Hidden Gardens of Amenia

July 9, 2011 10AM - 4PM, Visit ten of Amenia’s hidden gardens, including 2 new gardens this year. Hosted by The Garden Club of Amenia. All proceeds are used to purchase bulbs for community residents and businesses to enhance the town. Last year Amenia residents planted 10,000 daffodil bulbs. Rain or shine. Box lunches for $5 will be available at Churchill Gardens. 

To meet the gardeners and purchase tickets in advance, participants may attend a free wine and cheese reception on Friday, July 8, 5:30-7:30pm at Meade Farm House at 224 Perry Corners Road. Tickets are available on the day of the tour at Four Brothers Pizza at the intersections of Routes22/44 and 343. 

Beginning on June 1st, tour maps can be picked up at the Town Hall, at the Amenia Free Library, or downloaded from www.ameniany.gov. Fee: $20, children FREE. Four Brothers Pizza, 4957 Rte 22, Amenia, NY 12501. 845-373-9097. http://www.ameniagardens.com/ 

Mohonk Garden Walk & Luncheon

June 30, 2011 10 a. m. - 4 p. m. Enjoy the beauty of Mohonk’s gardens 

while gaining insight into how they are created and maintained. Garden enthusiasts will delight 

as they embark on a two-hour walking tour of the formal flower gardens, annual and perennial 

beds, and greenhouse guided by a Master Gardener or a member of Mohonk’s landscape and 

garden staff. The buffet lunch served at 12:00 noon in the West Dining Room features guest 

speaker Ken Greene of Hudson Valley Seed Library. 

Please plan on arriving early to avoid a back-up at the gatehouse. Space is limited to 150 people. Registration deadline is 6/24. No refunds. If you can’t attend please send someone in your place. Fee: $60. Mohonk Mountain House,1000 Mountain Rest Rd, New Paltz, NY 12561.(845) 340-3990. http://www.cceulster.org/  

Water Wonders: Aquatic Features in your Landscap

June 12, 2011 10AM - 11AM at the Phantom Gardener

The musical cascade of a waterfall. The refreshing cool of a pond-side slope. A chorus of chirping frogs or singing birds drawn to a backyard brook. Introduce the sound, the allure, the magic of water into your landscape, or learn how to maintain and enhance an existing pond in this workshop. Ken Schoen, who has specialized in water features for over twenty years, will share his wisdom on design and installation, maintenance, energy-efficient filtration systems, plant material and fish, and more. Whether you’re interested in a tub on your deck with plants and goldfish or a naturalistic swimming pool, you will benefit from this overview of the techniques and materials that go into a thriving aquatic feature. While you’re here, visit the demonstration pond that Ken is scheduled to install at Phantom this spring! Fee: $15 payable in advance (but walk-ins welcome) Phantom Gardener, 6837 Rt 9, Rhinebeck, NY 12572. (845)876-8606  http://www.thephantomgardener.com/

Beacon Zero Waste Garden Tour

The Beacon Zero Waste Garden Tour will be held on Saturday, June 11th. The day's events will include two separate led garden tours, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Aside from enjoying the spectacular gardens of our local residents, there will be an emphasis on composting, organic pest management, and general inputs and outputs. The tour will encourage neighborly knowledge sharing to help motivate and assist residents in their organic gardening efforts and to reduce garbage output through composting. The Green Teens will lead a compost workshop. See schedule below or posters around town for details. This event is free and open to the public. Participants will have the option of traveling as a group along the tour route on bikes.

TOUR1/ 10a-12p
Meet: 9:45a DMV Parking Lot, 223 Main Street
Tour Guide: Philomena Kiernan
Holly Bogdanffy, 19 DeWindt Street (10a - 10:25)
Naomi Sachs, 55 S. Brett Street (10:35 - 11:00)
Joan Martorano, 9 Wodell Street (11:10 - 11:35)
Philomena Kiernan, 80 Overlook Ave (11:45 - 12:10)

COMPOST 
WORKSHOP 
Led by Green Teens & Helanna Bratman, 12:30p - 1:30p
Seed to Fruit garden, 528 Main Street

TOUR2/ 2p-4p
Meet: 1:45p at 9 Mackin Street
Tour Guide: Sarah Elisabeth
Matthew Freedman, 9 Mackin Street (2:00 - 2:25)
Karen Sine, 13 Dutchess Terrace (2:35 - 3:00)
Anna West, 57 Dutchess Terrace (3:10 - 3:35)
Rafiqua Doniger, 99 N. Elm Street (3:45 - 4:10)

Green Teen's 5th Annual Photography Show

From The Ground Up: Growing Food, Through the Eyes of Teenagers

The Green Teens, seven teenagers from Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County’s Green Teen Community Gardening Program, have been hard at work since the end of March.  That was when the Beacon teens were handed cameras and film to capture a part of the local food system that touched their lives. Three months and many frames later they are excited to show off what they have created in a public showing of their work, From the Ground Up: Growing Food, through the Eyes of Teenagers.  

