Boston Flora

Tag: Porter Square Books

  • Monday, June 23, 7:00 pm – The Manor: Three Centuries at a Slave Plantation on Long Island

    In 1984, the landscape historian Mac Griswold was rowing along a Long Island creek when she came upon Sylvester Manor, a stately mansion guarded by hulking boxwoods. When Griswold went inside, she encountered a house full of revelations, including a letter from Thomas Jefferson and—most remarkable and disturbing—what the aged owner, Andrew Fiske, casually called the “slave staircase.”

    This staircase would reveal the extensive but little-known story of Northern slavery, and in 1997 Griswold returned with a team of archaeologists, uncovering a landscape filled with stories. Based on years of research—and voyages that took her as far as West Africa—Griswold has given us both the biography of a place that has witnessed war and reversals in fortune, and the riveting story of the family that has occupied it for three centuries. A fine-grained account and a sweeping drama, The Manor captures American history in all its richness and contradictions.

    The author will speak at Porter Square Books, 25 White Street in Cambridge, on Monday, June 23 at 7 pm.  Her book, in paperback, will be available for purchase and signing.  For additional information email info@portersquarebooks.com, or call 617-491-2220.

  • Tuesday, November 5, 7:00 pm – The Snail Darter and the Dam

    The realities of the darter’s case, author Zygmunt Plater asserts, have been consistently mischaracterized in politics and the media.  His book, The Snail Darter and the Dam,  offers a detailed account of the six-year crusade against a pork-barrel project that made no economic sense and was flawed from the start. In reality TVA’s project was designed for recreation and real estate development. And at the heart of the little group fighting the project in the courts and Congress were family farmers trying to save their homes and farms, most of which were to be resold in a corporate land development scheme. Plater’s gripping tale of citizens navigating the tangled corridors of national power stimulates important questions about our nation’s governance, and at last sets the snail darter’s record straight.

    Plater is professor of law and director of the Land & Environmental Law Program at Boston College Law School. He chaired the State of Alaska Oil Spill Commission’s Legal Research Task Force, is lead author of an environmental law casebook, and has participated in numerous citizen environmental initiatives.  He will appear at Porter Square Books, 25 White Street, Cambridge, on Tuesday, November 5, beginning at 7 pm. Telephone 617-491-2220 for more information.

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  • Sunday, June 9, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm – Backyard Havens of the Somerville Garden Club: A Self Guided Tour

    On Sunday, June 9, from 11 – 4, rain or shine, enjoy the Backyard Havens of the Somerville Garden Club.  Tickets are $15, and you may purchase tickets in advance at the Pemberton Garden Center, 2225 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Porter Square Books, and True Grounds Cafe and Coffeehouse, 717 Broadway, Ball Square in Somerville.  On Sunday June 2, tickets will also be on sale at The Davis Flea Market, Corner of Holland Street and Buena Vista Road in Davis Square.  On the day of the event, there will be a table at Davis Square Statue Park, opposite the MBTA.  Procees from the tour support the educational programs and public plantings of the Somerville Garden Club.  For more information visit www.somervillegardenclub.org.

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  • Tuesday, May 14, 7:00 pm – Backyard Foraging: 65 Plants You Didn’t Know You Could Eat

    Porter Square Books, located in the Porter Square Shopping Center, 25 White Street in Cambridge, will host author Ellen Zachos, who will speak about her new book Backyard Foraging: 65 Plants You Didn’t Know You Could Eat, on Tuesday, May 14, beginning at 7 pm.  Following her talk she will sign copies of her book as well. Ideal for first-time foragers, this book features 70 (not 65 – who knew?) edible weeds, flowers, mushrooms, and ornamental plants typically found in urban or suburban neighborhoods. You’ll be amazed by how many of the plants you see each day are actually nutritious edibles.  Full-color photographs make identification easy, and tips on where certain plants are likely to be found, how to avoid pollution and pesticides, and how to recognize the plants you should never harvest make foraging as safe and simple as stepping into your own backyard.

    Zachos leads foraging walks and currently teaches at the New York Botanical Garden, where she received her certification in Commercial Horticulture and Ethnobotany. She writes two blogs, which can be found at “downanddirtygardening.com” and “gardenbytes.com” and has written numerous gardening books and contributed to publications including Horticulture and Better Homes & Gardens.

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  • Tuesday, January 22, 7:00 pm – Buying the Farm

    “For today’s young, the economic future is far more bleak, and global warming an unprecedented threat. Out of necessity, many will be searching for meaningful forms of communal self-sufficiency, healthful food, and renewable energy. Tom Fels’ captivating and profound reflection on one earlier commune, Montague Farm, founded in the 1960s, offers hard-learned reflections, some practical, some eternal, from a time when communes were the chosen path of many. Elegantly written. An informative and worthwhile read.”
    Tom Hayden, author of The Long Sixties.

    “Buying the Farm reads like an ancient Greek tragedy, written in gripping prose by a master storyteller. The story of Montague Farm is filled with important lessons for those establishing new ways of living and organizing in the twenty-first century. Raking through the ashes of this 1960s commune, Fels does us an immense service by revealing the glowing coals, bitter embers, and enduring lessons of the final years of the last century, and the beginning of this one.”
    Anthony Seeger, Distinguished Professor of Ethnomusicology, Emeritus, UCLA.

