Arts on the Green coming to Elm Bank Reservation, July 27

July 20, 2017 by admin Leave a Comment

When: Thursday, July 27, 5:30 pm – 8:00pm

Where: The Gardens at Elm Bank

Join us for our summer music and arts series, sponsored by Wellesley Bank Charitable Foundation. This evening will feature an Art Walk of artists showcasing their work throughout the gardens. It is a chance for the community to buy original art from the artists who make it and enjoy the gardens in their summer splendor.

Stroll the gardens and enjoy live music. Bring a picnic, and chair or blanket. We will also have family activities and garden tours. Beer and wine will be sold.

This event is FREE to all!

If you are interested in being one of our showcased artists on our Art Walk, please complete the Artist application and return it as soon as possible to reserve your space. If you have any questions about the event, please email Amy Rodrigues at [email protected].

Music by: LiveWire Boston (Jazz, Blues and Bossa)

Mystery flower box waterer hits Wellesley Square and Hills

July 7, 2017 by Deborah Brown 1 Comment

I’m a long-time member of the Wellesley Gardeners’ Guild, a group of about 40 dig-in-the-dirt types that range in knowledge from master gardeners to rank beginners. We attend monthly meetings where we plan our next gardening moves, sip coffee, and become educated by speakers on topics with titles such as “Hip Hip Hydrangeas” and “Pots with Pizzazz.” Our fundraising efforts go in a few directions, mostly toward the year-round planting and maintenance of the 12 Wellesley Square and two Wellesley Hills post office boxes.

It all sounds so idyllic, and it usually is, but lately our group has found itself embroiled in a mystery. There’s intrigue. There are shadowy figures. There are even corpses.

Here’s the way the division of labor is parceled out in this working club: every week, a different club member is in charge of the Hills and Square post office boxes. The member waters, deadheads, and keeps the flower boxes looking aesthetically pleasing through judicious fluffing of the plants or by artfully coaxing a vine to go this way or that, all in the name of maximum visual impact. The club takes it all very seriously, because nothing screams out broken promises and shattered dreams more than unkempt flower boxes.

Here’s what’s been happening: lately, members have been showing up to do their gardening duties, only to find the boxes already sodden and plants dying (the corpses). After a flurry of communication among members, we realized that we’ve got a Mystery Waterer on our hands. Or maybe even two.

I’ve been scheduled for duty for the past week, and when I showed up only to find that someone had gotten there before me, soaking the drought-resistant plants within an inch of their lives, it put my anxiety level through the roof, let me tell you. Some of plants had actually given up, drowned — blub, blub, blub — by too much of a good thing.

I did what any panicked garden club member would do. I emailed that most august of garden club figures, the Chair of Civic Improvements of the Post Offices. I struck a calm, factual, don’t-blame-me note. “The Wellesley Square boxes have been consistently sodden. Not sure why. Will let you know how they look tonight,” and was told, “Don’t water. I was there this afternoon. All good and wet. Don’t go tomorrow either. I have to head down there and check on a few things anyway.”

Whaaat? My heart sank. It’s my week to water. Aren’t I supposed to be checking on a few things? Am I not responsible enough? Am I under a cloud of suspicion? Ok, just breathe through this. Nobody’s accused you of anything yet. You’re completely innocent of plant murder or neglect. Pull yourself together and keep going with your regular routine, I told myself.

When I went back to the scene of the crimes, ready to water, deadhead, and fluff, the boxes were once again sodden. I knew I was being pesky, but I emailed to report on this and ask the Chair if she had watered for me. “Nope,” came the reply, “I’m away. Maybe L___ (one of the committee members) did it. Or maybe we have a Mystery Waterer. They screwed us last year.”

This was news to me. A Mystery Waterer would explain everything, except for the weirdness of why there is a Mystery Waterer at all. Gleefully, because I’d emerged from my self-imposed cloud of suspicion, I declared, “We must have a Mystery Waterer. L___ and I went swimming at Farm Pond two days ago and she knows I’m covering it.”

