Boston Community Gardens will offer a garden tour and a master gardener question and answer once a month in a different community garden, sponsored by The Trustees of Reservations. The first will happen May 15 at the Forbes Street Community Garden in Jamaica Plain, followed on June 5 from 5:30 – 6:30 at the Chilcott Granada Community Garden in Roxbury, July 30 from 5:30 – 6:30 at the Lydon Way Community Garden in Dorchester, August 8 at 10 am at the Eagle Hill Community Garden in East Boston, September 26 at 10 am in the West Springfield Community Garden in the South End, and an October event, date to be announced, in the Woolson Community Garden in Mattapan. Free and open to all. For more information, visit https://thetrustess.org/seedsow
The Trustees of Reservations will sponsor the 2026 South End Garden Tour on Saturday, June 20, from 10 – 4. The Tour will start at the Berkeley Community Garden, 500 Tremont Street in the South End. Tickets are $28 for Trustees Members and $35 for nonmembers. However, volunteers will receive a free ticket. The committee is looking for people to help with setup, tour assistants, cleanup, photographers, and musicians. Sign up to volunteer at https://volunteer.thetrustees.org/ or email mfrancke@thetrustees.org.
Join The Trustees of Reservations on April 26 for an afternoon of exploration at Leatherbee Woods, an urban wild located between Hancock Woods Reservation and Hoar Wildlife Sanctuary. This unique landscape includes a Red Maple Swamp and supports a wide variety of plant and animal life.
Together, we’ll walk through the woods, slow down, and notice what’s around us—observing plants, wildlife, and seasonal changes. Whether you’re new to nature observation or already enjoy spending time outdoors, this is a chance to explore and learn in a relaxed, welcoming environment.
This program focuses on curiosity and connection—no prior experience is needed.
What to Expect
A guided walk through wooded and wetland areas
Time to observe and document plants and wildlife
Opportunities to share observations and ask questions
What to Bring Wear comfortable, closed-toe shoes and dress for the weather. You’re welcome to bring water and anything you like to use for note-taking or photos.
The meeting location details will be shared with registered participants by email closer to the event date. Register at https://thetrustees.org/event/446529/
Celebrate Earth Day on April 22 at noon with a lecture at the Crane Estate, focused on art inspired by nature and Native American Heritage. Join us for a lecture with Tess Lukey, The Trustees Associate Curator of Native American Arts. Learn about The Trustees efforts to center Indigenous voices and culture via our exhibits and programming, to recognize the important contributions of Indigenous peoples to the lands now stewarded by The Trustees. Tess will discuss her work curating the Across Boundaries Across Barriers gallery at The Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, focused on the medicine wheel & seven directions, featuring historic and contemporary works of art from several Native American communities in five sections that center the concepts associated with each direction. Tess will also discuss recent collaborations with local Indigenous educators & The Trustees statewide education team to develop curricula connecting students to this gallery and the medicine wheel. Tess will touch on other projects and collaborative work, such as the next installation in the Art & the Landscape Exhibition: The Land Tells Our Stories, featuring outdoor art on display at The Crane Estate.
If your schedule allows, we invite you to arrive early and explore the grounds of Castle Hill, where you can view one of three works in the new Art in the Landscape Exhibition: The Land Tells our Stories. This sculpture, created by Maine-based artist Posey Moulton, invites viewers to reflect on environmental impacts on The Great Marsh, and explore how reclaimed materials that wash up as marine debris can be repurposed into art. The sculpture will be on view from mid-April through October 2026.
Tess Lukey joined The Trustees in 2022 as our first-ever Curator of Native American Art to develop exhibitions and research initiatives related to The Trustees’ Indigenous art collections.
Lukey, an Aquinnah Wampanoag tribal member and lifelong New Englander, works across the state, and is based both at Fruitlands Museum and the deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum. She works closely with community members, collectors, and donors for potential acquisitions while offering broader access to and knowledge of The Trustees’ collections of art made by Indigenous peoples.
For the first time ever The Boston Community Gardens Team will be hosting a hands on Master Urban Gardener (MUG) Practicum class. This is the perfect opportunity to hone your gardening skills in an intensive and hands on class at the peak of planting season. Explore what City Natives has to offer from a full greenhouse setup to rare fruit trees.
This program is open to all, but is suggested in tandem with our winter or fall MUG sections.
The cohort will be hosted weekly from May 2nd to June 6th (with Memorial Day weekend off) from 3-4:30pm at City Natives Greenhouse in Mattapan, 30 Edgewater Drive. This course will be sliding scale $0-150
Have you ever wondered about the wild mushrooms you see in nature? At this fun and educational outdoor event, we’ll review several methods beginners can use to identify and group similar fungi together, tips and tricks for locating mushrooms in seemingly barren forests and fields, and learn how to connect with mycology wherever you live or travel.
