September 14th, a soggy Sunday morning, local birding expert Patty O’Neill led a bird walk through the estate, focusing on areas she has seen activity over the past year of monitoring the estate’s bird population. Due to the rain, there was not much bird activity, but the tough group that braved the bad weather had a tour of the estate […]
On August 26th, several dozen teachers from Boston Public’s Sarah Greenwood School visited the Wakefield Estate for a retreat to explore ways the K-8 teachers could use the site in conjunction with their classes. After an extended tour of areas that have already been used for educational purposes, the teachers participated in a scavenger hunt and brainstormed in groups.
On August 9th, the Wakefield Charitable Trust hosted a workshop on tree health led by Dave Ropes from Tree Specialists, Inc. After an engaging power-point presentation and discussion, Dave and the Wakefield staff led the participants on a tour of the estate to view a wide variety of trees and discuss a number of factors related to keeping them healthy. […]
This summer the Wakefield Estate has been fortunate to have an energetic crew of 9 summer interns from Milton and other communities. The interns have worked on a wide variety of projects including weeding invasives, rehabbing various “garden rooms,” pruning, hauling, and creating trails within our successional woodland. The crew is headed up by two “Junior Supervisors”, Ben Albarelli and […]
The Wakefield Estate was the perfect setting for a Plein Air art class on June 29th. After a walking tour to explore the diverse landscape of the estate, 15 artists associated with the Hyde Park Arts Initiative set up their easels and drawing pads and got to work to capture a little bit of the estate’s beauty on canvas. The […]
Ten students and the horticultural instructor from Norfolk County Agricultural High School spent two days this week pruning trees and clearing brush from the area behind the old Davenport Farm House. The “Aggie” students worked extremely hard to expose the old stone wall that marked the original entry to the estate from Blue Hill Ave.
Polly Wakefield’s magnificent collection of kousa dogwood trees are hitting their peak bloom over the next 7-10 days. To marvel at these beautiful trees, the staff of the Wakefield Charitable Trust are hosting a walking tour through the dogwoods this Saturday, June 7th at 2:00pm. The tour will last one-our. Light refreshments will be provided. Parking is limited so […]
Using a highly sensitive remote sensing device, graduate archaeology students from Boston University crisscrossed the Wakefield estate to conduct a survey of Wakefield’s underground features and potentially sensitive archaeological areas. The data from the survey will be used by BU students to develop a long-term archaeological management plan for the Wakefield Charitable Trust.
Many hands helped bring a new flock of baby chicks back to the Wakefield estate this month! Sixth-grade students at Milton’s Pierce Middle School patiently watched over the eggs as they developed in the incubator and woodshop students at Milton High School built and installed the nesting boxes in the Wakefield estate’s newly revamped chicken coop. Middle school students next door […]
Last week marked the final week of the Wakefield Explorers after-school program – our pilot after school collaboration with Milton Public Schools, the Mass Audubon Society and UMass Boston Watershed Integrated Science Program. Forty fourth-graders from four Milton elementary schools participated in the outdoor science program. Wakefield staff and its collaborators will work over the summer to develop an ongoing […]