“Argh,” wrote the Chair. “I will send an email to the club today pleading with any members to stop watering. Take the key out of the box if you can. That should stump them.” (We have a poorly hidden key to access our water source.)

“WTF?” (Now that I’d been let into the inner sanctum of garden club secrets, I felt that I could swear.) “Such weirdness. Ok, will try.” Then, because I’m a writer and because I just can’t leave well enough alone, I added, “I will put a note in one of the boxes asking our Mystery Waterer to please stop.”

“Good idea,” wrote the Chair, knowing there was no sense in trying to stop me. “Make it sweet as honey!” (Emoji with bee vomiting honey into a honey pot.)

Then, the plot thickened. An email from another club member came saying, “Hi, Post Office Chair. I read your note with interest and wanted to let you know that yesterday when I passed the Hills P.O., I saw a woman and man wearing straw hats, intently working on the window boxes. It seemed odd to me, as they both seemed to know what they were doing, i.e. they had pruning shears, etc. I didn’t look closely to see if I recognized the woman because I was in a hurry. So it might solve the mystery if you ask Deborah if she was there yesterday with a male helper. If not, someone is doing double duty!”

I can tell you this much. Neither my husband nor I wears a straw hat. Furthermore, I was not taking care of the boxes with a man who was my husband or a man who was not my husband, for that matter. Ergo, two people, neither of whom was me, were working on the boxes, according to an eye-witness account. Sounds like our Mystery Waterers, Scooby Doo.

Now it was time to put a stop to all this nonsense, sensibly and with the gracious manners all Wellesley Gardeners’ Guild members innately posses. I pulled out my heaviest Crane’s stationary and my smoothest black-ink pen and sat down with a nice cup of Earl Grey at my writing table in the morning room. I was ready to go full-tilt Wellesley on them.

Dear Mystery Waterer(s), I began.

Aren’t the post office boxes just beautiful? The women of the Wellesley Gardeners’ Guild take great pride in planting AND maintaining them. Each week, one of us waters and deadheads on a daily basis. For most of us, it’s a highlight of being in the club. So we certainly understand why you’ve been so keen to jump in, Mystery Waterer.

But we must ask you to please stop. Sometimes club members, not realizing you have gotten there ahead of them, are watering on top of what you have already done. Unfortunately, some of the plants are suffering and have had to be replaced due to overwatering.

Thank you for understanding that we already have plenty of eager, responsible waterers who really shouldn’t be denied their “flower box therapy.”

Best, The Members of the Wellesley Gardeners’ Guild

We’ll see if the power of the pen has the ability to make this mystery history. I hope so, because I can’t bear to see any more senseless drownings of plants, and my club just doesn’t have the resources to put a 24/7 lifeguard on duty.

MORE:

Wellesley Gardeners’ Guild prettifies library

Wellesley Fuller Brook Park update, early summer

Cool Wellesley summer storm pics

Wellesley homeowners dedicate their yard to science — for the summer

June 23, 2017 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Last month, researchers from the Woods Hole Research Center put out a call to Wellesley homeowners, seeking yards to include in The Boston Project, a study designed to help researchers study the outcomes of different yard management practices in the metropolitan Boston area. This Massachusetts-based study is part of a larger project that compares residential landscapes in Boston, Baltimore, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Miami, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. The data they collect on vegetation, birds, soil, and insects of Wellesley will become part of a larger project that explores how homeowner yard management affects the wildlife and plants living in the yard.

Wellesley homeowners Henry and Judy Paap’s yard was one of those selected for participation in the study, and I was invited to stop by and observe the doings. All the Paaps had to do was agree to allow access to their front and back yards for one full day, followed by four or five shorter visits, all during the summer. The were assured that all the study information would be kept confidential, and that no information would be released that could be linked to them.

Only The Swellesley Report would blab that kind of thing.

Scientists from Woods Hole take a break from collecting data from a Wellesley yard. From left to right: Michael Whittemore, Robert Lombardi, Megan Shave, Robert Coady, and Margot McKlveen.

