Somerville Garden Club

Monthly Programs – 2011

Monthly programs take place at each Somerville Garden Club monthly meeting. The SGC meets on the second Wednesday of every month 7:00–9:00 p.m. at the Tufts Administration Building (TAB), 167 Holland St., second floor. The meetings are open to the public and are wheelchair accessible.

February 9 – Wild Flowers of Tibet
Somerville Garden Club member, Elizabeth Wylde, will talk about the wild flowers she observed and photographed during her trip to Tibet in 2010. Elizabeth gave a presentation to the garden club several years ago on wildflowers that grow at the Fresh Pond Reservation in Cambridge, MA.

March 9 – De-Paving Somerville
Several members of Somerville Climate Action will give a presentation on de-paving Somerville. Removing an asphalt or cement driveway/backyard and replacing it with plants or vegetables is a great way of contributing to the environment, the watershed, and the greening of Somerville.

April 13 – A Working Garden
An Sokolovska, whose garden was in the 2010 Somerville Garden Club Garden Tour, will talk about how her garden works to provide water and flood control. She will also discuss water storage, cisterns, French drains, gutters and other water storage and control methods.

May 11 – Urban Foraging
Russ Cohen, professional environmentalist, wild foods enthusiast, and author of ‘Wild Plants I Have Known and Eaten’, will give a slide show and talk on edible wild plants of New England. These range from plants everyone knows well, like Daisies and Dandelions, to plants they may never have even heard of, like Calamus and Carrion Flower. 

June 8 – Vertical Gardening
Trevor Smith, owner of Land Escapes, a full service ecological landscaping company in the Boston area, will give a presentation on ‘Living Walls/Vertical Gardening’ . He will show how a simple vertical garden can be made, especially in limited spaces in an urban setting.

July 13 – Modern Practices in an Historic Landscape
Karla Erickson, Plant Records and Nursery Manager at Mount Auburn Cemetery, will speak about the historical context of America’s first rural cemetery, established in 1831, and now designated a National Historic Landmark by the Department of the Interior. Erickson’s account will tell of Mount Auburn’s growing commitment to restoring and increasing native habitats, while reducing maintenance, water use, pesticide/insecticide use, and fertilizer dependence.

August 3 – Summer’s Bounty
The Somerville Garden Club will hold its August meeting at the Somerville Community Growing Center, 22 Vinal Avenue, Somerville, on Wednesday, August 3rd from 7:00 – 9:00 pm. There will be a group exchange of questions and answers about growing edibles. Growing Center volunteers will give a brief presentation about the Growing Center; its mission, plantings and programs. Bring samples of fresh or cooked produce from your own garden to share. In the event of rain, the meeting will be held in the Senior Room at 167 Holland Avenue, Somerville. For more information contact programs@somervillegardenclub.org.

September 14 – DIY Pergola
Member, Katherine VanBuskirk and her husband John Scibetta, will give a photo essay and talk on ‘How to Build a Pergola’. They are in the process of building a pergola in the backyard of their house in Somerville.

October 12 – Medieval Gardens
Pricilla Baumann, who has a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from Boston University, will discuss monastic gardens, water gardens, and ornamental gardens of the fifteenth century. She will show slide images of paintings and manuscript illuminations illustrate details of medieval gardeners at work, the tools they used and the surprising views of their garden designs.

November 9 – Member Demos
SGC Garden Club members speak and give demos on various garden related topics. Bill Bennett and Amy Cerrito will re-pot orchids, and answer orchid care related questions. Judy Eisenberg will show the steps it takes to plant a terrarium or glass Wardian Case. Ann Steinberg will be helping attendees put together greeting cards using her lovely garden photos. Dorothy Africa will teach attendees how to make garden journals.

December 14 – Organic Farming
Brian Cramer, the Manager at Hutchins Farm in Concord, MA, will talk about the farm’s operations and organic growing practices. He will give-a brief sketch of the business, a condensed description of a season’s activities: ordering, budgeting, hiring, planning, seeding in the greenhouse, approaches to working the land and maintaining fertility, planting, weed and pest control, crop care, harvest, and marketing.Â