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Start with a seed. End with a Meal.

The Massachusetts Horticultural Society's Garden to Table Program offers the public an opportunity to come together in a beautiful and welcoming setting to learn about growing, cooking, and preserving healthy food.

Grow Your Own Food

Everyone from Michelle Obama to the American Academy of Pediatrics agrees that fruits and vegetables must play a crucial role in improving our health and, especially, the health of our children. In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's new symbol for healthy eating - called "My Plate" - tells us that half our diet should be fruits and vegetables. Mass Hort is uniquely situated to help in this effort. Since 1829, Mass Hort has been a leader in learning and teaching about horticulture. With our Garden to Table program, we're offering our knowledge of plants to enhance the well-being of our community.

Support a Food Pantry

Approximately 40% of our new garden will be devoted specifically to growing food that we'll donate to the Wellesley Food Pantry, the Natick Food Pantry, and A Place To Turn. These pantries serves a large and diverse group of people. Massachusetts Horticultural Society is pleased to support the Pantry's efforts to provide healthy and nutritious vegetables to local families.

Upcoming Garden to Table Classes and Events

Garden to Table Events 2013: Fresh Food, Fun, & Education

Mo Herbs Mo Better !
Thursday May 30, 2013, 6-8 pm

An exploration of spring herbs and cooking techniques with Peppers Fine Food Catering

Join us with Chef John Lawrence from Peppers Fine food Catering for a seasonal tasting dinner in our beautiful garden setting. The evening will include a spirited discussion on how to use both common and uncommon herbs from the garden such as lovage and basil.

Cost: $60.00 for members, $65.00 for non-members

Vinegar-How to make it, taste it, and cook with it
Thursday June 20, 2013, 1-2:30 PM

Jane Lyon, owner of Pioneer Valley Vinegar Works will present a workshop on making your own herbal vinegars, using locally grown herbs, berries, and vegetables. She will discuss some of the many health benefits from using herbal vinegars in your daily diet. Be prepared to sample some of her original flavors and take home some delicious recipes to try. To learn more about Jane and PVVW, please visit www.valleyvinegar.com.

Cost - $20.00 for members, $25.00 for non-members

Wednesday June 26, 2013, 6-7:30 PM

Julia Shanks will help us understand how to bring healthy, local foods into your kitchen and stay on budget too. Julia has a passion for and an expertise in locavorism, and is eager to share easy ways we can all make change that connect us to the food and farmers in our own communities. The world is changing as more people are supporting local, small businesses and returning to homemade food to avoid the unsavory health and social consequences associated with processed foods. Join Julia for a discussion, Q & A, complete with recipes, ideas, and a healthy dose of delicious fun. Julia is the co-author of The Farmers Kitchen: The Ultimate Guide to Enjoying your CSA and Farmers’ Markets Foods. Their book has been reviewed in the Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, Taste of the Seacoast, and Growing for Market, and was cited as a reference in Michelle Obama’s American Grown.

Cost - $20.00 for members, $25.00 for non-members

Preserve the Harvest with Bonnie's Jam
Wednesday July 17th, 2013, 6-8 PM
Whole Foods Market, 340 River Street, Cambridge

We welcome back Bonnie Shershow of Bonnie's Jams. Bonnie grew up in Southern California in a house surrounded by acres of citrus and an incredible assortment of other fruit trees and berry bushes. Bonnie lives in Cambridge, where her jams are made from her original recipes. Learn how to make delicious jam and explore other uses for it as well.

Cost - $50.00 for members, $55.00 for non-members

Curious about Canning?
Thursday August 1, 2013, 6-8 PM

Want to learn how to preserve your garden produce? Cookbook author Marisa McCleellan will walk you through the steps of pickling and boiling water bath canning in this two-hour hands-on Dilly Bean workshop. You'll learn how to tackle a mess of beans and have the opportunity to ask all your burning preserving questions.

Marisa McClellan is a food writer, canning teacher, and dedicated pickler who lives in Center City Philadelphia. Her first cookbook, Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round is now available. Find more of her jams, pickles, and preserves (all cooked up in her 80-square-foot kitchen) at her blog, Food in Jars. (www.foodinjars.com).

