Boston Flora

Tag: Pennsylvania State University

  • Thursday, December 16, 5:15 pm – 6:30 pm – Local Food Before Locavores: Growing Vegetables in the Boston Market Garden District, 1870 – 1930, Live and Online

    The Boston market garden district was a national leader in vegetable production from 1870 to 1930.  Suburban market gardeners’ practices both countered and anticipated broader trends in the US food system.  For example, intercropping  (though long-known) stood well outside the US agro-ecological mainstream. Boston growers also developed the modern forcing house, an engineered greenhouse environment dependent on fossil fuels, irrigation, and commodified insect pollinators.  Year-round lettuce from these houses helped prepare the way for consumers to embrace a de-seasonalized, nationalized vegetable supply.  This agro-environmental episode shows how the history of local food complicates our narratives about US food system modernization.

    The Massachusetts Historical Society will sponsor this December 16 lecture by Sally McMurry, Pennsylvania State University, with comments by Andrew Robichaud of Boston University. The free event begins at 5:15 pm.

    The Environmental History Seminar invites you to join the conversation. Seminars bring together a diverse group of scholars and interested members of the public to workshop a pre-circulated paper. Learn more.

    Please note, this is a hybrid event which may be attended either in person (register HERE) at the MHS or virtually on the video conference platform, Zoom (register HERE) Registrants will receive a confirmation message with attendance information.

  • Wednesday, September 23, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – Why Rain Gardens Fail and Tools for Success Webinar

    Rain impacts each of our lives. Past generations developed methods that quickly whisk the rain from roofs, roads, and plazas on its journey to the ocean. The contemporary stormwater model features the design and installation of landscapes that mimic nature, capturing, storing, and infiltrating the water close to its source. Rain gardens and bioretention facilities are two practices in the green infrastructure toolbox, and they are often the first choices for designers, contractors, public agencies, and landowners due to their relatively low cost, large stormwater treatment capacity, and perceived ease of installation. However, complaints ranging from unsightly weedy holes to mosquito breeding water can leave agencies and landowners wishing for another stormwater alternative. With appropriate planning, design, construction, and maintenance, these stormwater treatment workhorses can be an artistic part of our landscapes, gardens, streetscapes, and public spaces.

    Steven Torgerson is a Registered Landscape Architect and the Director of Landscape Architecture at AMT Landscape Architecture + Design Division. He has nationwide experience in planning and design within an ecologically resilient framework and is passionate about creating spaces that are a catalyst for people to interact with their environment and community. Mr. Torgerson’s multidisciplinary design approach encourages alternative solutions to complex rainwater problems. He delights in community engagement and the opportunity to integrate public preferences into the design outcome. Before coming to AMT, Mr. Torgerson served as the Cultural Landscape Architect at Yosemite National Park and was the lead landscape architect for the Forest Service during the 2002 Winter Olympics. He has won numerous awards for his work in landscape architecture including the 2018 ASLA Potomac Chapter Honor Award for Brookside Gardens and the 2017 ASLA, Potomac Chapter Honor Award for Greening DC’s Streetscapes. Mr. Torgerson holds a Master in Landscape Architecture from the Pennsylvania State University with an emphasis in watershed planning and a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Utah State University.

    This ELA webinar is free for ELA members, $10 for nonmembers, and you can register at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/webinar-why-rain-gardens-fail-and-tools-for-success/