Extinctions of plants and animals and climate change seem like overwhelming problems but each of us can fight these crises right at home, especially by treating our home gardens as habitat to nurture the living things native to our continent. Claudia Thompson, founder of Grow Native Massachusetts, will discuss her home landscape rich with habitat — supporting wildlife, birds, and pollinators. Register here. Ready to add native plants to your yard? Attendees who live within five miles of Wayland will be offered a community service garden visit by Jean Milburn, Wayland’s Native Plant Ambassador from the MCA Native Pollinator Task Force.
The fifth and last class in the Healthy Soils series, “Carbon Cycling and Storage Potential in Soils,” takes place on Saturday, May 14 from 10:30 a.m.–noon. and will look at the garden as a model for carbon storage as we learn about deeply rooted perennial shrubs, conservation tillage, and composting. Click here for more information and registration links. All participants must also complete this waiver form in advance. Healthy Soils is a collaboration among the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, Codman Community Farms, and Mothers Out Front.
The Lincoln Public Library will host a virtual LGBTQ+ author panel on Wednesday, June 1 at 7 p.m. via Zoom with Emery Lee, Timothy Janovsky, Katee Robert, and Olivia Waite. Join us for an inside look into the writing process and how the authors connect with the LGBTQ+ community with their words and stories. Free and open to all but advance registration is required.
The first Lincoln Arts and Farmers Market for the 2022 season will be Saturday, June 4 from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. on the lawn in front of the Tack Room at 145 Lincoln Rd. The market will run weekly June-October. This year there will be more vendors, more produce, and more coffee along with music, food, arts and crafts. Stay updated on planning and vendor availability each week via this Facebook page.
The library will host a Summer Reading Program kickoff party on Wednesday, June 15 from 3:30–5:30 p.m. There will be ice cream, crafts, tattoos, balloon sculpting, Ed the magician, and more. Summer Reading Challenges and book lists will be available. The event will take place on the library lawn (we will move indoors if the weather is uncooperative). All ages welcome! Call the library at 781-259-8465 ext. 4 for more information.
There will be a second Zoom conversation on “The Impact of Local Authors Writing for the LGBTQ+ Community” with Bren Bataclan, Anna Burke, Federico Erebia, and Jane C. Esther on Thursday, June 30 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. Free and open to all but advance registration is required.
On Wednesday, Aug. 3 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., everyone is invited to take part in the Library Crawl. The challenge is to visit as many libraries as you can and take a picture of yourself with a designated item in each library in a 21st-century scavenger hunt. Download your Library Crawl passport with library locations and photo ops.
This is an event for all ages – all you need is a love of libraries and a way to get from place to place. Post your pictures and tag the libraries at #mlncrawl2022. Each library will have handouts and giveaways. Show your pictures to a librarian, get a prize, and see how many you can collect. Start and end wherever you like on the self-guided crawl.
Participating Minuteman Library Network libraries are Arlington Robbins & Arlington Fox Branch, Ashland, Bacon Free (Natick), Concord & Fowler Branch, Dedham & Endicott Branch, Framingham & McAuliffe Branch, Lexington (Cary), Lincoln, Maynard, Morrill Memorial Library (Norwood), Morse Institute Library (Natick), Needham, Newton, Sudbury, Wayland, Wellesley Main, Wellesley Hills, Wellesley Fells, and Westwood Main & Islington Branch.
Come celebrate the 50th anniversary of Lincoln Garden Club volunteers maintaining Station Park at an open house on Saturday, Sept. 17 from 10 a.m.–noon at the intersection of Lincoln Road and Ridge Road, just across Lincoln Road from the mall at Lincoln Station. Light refreshments will be served, and the farmers’ market will be open across the street with produce, crafts, and music. Information on the park’s history and how to join the Lincoln Garden Club will be also available.
All are welcome to LincFam’s Grown-Ups’ Night Out on the Tack Room patio on Wednesday, Sept. 28 from 7:30–9:30 p.m. Please RSVP by emailing info@lincfam.org.
All Lincoln residents are cordially invited to the Lincoln Garden Club’s wine and cheese evening for new and prospective members on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 5 p.m. Come hear about the club’s many horticultural events and meet some members. Please RSVP to Ann Parke at annparke@verizon.net or Lucy Sprayregen at lucypage@aol.com.
