The Garden Club of the Back Bay

Meet author Ben Watson at the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts on Sunday, October 25 at 3 pm.  He is a Yale alumnus, Slow Food proponent and farm activist living in Francestown, New Hampshire, and will speak about his new book, Cider Hard & Sweet: History, Tradition & Making Your Own.  Ben provides instruction, recipes and background on cider and cider-making in his work.  Localvores will delight in the idea of preserving apple essence for year-round consumption and historians will enjoy the thought of John Adams drinking hard cider for breakfast. Free with museum admission.  For directions and more information, log on to www.fruitlands.org.

In the 21st century the planet faces radical transformation, which includes mass extinction, rapid change in climate, and large-scale loss of natural habitat.

American Museum of Natural History Paleontologist Michael Novacek will discuss how natural history museums like Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology offer unique opportunities for scientific discovery, education, and inspiration, and provide a management plan that draws on the past, reveals the present, and maps our future.  The lecture will take place at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street
Cambridge , MA 02138.

Sponsor: Harvard Museum of Natural History
Time(s): 6 pm
Cost: Free and open to the public
Phone: 617-495-3045
Email: hmnhpr@oeb.harvard.edu
http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu

The Friends of Hayes Park, Inc. is a group of public-spirited neighbors dedicated to maintaining Hayes Park, a green gem located at the corner of Warren Avenue and West Canton Street in Boston’s South End. Organized in 1987 to redesign what was then a derelict, concrete-paved lot, the Friends now have a membership numbering more than 250 families. Each year, members donate an extraordinary 1,400 hours to keep the park beautiful.

Since renovating the park in 1992, the Friends, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, has been a “Park Partner” with the Boston Parks Department. The funds needed to maintain the park are all provided by the Friends. In addition, the Friends host free community events, that draw visitors from all across the city — including an annual May Day, Summer Picnic, Harvestfest, and Christmas Caroling — and support local partners, organizing such events as canned goods collections for a local food pantry, and for the last 18 years, sponsoring a South End Little League Baseball team, the Hayes Park Yankees.

The group’s annual Auction will take place Sunday, October 25, beginning at 4:00 pm at the Boston Ballet Building,  19 Clarendon Street in Boston.  Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, and may be purchased on line at www.hayespark.org.  An enticing sample of auction items can be found on their home page, so we encourage you to support this fine organization.

The Harvard University Graduate School of Design will sponsor a Margaret McCurry Lecture in the Design Arts on Tuesday, November 3, from 6:30 – 7:30 pm in the Piper Auditorium of the Graduate School of Design in Cambridge.  Patrick Blanc will speak on “The Vertical Garden, from Nature to the City, or how to bring biodiversity close to everybody’s life.”  For more information, email Brooke King at bking@gsd.harvard.edu, or log on to www.gsd.harvard.edu.

The Vertical Garden, known as Le Mur Vegetal in French, was conceived after many observations in natural environments.  The Vertical Garden relies on a new way to grow plants without any soil.  Since its weight is very light, it is possible to set up the Vertical Garden on any wall, whatever its size.  The Vertical Garden can be implemented outdoors or indoors, in any climatic environment.  The plant species selection is mainly set according to the prevailing climatic conditions.  For an indoor location, an artificial lighting system is usually required.  Watering and fertilization are automated.  The Vertical Garden acts as a phonic and thermic isolation system.  It is also an air purification device.

The Conway School of Landscape Design, The Trustees of Reservations, the North County Land Trust and Leominster Land Trust present Randall Arendt in a free public lecture at the Doyle Conservation Center in Leominster, Mass.

Thursday, November 5: 6:00 – Reception; 6:45 – 8:00 PM – Lecture
The talk is free and open to the public, but space is limited. RSVP to 413.853.3034 or events@csld.edu.

Conservation by Design: A Practical Strategy for Preserving Town-wide Open Space Networks will stress practical techniques that enable developers and local officials to work together to accomplish their different objectives in a way that helps preserve natural assets and rural character.

