Join MCG on February 22nd for a class on winter sowing. Learn how to start seeds in a sustainable way, without needing to use grow lights or take up valuable indoor space.

Please bring gallon milk jugs or other clear/translucent deep plastic containers you would otherwise throw out, and seeds you'd like to sow. Containers should be thoroughly cleaned, transparent, and a minimum of 3 inches deep. This is a Member Only Event. If interested in becoming a member, check out the 'Get Involved' Page for more information.

Join us as we begin planning for our Spring Plant Sale. Come hear what goes into planning for the sale. Email andrea.patrikis@gmail.com for the Zoom link.

Join us for our annual Winter Greens Workshop led by Julie Wood and Debbie Bishop. Join other MCG members to make a festive wreath or swag for your door or seasonal arrangement for your holiday table using fresh, mixed evergreens. Light refreshments available. The workshop is limited to 12 attendees, so please make sure to RSVP early to reserve your spot. If you have access to accent greens in abundance and would be willing to share with the group, we would love to discuss further. Please email Julie Wood at julieawood@hotmail.com

This is a Member Only Event. If you want to become a Member, check out the 'Get Involved' page for more information

Please join us for our quarterly in person speaker series and in person meeting. We will be providing dinner. This month we are hosting Vlad from Mr. Sharp. Want to get more years out of your favorite gardening tools? Join us for a hands-on session where we’ll show you easy, effective ways to keep your tools sharp, rust-free, and in top shape season after season. From simple cleaning tips to quick fixes that save you money, you'll leave with the knowledge to make your gardening experience smoother—and your tools last longer. Don't miss this chance to give your tools the care they deserve and maximize their performance! Because a well-maintained tool is the gardener’s best friend. In addition to learning about how to maintain your tools on your own, Vlad also offers tool sharpening services. If you would like a tool(s) sharpened, please email Andrea to coordinate. Following Vlad's demonstration, we will host our abbreviated monthly meeting.

Please join us for a Plant and Seed Swap Social!

What to bring if you’d like to participate in the swap: Perennial plants you want to thin and extra seeds to share, along with containers and/or envelopes to bring treasurers home with you. Gardeners of all levels/experiences welcome! Please join us for the social even if you don’t have any plants or seeds to share. We will have drinks and snacks available. Seeds can be swapped throughout the event. Rules for the plant swap:

-Bring plants labeled if possible, and bare-root, with dirt rinsed off from the roots before coming (want to avoid transferring those darn jumping worms!).

-We will first trade plants between those that brought plants -People that brought plants can select up to half the number of plants they brought (e.g. if you brought 10, you may select 5 during this portion)

-Then everyone can select from the remaining plants. This will allow new gardeners to take home some treasures!

We look forward to seeing you! Please note in the evite if you expect to be bringing plants or seeds with you – would like to get a sense of how many to expect.

*This is a Member Only Event. If interested in becoming a Member, check out the 'Get Involved' page for more information.

Come join us for the fall Maplebrook Park clean up. We will meet at MBP at 9:30am-11:30am on Sunday, September 29th. Please bring your garden tools and gloves. Can only come for a short amount of time? No problem! We appreciate any amount of time you can give.

Shade Garden Challenges and Joys

Gardening in shady areas can be challenging, especially if you want a succession of blooms and interesting foliage in all seasons, spring through fall. However, there are many perennials, shrubs, ground covers and bulbs that bring color and texture to shade beds, even in difficult dry shade. Using plants from my own shade gardens and my experiences with changing light conditions, I’ll share ideas about perennial shade plants that do well, tips for growing successful shady beds, and information gathered from various shade gardening experts’ writings. Transform your sulking shade gardens into places of joy, beauty and abundance.

Sue Motulsky is a Professor in Counseling and Psychology at Lesley University, teaching master’s clinical mental health counselors and doctoral students. Sue’s doctorate is in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard and her master’s degrees are in Culture, Gender and Relational Development and in English Literature. She moved to Maynard over 20 years ago and is a self-taught but avid gardener focusing on shrubs, bulbs and perennials.

Join members for a potluck social at Sue's. Please bring your favorite brunch dish to share. Walk around her beautiful gardens, and chat with other members *This is a member only event. If you are interested in membership please reach out to maynardcommunitygardeners@gmail.com

Join us for our next quarterly in person meeting + speaker series. Dinner will be provided. This month we welcome forest ecologist, Neil Pederson. When we envision old-growth forests, we likely imagine big trees that overwhelm our notion of being human. Redwoods or Giant Sequoias come to mind, yeah? While big trees are wondrous, they tend to be, as some would say, more of a destination that might obscure the full ecological beauty of old growth forests. Much of that ecological beauty is that old-growth forests represent time. Time immemorial. An amount of time that us humans, even with our extended lifespans, cannot imagine. What happens over these millennia? We only just starting to learn. With this talk I will talk about how we should not always expect big trees, provide a global tour of some of the oldest forests I have been fortunate to visit and study, and touch on how old-growth forests are having their own moment in time (despite being immemorial).

