Charles River Watershed Association cordially invites you to our… Charles River Sunset Soirée at the Charles River Boat Company on Tuesday, September 22 from 6 – 8 PM
We look forward to celebrating YOU, the friends and supporters who make CRWA’s work to protect and preserve the Charles River Watershed possible. Mark your calendars for a beautiful evening on our beloved river aboard Charles Riverboat Company’s Charles I.
Take in the spectacular views of sunset over Boston while cruising up the river with friends, allies, and partners. Enjoy heavy hores d’oeuvre, an open bar, and community as we celebrate our lasting commitment to a clean, resilient Charles River and all that we’ve accomplished this year, together.
In the early 20th century, U.S. government scientists and their European colleagues went to great lengths to seek out and bring home from abroad new seeds and cultivars for farms, gardens, and orchards. But in many cases these “plant explorers,” though much vaunted in their day, wound up triggering what we now consider ecological disasters: Some of their discoveries are among the 21st century’s most detested invasive species, joining others that arrived via the pet trade or through the simple carelessness of an earlier era. How did Western attitudes toward imported plants and animals change so completely within a century? The answer is a story of evolving scientific understanding, shifting political winds, and changes in how humans think about nature and our place within it.
Through case studies, historical surveys, exploration of media coverage over the years, and conversations with both experts and the community members who serve as foot soldiers in the war on invasive species, journalist Amy Crawford explores how confronting anxieties about nature and the role of humans in a changing world can place unwanted plants and animals in a new light—and teach us all to be better stewards.
Crawford’s new book, Undesirable: Invasive Species, Humans, and Where We All Belong (Oxford University Press), is available separately for purchase on the registration page. Lecture: $20 Smithsonian Members, $30 nonmembers. https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/programs/invasive-species
The Charles River Watershed Association is sponsoring a City Streams Walk on Friday, September 11 from 10:30 – noon. It’s part of the Meet Your Watershed Event Series. Meet at Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center & Wildlife Sanctuary, 500 Walk Hill Street in Mattapan. Join CRWA and Mt. Hope Canterbury Neighborhood Association for a walking tour of Canterbury Brook. For more information visit https://www.crwa.org/events
In April 2027, Formaggio Kitchen’s owner, Julia Hallman, will join Anna Juhl and Jilly Sitch of Cheese Journeys, on a Downton Abbey-style Cheese Journey across Britain. Open to all travelers, this is a unique opportunity for cheese lovers to learn from England’s foremost cheese and wine expert, and author, Patrick McGuigan, as well as Britain’s most renowned artisan cheesemakers.
This one-of-a-kind experience commences with a meet-up in London for a private tour of Borough Market with the beloved guide and TV chef host Celia Brooks. Then, travelers will spend the afternoon with the team of experts at Neal’s Yard Dairy for an insider’s tour of their aging caves and an exclusive look into the world of British cheese.
The group will then travel west for a seven-day stay at the Downton Abbey-style manor North Cadbury Court, one of the finest historic properties in Somerset, England. Guests will enjoy chef-prepared meals, tour scenic farms, and witness Cheddar making firsthand. We’ll also be hosting a grand dinner party with 15 of Britain’s most renowned cheese producers at the Court.
During this trip, you’ll enjoy hands-on cooking demonstrations with your favorite British cheesemakers and French chefs, indulge in a unique golf game (from the roof of the manor house!), walk the historic grounds of Camelot and King Arthur, and explore the exciting city of Bath (home to Roman baths and Jane Austen)!
NOTE: There is only one single-occupancy and one double-occupancy opening left for this trip! To find out more and to register visit www.cheesejourneys.com
Join Miciah Stasis-Harding, Herring Pond Wampanoag, for one-hour guided tours of Awashonks’ Garden in Little Compton, Rhode Island on September 19 from 11 – noon. All ages welcome. Visit www.littlecompton.org for more information. The program will be repeated on October 3.
Free to Little Compton Historical Society Members. Free to Members of Native Communities. General Public-Included in the cost of LCHS Admission. $10 Reservations Highly Recommended. Call 401-635-4035, included in cost of admission.
Milk Street is heading to Parish Hill Creamery in Westminster West, Vermont to learn from the cheesemakers who teach cheesemakers – Peter Dixon and and Rachel Fritz Schaal. The three day course takes place March 1 – 3, 2027.
