Boston Flora

Tag: Peace Corps

  • Tuesday, October 30, 6:45 pm – Soil Health: From the Bottom Up

    The Norwood Evening Garden Club will host Tom Akin, Conservation Agronomist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, tomorrow, October 30, at the Carriage House of the First Baptist Church, 71 Bond Street, Norwood.

    Mr. Akin will discuss the characteristics of healthy soil, its importance in gardening and how to improve your soil’s health. He will also cover how to interpret soil test results, how to optimize plant nutrition and plant health, organic matter in the soil and why you should sell your rototiller.  The public is invited to attend. A $5.00 donation is requested and includes refreshments. For more information call 781-769-3854.

    Tom Akin has been the Conservation Agronomist and Grazing Lands Coordinator with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Amherst, MA since 2003. He is passionate about the environment, soil health, composting and helping farmers and gardeners improve their soil’s health. Prior to working for NRCS, Tom was assistant superintendent and internship coordinator at the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain. He has also worked as an Extension educator with the University of Massachusetts and for the Peace Corps in the Central African Republic.

  • Tuesday, August 16, 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Growing Organic Fruit Trees in a Backyard

    Why not grow organic apples in the backyard? This Northeast Organic Farming Association workshop on Tuesday, August 16, from 6 – 8:30 pm, will go over how to plant and care for fruit trees using organic methods. After a pruning demonstration, John Bemis, from Hutchins Farm, will cover materials, varieties, rootstocks, as well as disease and pest management. He will be sure to touch on the likely challenges growers face and variable responses to those challenges. $25 NOFA members/$30 Non-members. The event will take place at City Natives, 30 Edgewater Drive in Boston.

    John Bemis is a partner at Hutchins Farm in Concord, MA. He has been organically growing vegetables for over 35 years and currently oversees nine acres of apple trees. He studied agriculture and construction in Peru through the Peace Corps and has a degree from MIT in Architecture.

    To register for the workshop or for more information visit www.nofamass.org or contact Laura Eppstein at (617) 913-0538, or by email at laura@nofamass.org. Ulla Norup Milbrath’s Gravenstein apples below from www.ullam.typepad.com.