Framingham Vegetable Gardens Tour

Sat., Aug. 28th
10 am – 1 pm

10th Annual Tour

We are excited to announce that the annual Framingham Vegetable Garden Tour is back!  Join us for a free tour of home and community gardens to get inspiration, ideas and advice from local gardeners. The tour will be followed by a vegetable BBQ. This is a rain or shine event; only severe thunderstorms will cause cancellation. Please bring a reusable water bottle, a mask if you wish and as needed for indoor spaces (bathroom/water break at McAuliffe library), and wear appropriate footwear for gardens. For more info or a full itinerary: email TansitionFramingham@yahoo.com.

● 10:00am – Meet at First Parish UU Church community garden, 24 Vernon Street (on Framingham Centre Green)
● 10:30am – Depart for tour of several local gardens — carpools encouraged, bike-friendly routes also possible.
● 1pm – Finish tour at First United Methodist Church garden, 360 Water Street for vegetable BBQ

In this 75 minute workshop we explore many aspects of composting. We explain what compost is and how the break down process works. We will give tips and techniques for how to set up a home composting system including the various options for inside and outside containers to use. We will talk about compost maintenance and use of the end product and will explore more advanced techniques including worm composting. There will be ample time at the end of our presentation to answer questions from the audience.

Here’s more information about each one:

Garden Camp for Kids: The kids garden camp group discussed many possibilities for places to partner with in Framingham to provide kids’ gardening activities in the summer.  We haven’t set a date for a follow-up meeting but we are sharing ideas online; including ideas for collaborating with existing groups (like Daniel’s Table — see http://danielstable.org/). If anyone who didn’t get to sign in to our breakout group would like receive the minutes from our meeting and stay posted for possible future meetings please contact Mary

Bees, Butterflies & Beyond: We discussed connecting with Conservation Commission in Town to see if they already have plans to do some planting of bee/butterfly friendly flowers in and around Town and/or determine who we need to be in contact with to gain approval to take on this project. Several members were interested in helping with the group and volunteering to plant. We brainstormed ideas on who we could each reach out to (or do our own research on) so that we can determine which type of plants and flowers will survive best for this project. Lastly we discussed having a booth at the Framingham Farmer’s Market. To participate, please contact Jen.

Compost Crew: aims to help individuals and groups in our community begin composting or expand their current composting capabilities. We will help anyone willing to compost get set up and provide information on the various stages of composting. We hope to make composting as simple as possible by providing easy to digest educational materials. Our main goal is to keep compostable material out of landfills and water systems and instead turn it into black gold. Contact Matt to get involved.

Cooking to Grow Framingham: We all want to educate people on how to eat the organic food they buy or grow in an efficient & tasty way. People keep eating the same veggies, we can introduce variety. We can come up with ways to cook for the week so we don’t waste food.
-We can set up a traveling demo to come to peoples gardens and help them harvest and cook the food right in their house or on the grill.
-This group is interesting in helping harvest out of home gardens, preserve that food, cook that food, portion that food and enjoy it to its potential.
-People tend to stay away from trying to make the things they see in a restaurant. We can share the techniques and show them it can be easy.
Contact Pat to participate!

Fall Theme: How Our Food Choices Matter to our Planet, to our Health, to the Animals

Film #1:
Meat the Truth — The Massive Impact of Livestock Farming on Climate Change
(running time, about 1 hour 20 minutes)

Wed., August 15, 7 p.m.

The first in a series of monthly movies on environmental themes. Jointly sponsored by Open Spirit and the Earthcare Team of Grace and Edwards Churches. At Edwards Church, UCC, 39 Edwards St., Framingham . More info at http://earthcareframingham.blogspot.com/