News Archive

Stone Soup 2/27: History of Thacher Dairy Farm

Wednesday, 12 February 2014 16:06

Join us the second of our 2014 Stone Soup and Speakers Series, February 27 at 5:30 p.m., featuring Maritta Manning Cronin. Continuing with this year's series theme "untold stories in attics and archives,"  Cronin will share engaging historical anecdotes and memorabilia relating to Milton's Thacher Farm. The Manning Family has operated Thacher Dairy Farm since 1891, providing farm-fresh, top quality milk and other food products to homes south of Boston and surrounding areas. 

The Wakefield Estate's Stone Soup Series is a monthly event aimed at highlighting local topics and interests. After enjoying a bowl of tasty home-made soup, participants gather for a short presentation by the featured speaker. Space is limited. Pre-registration is required. To RSVP or for more information, please call 617-333-0924.

Backyard Homesteading Series: Creating a compact orchard

Wednesday, 12 February 2014 15:46

Become a backyard orchardist and grow your own fruit! Even in a small backyard, you can enjoy fruit from your own trees with minimal effort and cost. Our step-by-step workshop, to be held March 8 from 9:00 - 11:00 a.m, will teach you all you need to know to plan and create a compact orchard for years of enjoyment. No experience necessary. Participants will spend part of the workshop outside in the orchard for a pruning demonstration, so dress accordingly. Suggested donation $20. Space is limited; pre-registration required. Register at http://my.arboretum.harvard.edu. For more information, call the Arnold Arboretum at 617-384-5277 or our office at 617-333-0924 during business hours.

This event is co-sponsored by the Arnold Arboretum.

Backyard Homesteading Series: Raising Your Own Chickens

Tuesday, 14 January 2014 12:40

Backyard Homesteading Series: Raising Your Own Chickens - Saturday, Feb. 8, 9:00-11:30 am

Our annual Backyard Homesteading workshop on raising backyard chickens is a perennial favorite. This session is designed for people who are interested in learning how to start a backyard chicken coop and grow healthy, productive chickens for years of enjoyment and fresh food. Suggested donation for the workshop is $20; space IS limited so please pre-register by calling 617-333-0924. After the indoor portion of the workshop, there will be a tour of the coops and chicken tractors on site, so dress accordingly.

Stone Soup 1/30: Brian Sullivan discussing "If Ever Two Were One"

Tuesday, 14 January 2014 12:29

This month we kick-off our 2014 Stone Soup and Speakers Series, held in the early evening on the final Thursday of each month. These warm and casual programs happen in the mansion house and kick-off with a bowl of tasty home-made soup, followed by a short presentation by a featured speaker.

The theme for this year's series is "the untold stories in attics and archives," a line that comes from the dedication of our first speaker's book, If Ever Two Were One: A Private Diary of Love Eternal. Brian Sullivan's book is a deeply moving look into romance and tragedy in the life of a Victorian-era Harvard student and his beloved wife, through journal entries, letters, and images of the actual diary of Francis Ellingwood Abbot. Sullivan, a Milton resident and former senior reference archivist at the Harvard University Archives and archivist of Mount Auburn Cemetery, was moved to write his book while doing research in the Harvard Archives, when he found in Abbot's diary a lock of hair, cluster of flowers and a handwritten poem of love and loss.

Sullivan will discuss how this discovery left him spellbound, and will share images from the scrapbooks and journals that inspired him to pursue the project. Click here to read the New York Times article about Sullivan's book.