Mr. Arendt will share numerous examples of designs that achieve both economic and environmental goals. He has designed conservation subdivisions in various landscapes and regions in 21 states, and his designs have been featured in publications of the American Planning Association, the American Society of Landscape Architects, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Association of Home Builders, and the National Association of Realtors.

For more information, please visit http://www.csld.edu/whatsnew.htm.

We’ve come upon an interesting blog we thought would interest our followers.  Burger’s Onion, http://burgersonion.blogspot.com/, deals with weird botany and horticulture.  Posts with fabulous pictures range from a description of the minute Anacampseros hillii to pictures of flowering Hondelbal (“dog ball” in Afrikaans – just guess what this plant looks like) to gymnosperms of the Namib Desert to Organic Pest Control, the Mad Botany Way (using carnivorous plants to mop up fruit flies in the greenhouse.)  The site also has good links to plant organizations, on-line communities and specialist nurseries (you can order poison dart frogs from Black Jungle, www.blackjungle.com).  Always good to have a sense of humor.

Hear the eight finalists for at-large city councilor discuss and debate issues impacting greenspace in Boston. It’s an exciting slate with two open seats and two incumbents who have a strong record of support for parks and the environment. Only the second time that open space has taken the center stage in a city election, October 22nd will help show how large, diverse, and broad the park constituency is in our city. Everyone – regardless of age, race, income level, neighborhood, or background – uses city parks, playgrounds, and outdoor recreation facilities.

All eight candidates will participate:

• Felix Arroyo, Jr.
• Doug Bennett
• John Connolly
• Tomas Gonzalez
• Tito Jackson
• Andrew Kenneally
• Steve Murphy
• Ayanna Pressley

Four years ago, the first political debate on greenspace issues brought more than 150 people out to hear who would support parks. The candidates said it was the best attended forum that election season. The Boston Globe, the Phoenix, and many local neighborhood papers covered the event. A group of 65 park, youth, arts, sports, health, public safety, and community organizations signed on as sponsors showing the depth and breadth of the parks movement in Boston.

The event, taking place Thursday, October 22 from 6:30 – 8:00 pm, will be held at the Franklin Park Golf Clubhouse.  For more information, contact the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy at www.rosekennedygreenway.org.

The Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America invites you to its 20th Birthday Celebration Annual Meeting and Fall Lecture on Tuesday, November 17, with registration at 10:30 am, and lecture at 11 am.  Patrick Chassé, the first Curator of Landscape, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, will give an illustrated lecture entitled  “Isabella and Her Gardens.”

Like a horticultural Sherlock Holmes, Patrick Chassé tracks down clues to gardens of the past. His latest challenge is to unlock the secrets of a magnificent courtyard garden long identified with a Boston museum and its charismatic founder.

Mr. Chassé, a landscape architect, has served since 2004 as the curator of landscape at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the first person to hold such a title there. His detective work involves documenting the courtyard’s evolution and reinstating elements of its design as envisioned by Isabella Stewart Gardner in the early 1900s.

The event will take place at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.  Cost of lecture is $20 (public invited), Lecture and Luncheon $45 (members of Boston Committee Clubs only, please.)  RSVP by November 12.  Please make check payable to The Boston Committee of the GCA and mail to Mrs. William U. Shipley, 40 Dunster Road, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467.

November 2 is the date of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), the traditional Mexican ceremonies honoring family and friends who have died. Over the past few years, Forest Hills Cemetery has served as a location for such a ceremony, and this year is no exception. The ceremony begins at 4:00pm, as the sun is setting.  Hundreds of people, including families with children, attend and participate with their own private remembrances.

