Boston Flora

Tag: Orchards

  • Saturday, March 24, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm – Home Orchard Pruning: A Hands-On Workshop

    This UMass Extension presentation on home orchard pruning will be held on Saturday, March 24 from 10 – 1. The joy of growing fruit in the home garden is enjoying a renaissance. One of the key steps in successful fruit growing is the act of pruning the trees. This can seem daunting and complicated, but it’s not! Not once you understand the principles involved. Come learn how to properly prune your fruit trees (apples, pears, peaches, etc.). Participants will have the opportunity to conduct actual pruning and gain both experience and confidence in pruning fruit trees in order to produce a bountiful crop. $35.

    The class will be taught by Jon Clements and Liz Garofalo at Windy Hill Farm, 686 Stockbridge Road in Great Barrington. Register and pay via credit card for any Mass Aggie seminar by visiting http://ag.umass.edu/fruit/news-events/mass-aggie-seminars/mass-aggie-seminars-2018. You will be taken to a secure RegOnline site where you will be able to choose which seminars you wish to attend and to pay. You will receive an e-mail receipt of your transaction. This workshop will be partially out of doors so please dress appropriately for potentially wet, cold, and muddy conditions.

  • Saturday, March 18, 9:00 am – 11:00 am – Planning and Creating a Compact Orchard

    Become a backyard orchardist and grow your own fruit. Even with a small yard, you can enjoy fruit from your own trees with minimal effort and cost. This step-by-step workshop on Saturday, March 18 from 9 – 11 at the Wakefield Estate in Milton will teach you all you need to know to plan and create a compact orchard for years of enjoyment. Participants will spend part of the workshop outside in the orchard for a pruning demonstration, so dress accordingly. Space is limited; pre-registration required. Fee $20 Arboretum member, $30 nonmember. Offered with the Mary M. B. Wakefield Charitable Trust. Register online at www.my.arboretum.edu.  Image from www.davewilson.com.

  • Saturday, March 16, 9:00 am – 11:00 am – Planning and Creating a Compact Orchard

    The Arnold Arboretum, in concert with the Mary M. B. Wakefield Charitable Trust, will offer a workshop with the staff of the Wakefield Estate in Milton, Massachusetts on Saturday, March 16, from 9 – 11. Become a backyard orchardist and grow your own fruit! Even with a small yard, you can enjoy fruit from your own trees with minimal effort and cost. This step-by-step workshop will teach you all you need to know to plan and create a compact orchard for years of enjoyment. Participants will spend part of the workshop outside in the orchard for a pruning demonstration, so dress accordingly. Space is limited; pre-registration required at www.arboretum.harvard.edu.  $20 fee.

    http://www.wakefieldtrust.org/site/cache/multithumb_images/b.800.600.16777215.0...images.stories.2012_Orchard2.jpg

  • Saturday, August 25, 10:00 am – 11:30 am – Fruit Trees: New Orchard Maintenance

    So you have planted some new fruit trees. What do you do now to ensure fruitful trees for future seasons? This informative program on Saturday, August 25, from 10 – 11:30 am, will illustrate the training, pest control, pruning, soil building and fertilization techniques required to grow healthy trees and delicious fruit. The class will take place at the Nightingale Community Garden, 512 Park Street in Dorchester. Co-sponsored by Boston Natural Areas Network and Boston Tree Party.  Email info@bostonnatural.org or phone 617-542-7696.  Photo from www.apartmenttherapy.com.

  • Monday, October 11 – Monday, October 18 – Spannocchia, Siena, Italy

    Explore the wonderful food and wine culture of Siena, Italy with Slow Food Boston for a whole week this fall. October 11th through the 18th, they’ve planned a schedule chock full – think Tuscan cooking class with the farm’s chef, visiting a goat cheese farm and organic winery, enjoying a special dinner, nostra cena, with friends from the Slow Food chapter in Siena, and also, a few Italian language classes for good measure.

    Your base for the week will be the glorious working organic farm of Spannocchia (below). Many in the food world are familiar with Spannocchia already, as it is a center for education and enrichment, operating a three-month Internship Program where volunteers learn the ins and outs of organic farming, Italian culture and heritage, and their relationship to food and wine.

    Despite a full schedule, we promise that there will be ample time to explore and become familiar with Spannocchia’s 1100 acres. There will be chances to hear about the historic villa and fattoria, to visit the vegetable garden, vineyard, pig pens, and bee hives, and to enjoy the beauty of the grounds for a hike, a glass of wine on the terrace or reading in the ‘Secret Garden’.