The opening event is on June 11th from 5-7pm at The Coffee Shoppe in Beacon at 453 Main Street.  At 6pm, the artists will introduce themselves and their work, and perform a short piece.

For more information please contact Helanna Bratman, Green Teen Program Coordinator, at 845-831-4287 or via email at hgb4@cornell.edu. 

Garden Party and Raw Co-op Kitchen Grand Opening This Sunday

Please join us to celebrate local, healthy food and community!

Garden Party at Common Fire Beacon-Newburgh's new CoHousing Collective and Tours of the Fabulous new Beacon Co-op Kitchen!

67 & 68 Verplanck Avenue!
Sunday May 22, 2-4:30pm

Schedule of Events:

67 Verplanck
2:30-3pm Community Yoga for all ages offered by our Newburgh partners, Bent on Change
3-4pm Music, mandala garden tour, face painting and arts projects for kids
Music by Adrian Sicam and special guests from the Bay Area Common Fire Community: Milk and Honey

68 Verplanck
3:30-4:30 Delicious samples and tours of the Beacon Co-op Kitchen
4-4:30pm Toast in celebration of Beacon Co-op Kitchen Grand Opening


In the spring of 2008, a group of people from Beacon, Newburgh, and New York City began working with Common Fire to create a community in the Hudson Valley that could be in service to these three cities. Their goal is to create a truly accessible and diverse community committed to ongoing personal growth and interpersonal dialogue, means-to-ends consistency, and active service with our larger community, region, and world. The Beacon CoHousing Collective is our first step in this journey.

Come celebrate our community garden AND the GRAND OPENING of the Beacon Co-op Kitchen, home to Sweet Mama's and Marla's Kale Kitchen, two women-owned businesses committed to making raw delicacies with love.  From raw cheescakes to savory kale chips, these women are un-cooking it in their own backyard!

15th Annual Iris Show and Exhibition

Presented by the Hudson Valley Iris & Daylily Society. Come see the "best of the best" from local gardens! May 21st, 1-5 PM, Center Court, Poughkeepsie Galleria, 2001 South Rd, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. 

Fee: FREE  

VANDERBILT PLANT SALE

Mark your calendars for the annual VANDERBILT PLANT SALE Memorial Day Weekend, May 

28, 29 & 30, 9-4 daily, 9-5, rain or shine , Route 9, Hyde Park. Huge inventory will include 

perennials for shade and sun dug from the Vanderbilt Formal Garden and volunteer gardens, 

waterlilies, annuals, vegetables and herb gardens.  All proceeds go towards the continued 

maintenance and rehabilitation of the Vanderbilt Formal Garden. 

PRE-SALE, Friday, May 27, 4-5:30. Want to have first pick of the plants? Away for the Holiday 

Weekend? Don’t like Crowds?  Our Pre-Sale is your answer.  You must Pre-Register to 

participate.  Send $10, your name, address, phone & email to:  F. W. Vanderbilt Garden 

Association, P. O. Box 239, Hyde Park, NY  12538.  We will confirm your registration and 

provide more details.  For more information, contact us at 229-6432 or FWVGA@marist.edu. 

Dig-In with the Green Teens

Come watch, participate, and learn on May 21st at 1pm as the Beacon Green Teens and Common Ground Farm turn one Beaconite's lawn into a vegetable garden. 101 Union Street, 1 to 3pm

The "Dig-In with the Green Teens" is a collaborative effort between the farm and the teen program to show the public how easy and enjoyable a backyard garden can be. The workshop will teach how to plan the garden, how to get the lawn garden-ready, what tools to use, how to plant vegetables, how to tend to the garden, and how to enjoy the bountiful harvest from your own backyard.

The gathering is free to the public. Raindate will be Sunday May 22nd, from 1:00 to 3:00. For more information please contact Sam Wildfong, at (248)941-1001.

Teaching and Learning in the School Garden: Theory into Practice

·      June 27, 2011 to August 26, 2011

·      Cost: $250

·      Enrollment limited to 15 students.

