Join us for dinner (served at 5:45pm) and our quarterly speaker series. This month we will welcome Gretel Anspach from the Massachusetts Horicultural Society who will speak to us about lawns and lawn alternatives. Lawns are imported garden fixtures from places with cool, wet summers. Here a “perfect” lawn is a major drain on water supplies, a source of pollution, and a lot of work. Look at options for tailoring your lawn and your lawn care to fit your needs, potentially eliminating hundreds of hours of labor and expensive treatments every year. The talk will include some discussion of alternatives to the traditional grass lawn.

Gretel Anspach is a data-driven, retired systems engineer who brings an engineer’s precision to every horticultural endeavor. A mathematics graduate of MIT, she spent her career at Raytheon before channeling her analytical mindset into the world of horticulture. She currently serves as a trustee of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and is a Lifetime Master Gardener, recognized with MMGA’s 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award. With over two decades of experience in food pantry gardening, Gretel first led Raytheon’s company garden initiative, then went on to independently establish and maintain a 20,000-square-foot production garden serving the Marlborough and Maynard food pantries. Gretel is known for demystifying the science behind gardening, combining her background in math and systems thinking with a passion for sharing knowledge. Her work bridges the gap between data and dirt—proving that logical thinking and healthy soil can grow more than just plants.

We will have an abbreviated monthly meeting followed by the lecture.