    Tom Fels, a museum curator and writer, has for many years researched, written, and lectured on the history of the 1960s. His Farm Friends: From the Late Sixties to the West Seventies and Beyond received honorable mention for the Eric Hoffer Book Award in independent publishing.  Tom will speak about his new book at Porter Square Books, 25 White Street in Cambridge, on Tuesday, January 22, beginning at 7 pm, and will be available to sign copies as well.

  • Sunday, November 18, 12:00 noon – Clean Food Revised Edition

    Clean Food is a feast for the senses that will nourish mind, body, and soul–and this revised edition by author Terry Walters offers lovers of fresh, seasonal vegan fare even more than before. In addition to all-new color photographs and 20 entirely new recipes, acclaimed chef and nutritionist Walters has updated the dishes to feature today’s most healthful ingredients. Hear her on Sunday, November 18 at 12 noon.

    Note: This event is happening at TAGS right next door to the Porter Square Bookstore in the Porter Square Shopping Center in Cambridge and is part of their Customer Appreciation Weekend celebration. Porter Square Books will be selling books and Terry will be signing after her demo. For more information visit www.portersquarebooks.com, or call 617-491-2220.

  • Wednesday, September 12, 7:00 pm – Moonbird

    In a stunning slide presentation on Wednesday, September 12 at 7 pm at Porter Square Books, 25 White Street in Cambridge, National Book Award-winning author Phillip Hoose takes us around the hemisphere with the world’s most celebrated shorebird, showing the obstacles rufa red knots face, introducing a worldwide team of scientists and conservationists trying to save them, and offering insights about what we can do to help shorebirds before it’s too late. With inspiring prose, thorough research, and stirring images, Hoose explores the tragedy of extinction through the triumph of a single bird.

    Hoose is the author of the National Book Award winner Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, which is also a Newbery Honor Book, a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book, a YALSA Finalist for Excellence in Young Adult Fiction, and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, among other honors. His other books include The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and We Were There, Too!, a National Book Award Finalist. Mr. Hoose lives in Portland, Maine.  For more information visit www.portersquarebooks.com.

  • Thursday, August 16, 7:00 pm – Season to Taste

    When a head injury obliterated twenty-two-year-old Molly Birnbaum’s sense of smell, it destroyed her dream of becoming a chef. Determined to reawaken her nose, she bravely sets off on a quest to rediscover the scented world. A moving personal story packed with surprising facts about the senses, Season to Taste brims with the scents of Molly’s world–cinnamon, cedarwood, fresh bagels, and lavender–lost and finally found.

    Birnbaum is the recipient of the Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship in Arts and Culture from Columbia Journalism School. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, O, The Oprah Magazine, and ARTnews magazine, and she writes the popular food blog “My Madeline”.  Hear her discuss her book on Thursday, August 16, beginning at 7 pm at Porter Square Books, 25 White Street in Cambridge.  For more information call 617-491-2220.

  • Thursday, July 19, 6:00 pm – Food in Jars

    Join Porter Square Books for a demonstration by Marisa McClellan at Tags Hardware, 25 White Street in Cambridge, on Thursday, July 19 beginning at 6 pm.

    Preserving delicious canned fruits, yummy jams, and savory pickles has never been easier with McClellan’s essential guide to home preserving and canning. Perfect for the urban dweller and unlike other books on canning and preserving, Food in Jars offers small-batch recipes ideal for tiny kitchens, says McClellan. McClellan is a food blogger and a creator of the online cooking show “Fork You”. She is a former writer and editor for Slashfood, one of the nations biggest and most widely read food websites. She writes about canning, pickling, and preserving on her blog, Food in Jars.

    Marisa will be demonstrating a canning procedure for jam at TAGS at 6pm on the 19th. PSB will be on hand selling copies of her book . Be sure to stock up on your canning supplies when you are there!

  • Thursday, June 14, 7:00 pm – Markets of Paris/La Tartine Gourmande

    Marjorie Williams and Beatrice Peltre will appear at Porter Square Books, 25 White Street in Cambridge, on Thursday, June 14 at 7 pm to discuss their two books, Markets of Paris and La Tartine Gourmande. Markets of Paris describes in thoughtful prose a variety of Paris markets, focusing primarily on the 65 outdoor food markets that are an essential part of the Paris landscape. This new 2d edition revisits and updates the entire market scene in Paris, with 12 new entries and 10 new sidebars, including Virtual Markets and Market Streets, Markets Open on Sunday, Artisan Bakers, Getting Along in the Food Markets, Brocante Fairs, and more.

    Williams has been attending farmers markets since her childhood. She has written for many publications, including Edible South Shore edition, which focuses on the farms and produce found in southeastern Massachusetts. She lives in Cambridge.

    With nearly 100 recipes and charming anecdotes, La Tartine Gourmande takes you on a journey, not only through the meals of the day but around the world. For Béatrice Peltre, author of the award-winning blog LaTartineGourmande.com, to cook is to delight in the best of what life has to offer-the people and places we love.

    Lush styling and photography combined with sweet stories, foodie tidbits, and fresh and original recipes make La Tartine Gourmande perfect for those who love food and the way our lives play around it. This is not just a book about cooking, but a warm invitation to share in the beauty and simple pleasures of a life with food at the heart of it.

    Peltre was born and raised in the countryside in northeastern France. She is a freelance food writer, stylist, photographer, and blogger. Her work has appeared in such places as Saveur, the Washington Post, and the Boston Globe, as well as in other international and online publications and books. She lives in Boston.  For more information, call 617-491-2220, or visit www.portersquarebooks.com.