Editor’s Note: The Gardeners’ Guide is a seasonal rundown of gardening related events. Listings are free. Email: features@recorder.com. Questions? Call 413-772-0261, ext. 276. Weather may cancel or force the rescheduling of some of these events. Additionally, space is often limited. Please contact organizers to ensure you can attend. This is particularly important if registration is required.
Hitchcock Center for the Environment
Garden Volunteer Work Days: April 27, noon to 3 p.m. at 845 West St. in Amherst. The Hitchcock Center is looking for help to create its Colleen Kelley Discovery Yard and Teaching Gardens, which will include natural play structures, log balance beams, a play thicket, a StoryWalk path, and benches and picnic tables for visitors. Registration is appreciated at bit.ly/2HM8I38.
Petersham First Congregational Parish Unitarian Church
Earth Day-Arbor Day Celebration: The programs in the all-day event on Sunday, April 28 will be held at the church, 1 Common St. in Petersham, with the exception of a 10 a.m. tree planting, to be held on the nearby South Common. The schedule is as follows:
■10 a.m. — Members of the Petersham Forest and Shade Tree Committee will plant memorial trees, and provide free ironwood tree seedlings as long as supplies last. Plus a self-guided “Trek des Tree,” a walking tour of trees and local history.
■10:30 a.m. — “An Earth Day Perspective: The Ritualist, The Native American, The Farmer, The Student and The Professor,” will feature ritualist Katja Esser; local farmer Jess Cherry; Nipmuk tribal member and chairman of Nipmuk Cultural Preservation Inc., Fred Freeman; student Anthony Brogno and Larry Buell, professor.
■Noon — Pot luck lunch.
■1 p.m. — Julie Rawson, executive director of the Massachusetts chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association and co-farmer at Many Hands Organic Farm, will give a PowerPoint presentation about no-tillage carbon sequestration gardening.
■2 p.m. — Abbie Coffin White’s talk on “Amber Waves of Grain Grown in Hardwick” will focus on growing and milling wheat locally, as well as the history of the region where growing wheat and other grains was commonplace.
■3 p.m. — Journalist and novelist Rebekah L. Fraser will describe her most recent publication, “A Farmer’s Guide to Climate Disruption,” which provides insight into using produce growing methods that stem the tide of climate change while regenerating the land.
■4 p.m. — David St. Germain will introduce attendees to the movement known as “Extinction Rebellion,” a response to the global emergency presented by climate change.
For more information, contact Genevieve Fraser at 978-544-1872.
Erving Public Library Fundraising Committee
Garden Tool Cleaning and Sharpening Workshop: Saturday, May 18, 9 to 11 a.m. at Dry Brook Garden, 105 Old State Road in Erving. Learn how to clean and sharpen your tools. Bring up to five garden hand tools for a hands-on workshop to get you ready for the gardening season. (Trowels, hand clippers, shovels, etc. are welcome. No power tools.) Coffee, refreshments and a bucket of gardening goodies included in the $20 fee. Register by calling the library at 413-423-3348 by May 15. Space is limited.