When I stopped by, a team of five scientists, there since 9am, were fanned out across the 13,000 square-foot property, collecting soil samples and doing a vegetation survey. Methodically, they were working their way through the Paaps’ yard and identifing every plant species present. The were also taking various measurements of all the trees in their yard and identifying each tree species. They were expected to be there until around 5pm, so it was a very thorough study of the yard, indeed.

Margot McKlveen, Research Assistant at the Woods Hole Research Center and Project Manager for the Suburban Ecology Program study, took a few minutes to talk to me about the study.

McKlveen, a University of Minnesota graduate with a bachelors degree in environmental science and policy management, says the big picture the study hopes to reveal is observations and data about “…how suburban ecosystems from different regions of the country compare to each other. What we think we’ll find is that our suburban ecosystems across the country have more similarities to each other than they do to their native ecosystems.”

In other words, if I go to a backyard barbecue in Phoenix, it’s likely that I’ll feel right at home in a yard that will probably feature a green lawn, foundation plantings, and maybe a few hosta. In fact, McKlveen says I would probably be able to recognize species from yards across the country, such is the public’s level of national sameness when it comes to our gardening habits. “If you think of the ideal suburban yard, an image tends to pop into mind although in reality our native vegetation is very different from that image,” she says.

The study seeks to document decisions that homeowners make about their yards by finding out if the homeowners use fertilizer, employ a landscaping crew, have a wildlife certified yard, or include water-saving features. At the same time, researchers will draw conclusions from the data collected on vegetation, birds, soil, and insects. When all the information is synthesized, researchers expect to be able to understand more about whether how a yard is maintained has an effect on its vegetation, birds, soil, and insects.

At least three Wellesley yards will be included in the study. In choosing which yards to study, researchers required that each site meet certain criteria. Each site had to be within a certain census block because they are controlling across the country using demographic data. What they want are homes across the country that have generally similar demographics of income, age of homeowners, are single family homes, and are a certain distance from parkland and open spaces.

Here at The Swellesley Report, we were eager to brag to the neighbors about our selfless dedication to science. We also thought it would be cool to have researchers studying our yard, and envisioned ourselves supplying them with endless glasses of lemonade and making general pests of ourselves. Alas, we were not one of the chosen ones for participation in The Boston Project. Too close to open spaces, we were told.

Some other people have all the luck.

It’s just another rough day interviewing subjects for The Swellesley Report. Here I am with research assistant Margot McKlveen. Photo credit: Judy Paap.

8 summer Farmers’ Markets and farm stands near Wellesley

June 16, 2017 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Over the past several summers, Wellesley has sometimes had a weekly Farmers’ Market, and sometimes not. This summer is one of those sometimes not summers, but there’s still amazingly fresh produce, beautiful flowers, and other farm products to be found at many nearby farm stands and outdoor markets. Here are eight of our favorites:

The Natick Community Organic Farm

Where: 117 Eliot St., Natick
When: The Barnside Stand at the Farm is open seven days a week, spring, summer and fall during daylight hours.
The Farmstand on Route 16, run by youth in the Farm’s summer programs, is open Monday through Friday, 10am to 4pm, from July 1 through August 1.
Founded in 1975, The Natick Community Organic Farm is a nonprofit, certified-organic farm providing productive open space, farm products, and hands-on education for all ages, year-round. Committed to farming methods that are ecologically healthy and sustainable, the Farm places special emphasis on service to youth through year-round classes, work-experience programs and volunteer opportunities for working the land.

The Natick Farmers’ Market

Natick Commons, at the intersection of Rts. 27 and 135
When: Saturdays, 9am – 1pm
The mission of the market is to bring locally grown or made foods to the community as well as provide an opportunity for music, crafts and community gatherings to occur.

