Join the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days, a nationwide garden education program, for an adventure-filled day for gardeners and foodies of all ages in the extraordinary Gardens at the Clock Barn, home of Maureen and Mike Ruettgers in Carlisle, MA. From a stylish landscape full of choice plants to an inviting and inventive children’s garden with myriad hands-on activities, there are delights aplenty to discover from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 9, 2017.
Gardens at the Clock Barn, 453 Bedford Road, Carlisle, is certainly a place of magic. It was featured in Outstanding American Gardens: A Celebration: 25 Years of the Garden Conservancy (Abrams, 2015) Surrounding a late 18th century house and drying barn, this utterly charming garden brims over with herbs, vegetables, and flowers for cutting, in addition to choice perennials, trees, and shrubs. It also includes an amazing garden for children, a veritable wonderland designed to ignite curiosity and elicit delight in young gardeners from toddlers on up. There are many gardens to explore, including the pizza garden, fairy garden, pumpkin patch, and tee pee – plus watering cans everywhere for anyone to use. Throughout the day, activities for families will abound, from three scavenger hunts (little kids, big kids, and a rare plant hunt for adults) to demonstrations on straw bale gardening and making lavender ice cream. The Ruettgers’s beekeeper will be on site and guests will be able to create their own bee hotels for native pollinators. Farm and Fable (www.farmandfable.com), an online shop focused on beautifully made goods for the kitchen and home launched by Ruettgers daughter Abigail Flanagan, will host a pop-up shop offering carefully curated goods for gardeners and cooks.
Open Days and the Ruettgers will also welcome a special guest, Chef Ben Elliott. Using fresh ingredients from his nearby Saltbox Farm, Ben will demonstrate preparation of one of his signature seasonal dishes during interactive demonstrations at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., giving families and foodies alike ample opportunity to exchange ideas with him—and with each other. Through the Garden Conservancy, farm-to-table box lunches from Ben’s acclaimed local café and brewery, Saltbox Kitchen, will be available to Open Days guests via pre-order.
Chef Ben Elliott has more than twenty years’ experience working with some of the country’s most renowned chefs, including Barbara Lynch in Boston, named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People this year, and Laurant Gras in San Francisco. Ben and his young family live and work at the 10-acre Saltbox Farm started by his grandparents in Concord in the 1940s. As a child, Ben spent summers in the fields at Saltbox Farm with his grandfather and learned to cook alongside his grandmother, so he knows the joy and importance of growing and preparing food with loved ones. This is a practice shared by generations of the Ruettgers family, and one they hope to encourage during this special celebration in their private garden. Ben brings the farm-to-table ethos to life at Saltbox Farm, which offers an annual CSA program, acts as a venue for weddings and other catered events, and offers regular cooking classes (www.saltboxfarmconcord.com). Saltbox Farm also provides much of the fresh produce for Saltbox Kitchen, Ben’s café, brewery, and catering company, in West Concord (www.saltboxkitchen.com).
Admission to this Open Day is $7 per person; children 12 and under are free. There will be no additional charge to participate in any of the activities, although there will be a charge of $15 for Saltbox Kitchen’s box lunches, which must be ordered in advance. To order lunches or for any additional information, please contact the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days either by phone at 888.842.2442 or by email at opendays@gardenconservancy.org, or visit www.gardenconservancy.org.