Cost - $50.00 for members, $55.00 for non-members

Creating Herbal Alchemy: An Introduction to Local Plants & Their Uses
Thursday August 22, 2013, 10:30-12:00
Featuring Steph Zabel

We are surrounded by an abundance of plants that are both food and medicine. Some of these plants are considered "weeds," some are purposely garden-cultivated, some are wild natives, but all have unique gifts to offer.

In this dynamic introductory class you will learn how many of the plants that grow all around us can be used in various ways to improve our health and add joy to our lives. We will discuss, taste, and create preparations such as herbal infusions, tinctures, oils, and wines. We will also identify some of the most under-appreciated yet prolific plants and learn how they can be used as nutritive teas, healing poultices or delicious wild edibles.

Knowing our local plants connects us more deeply to the landscapes we inhabit and increases our awareness of the botanical world. Come learn what gifts the herbs that surround us have to offer!

Steph Zabel is a community herbalist and educator based in Somerville, MA. She has always had an affinity for the plant world and studied horticulture, biology, and ethnobotany throughout her undergraduate and graduate years. Steph is a practicing herbalist and also works as a curatorial assistant at the Harvard University Herbaria. In addition to leading herbal classes, Steph offers individual holistic health consultations, hand-crafts herbal medicines, and runs her small business Flowerfolk Herbal Apothecary. She is also the founder and organizer of Herbstalk, a local educational event that teaches people about herbalism.

Cost - $20.00 for members, $25.00 for non-members

Cocktails in the Garden and Tour
Tuesday September 3, 2013, 6-8 pm

Volante Farms resident chef Todd Heberlein brings over a decade of farm to table cooking to Mass Hort for an evening of unique and flavorful, fresh from the garden small plates and refreshing drinks. Chef Todd will present guests with a selection of small plated, savory and sweet, that capitalize on the freshest tastes from Volante Farms Fields. Wander the gardens with seasonal treats in hand that might include some of Volante's exclusive Cornetta peppers, house smoked bacon, heirloom tomatoes, and dozen of other unique flavors. Chef will also add a spark of local harvest to some refreshing beverages from water to wines to bubbly-all embellished by garden flavors. Join us for an evening to see the vegetable garden in its harvest glory and support and celebrate another season of horticultural and culinary cooperation for the benefit of our communities in need. Volante Farms has been a generous supporter of local food pantries and shelters for many years.

Cost - $10.00 for members, $15.00 for non-members  

"Food in the City-Impacts on Design, Delivery & Community"
Saturday September 28, 2013, Time TBA
Landscape Institute/Boston Architectural College,
320 Newbury Street, Boston

Details to follow

Past Events

Lisa Caldwell, Nutritional Education Trainer
Location: Whole Foods Market, Wellesley

Whole Foods Market in Wellesley has teamed up with our Garden to Table program to bring you cooking classes throughout the fall and winter!

Healthy Eating Specialist Lisa Caldwell, director of the Our Health Starts Here Program at Whole Foods Market in Wellesley, will help you make healthy choices in cooking, eating, and menu planning.

Classes were held at Whole Foods Market in Wellesley.

>February 5th 6-8pm - For the Love of Chocolate
Need we say more? Who hates it?! Let's learn how and why we love it; then taste some decadent creations utilizing this dark delicious treat.

January 8th 6-8pm - Eating to Begin a Healthy Lifestyle
Is it possible to have a healthy lifestyle and eat delicious food too? Yes, yes it is . The food world is vast, come in and explore the wonderful ways of preparing foods that will contribute to your new beginning.

December 11th 6-8pm - Gifts from the Kitchen
If you enjoy making gifts for friends and colleagues then this will be perfect for you! This is a simple, hands on class that will show you how easy it is to make a gift that will be welcomed in any kitchen.

November 6th 6-8pm - Reconstructing Thanksgiving
Bored with the same old "traditional" Thanksgiving side dishes? Wondering if there is a way to make them both healthy and delicious? Come in and learn how to make a few simple and effortless adjustments to your Thanksgiving dinner.