UPDATE: this event has been cancelled due to expected bad weather.
Because of its driveway construction project, Codman Community Farms is not holding its annual Harvest Fair and Harvest Feast this year. However, there will be an open house at the farm on Sunday, Oct. 23 from 12–2 p.m. with a party vibe, farm tours, tastings of new sausage flavors, and sliced deli ham… and the Just Hummus food truck will serve up hummus bowls, pita sandwiches, and falafel.
The Walden Woods Project is hosting “Silent Spring Revolution: A Conversation with Douglas Brinkley” on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. In his newest book, New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed historian Douglas Brinkley chronicles the rise of environmental activism during the 1960s. Join us to learn more about Silent Spring Revolution and Brinkley’s discoveries during the writing process. There will be a live audience Q&A. Register here. This event is sponsored by the Walden Woods Project, Concord Festival of Authors, and RESTORE: The North Woods.
Codman Community Farms is offering a hands-on workshop on Gardening for a Changing Climate: Sheet Mulching on Sunday, Oct. 30 from 2–4 p.m. in the market garden. This workshop is free but registration is required; click here to register. The fall Gardening for a Changing Climate workshops are part of the Healthy Soils Series, a collaboration among the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, Lincoln Common Ground, and Codman Community Farms.
The Lincoln Garden Club welcomes all Lincolnites to a Zoom program on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. Bud Sechler, Ecological Program Director of the Native Plant Trust, will discuss rare plants that can be found in the Boston suburban area, as well as the invasive plants which threaten them. Register online in advance and you’ll receive a confirmation email with information about joining the meeting.
Learn about the people and events that helped Jackie Robinson break baseball’s color barrier in 1947 at an author talk with Ted Reinstein, a reporter for WCVB-TV’s “Chronicle,” on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at the Lincoln Public Library. The hidden story of Reinstein’s Before Brooklyn: The Unsung Heroes Who Helped Break Baseball’s Color Barrier includes former stars of the Negro Leagues, the Black press and Pullman porters who battled the color barrier for 60 years. Sponsored by the Friends of the Lincoln Library. Click here to register.
Have you ever had dry Thanksgiving turkey woes? Do you wonder about brining, stuffing, or oven temperatures? Come learn how to prep the best turkey ever with Dan Estridge, founder and Chief Flavor Officer at Farmers & Cooks Craft Meats! Using Codman grown ingredients, we’ll teach you the concepts behind dry and wet brines, no brine at all, “butterfly” technique, stuffing pros and cons, and lots more. At the end of class, we will enjoy a delicious meal together with what we’ve prepared along with other farm snacks. BYOB recommended! Class fee: $95. Click here to register.
Mothers Out Front is sponsoring the Great Pumpkin Smash at Codman Community Farms on Sunday, Nov. 6 from 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Every year in the U.S., an estimated 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkins are carted away to landfills or incinerators where they produce greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. Green your Halloween by bringing your pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, and decorative gourds to this family-friendly event, smash your Halloween creations, and recycle them into the soil by feeding them to the Codman Farm pigs. Please remove any stickers, paint, candles, or other decorations. Suggested donation of $1/pumpkin to benefit CCF. Click here to register.
Making fresh pasta is an act of love, and ravioli are a true delight for your family and friends. Join us and learn from Lincoln resident Donna Macdonald, a former chef and instructor at Eataly who spent over a decade in the Piemonte region of Northern Italy. In this class we will marry the great flavors of pumpkin (or butternut squash), butter and sage with fresh pasta. We’ll be using fresh ingredients from the farm, and will finish the class with our pasta dish. Participants will bring home some pasta dough and filling to make more at home. BYOB is recommended! Class fee: $80. Click here to register.
Do you need holiday gift book suggestions for the young readers in your life? Join the Lincoln Public Library children’s librarians on Thursday, Dec. 1 at noon as they review their favorite new books of the year as well as some perennial favorites. The event is open to all adults (feel free to share with grandparents and relatives near and far). Email dleopold@minlib.net for the Zoom link.