Peter and Rachel usually only teach professional cheesemakers, but they’ve amended their professional-level course for us, the home cheesemaker. We’re honored they are welcoming us to their dairy and sharing their expertise with us.
Parish Hill can only fit 8 students and we’re inviting you to grab your spot. You’ll make a wide range of cheeses using both raw and pasteurized milk, from fresh mozzarella to aged tomme, and learn the science and craft of natural cheesemaking.
During hands-on sessions, lectures, demos and tastings, Rachel and Peter will help you understand the nature and qualities of milk, the mechanisms and techniques necessary for transforming milk into curd and curd into cheese, and the nuances of cheesemaking. Rachel and Peter believe that a solid understanding of science is essential to the craft and each day will include in-depth science lectures to inform your practice on site and back home.
At each cheesemaking session, you’ll also talk about the style of cheese, where and how it developed and ways to adapt the specific techniques to your home kitchen. You’ll measure milk and cultures for each recipe, learning when and why to use raw milks and pasteurized ones. And you’ll heat, cut, stir, hoop and stretch curds to experience how the same ingredients become entirely different cheeses depending on the different techniques you use.
We’ll pause every day for a group lunch, cooked by Milk Street, that features local cheeses and ingredients. And throughout the sessions, we’ll taste a range of Parish Hill and other local Vermont cheeses to consider how cheesemaking choices provide sustenance as well as joy.
Replacing turfgrass with a native meadow can support biodiversity, strengthen ecological relationships, and create a more dynamic home landscape. But meadow establishment is not an instant process. It requires careful observation, realistic expectations, and management that changes as the plant community develops.
Sara Weaner Cooper, owner and principal of New Directions in the American Landscape, will guide participants through her family’s gradual transition from lawn to meadow, a project featured in The New York Times in 2024 and the BBC in 2025. Rather than presenting one formula for success, she will show how the meadow has evolved through experimentation, ecological processes, changing conditions, and ongoing learning.
Participants will gain practical insights into site preparation, planting, weed management, plant competition, and long-term maintenance. Sara will also discuss how expectations for a meadow’s appearance and function may need to change as the landscape develops over time.
Whether you are considering replacing a small section of lawn or converting a larger area, this webinar will offer a realistic look at what meadow-making involves. Free but donations encouraged. To sign up visit https://wildones.org/from-lawn-to-meadow/
Now you can gain gardening expertise whenever and wherever you want with Classes On Demand! Featuring several of Mt. Cuba Center’s most popular courses, each class lasts about 90 minutes. Once purchased, students are able to watch the pre-recorded videos more than once, or stop at any point and re-start it again later within 30 days of the purchase date. Please call if this is a gift that will need a specific start date.
On-demand classes are intended for independent learning by one student. They do not offer teacher interaction and are available for a limited time only.
The beauty of using native plants in containers is that they are adapted to our local growing conditions. From short to tall, sun to shade, spring through fall, there are plenty of plants for creating a small, wildlife-friendly oasis on a balcony, patio, or porch. Leave with a list of our favorite container-loving natives.
Julia Eppes was an Assistant Horticulturist working in the Formal Gardens at Mt. Cuba Center. She has a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology with a minor in Landscape Horticulture from the University of Delaware. She formerly interned at Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library and worked at Gateway Garden Center.
Lenox’s signature fall festival featuring more than 100 artisan and food vendors, live music, family activities, and a full downtown street fair experience., takes place Saturday, September 26 from 10 – 5.
Free to attend, it’s a day of family fun with music, food & kid’s carnival. Musical performances throughout downtown. If you have questions, please email info@lenox.org
Since March 2023, Head Gardener James Horner has led the rigorous work of renewing Cedric Morris’ walled garden at Benton End – an approach that aims to evoke the spirit of the place as a hotbed of creativity and plantsmanship.
Drawing on his training at Great Dixter and his experience as an international garden maker, James has said that every day has mattered over the last three years: turning around a slumbering garden and conjuring one full of Cedric’s plants and spirit of place.
James is joined in conversation by florist Shane Connolly and photographer Ngoc Minh Ngo who has been documenting the garden’s renewal. They will be sharing their own perspectives on Benton End’s plants, atmosphere, and afterlife in gardens and images beyond the walls. This talk at The Garden Museum will be livestreamed (the live presentation is already sold out). £10 Livestream. Register at https://www.gardenmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/james-horner-ngoc-minh-ngo-and-shane-connolly-on-benton-end-remaking-a-garden/