October 16th 6-8pm - Squash!
Squash - Why? Well, why not?! They store really well throughout the winter and are so versatile! Come join us and find out all the wonderful things one can do with squash… maybe we will even make dessert with them! 

Design-less Gardening: A Naturalistic Approach
Thursday, October 25 2012, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
featuring Dan Jaffe of the New England Wildflower Society
Location: Gardens at Elm Bank

Disregard traditional design rules and adopt a new approach to garden design. Look to nature for your inspiration. What clues can you take from your landscape to help you provide the right plant for the right place? Learn to evaluate sunlight, moisture, soil and other factors to encourage a successful garden that does not require many inputs in the way of watering, fertilizing, extra coddling on your part. Create a low maintenance garden that actively supports the environment and provides beauty for all-- people and pollinators alike. Dan Jaffe is currently a Propagator and Stock Beds' Grower at the New England Wild Flower Society.

Honey Bees and their Business
Thursday, October 4 2012, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Location: Gardens at Elm Bank
Learn the importance of honeybees and good beekeeping practices.

Book Discussion: Ancient Grains for Modern Meals
Wednesday, September 21 2012, 4:30pm - 5:30pm
Location: Gardens at Elm Bank

Veteran journalist and food writer Maria Speck is the author of Ancient Grains for Modern Meals (Ten Speed Press), her first cookbook. It recently received the coveted Julia Child Award and award in the Health and Special Diet category from the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). Maria’s book previously also won a Gourmand Award as the US selection, Mediterranean category.

The cookbook contains 100 Mediterranean-inspired whole grain recipes-from amaranth to wheat berries. Both the New York Times and the Washington Post selected Ancient Grains as one of the top cookbooks for 2011, and Cooking Light magazine named it one of the 100 best cookbooks of the past 25 years. Raised in Greece and Germany, Maria has a lifelong passion for the flavors and textures of whole grains. She has contributed to Gourmet, Saveur and Gastronomica.

Cooking with Kale - The Powerful Antioxidant
Wednesday, September 19 2012, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: Gardens at Elm Bank

Kale is rich in fiber and powerful antioxidants, which makes it a must-have for every healthy diet; however, cooking with it can be a challenge. At Cooking with Kale, Sue Schochet, the owner of Healthy Habits Kitchen in Wellesley, you'll learn how to prepare this super food in a variety of tasty ways for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks

We'll prepare and sample some of these dishes, and you'll go home with easy recipes to try at home, including a Good Morning Smoothie, Lemony Chickpea and Kale Stir-fry, Kale Chips and much more.
Healthy Habits Kitchen's healthy meal solution creates ready-to-cook meal kits out of local and other high-quality ingredients, giving clients everything needed to cook a healthy meal in under 30 minutes - no grocery shopping, chopping or meal planning.



Blue Ginger Cocktail Party
September 12, 2012 6-8 PM
Location: Blue Ginger in Wellesley

The Massachusetts Horticultural Society has selected Blue Ginger as a premier restaurant partner for its Garden to Table initiative. Staff and volunteers have planted a raised bed garden at Elm Bank with a variety of herbs and Asian greens which will supply a portion of the restaurant’s local produce needs during the harvest season. Blue Ginger will celebrate the program by hosting a cocktail party, with a menu designed around produce from the garden with all proceeds going to Massachusetts Horticultural Society. The party will be held at The Blue Ginger Restaurant, Wellesley, MA




An Exploration of Local Heirloom Tomatoes at Elm Bank with Peppers Fine Foods Catering
August 15, 2012, 6-8pm
Location: Gardens at Elm Bank



Join us with Chef John Lawrence from Peppers Catering for a seasonal tasting in our beautiful garden setting. The evening will include a discussion of favorite tomato varieties, a Tomato Sampler Plate with Tomato Water, Olive Oil, Poached Tomato, and Tomato Mousse with Basil Reduction and Balsamic, Chilled Cape Cod Lobster Salad with Tomato Tarragon Vinaigrette, and Sweet Corn Ice Cream with Gingersnap Tulles.



Our vegetable garden was recently featured on This Old House