 

This course focuses on the foundations and teaching strategies of garden-based learning (GBL), and provides the tools and resources that classroom teachers and extension educators need to develop school gardening programs that are easily integrated into their school curriculum or youth program. By the end of this course, you will become a more confident and knowledgeable garden-based learning educator and program planner, and you will connect with and learn from others with the same purpose.

 

Course Timetable at a Glance

·         June 27: Course begins

·         June 27-July 1: Course Introductions

·         July 5- 15: Educational Theory and the Benefits of Garden-Based Learning

·         July 18- 29: Program Planning and Starting and Sustaining a School Garden

·         August 1- 12: Project-Based Learning and Curriculum Integration

·         August 15- 26: Authentic Assessment of Garden Based Learning

·         August 26: Final feedback provided, course closes

 

For complete details, go to: http://hort.cals.cornell.edu/cals/hort/teaching/distance-learning/school-garden.cfm.

Stony Kill Needs Garden Volunteers

The Stony Kill Foundation is looking for volunteers to help maintain the Verplanck Memorial Perennial Garden at Stony Kill on Route 9D.  The plantings in the Garden were chosen to attract butterflies and birds (it is the main attraction at the annual Butterfly Festival, being held on August 13 this year).  Simple regular maintenance is required.  You can work in the Garden whenever it is convenient for you.  The Garden is open seven days a week from dawn to dusk. 

In 1997, three descendents, Elizabeth, Suzanna and Wilhelmina Andrews, who were sisters, provided funds for the creation of the Garden.  The Andrews sisters spend their childhood years living in the Manor House at Stony Kill in the early 1900's in the care of their Uncle and Aunt, John Bayard Rodgers Verplanck and his wife Susan Van Wyck Andrews Verplanck. 

Help us keep their legacy going!  Call us or email us if you are willing to help, 845-831-1617 or foundation@stonykill.org.

Beacon Planting Day

Sargent – Downing Gardens and Nursery

The City of Beacon Recreation department is proud to present a new recreation program for the community in the newly opened NYS Park formally known as The University Settlement Camp. This program focuses on the areas of Gardening, Horticulture and Civic Pride. Our emphasis will be an education program with historical importance for our children. While serving the community at large, this program will also provide the City of Beacon with trees for its parks and Main Street.

The Hudson Valley has a rich history in the early development of American landscape gardening and design. Both Beacon and Newburgh were the homes of two distinguished horticulturists who paved the way for the art form that helped design some of the most beautiful landscapes in America. Henry Winthrop Sargent and Andrew Jackson Downing were great friends, lived across the Hudson from one another, and designed many landscapes in our community.

The goals of this program are to offer a different type of recreation for the City of Beacon and the surrounding communities. It will help educate children in the areas of horticulture, gardening and sustainability. Volunteers of all ages will be invited to participate in educating and maintaining the grounds which will include seed starting, planting, harvesting food, composting, and propagating amongst other activities. The group will begin using, and will gradually improve upon, the existing garden space at the university settlement camp. The Sargent – Downing Gardens and Nursery project will include the following:

Tree Nursery, Organic perennial and shrub gardens, Vegetable gardens, Herbal Gardens, Seminars on
propagation, and Butterfly gardens.

There will be a meeting on May 11th between 6-7pm at the Garden located at 724 Wolcott ave Beacon, NY. Please attend to discuss our Annual Community Planting Day on May 14th.

Picnic with your Family
Music by Miss Vickie and Chris Rue
Food
The Reading of the Lorax for the Children
Artists – Wood Carving / Painting

In order to make this program successful we will need all volunteers to attend these events. Remember this is for the future of our children, community and sustainable values. If you would like to know more about this program, please contact Beacon Recreation Commissioner Justin Riccobono at 845-765-2991.

Events at Stony Kill

The Stony Kill Foundation, Inc. announces the opening of the 2011 Community Garden Plots at Stony Kill Farm Environmental Education Center on Route 9D in Wappinger Falls.  Plots are 20' by 20' and are available immediately, for a fee of $30 for the season.  Please call 845-831-1617 for an application or email us at foundation@stonykill.org.

Join us on Sunday, May 15, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for a Family Wilderness Survival Class with instructor Shane Hobel.  This class is made up of many skills and introduces you to the scope of this subject of study and particularly the “Basic 4”: Shelter, Water, Fire & Food.  You will also experience the beginnings of Tracking, Awareness & Movement. Topics are learned through discussion and practice.  Children participating must be in grades 3 and older.  All particpants should bring a bag lunch, snack and drink.  Meet at the barn classroom.  All should dress in layers and bring bug spray.  For further information, visit mt.scoutsurvival@gmail.com.  Reservations are required to attend this program and can be made by emailing foundation@stonykill.org or by calling 845-831-1617.