    Cost for all of this is $1,650 per person. Please note that there are only a few remaining spots! You can reserve yours with a 250 Euro deposit. Please contact Nicole Nacamuli at nicole@slowfoodboston.com in order to complete the process.

    http://www.spannocchia.org/blog//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/fall-2006-mondo-agricolo-filming-024.jpg

  • Monday, December 7, Tuesday, December 8, or Wednesday, December 9 – The Blackberry Farm Cookbook at Stir

    A pastoral 4,200 acre estate in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains, Blackberry Farm is one of America’s most celebrated luxury hotels with a restaurant that boasts the elite designation of “Relais Gourmand,” the highest mark of culinary excellence within the Relais & Chateaux Organization.  The property, a gastronomic wonderland, features orchards, a dairy, woods in which to forage, and heirloom vegetable gardens.  In addition to supplying the restaurant with amazing meats, veggies, cheeses, jams and more, Blackberry Farm offers the opportunity for guests to experience and better understand the relationship between the land, the food we eat, and the beauty of eating locally and seasonally.  In the farm’s first cookbook, chef/owner Sam Beall offers stories, photographs, and, of course, amazing recipes from this very special place.  Join him, Barbara Lynch, and the staff of Stir on Monday, December 7, Tuesday, December 8, or Wednesday, December 9 for an evening of food, wine and wisdom, at 102 Waltham Street in Boston.  The $145 cost includes a copy of Mr. Beall’s book.  Reserve now by calling 617-423-7847, or stopping by 102 Waltham Street in the South End (across the street from B&G Oysters.)  See more fabulous course offerings at www.stirboston.com.

    http://www.blackberryfarm.com/images/BandT_20090807_0137_MB_0809%20cookbook.jpg

  • Thursday, October 8, 6 – 8 pm – Introduction to Fruiting Trees and Shrubs

    The Boston Gardeners’ Council will hold a workshop on Thursday, October 8, from 6 – 8 pm, at the Southwest Corridor Community Farm, Lamartine St. and Hoffman Street in Jamaica Plain.  Ben Crouch, former director of Earthworks City Fruit program, leads this workshop on planning, planting, tending, and harvesting urban orchards.  Free, but registration is required.  Call Boston Natural Areas Network at 617-542-7696, or email info@bostonnatural.org.

    http://newtownpippin.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/newtownpippin-monticello2.jpg

  • Saturday, September 26, 10 am – 2 pm – Sustainable Gardens at the Perkins School

    On Saturday, September 26, from 10 – 2, join Sonia Baerhuk, lead grounds-person, for a tour of the extensive campus at Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, the country’s first school for the visually impaired, founded in 1832. The school’s sustainable garden highlights range from the leaf and fallen tree composting systems to a tropical “Cathedral” greenhouse that operates without the use of chemicals. See the two recently installed rain gardens funded by a grant from the Watertown Community Foundation, as well as orchards that grow with biological controls and visit several native plant gardens.  The smells, textures and sounds in the various gardens enrich the lives of students, staff and visitors. Bring a bag lunch. Sponsored by the New England Wild Flower Society, $35 for NEWFS members, $42 for nonmembers, limited to 20 participants.  For more information, directions, and to register, log on to www.newfs.org, or call 508-877-7630.

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  • 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, September 11 – Sunday, September 13, 10 – 6 – Acushnet Apple Peach Festival

    The Town of Acushnet is less than an hour away from the Back Bay, and is the heart of Massachusetts peach growing. Fifteen musical groups, playing soft rock, R&B, show tunes, country and rock, will perform hourly at this year’s festival, which is slated for the weekend of Sept. 11-13.
    Staying true to its original purpose — promoting local orchards — the festival will feature area produce. Braley Orchards, Peters Orchards and Flying Cloud Orchards will offer apples, peaches, cider and pies. The peach cobbler will be made by the Historical Society, and organizers promise it is “the best around.” A variety of snacks, meals, beer and wine will be served.
    “Nobody goes away from (the festival) hungry,” festival committee member Sue Picard said. “There’s pie and cobbler, bloomin’ onions; you just never stop eating all day.”
    Seventy booths will display the wares of craftsmen from around the country. For children, there will be a dunk tank, bungee-jumping game, moonwalk and other activities.
    On Sunday, the parade will start at 10 a.m. at Pope Park and end at the festival grounds, the Long Plain Museum at 1203 Main St., where trophies will be awarded for the best floats. The Miss Apple Peach pageant participants will march.
    The gates will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.     Parking and admission are free; shuttle buses run frequently from the middle school parking area.