Natick Report

More than you really want to know about Natick, Mass.

Beyond Natick: “Christmas in July” at Massachusetts Horticultural Society

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See what the citizens of Snow Village, the winter-themed model train display, are up to at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society‘s third-annual “Christmas in July” running through July 29. Mass Hort only opens the trains to the public twice a year, so this is your chance to see the beloved train and model village and escape to this chilly winter scene during the heat of summer.

Open during garden hours, and included with garden admission.

MassHort, Wellesley

LOCATION

Massachusetts Horticultural Society—Garden at Elm Bank
900 Washington St, Wellesley, MA 02482

Garden hours

Monday-Thursday: 10am-7pm, last entry at 5:30pm
Friday-Sunday: 10am-5pm, last entry at 4:15pm

Admission

$10 Adults | Free for MHS members | Free for youth 12 and younger

Celebrate summer at the Pond Road Community Music & Sustainability Festival

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Come to the Pond Road Community &. Sustainability Festival on Saturday, July 22, 6pm-10pm for a neighborly event to promote renewable resources and general summertime conviviality in a beautiful, country setting.  Organizations focused on sustainability, live music, food, local cider, and more will have tables set up and can’t wait to answer questions and chat. Don’t miss the fun.

Pond Road, Natick and Wellesley

Natick community gardens

Natick has four community gardens with over 150 plots for residents and non-profit groups to rent for a nominal yearly fee. Apply here.

JJ Lane Park Community Garden—185 Speen St.

Lane Community Garden

Claim to fame: Opened in 2014 as Natick’s first community garden.
Number of plots: 24
Vibe: Traffic buzzing along busy Speen Street gives the garden a city feel.
Extras: The park also has a playground, restrooms, and walking paths.
Plot map

Eric Markman Interfaith Community Garden—next to 99 Hartford St.

Interfaith Community Garden

A rose by any other name: Formerly known as Hartford Street Community Garden.
Number of plots: 50+
Vibe: English country garden. Things are tousled, flowers and vegetables share cramped quarters, a wood edges the property
Giving back: Many of the fruits and vegetable produced are donated to A Place to Turn, the emergency food pantry adjacent to the gardens.
Plot map

Navy Yard Park Community Garden —56-48 Washington Ave.

Navy Yard Community Garden

 

Navy Yard Community Garden

Q:When did Natick have a Navy Yard?
A: Never. According to the Town’s website, Navy Yard Field is named after the neighborhood, which may have gotten the name in the late 1800s from its resemblance to the Navy Yard in Charlestown. It was also known as Whitney Field, after the family who once owned a large portion of the property in the neighborhood. It was formally renamed Navy Yard Field in the 1980s.

Landmark: adjacent to Natick Sons & Daughters of Italy. Just don’t park in their lot unless you want to get ticketed and towed.
Number of plots: 23 ADA accessible raised garden plots
Vibe: Obsessive gardeners keep their plots incredibly tidy. Not a single slacker among them.
Extras: Tend your plot then hop onto the Cochituate Rail Trail bike path for some more exercise.
Plot map

Erica Ball Community Garden—behind the Housing Authority offices at 72 South Main St.

Erica Ball Community Garden, Natick

Claim to fame: Its namesake, Ricky, town volunteer extraordinaire.
Number of plots: 32 ADA-accessible raised garden plots.
Vibe: Up-and-coming. The garden opened in spring 2022.
Plot map

Please send tips, photos, ideas to natickreport@gmail.com

 

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Natick Community Organic Farm looks to break ground on barn in spring, shares annual update

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Natick Community Organic Farm this week held its annual meeting online and shared a summary of the past year and a look ahead, which if all goes well will include a barn raising. The farm had planned to break ground in the fall, but you know how construction projects go these days…now plans are to prep the site this month and raise the timber this spring.

Other goals for this year include boosting organic produce production to satisfy Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) demand. More fresh meat (chicken) offerings is also in the works.

Education programs account for the farm’s biggest chunk of income, so look for more adult education workshops in 2023, plus a pilot of weekend family programs.

Farm employees and volunteers are especially enthusiastic about bringing back a full slate of in-person events this year. Maple Magic, which includes a pancake breakfast and maple sugaring tours, is slated for March 4.

 

 

Natick DPW announces fall 2022 yard waste collection dates

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The Town of Natick Department of Public Works has announced the fall 2022 yard waste collection schedule.

Fall yard waste will be picked up one time only for each trash day.

Natick, Halloween

Natick yard waste pick-up schedule

  • Tuesday trash day—yard waste pick-up is Mon., Nov. 7
  • Wednesday trash day—yard waste pick-up is Mon., Nov. 14
  • Thursday trash day—yard waste pick-up is Mon., Nov. 21
  •  Friday trash day—yard waste pick-up is Mon., Nov. 28

Follow the rules

  • Yard waste must be in paper biodegradable bags or in trash barrels clearly marked “yard waste.”
  • Plastic bags filled with yard waste will not be collected.
  • Residents are reminded to have their yard waste at the curb by 7am.
Natick Center, fall

Yard waste pick-up dates don’t work for you?

Yard waste can be brought to the Recycling Center, 75 West St., throughout the year.

Hours:

  • Thur. and Fri., 8am-noon
  • Sat. and Sun. 8am-3:30pm

Just a thought—maybe keep some of those leaves around the place

Fallen leaves contain a natural fertilizer called phosphorus. When leaves are mulched and left in yards to decompose or are composted, they add nutrients to soil and plant beds. Leaf litter left in yards also helps insulate plants and protect them from harsh winter weather.

Last year we topped our perennials border with a thick layer of leaves, and left the fallen leaves around all our shrubs (azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas—you get the idea). We didn’t get all high horticulture by shredding them or anything fancy like that. We wondered if the fall and winter winds would just blow all those leaves back onto the lawn. Come spring, there was evidence of some of that, but we’re not talking major piles of additional spring clean-up to deal with than in years past.

But what about all those leaves in the perennials border and under the shrubs? Did we now have to rake them out during spring clean-up? Definitely not. Every year we get three yards of mulch delivered at the beginning of May. When mulching the perennials bed and the shrubs, we just put the mulch on top of the leaves we placed there last fall. We feel having the leaves under the mulch gave the plants one more line of survival defense during the extremely hot summer of 2022. In our yard we have several azaleas under huge trees, which compete with the delicate shrubs for scarce water resources. We didn’t lose a single azalea over the summer, which we credit to this double line of protection.

Garage perennial garden

We’re not crazy—we don’t leave the leaves everywhere. What we can’t mow back into the lawn, we rake up and bag. But we are wondering if our wide expanse of lawn is 100% necessary. Bob extended the perennial border by two feet for me this month, all the better to reduce the portion of our yard devoted to lawn (and to add a few plants before the freeze). Wait, wasn’t I supposed to be scaling back the whole gardening thing? Seems I just can’t help myself. If loving new plants is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

Garage perennial garden

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