Join The Trustees as we stroll through Rocky Woods Reservation, 38 Hartford Street in Medfield, on April 11 while discussing the role mushrooms play in our ecosystem, how sustenance foraging can be utilized to diversify our diets and combat food insecurity, as well as the future possibilities of mushrooms as medicine, cosmetics and a valuable source of protein in our growing and changing world. We will focus on safety while foraging, how to avoid poisonous look-alikes, and do a deep dive into a handful of easily identified common edible and medicinal fungi found in Massachusetts.
Our mushroom programs are led by knowledgeable guides and focus on the ecology of mushrooms and their vital role in the ecosystem. Please note, we will forage mushrooms for educational purposes only and not for consuming.
This is a family-friendly program best suited for families with children ages 6 and up.
About your guide:
Trustees guide Amanda is an amateur mycologist with experience in foraging New England’s edible and medicinal fungi, growing edible mushrooms in commercial settings and researching and developing myco-remediation techniques. She is a combined Global Environmental Studies master’s student at Clark University, with a focus on food systems, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and utilizing fungi as a tool for addressing food insecurity in urban communities.
A founding member of the Clark University Mycology Club, Amanda is a member of the Boston Mycology Club, an employee at Fat Moon Mushroom Farm in Westford, MA and the creator of The Fungi for Everyone Project. The project focuses on the creation of a small-scale community fungi farm in the heart of Worcester that recycles cardboard waste from local residents to produce varieties of Oyster mushrooms, Wine Caps, and Shiitake for nearby residents to eat. The farm provides delicious, protein-rich food, and hands-on agricultural education for children and adults.
Please note: though we love dogs, they are not permitted at this event.
Join The Trustees virtually for The Trustees Annual Public Garden Lecture.
This year we are joined by Richard Hayden, Senior Director of Horticulture at the High Line, who will share an inside look at one of the most influential public gardens of the 21st century. The High Line: Wild by Design is a timely lecture that explores how bold and innovative horticulture can transform cities and deepen connections between people and nature.
While In-Person tickets for this event have sold out, we hope you will join us virtually. Register to attend via Zoom HERE.
The Trustees website for pre-ordering native plants, veggie starts, straw, and garden supplies from the Spring Plant Sale is now open. Visit https://shopthetrustees.org/pages/city-natives-plant-sale. Online pre-order pickup dates are Tuesday, May 12, Thursday, May 14, and Friday, May 16 from 9 – 3. In-person shopping begins Friday, May 22 and continues on Saturday, May 23, Friday, May 29, and Saturday, May 30, also from 9 – 3, at the City Natives Nursery, 30 Edgewater Drive in Mattapan.
The 2026 Massachusetts Land Conservation Conference will be held on Friday, March 13th at UMass Amherst. Register by Friday, February 20th for early-bird pricing!
MassLand is excited to host Dr. Pooja Sarin Tandon, Health Director for the Trust for Public Land, who will speak on Nature and Health — a Pediatrician’s Perspective. Tandon is a general pediatrician and health researcher who has dedicated her career to advancing children’s health by promoting healthy behaviors and reducing disparities. In particular, her work has focused on play equity (“play for all children”), and promoting access to physical activity and outdoor recreation. In her new book, Digging into Nature: Outdoor Adventures for Happier and Healthier Kids, she explores how and why children and their families are happier, healthier, and more resilient when spending time outdoors. Dr. Tandon is also (co-)author on several other papers and studies about the relation between the outdoors and healthy children, healthy communities.
The Conference is sponsored in part by the Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs, The Trustees, Mass Audubon, The Nature Conservancy, Berkshire Natural Resources Council, Fields Pond Foundation, Greenbelt (Essex County Land Trust), Kestrel Land Trust, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation, Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, Sudbury Valley Trustees, Wildlands Trust, and others listed on the Conference web page https://massland.org/events/land-conservation-conference.
Celebrate the start of the gardening season! The 50th Annual Gardeners’ Gathering brings Boston-area growers of all kinds together for a free day full of informative workshops, engaging exhibitors, networking, and inspiration.
¡Celebre el inicio de la temporada de jardinería! La 50º Reunión Anual de Jardineros reúne a productores de todo tipo del área de Boston para un día gratuito lleno de talleres informativos, expositores atractivos, networking e inspiración.
If you are interested in tabling at this event, click here.
If you are interested in having an ad in the program, or sponsoring the event, click here.
If you are interested in volunteering, click here.