Bio:

Neil Pederson is a forest ecologist at the Harvard Forest studying the dynamics of old-growth forests from individual trees to regional and subcontinental scale. Neil grew up in rural Volney, NY and in the Adirondack Mountains and earned an associate’s degree at SUNY-Morrisville, a bachelor’s degree at SUNY-ESF, a MS at Auburn University, and a PhD at Columbia University. Before working at the Harvard Forest, Neil was an assistant professor in biology at Eastern Kentucky University and a research professor at Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory.

Neil has studied climate change and disturbance ecology in Mongolia, Bhutan, China, Spain, Turkey, the Republic of Georgia, and over much of the eastern US. Currently, Neil is studying the impacts of extreme climate on the lives of trees in the Northeastern US forests and old-growth forests in the US.

Join MCG members as we tour the Botanic Gardens at Tower Hill, led by a docent. This is one of the perks of membership, so don't miss out! For more details and to sign up, please check the Evite. If you are not a member but would like to become one, email maynardcommunitygardeners@gmail.com

Come tour Kathie's garden and chat with other members. For more details please check the Evite. If you are not a member and would like to become one, please email maynardcommunitygardeners@gmail.com

Come visit the Maynard Community Gardeners at the Community Tent at the Farmer's Market. We will have a FREE raffle! Come hear all about the club.

A note from our host about her garde: Our garden is a c-shape around our house, with a couple of small beds in front (the second photo in my text), and a long, narrow section along one side (the first photo).

We’ve made lots of changes over the 28 years of living here, but one major thing that keeps eluding me is flowers. We have a very dark corner at the front end, which never produces flowers no matter what I plant there. And the border looks pretty good but again, minimal flowers.

Please help me figure out how to make an English flower garden!

Join us for a tour of Daniel's garden - you've probably seen it during plant sale season, come view its summer version!

Join us at Maplebrook Park at the corner of Maple and Summer Streets, as we continue to clean up and weed Maplebrook Park. Please bring your gloves and any weeding tools. Thank you!

Join the Maynard Community Gardeners for our quarterly in person event and meeting. Join at at 5:45pm where we will have dinner available. At 6pm Emily from F-Word Farm will hold her Spring Foraging class, details below. From 7pm-8pm we will hold our June/July planning meeting. (No July Meeting). Join us for this special event!

At this class, you will learn how to identify select wild edibles (e.g. mushrooms, berries, greens, or even trees) via a slideshow and in person samples to see and feel. Emily Makrez, owner of F-Word Farm and educator on all things fermenting, farming, and foraging related, will show you how to identify these seasonal finds and how you can then incorporate them into your food or drink! This is a Member Only Event, please reach out to maynardcommunitygardeners@gmail.com to learn more about membership

Participants will learn to identify common invasive plants and best practices for control. No tools required for this session. Poison ivy is likely to be present, but we will work to avoid it. Just the same, I recommend long pants and closed shoes. Bring work gloves. Laura Mattei, fellow Garden Club Member, is the Director of Conservation at the Sudbury Valley Trustees. She will be leading this training with over 30 years of experience in land and water conservation and management. Please RSVP by emailing maynardcommunitygardeners@gmail.com

Come help with the Spring clean up for Maplebrook Park! Raking, bagging, weeding. Please bring your gloves and any tools you think would be useful. We have tools to share as well. Can only come for a small part of the time? Great! Come when you can.

This will be the first in a series of three free, short workshops all about dahlia growing. During this one hour session, former vegetable and flower farmer Mel Hardy will share her knowledge about setting up dahlias for a (more likely) successful growing season from the start. We will also discuss how to manage and maintain them throughout the summer months. Future sessions will include info about harvesting, tuber storage, dividing tubers, and more. Bring your own knowledge and experience, as well as your questions! *This is a Member Only Event. Reach out to maynardcommunitygardeners@gmail.com to become a member.

Spring is around the corner, and so is MCG’s annual plant sale! Please save the date: Saturday, May 18, from 9:00 AM to 12 Noon at the parking lot of the Maynard Lodge of Elks, 34 Powder Mill Road, Maynard. Browse among a unique assortment of annuals and perennials to find the perfect addition to your flower, vegetable, or herb garden. Decorate your porch with hanging baskets and other annuals. Find that perfect “something” at the small flea market of deeply-discounted garden-related tools and objects.

Join us as we price all the donated plants in preparation for the plant sale. We will no longer be using popsicle sticks and instead be using the plastic markers in the photo. Please bring your gloves! Please RSVP on the Evite

Calling all day of Plant Sale volunteers! We will be having a training to go over the sales slip and other important information about the sale. Join us over Zoom at 7pm. Get the link from Andrea

We are looking for volunteers to help with both digging up plants and potting plants at the Big Dig event on Saturday, May 4th from 8am-12pm. Please reach out to Andrea if you are interested in helping or have questions. andrea.patrikis@gmail.com

Please join us for a Zoom meeting to continue planning for the plant sale on Wednesday, <May data-preserve-html-node="true" 1st at 11am as we continue looking at the tasks ahead. No pressure to commit, come join the call to hear about what goes into planning for the plant sale. Reach out to andrea.patrikis@gmail.com for the Zoom link.

Please join us for a Zoom meeting to continue planning for the plant sale on Wednesday, April 24th at 7pm as we continue looking at the tasks ahead. No pressure to commit, come join the call to hear about what goes into planning for the plant sale. Reach out to andrea.patrikis@gmail.com for the Zoom link.