Garden Thyme programs are held on the third Saturday of each month and are FREE for members of Old Sturbridge Village. Led by Village horticultural and agricultural staff, these programs and workshops are held at various sites and deal with a variety of plant-related themes and topics. Participants gather at the Visitor Center at 10 a.m. each month and are led to the appropriate site or setting. Upcoming programs include:
April 18: Edible Herbs; or, Deer, Let's Forage Tonight, with Mike Stevens
Remember that Euell Gibbons book, Stalking the Wild Asparagus, languishing somewhere on your bookshelves? Just leave it there. We'll lead you on a tour of the Herb Garden and advise you about which of the unlikely garden residents you can actually eat. Knife and fork optional.
May 16: Successful Seed Sowing, with Christie Higginbottom
Get off to a good start in the kitchen garden with some planting advice from historical gardeners. Find out which seeds benefit from pre-treatment and which need light to germinate. Learn to prepare the soil and how to draw a straight drill with simple homemade tools. Master the painful task of thinning seedlings to promote vigorous vegetables.
June is Garden Month! Join us for Sunday Morning in the Garden, at 10 a.m. on each of the Sundays in June.
June 20: The Artist's Garden, with Rebecca Robinson
Gardens reveal themselves in different ways to different people. Many artists cultivate gardens for inspiration, whether they perform botanical works or not. Come and experience some garden artwork by both period and modern artists. Try your hand at making a botanical watercolor of your own!
July 18: Literary Herbs: Who Was That Mandrake I Saw You With Last Night, with Mike Stevens - W. Shakespeare and J. K. Rowling both refer to plants in their work. Join us to meet some of those plants in the OSV Herb Garden. We can't promise chapter and verse citation for every herb, but we can provide insightful details as to period and/or modern usage.
August 15: Di"vine" Cucurbits, with Christie Higginbottom
The "hill" crops -- cucumbers, melons, and squashes -- get up and growing in mid-summer heat. Learn more about how to meet their nutritional needs, how to solve their pest and disease problems, and how to know when they are ripe for harvest. You'll even learn some juicy secrets about their private lives!
September 19: Gardens to Dye For, with Rebecca Robinson
Color your world with these fascinating plants that not only decorate your garden, but also act as natural dyes for household use! Learn which plants make which colors, what part of the plant is used, and how much of it is required to achieve your desired hue. Learn what other special qualities many of these dye-stuffs possess, and how and where they can be grown to best advantage!
October 17: Eden's Gems: A Walk in the Village Orchard, with Christie Higginbottom
Did you ever wonder why 1800s cooks and cider makers had over 800 apple varieties to choose from and we only have a dozen or so? Meet the Village's historic fruits -- the Mothers, the Spitzenburgs, the Russets, the Baldwins and the Sheepsnose apples. Learn about seedlings, scions and rootstocks. Find out how the art and skill of propagating these trees keeps our apple heritage alive.
November 21: Gifts from the Garden, with Roberta McQuaid
Who doesn't love a homemade gift? Use the next month to get busy crafting simple garden inspired gifts, including teas, sachets, potpourris, and the like.
Interested in other Members-only programs?
Check out Take a Closer Look, held the second Saturday each month.
Details for 2010 Garden Thyme programs are now posted.