Join The Forest Hills Educational Trust for a traditional Mexican celebration of remembrance co-sponsored by Latin American folkloric performance group La Pinata. Based on the ancient traditions of Mexico’s indigenous peoples who believed that the souls of the dead return each year to visit their families, the Day of the Dead celebrates the continuous cycle of life and death, embracing cultures from all throughout the Americas. Enjoy a program of music and dance as individuals bring offerings of flowers, copies of photos, mementos, and traditional skull-shaped sugar candies to leave on a decorated candle-lit altar for those departed loved ones. Dress warmly. Bring a flashlight. Bilingual: English/Spanish. Admission: Free. Co-sponsored by La Piñata and Spontaneous Celebrations. Visit them at http://www.spontaneouscelebrations.org.

For more information, log on to www.foresthillstrust.org.

The November meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay will take place Wednesday, November 11, beginning at 10:00 am at The College Club, 44 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston.  We welcome  Paul Marquis, who will speak on  Low Impact Landscaping.  Paul Marquis, of Green Home Solutions in Arlington, MA and former “Green House Doctor” for The Green Roundtable, will be our guest speaker for the November meeting.

The objective of this talk is to introduce concepts of resource-conserving and environmentally-friendly landscape design and maintenance practices. Conventional residential landscapes are often resource-intensive, and some of the maintenance products and practices typically employed have been associated with adverse long-term health consequences and environmental impact. Topics covered will include low-water landscaping or xeriscaping, rainwater collection and use, advantages of using native plants, more-effective storm water management, and organic turf and landscape management practices. The talk will include a brief discussion of Low Impact Development, green roofs, and “hardscaping” options.

The Green Roundtable, Inc. (GRT) is an independent non-profit organization whose mission is to mainstream green building and sustainable design and become obsolete.  It works toward this goal by promoting and supporting healthy and environmentally integrated building projects through strategic outreach, education, policy advocacy and technical assistance.  The Green Roundtable envisions a world in which green building is business as usual. For more information on The Green Roundtable, log on to www.greenroundtable.org.

Reservations are required for this meeting, which will be followed by an optional luncheon with our speaker ($20) at The College Club.  The public is invited.  For more information, and to register, email info@gardenclubbackbay.org. Club members will receive written notice of this meeting with a response slip.

Join your friends and neighbors for the Annual Halloween Party on Saturday, October 31, from 3:30 – 5:30 pm.  Pizza, drinks, and glow necklaces will be available for purchase.  Entertainment and variety shows will be provided by Jenny the Juggler.Hayrides around the neighborhood, photography by Aurora De Luca, and trick or treating safe house lists will be available as well.

Marlborough Street between Berkeley and Fairfield Streets, as well as Dartmouth and Clarendon Streets between Commonwealth and Beacon, will be closed to traffic from 3:30 pm – 9:30 pm.  Parked cars may stay there during this time, but they cannot be moved.

The Clarendon Street Playground Committee needs volunteers to make this event happen.  Please sign up for a 30 minute shift to help with the party.  Email playground@nabbonline.com.  Also, if you wish to be on the safe house list, call the NABB office at 617-247-3961, or email info@nabbonline.com.

The second of the Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Landscape Visions Lecture Series will take place Saturday, November 21, in the Tapestry Room of the Museum, beginning at 1:30 pm.  Alan Ward, landscape architect and principal, Sasaki Associates, will present American Rural Cemeteries: Interpreted Through the Lens. Boston has two iconic garden cemeteries: Mount Auburn and Forest Hills. The Rural Cemetery Movement in America began with the founding of Mount Auburn Cemetery in 1831, and spread from there across the country. Often the first designed public landscapes in American communities, rural cemeteries represent major shifts in cemetery landscape concept and form, and continue to resonate with the modern sensibilities they helped shape. Tickets: $15 General Public; $12 Seniors; $5 Members; FREE for Students.  To purchase tickets, log on to www.gardnermuseum.org, or call 617-566-1401. Image: Halcyon Lake in spring, Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Photo by Alan Ward.The Landscape Visions Lecture Series is made possible by a bequest from Jeanne Muller Ryan

