Boston Flora

Tag: permaculture

  • Tuesday, September 20, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm – Urban Sustainability: Roger Williams Park Botanical Center and Beyond

    Join Ecological Landscaping Association and URI Research Associate Kate Venturini on Tuesday, September 20, from 10 – 12:30, for a unique insider tour of the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center complex in Providence, Rhode Island, an urban oasis nestled in the heart of the 427-acre park designed by Horace Cleveland in 1878.  Through a partnership between the URI Outreach Center and the Providence Parks Department, the Botanical Center complex is being transformed both inside and out as a model for sustainable urban horticulture.  Located on an island surrounded by man made ponds, the complex features a newly designed and installed rain garden to capture greenhouse roof runoff, Rhode Island’s largest community garden, the future site of a permaculture food forest, extensive outdoor display gardens featuring native and sustainable plants, and the largest public indoor display gardens in New England (approximately 12,000 square feet of greenhouses.)  Join Kate as she shares her insight into the successful planning and management of indoor and outdoor showcases, illustrating the latest and greatest urban horticultural and agricultural practices.  For more information, email ela.info@comcast.net, or call 617-436-5838.  $20 for ELA members, $25 for non-members.  The address of Roger Williams Park is 1000 Elmwood Avenue in Providence.

  • Friday, August 12 – Sunday, August 14 – NOFA 2011 Summer Conference

    Join the Northeast Organic Farming Association on Friday, August 12 through Sunday August 14 on the campus of UMass/Amherst, and attend over 200 workshops on organic gardening, farming, food politics, permaculture, homesteading, landscaping, draft-animal power, alternative energy, livestock, cooking, and more! Hundreds of vendors and exhibitors will be on hand, along with live entertainment, childrens and teen conferences, country fair and farmers market, plus silent auction. This year NOFA is proud to feature the Northeast Animal-Power Field Days. Spend the weekend or come for the day. Activities for all ages.

    Sponsored by: Whole Foods, Stonyfield Farm, Farm Family, Jeff Clements Law Office, Greenleaf Foundation, Vermont Compost, Franklin Community Cooperative, Boston Organics, Groton Wellness, Neighboring Food Coop Association, Bejo Seeds, Chelsea Green Publishing, Northeast Animal-Power Field Days, River Valley Market, RMA, UMass Amherst, North County Organics, and Harris Seeds. Keynote speakers will be Eric Toensmeier, a perennial edibles expert (pictured below, courtesy of www.gazettenet.com,) and Dr. Ignacio Chapela of University of California/Berkeley, a GMO activist. Register now at www.nofasummerconference.org, email info@nofasummerconference.org, or call 413-230-7835.

  • Tuesday, June 28, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm – Urban Sustainability: Roger Williams Park Botanical Center and Beyond

    Join the Ecological Landscaping Association and University of Rhode Island Research Associate Kate Venturini for a unique insider tour of the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center complex in Providence, Rhode Island, an urban oasis nestled in the heart of the 427 acre park designed by Horace Cleveland in 1878.  Through a partnership between the URI Outreach Center and the Providence Parks Department, the Botanical Center complex is being transformed both inside and out as a model for sustainable urban horticulture.  Located on an island surrounded by man-made ponds, the complex features a newly designed and installed rain garden to capture greenhouse roof runoff, Rhode Island’s largest community garden, the future site of a permaculture food forest, extensive outdoor display gardens featuring native and sustainable plants, and the largest public indoor display gardens in New England.  This Tuesday, June 28 tour will cost $20 if you are an ELA member or $25 for non-members.  Please call 617-436-5838 to register, or visit https://www.eventville.com/catalog/eventregistration1.asp?eventid=1008073.

  • Friday, April 1, 7:00 pm, and Saturday, April 2, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm – Edible Ecosystem Weekend

    Get your hands dirty as you help implement Wellesley College Botanic Gardens’ Edible Ecosystem Demonstration Garden, located on the slope below Whitin Observatory.  This landscape, designed by permaculture experts Dave Jacke and Keith Zaltzberg with the assistance of several Wellesley students, mimics the forest in structure and function while providing diverse yields of food, habitat, and research opportunities.  Begin with an introductory talk Friday evening on the theory behind “edible ecosystems.”  Then join us for as much of Saturday as you can, immersed in a mix of hands-on learning and formal presentations on the design process, land management strategies, and ecosystem design.  Gain valuable experience as part of a work team planting baby trees, transplanting and propagating existing vegetation, and laying down the largest week-suppressing sheet-mulch the town of Wellesley has ever seen.  Workshop participants should dress for a day of work in the garden.  Long pants and sturdy, close-toed shoes are required.  Plan to bring a hat, work gloves, you own tools (label them, please), sunscreen, bug repellent, lunch, water and snacks.  Introductory talk: $10 Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture members, $15 non-members.  Workshop: $60 Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture members, $75 non-members.  Pre-registration required – call 781-283-3094, or email horticulture@wellesley.edu.

  • Thursday, February 10, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Pushing the Design Envelope with Native Plants

    Native plants support a variety of design styles from naturalistic to traditional to contemporary. Using Garden in the Woods as a case study, discover the variety of design principles that create this dynamic garden. The naturalistic style unifies the gardens along the main Curtis Path, bringing visitors to habitat-based garden areas and exposing them to contemporary design principals in newer areas such as the Idea Garden. Learn how permaculture theory influences the Edible Garden as it continues to evolve. Then take a look beyond Garden in the Woods to explore how other public gardens are pushing the envelope with native plants. Kristin DeSouza leads this February 10 class, from 10 – 12, and the fee is $22 for NEWFS members, $26 for non-members. For more information log on to www.newfs.org. Photo courtesy of www.gardenvisit.com.