The Needham Farmers’ Market

When: Sundays, noon – 4pm, through November 19
Where: Garrity Way at Town Hall
Their Market Calendar page lets you know which vendors will be there

NEWTON Farmers’ Markets, 2 locations:

New Cold Spring Park, 1200 Beacon St.
When: Tuesdays, July 11 – Oct 31, 1:30pm-6pm

Elm St., West Newton
When: June 24 – October 7, 10am – 2pm
Farm-fresh fruits and vegetables, turkey, beef, fresh fish, goat cheese, gouda, eggs, olive oil, baked goods, popovers, jams, jellies, plants, and flowers.

Sherborn, Dowse Orchards Farm Stand

Where: 98 North Main St., Route 27
Hours: 9am – 6pm, daily

Dowse Orchards is a Massachusetts Century Farm with a 200-year history of family production in apples, vegetables, greenhouse crops, flowers, christmas trees and pumpkins, to name just a few. The roadside farm stand has been in operation for more than 60 years, selling the products raised on the farm on a seasonal basis.

Wayland Summer Farmers’ Market at Russel’s Garden Center

Where: 397 Boston Post Rd.
When: Wednesdays, noon – 5pm, through October 11
The Farmers’ Market at Russell’s features Massachusetts-grown vegetables, fruit, bread, baked goods (including pies), eggs, locally made pasta and cheese, fresh pork, lamb, fish and lobster, and more. Plus, you can wander Russell’s garden center for everything you could possibly need to make your yard beautiful.

WESTON: Land’s Sake Farm, Farmstand

Where: 90 Wellesley St., Weston
When: Tuesday – Friday, 11am – 7pm; Saturday – Sunday, 11am – 4pm; Closed Mondays
Open through October 29
The Land’s Sake Farm Stand features in season produce grown using organic methods from its own farm. Located in the center of Weston, it’s easy to swing by and stock up for the week or pick up a few things for dinner. In addition to a diverse selection of vegetable crops, the small-scale farm offers other local produce and artisan products.

No Wellesley Farmers’ Market this summer — stay tuned for a September opening

June 13, 2017 by Deborah Brown 1 Comment

Wellesley has always had a complicated relationship with the concept and execution of a Farmers’ Market. On paper, the town’s demographics of an affluent population concerned about health and wellness make it an ideal spot for farmers to sell their arugula and heirloom tomatoes. The reality, however, is that the town has a well-deserved reputation for clearing out in the summer as residents de-camp to their Cape houses or travel to more exotic locales (or a little bit of both).

When I reached out to the Wellesley Farmers’ market team, asking whether Summer 2017 would include a Farmers’ market in town, I received this response:

“To continue with our mission of supporting local food growers and producers, while serving our community and complementing Wellesley’s sustainability movement, the Wellesley Farmers’ Market team is proud to announce that we are working on a new model. This model will enable us to bring you more variety and extend our season, while we also continue to serve the Wellesley Food Pantry clientele. The new model requires town approvals. Once we receive the go-ahead, we hope to open for business in September.”

OK, so the answer is no to a Summer 2017 Farmers’ Market.

A Farmers’ Market has struggled over the years to gain a real foothold in town. There was a small one in 2012 and 2013 in the Whole Foods parking lot, which then went on hiatus in 2014. In 2015 it came roaring back at a very pretty and much roomier location on the grounds of the Unitarian Church at 309 Washington St, where the usual healthy stuff was on hand: fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as meats, eggs and cheeses from local farms, and food from speciality providers. That one came back again for the 2016 season.

Now, however, Wellesley is faced with a Farmers’ Market desert for the Summer of 2017.

If you can’t just wait around until the new model hopefully opens in September, keep in mind that Natick has the most lovely Farmers’ market on the Natick Green that runs every Saturday, 9am – noon. Spend some time exploring this town, contiguous to Wellesley but somehow ignored and even scoffed at as “too far” by many Wellesley-ites. Here at The Swellesley Report, we love Natick Center’s Common Kitchen Cafe, the beautiful Morse Institute Library, and the many interesting indie shops, all within walking distance of each other. And of course, their Farmers’ Market.