrite HERE.

  • Now Streaming Online: The Victorian Kitchen Garden

    The Victorian Kitchen Garden was a 13-part British television series produced in 1987 for the BBC.  It follows a master gardener, Harry Dodson, through his year-long attempt to revive the long-fallow walled garden of Chilton Lodge, a country estate in Berkshire, using entirely Victorian-era plants, tools, and methods.  Watch by visiting https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5mpc6t

    Harry James Dodson (11 September 1919 – 25 July 2005) was an English gardener who became a celebrity as a result of the BBC television documentary series The Victorian Kitchen Garden, which features his professional expertise and his reminiscences. Born in Byfleet, his father was a gardener and his uncle was head gardener to the Earl of Selborne.

    He left school at 14, and over the next six years worked his way up from garden boy to journeyman. In 1937 he started work at Stansted Park as a ‘young improver journeyman’ in the kitchen garden. When the Second World War started he served briefly in France, but was discharged on medical grounds. He was appointed general garden foreman at Leigh Park in Hampshire. The large house had been commandeered by the Admiralty and Dodson’s task was to grow enough food for several hundred people every day. After the war he moved to Nuneham Park, near Oxford, where he met his future wife, Jane.

    In 1947 he was appointed head gardener at the Chilton Estate, near Chilton Foliat, growing flowers and vegetables for the household in an extensive walled garden, with heated greenhouses and 200 yards of cloches. By 1981 the cost of maintaining the garden had become too high for its owner. He made it over to Dodson, who ran it as a commercial nursery.

    He was a successful exhibitor at the Royal Horticultural Society‘s shows, and in 1956 he joined the fruit and vegetable committee and served as a judge at its shows for nearly 50 years.

  • Friday, July 15, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm – Kitchen Gardens and Herbs of the Pilgrims

    Using period sources like John Winthrop’s seed lists and a poem by William Bradford, Christina Stapley will explore the herbs the colonists felt necessary for their lives in the New World, at this Friday, July 15 seminar at Plimoth Plantation entitled Kitchen Gardens and Herbs of the Pilgrims.  The afternoon will include gathering herbs and preparing poultices, salves, powders, teas, and herb-infused honeys.  This great day (from 9 – 5)  will be filled with practical experience of plant recognition, making recipes, and sampling remedies, dyed materials, and skincare products.  A delicious lunch of 16th and 17th century foods made with popular period herbs will be served.  Fee for Museum members: $120; nonmembers: $150. Fee includes lunch. Register at www.plimoth.org, or call 508-746-1622, ext. 8359.

  • Wednesdays, October 21 & 28, 7 – 9 pm – Greening Up Your House: A Guide to Growing Indoor Plants

    Not sure your thumb is green enough?  Wellesley College Botanic Garden Senior Greenhouse Horticulturist Tony Antonucci helps dispel any black thumb self-images.  Tony oversaw the Ferguson Greenhouses “greening” and shares how your houseplants can be grown more safely without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers.  In the first session, he will show you the basics and special Greenhouse tips for houseplant care: light, water, pruning, and feeding.  Trouble shooting and pest control will also be covered.  Session two will be a hands-on workshop using the same plants the Greenhouse staff grows for the New Student Plant Give Away.  You will get your hands dirty and discover proper techniques for repotting, dividing, and pruning pot bound plants with their masses of tangled roots.  Take home your newly potted plants and watch them grow.

    As a special topic, Tony will cover Indoor Kitchen Gardens.  Apply green methods of growing indoor plants to indoor herbs, lettuce, and other food plants.  Tony explains the particular needs of an indoor kitchen garden and discusses the various methods you can use to successfully create one of your own.  Course Number HOR 10 040.  WCFH members $36, non-members $45.  To register, or for more information, log on to www.wellesley.edu/WCFH, or email horticulture@wellesley.edu.

    beautiful houseplant by katiescrapbooklady.

  • Wednesday, September 23, 10 am – 12 noon – Four Centuries of Garden History at Strawbery Banke

    Take a special Curator’s tour through New England garden history on Wednesday, September 23 beginning at 10:00 a.m. as the New England Wildflower Society explores the site that Garden Design magazine recognized as one of four sites in the world teaching about change over time in an original landscape. Gardens range from native landscapes and 17th century raised-bed kitchen gardens to high Victorian gardens/hothouse, immigrant gardens, a 100 year-old Colonial  Revival garden, and a Victory Garden from World War II.  The tour focuses on garden trends and historic design as well as heirloom plants and historic use.  Teaching gardens include a Victorian Children’s Garden, Herb garden and heritage orchards. Participants have access to heirloom seeds from the gardens as we progress through the historic and cultural landscapes.  Tour does not include admission to the museum, but participants are encouraged to stay for lunch and an afternoon visit to the site. John Forti will lead the group, limited to 20 participants, and the fee is $18 for NEWFS members and $22 for nonmembers.  To register, and get directions, log on to www.newfs.org or call 508-877-7630.

    http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2008/05/02/1209733068_5788.jpg

  • Friday, August 21, 10:00 a.m. – Planting and Growing a Kitchen Garden

    Learn about planting and growing kitchen gardens from the Pilgrims to the present, and find out what past generations relied on to nourish and cure them. We will talk about heirloom varieties, their culture, and how to plant and harvest herbs and vegetables for the rest of the season.  Admission is $35, and reservations are required.  The event will take place at the Lyman Estate Greenhouses in Waltham, Massachusetts, and is run by Historic New England.  For further information, contact Susanna Crampton, 185 Lyman Street, Waltham, MA 02452, 781-891-4882, scrampton@historicnewengland.org.  You can get directions to the Lyman Estate on Historic New England’s website, www.HistoricNewEngland.org.

  • Saturday, August 1 – The Salad Days at Plimoth Plantation

    Plimoth Plantation kicks off a one month celebration of gardens. Whether visiting the Wampanoag Homesite, or the English Village this month, guests to Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts will enjoy seeing and learning more about the beauty and functionality of the museum’s vegetable and kitchen gardens.  Ask the interpreters about what’s growing and their various planting methods. Discover how lush August gardens provided reliable sustenance to the Wampanoag and colonists.  For hours and directions, log on to www.plimoth.org.