For more than 1200 years, the gardens of Kyoto have reflected the cultural characteristics of each successive era of Japanese history.  In this talk on Friday, October 23, beginning at 6:30 pm,  MARC PETER KEANE, landscape designer and historian of Japanese gardens, will discuss the cultural forces — social, religious, economic, artistic, and architectural – that have shaped the gardens of Kyoto from the time of the Tale of Genji (10th century) to the present.  1200 years ago, the Emperor of Japan settled his court in a newly-built city, Heian-kyô, now known as Kyôto. Gardens were built at the residences of the imperial courtiers, and have been built in that city ever since, their design changing over time as the ebb and flow of society replaced one culture with another. Marc Peter Keane, garden historian and specialist in Japanese gardens, will discuss those cultural changes — social, religious, economic, artistic, architectural — and how each new form of Kyoto garden reflects the cultural environment of its time. His talk will include: pond gardens at courtier residences in the Heian-period, medieval gardens of raked sand and stones, tea gardens, and courtyard gardens of urban merchant houses.  Marc Peter Keane lived in Kyoto for 18 years, designing gardens for private individuals, companies and temples, and continues that work now from his studio in Ithaca, New York. His books include Japanese Garden Design (an introduction to the culture and aesthetics of Japanese gardens), Sakuteiki (a translation of the Japan’s oldest gardening treatise), The Art of Setting Stones (eight essays on the meaning of gardens), and the soon-to-be-published, Japanese Tea Gardens.This talk is part of  the Kyoto-Boston 50th Anniversary celebration.  Please rsvp at www.us-japan.org.

The Japan Society of Boston
at Showa Boston Institute
420 Pond St., Boston MA
Free and open to the public

David Foster, of Harvard Forest and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, will speak on Tuesday, October 27 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus Student Union, Cape Cod Lounge, as part of The Environmental Institute’s Fall Lecture Program, which is free and open to the public.

This talk is based on David’s long-standing conviction that every landscape and region has a history that strongly conditions its current condition and its future dynamics. In this talk he will provide an overview of the ecological insights that emerge from a consideration of the natural and cultural history of New England and then illustrate how this can be applied both to anticipating future conditions and to conservation management, including discussion of the Wildlands and Woodlands vision being developed by scientists associated with the Harvard Forest.

Bio

David Foster is an ecologist and author of Thoreau’s Country – Journey through a Transformed Landscape (1999), New England Forests Through Time (2000; both Harvard University Press), Forests in Time – The Environmental Consequences of 1000 years of Change in New England (2004; Yale University Press) and Wildland and Woodlands: A Vision for the Forests of Massachusetts (Harvard University). He has been a faculty member in Biology since 1983 and is Director of the Harvard Forest, Harvard University’s 3500-acre ecological laboratory and classroom in central Massachusetts. David is the Principal Investigator for the Harvard Forest Long Term Ecological Research program, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and involving more than 100 scientists and students investigating the dynamics of New England landscape as a consequence of climate change, human activity, and natural disturbance.

David has a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Minnesota and has conducted studies in the boreal forests of Labrador, Sweden and Norway and the forests of Puerto Rico, the Yucatan, and Patagonia in addition to his primary research on landscape dynamics in New England. His interests focus on understanding the historical changes in forest ecosystems that result from human and natural disturbance and applying these results to the conservation and management of natural and cultural landscapes. He currently serves on the boards of The Nature Conservancy -Massachusetts, Trustees of Reservations, Conservation Research Foundation and Highstead Foundation. As part of his larger conservation work David and a group of Harvard Forest researchers developed Wildlands and Woodlands – A Vision for the Forests of Massachusetts, which lays out an ambitious plan for the protection and conservation of half of the land in the state.At Harvard University David teaches courses on forest ecology and environmental change and directs the graduate program in forest biology. He lives in Shutesbury, Massachusetts with his wife Marianne Jorgensen and their children Christian and Ava.  For more information, log on to www.umass.edu/tei/TEI/LectureFall2009.html.