On Saturday and Sunday, May 14 and 15, from 11 am to 1 pm, we will have homegrown vegetables for sale in the greenhouse at Stony Kill.  The barn will also be open for tours.  Come see the new calves, piglets and lambs.

Sargent-Downing Garden Volunteers Needed

The Sargent – Downing Gardens and Nursery!

The City of Beacon Recreation Department is proud to present a new recreation program for the community in the newly opened NYS Park known as The University Settlement Camp. 

You can help educate children about horticulture, gardening and sustainability.  Volunteers of all ages are invited to participate in educating and maintaining the grounds, which include a Tree Nursery, Organic perennial & shrub gardens, Vegetable gardens, and Herbal Gardens. While serving the community at large, this program will also provide the City of Beacon with trees for its parks and Main Street.

Join us for the following volunteer opportunities:

April 30

Continued cleanup of Garden at the Settlement Camp

Table at Beacon Barks on Main Street

May 14

Planting Day Festival – Annual Planting Day at the Garden with food and music

Contact Beacon Recreation Commissioner Justin Riccobono at 845-765-2991or Richie Cabo, 845-476-1660.

About the Sargent Downing Nursery and Garden historical roots:

The Hudson Valley has a rich history in the early development of American landscape gardening and design. Both Beacon and Newburgh were the homes of two distinguished horticulturists, Henry Winthrop Sargent and Andrew Jackson Downing, who paved the way for the art form that helped design some of the most beautiful landscapes in America. 

NATIVE PLANTS GARDEN TUTORIAL AND MAINTENANCE WORKSHOP

Want to learn about native plants and perennials and how to maintain a native plants garden?

Co-sponsored by the Rockland County Solid Waste Management Authority and The Rockland Farm Alliance

Interested in learning about native plants? The Native Plants Garden at the Solid Waste Management Authority in Hillburn hosts an amazing collection of native plants of the Northeast, right here in Rockland County! Through a partnership between the SWMA and the RFA, we are happy to offer a FREE workshop on how to prep, maintain and care for a native plants garden, led by perennial and native plants expert and landscape designer, Rebecca Gmucs. She will teach plant identification (weeds vs. perennial native plants), how to divide plants, weeding techniques, specific perennial care and good choices for local gardens. Rebecca will answer your questions regarding deer resistant, shade loving and sun loving plants as well.

You will also get to see the state-of-the-art greenhouse facility that houses the baby plants for the Cropsey Community Farm! As part of our partnership with the Rockland County Solid Waste Management Authority, The Rockland Farm Alliance was granted access to use the SWMA greenhouse for starting our seedlings for the farm. In return we will maintain their lovely native plants garden that is open to the public as a place to come and learn about and enjoy native plants of the Northeast. We are very grateful to the SWMA for the use of their beautiful greenhouse facility that has allowed us to start our seedlings in optimal conditions. Come help us show our appreciation and learn about how to care for native plants at the same time!

Where: Rockland County Solid Waste Management Authority at 420 Torne Valley Rd in Hillburn

When: April 19 10am - 12pm; May 1 1-3pm

What: Native Plants & Perennial Garden Tutorial and Maintenance Workshop

How Much: FREE

For more information about the workshop, please contact us at info@rocklandfarm.org.

Beacon Garden Tour - June 11, 2011

The Beacon Garden Tour will be held on Saturday, June 11th. The day's events will include two separately led garden tours, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Aside from enjoying the spectacular gardens of our local residents, there will be an emphasis on composting, organic pest management, and general inputs and outputs. The tour will encourage neighborly knowledge sharing to help motivate and assist residents in their organic gardening efforts and to reduce garbage output through composting. A composting workshop led by the Beacon Green Teens will be occur on the same day at set location. Participants will have the option of traveling as a group along the tour route on bikes. 


