News & Events
* UPCOMING *
Maple sugaring: Agricultural Hall and the Boston Nature Center will co-host our annual Maple Sugaring Demonstration at the Nature Center (500 Walk Hill St., Mattapan) on Sat., Feb. 17 & again on March 2.
Sugaring (tapping trees, collecting and boiling-down sap) begins in early February in eastern Massachusetts, but 'global weirding' has been pushing the start date earlier, faster. To that end, try to bike, walk, use public trans, or carpool to get to the Nature Center.
As for beekeeping, early Spring is all about ramping-up for the season ahead. If you're jus starting out, now is a perfect time to enroll in a bee school, and the Boston Area Beekeeping Association's 6-week+ bee school starts February 5th! Visit BABA's website to register; BostonBeekeepers.org
For upcoming Ag Hall workshops & happenings, check the Workshops calendar here.
Agricultural Hall?
In 1818, the Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of Agriculture built the original Agricultural Hall on Dighton Street in Brighton. It served as the hub of the Brighton Fair and Cattle Show, one of the earliest and largest such fairs in the country. In 1829, "a 17-pound turnip, a 19-pound radish, and a bough on which pears hung like a cluster of grapes were among the outstanding exhibits of that year." In 1844 the building was moved to its present location at the corner of Chestnut Hill Avenue and Washington Street.
Dr. William P. Marchione &
The Bostonian Society
Agricultural Hall
245 Amory Street
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
617-388-7378 / e-mail Ag Hall
Open daily by appt. Calling ahead is always a good idea.
New Block
The best garden you've ever had can germinate at Agricultural Hall. We carry the best of the basics: Organic seed in bulk (reduce your packaging footprint and your costs), organic seedlings in the spring (maybe... See Organic Seeds and Seedlings, below), bulk dry or liquid organic fertilizer, field straw, winter rye, vine supports and cages, some pots, and Rogue hoes. (Rogue's tools are handmade in Missouri from recycled harrow discs. Smokejumpers love their durability.) Stop by the store Saturday or Sunday, or give a call and I'll be happy to show you around.
If there are seeds or plants you would like us to carry at the store, please give me a call or send an email. If you want to receive occasional email notices, send me an email.
Organic Seeds and Seedlings:
Winter rye and buckwheat are great cover crops, and both are available in bulk at Ag Hall. Buckwheat is a great late nectar source for bees. Let these "green manures" hold your soil and enrich your garden for next year by scattering their seeds into your garden at season's end.
Seeds: The seed experiment is over for now. For two years customers could buy dozens of different types of seeds in bulk -- at a greatly reduced cost, but there wasn't enough interest to sustain the experiment. Maybe we'll try again in the future. If you'd like to resurrect the effort, please give me a call.
Seedlings were also a struggle for two years. We will sell bulk seeds and seedlings again in the future, but in the meantime, contact ReVision Urban Farm in Dorchester, and see their seedling and CSA offerings: https://www.vpi.org/revision-urban-farm/
Tools:
Rogue Hoe makes the best short and long-handled hoes in the Western Hemisphere, and we carry them! Visit Rogue's web site,
and then give me a call to see if I carry the one you're looking for, or stop by the store sometime to swing one around. If you need other tools, please let me know.
Other garden supplies:
Agricultural Hall carries bulk organic fertilizer (Crop Production Services and Neptune's Harvest), field straw and field hay, and cover crops (buckwheat and winter rye). We might carry a limited selection of beneficials (insects, nematodes,..) in the spring, 2017 (call to place an order), and micronutrient workshops could be coming back later in the summer/early fall.