Groundwork Somerville

Follow tapping news on Twitter using #mmmsyrup hashtag! Our handle on twitter is @gwsomerville

Supporters or the Somerville Maple Syrup will be tapping sugar maple trees on the Tufts Campus this Thursday January 26th at 3pm. Families, neighbors, students, and anyone interested in participating in this fun outdoor event should gather at the bottom of memorial steps across from Anderson Hall, 200 College Avenue. At 3pm, we’ll climb the steps and begin to tap the trees growing on the sloped lawn to the right of the steps behind Paige Hall and the Lincoln Filene Center. Attendees are encouraged to dress appropriately to be outside for an hour.

The Somerville Maple Syrup Project is coordinated by Groundwork Somerville in partnership with the Friends of the Community Growing Center, Somerville Public Schools and Tufts University. In late January, maple trees in Somerville are tapped and the collected sap is stored for a 2-day public boil-down event in March at the Community Growing Center. Sap starts flowing when temperatures drop below freezing at night, and rise above freezing during the day.

In addition to daily sap collection, Groundwork Somerville staff and community volunteers teach a 4- week arts and science curriculum to 2nd graders in all of Somerville’s public schools and at the Somerville Public Library. High school students working in the metal shop provide annual maintenance on the wood stove and evaporator pan they made in 2005. The syrup produced is given as thank you gifts to key partners, and/or sold in small maple leaf jars at the Groundwork Somerville booth at the Union Square Farmer’s Market. To learn more about the project, visit www.groundworksomerville.org and select the Somerville Maple Syrup Project page.

Calling all East Somerville residents!  Join Groundwork Somerville and the City of Somerville at the second public meeting for the New Harris Park on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 7pm at the Senior Center on the corner of Cross St. and Broadway. We will discuss preliminary designs with the landscape architects and we need your feedback.

Groundwork has been working hard to make sure this meeting is accessible to all city residents, including youth and immigrant families that live in East Somerville.   Interpretation will be available in Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole.  Healthy food will be provided by Shape Up Somerville starting at 6:30pm at the Senior Center. Any questions about the meeting can be addressed to Luisa Oliveira, loliveira@somervillema.gov, 617-625-6600.

Thanks to funding from Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom, Inc. Groundwork Somerville’s Gardens Coordinator Tai Dinnan and David Graham, a local farmer, will be visiting classrooms at the Edgerly Center this winter.

On January 27th, we’ll be leading interactive activities to help students understand what it is like to be a farmer in Massachusetts, the work it takes to grow the food we eat in cities like Somerville, and how students can get involved in growing their own food at their school.  To learn more about Meet Your Farmer or visit a classroom during the program, email tai [at] groundworksomerville [dot] org

On March 2nd, second grade classrooms participating in the Somerville Maple Syrup Project will be visiting the Growing Center in hour-long shifts for the entire school day!  They will see how sap is boiled down into syrup, see a tapped tree, review what they’ve learned in their classroom, do a maple taste test, and sing sappy songs.  Community members are invited to come tomorrow, Saturday, for the (free and open to the public) Maple Boil Down Festival!

The Somerville Maple Syrup Project Presents:

The Maple BOIL DOWN Festival!

SATURDAY MARCH 3th

10am-2pm

Join us at the Somerville Community Growing Center (22 Vinal Ave.) to celebrate the finale of the 2012 syruping season.  Watch and learn as sap from local trees is boiled down into pure maple syrup over a warm fire. Join us for syrup- tasting, music, kids’ activities, and more! Waffles, syrup, and long sleeve T-shirts will be on sale to support the Somerville Maple Syrup Project.  Free and open to the public.

For information about The Maple Syrup Boil Down, the education series, or syrup production contact: Tai ~ tai@groundworksomerville.org ~ 617-628-9988

Are you interested in values-driven work opportunities in the not-for-profit, public, and private sectors? Join Groundwork Somerville’s Gardens Coordinator Tai Dinnan and other Tufts Alumni working to promote issues related to education, the environment, public health, and poverty for a night of informal networking and discussion.

More information: http://www.tuftslife.com/events/11527

Drop off your old cell phones, laptops, inkjet printers and more at this fundraiser to benefit Groundwork Somerville and Somerville Climate Action. Visit terracycle.net for info on what you can recycle, and come see us at the Davis Square Eastern Bank, 250 Elm St. from 12-6pm on Friday, Feb. 10 and Saturday, Feb. 11!

Drop off your old cell phones, laptops, inkjets, toners and more at this fundraiser to benefit Groundwork Somerville and Somerville Climate Action. Visit terracycle.net for info on what you can recycle, and come see us at the Davis Square Eastern Bank, 250 Elm St. from 12-6pm on Friday, Feb. 10 and Saturday, Feb. 11!