Participants/Schedule:

AM Tour 10a - 12noon
Tour Guide: Philomena Kiernan
1. Holly Bogdanffy
DeWindt
2. Naomi Sachs
55 S. Brett Street
3. Joan Martorano
9 Wodell Street
4. Philomena Kiernan
Overlook Ave, between Stone and Tillot

Compost workshop 12:30p - 1:30p
Led by Green Teens & Helanna Bratman
Location TBD

PM Tour: 2p - 4p
Tour Guide: Sarah Ann Elizabeth
1. Matthew Freedman
Mackin Street
2. Anna West
57 Dutchess Terrace
3. Karen Sine
13 Dutchess Terrace
4. Rafiqua Doniger
99 N. Elm Street

CCE Dutchess County - Gardeners' Day April 16th

CCE Dutchess County invites you to attend Gardeners Day, Saturday April 16th! http://ccedutchess.org/images/stories/Ag-Hort_media/docs/gd_2011_brochure.pdf.

Class choices include: Butterflies, Tick-Borne Diseases, Important Gardening Tools & Books, Growing Transplants & Sowing Seeds, and Hardy Flower Bulbs. For those that like to create, we will have classes on how to make Hypertufas, Fairy Houses and Rustic Trellises.

Registration perks: Door prize, morning refreshments, receive a coupon for a free plant at our Master Gardener Plant Sale in May. Plus, bring in a soil sample to get the pH tested for free! Our greenhouse is closed to the public but participants can stop by during lunch to see what "we've got growing on"! MG volunteers will be on hand all day to answer your gardening questions.

Check it out and register soon- registration deadline is April 8th!

Non-profit Seedling Sale

Dutchess County Soil & Water Conservation District (a non-profit organization) is now taking orders for their 2011 Seedling Sale. The items that they sell are to help encourage conservation 

practices in the county. Planting materials have been chosen for: native species, windbreaks, 

wildlife shelter, wildlife food, ground covers and natural screening. They also offer wildflower 

seed mixes and wildlife/bird boxes. 

The deadline for ordering is March 24. Pick up dates are Friday April 29, 9-4 and Saturday April 30, 9-12, here at the Dutchess County Farm & Home Center in Millbrook. For more information, go to http://dutchessswcd.org/seedling_sale.htm .

Rain Barrel Workshop

Think GREEN…build a rain barrel to capture and use storm water!

Date: Thursday April 28
Time:  6:30-8 PM
Location:  Dutchess County Farm &  Home Center, Millbrook
Cost:  $45/person, includes cost of rain barrel

Rain barrels are a great option to better manage
excess storm water from your roof.  The water is captured before it
picks up pollutants, and it is safe to use for watering plants.  A
rain barrel can save gardeners up to 1,300 gallons of water during the
peak summer months!   This workshop will help you learn to better
manage storm water AND will help you build your own 55 gallon rain
barrel to take home.

Register:  * Pre-registration is required.  Please call Nancy Halas at
845-677-8223 x 115 to register. Seats will only be reserved upon
payment in full. Visa, MC and checks accepted. Checks should be made
out to Cornell Cooperative Extension and mailed to 2715 Rt. 44, Suite
1, Millbrook, NY 12545, Attn: Nancy Halas. No refunds. Substitutions
are allowed.  Seating is limited, so don't delay!

* By registering for this program you consent and authorize CCEDC
permission to use your name, likeness, image, voice and/or appearance
for inclusion in CCEDC publicity materials. You hereby release CCEDC
and Cornell University from any and all liability, claims or causes of
action. You acknowledge that you are 18 years of age or older.

Growing and Cooking with Asian Vegetables Class

You are invited to attend:

GROWING AND COOKING WITH ASIAN VEGETABLES

GUEST SPEAKER NORMA CHANG

Thursday, April 21, 2011, 6-8 PM


Norma Chang, The Traveling Gourmet®, is a food lover who enjoys
sharing her skills and ideas with others through her many food related
activities. Norma believes that cooking should be fun and that the
food we prepare should not only be good for you, but should look and
taste good too. This philosophy is reflected in her cookbooks,
demonstrations and programs.

After successful forays into the catering and food service businesses
Norma decided to focus on sharing her knowledge through teaching. She
authored a food column for the Poughkeepsie Journal and her articles
have appeared in numerous other publications.

Norma is an avid gardener specializing in Asian vegetables and organic
gardening and incorporates her crops into her menus for family and
friends.

Cost: $10 per person. Proceeds to benefit CCEDC Community Horticulture Program.

Location: Dutchess County Farm & Home Center, 2715 Rt 44, Millbrook, NY, 12545

To register: Call Nancy Halas at 845-677-8223 x115. Pay by MC/Visa or
make check payable to Cornell Cooperative Extension and mail to:
Cornell Cooperative Extension, 2715 Rt. 44, Suite 1, Millbrook, NY
12545, Attn: Nancy Halas