The Trustees of Reservations will hold a special workshop at the Long Hill Horticulture Center on Thursday, November 12, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Using unusual evergreens, blueberry twigs, cones, berries, mosses, bark, and lichens from Long Hill, expert floral designer Bonnie Stafford will lead this botanically inspired workshop. Learn about the natural materials, enjoy the wreath making demonstration, and then create your own exquisite foraged wreath. All materials supplied.  Trustees members $28, non-members $35.  To register, call 978-921-1944, x 4018, or email bzschau@ttor.org.  For directions to Long Hill, log on to www.thetrustees.org.

Can a pleasant view speed healing? In this lecture on Sunday, November 8 at 2 pm at Trinity Church here in the Back Bay, Dr. Esther Sternberg will present the science of mind-body connections and human perception as it relates to place. Using examples from her book, Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-Being, to explain the neurobiology of the senses, she will explore how a theme park, concert hall, cathedral, labyrinth, or garden can trigger or reduce stress, induce anxiety or instill peace. Dr. Sternberg will provide clues to how and why we respond to our surroundings that could influence the places we create in the future. Fee $10 Arnold Arboretum members, $15 nonmembers .
Dr. Esther M. Sternberg, Chief of Neuroendocrine Immunology and Behavior and Director of the Integrative Neural Immune Program at the National Institute of Mental Health, is internationally recognized for her discoveries in brain-immune interactions and the brain’s stress response on health. Dr. Sternberg is also Director of the Integrative Neural Immune Program, NIMH/NIH and Co-Chair of the NIH Intramural Program on Research in Women’s Health. She was on the faculty at Washington University before joining the National Institutes of Health in 1986.
Co-sponsored by the Arnold Arboretum and Trinity Church in the City of Boston.  To register, log on to www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

CiderDays is a community event celebrating all things apples in Franklin County, Massachusetts.  2009 marks the 15th year of this event and there will be two days of orchard tours, cider making and tastings, workshops, and much more.  This is for all who love apples, fresh or hard cider, apple cuisine, apple orchards, or just being in New England in the fall.  There is a charge for some of the activities but there is no admission for the self-guided tour of the orchards or the Marketplace at the Shelburne Buckland Community Center in Shelburne Falls.  Tickets for CiderDays 2009 are on sale at www.ciderday.org.

Some highlights include workshops, talks and tastings from beginner through advanced for cider makers, home orchardists, and cider afficionados at various locations throughout the weekend.  Saturday, November 7, from 8 – 11, enjoy an Apple Pancake Breakfast at the Second Congregational Church, Court Square in Greenfield.  The Cider Salon, with tastings of a dozen or so ciders from around the country, takes place at the White Church Community Center in Old Deerfield on Saturday (you need a ticket for this one.)  The CiderDay Harvest Supper features Chef Paul Correnty, who will create a savory fall feast featuring apples, cider and other locally grown foods.  The dinner will be held in the Blue & White Society Room at the PVNA Teachers’ Center, 10 Memorial Street in Old Deerfield (another ticketed event.)  New Salem Orchards hosts its Apple Festival with child-friendly apple pressing, live alpacas, cider donuts, caramel apples, hot squash/cider soup, roasted hot dogs over a bonfire, apples, sweet cider, sun-cooked preserves and more on both Saturday and Sunday.  Claude Jolicouer gives a talk about cider varieties for the commercial orchard on Saturday at a location to be announced.  Organic orchardist Michael Phillips wassails apple trees at New Salem Orchards on Saturday from 1 – 2 pm.  Michael is also leading an orchard walk at Clarkdale Fruit Farms on Sunday from 1 – 2 pm.  Terry Maloney from West County Cider and Steve Wood from Farnum Hill Cider will conduct From Apple to Bottle on Sunday at the White Church Community Center (tickets required.)  Apples from the Slow Food Ark is a lecture on Sunday, also at the White Church Community Center, led by Ben Watson (not the New England Patriot) and Tom Burford – tickets needed for this one, too.  Formaggio’s South End pairs with Ben Watson later on Sunday for a Cider and Cheese Pairing (buy tickets for this one – it will be spectacular), and The Marketplace at Shelburne Buckland Community Center in Shelburne Falls will host local artisans and producers, food vendors, and, of course, apples.  For directions and more information, log on to www.ciderday.org.

Historic New England is sponsoring a Beginning Orchid Growing Clinic at the Lyman Estate Greenhouses in Waltham, Massachusetts on Friday, November 6, beginning at 10 a.m.  Learn the essentials of growing orchids, including requirements of growing media, light, water, temperature, and fertilization. With their long-lasting and showy blooms, orchids are one of the most beautiful and dramatic of all flowering plants. This popular course is taught by Lyman Estate horticulturist Lynn Ackerman, an accomplished orchid grower and member of the Orchid Society.  Admission fee is $35.  Contact Susanna Crampton at scrampton@historicnewengland.org, or call her at 781-891-4882 to register.  For more information, log on to www.historicnewengland.org.

Do you know the  Food Bank feeds 83,000 people each week? Come to the open house on Saturday, October 24, from 10 – 2, and learn, get involved, and get inspired.  The event will take place at the Yawkey Distribution Center of the Greater Boston Food Bank, 70 South Bay Avenue in Boston.

To achieve its mission, The Food Bank feeds more than 320,000 people annually in nine counties in eastern Massachusetts. They’re poor to middle-class people who can’t make ends meet. They’re our friends, neighbors, and colleagues. The Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief organization in New England and one of the largest food banks in the country. It distributes more than 30 million pounds of food and grocery products annually to a network of nearly 600 member hunger-relief agencies. It is a trusted and efficient resource for these local food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless and residential shelters, youth programs, senior centers, and day-care centers, providing the food they need to feed the hungry.

Bring a non-perishable item to participate in their food drive.  There will be limited complimentary parking on site.  For directions, and to let the good folks who work there know you’re coming, log on to www.gbfb.org/openhouse/.

The Boston Vegetarian Society presents The 14th Annual Boston Vegetarian Food Festival on Sunday, October 31 from 10 am – 6 pm and Sunday, November 1, from 10 am – 4 pm, at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center, 1350 Tremont Street, with a subway stop directly across the street.  Free admission, free parking, and free food sampling!  The burgeoning success and popularity of this Festival has led the organizers to expand the Festival to a two day event.  The Festival brings together an amazing array of vegetarian natural food providers, top national speakers and chefs, and educational exhibitors in a fun and welcoming environment.  You’ll have the chance to talk directly to food producers, learn the newest items in the marketplace, taste food samples, shop at show special discounts, or simply learn what vegetarian foods are available and where you can find them.

Whether you are a longtime vegetarian or vegan, or someone simply wanting to add more healthy and delicious foods to your meal repertoire, or if you are just curious what it’s all about, you are welcome here.  You can also learn of ways to benefit the environment, help animals, and enhance your health and well being.  Speakers last year included Sarah Kramer, author of How It All Vegan! , The Garden of Vegan, and La Dolce Vegan, and Danielle Nierenberg, a leading expert on animal agriculture and sustainability.  Danielle is a Senior Fellow with the Worldwatch Institute and has authored significant reports addressing the damaging effects of factory farming on the environment, human health, and communities.  You may also hear jae steele (who abjures capital letters along with meat), a Toronto-based registered holistic nutritionist and the author of Get it Ripe – a fresh take on vegan cooking and living.  T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., is a giant in the field of nutrition research, and author of The China Study, a comprehensive study of the connection between diet and disease.  The list of 2009 speakers includes Emilie Hardman, author of The Conscious Kitchen, and more information can be obtained on the website www.bostonveg.org/foodfest.