Programs

From the smallest window box to multi-acre efforts, gardening is a magnificent obsession and a powerful creative act. Fulfilling our mission as a 501-(c) (3), BGC’s workshops help newbies, veterans, and garden watchers hone their skills and widen their understanding. Everyone is welcome.

These talks occur on the third Tuesday of each month, January to May, and October to November. Most of the programs convene at noon at the Belfast Free Library, 106 High Street in Belfast, before the scheduled membership meeting. We also sponsor one evening program, by Zoom only. Check our calendar for details about Zoom and in-person attendance. Browse past programs.

January 21, 2025
Ron Desrosiers: Your Soil is Alive!

Ron Desrosiers will discuss soil properties with an emphasis on soil life and methods that we can
use to build and maintain healthy soils in our gardens and landscapes. Ron’s presentation will
discuss how healthy soils not only benefit our gardens but are also beneficial to human life and
our well-being on planet earth. Ron’s enthusiasm and deep respect for the role soils play in
ecological systems are why he enjoys sharing his knowledge with others, finding that the more
people understand about soil, the more the topic comes alive for them.
Ron Desrosiers is a Maine Licensed Soil Scientist with a lifetime of exploration of plant / soil
relationships. He has over 35 years of experience working with landowners and communities to
help them to meet their soil management objectives.

February 18, 2025
Jude Hsiang: Growing to Dye

February is a good time to think about adding some dye plants to the garden. Although some
plants used in natural dyeing are only found in the tropics, a dozen or so are well suited to our
Maine gardens. They provide a link to ancient, yet easily learned, practices and vibrant cultural
traditions that live on throughout the world. Born knitting, Jude Hsiang is particularly interested
in using Maine-raised and spun natural fibers with dye plants from her garden and locally
foraged. She will bring naturally dyed items, her dye record books, and more, from almost 50
years of exploring natural dyeing.
Mainer Jude Hsiang researches dye potential in local plants as well as tending her South China
dye garden. Retired from teaching Botany for the UConn Extension Master Gardener Program,
she enjoys the plants and animals on her two acres of field, woods and swamp. She teaches
natural dyeing with an emphasis on sustainable practices and is an active member of the Maine
Fibershed, which encourages thoughtful use of our natural and environmental resources.

March 4, 2025 in the Abbott Room by Zoom at 6:30pm

John Forti, The Heirloom Garden

Forti’s 2021 book, The Heirloom Gardener: Traditional Plants and Skills for the Modern World,
made a plea for returning to gardening practices that support, rather than undermine, the ecology
of a place. His talk will take up many of the topics he explores in his book, including the craft of
gardening and how it connects us—not only to the earth, but to our fellow earthlings.
John Forti is an award-winning heirloom specialist, garden historian, ethnobotanist, garden
writer, and local foods advocate. He is executive director of Bedrock Gardens, an artist-inspired
public sculpture garden and landscape in Lee, New Hampshire, and the recipient of a national
2020 Award of Excellence from National Garden Clubs. He is also a regional governor and
biodiversity specialist for Slow Food USA, a national chapter of Slow Food, a global
organization and international grassroots movement that connects food producers and consumers
to champion local agriculture, farmers markets, and traditional, regional cuisine. John lives and
gardens along the banks of the Piscataqua River in Maine.

March 18, 2025
Ivonne Vasquez: Edimentals!

A new way of looking at the plants in our gardens is gaining momentum. Edimental, or edible
ornamental planting, gives you the best of both worlds. This variety of plants is both beautiful
and useful as food, natural dye, and medicine, and provides for pollinators and for multi-season
visual enjoyment. Native plant purveyor Ivonne Vazquez will explore plants for gardens and
containers with a strong focus on native plants which will add that Edimental factor to your
growing areas.
Ivonne Vazquez is passionate about native plants, herbs, pollinators, DIY, sustainability, the
environment, and the outdoors. She is most often found using her skills as a small acreage
diversified farmer and owner of a native plant nursery. Ivonne is a freelance writer of gardening
DIY articles, an avid photographer, and a speaker whose main topics are plants, flowers, and
pollinators. She owns Bas Rouge Farm and teaches extensively in Maine.

April 15, 2025
Ron Howard: Farming the Wild Blueberry

Ron Howard’s family members settled part of what is now Brodis Blueberries in Hope in the
1750’s. He will explore how this 9th generation farm evolved from 13 diverse family farmsteads
into their current 800 acres of wild blueberries. Not only are wild blueberries one of the world’s
most nutritious foods, they are remarkable and unique plants that Brodis has worked to diversify
into innovative products. The farm has survived by sustainably modernizing with the times, and
Ron will discuss what’s on the horizon for the next generation.
Ron Howard serves as Farm Manager for family-owned wild blueberry farm Brodis Blueberries
in Hope, Maine.

October 21, 2025
Megan Pinette: Belfast’s Ghost Gardens
Join Megan Pinette for a seasonable foray into the past as we explore the ghosts of gardens that
once graced the backyards of some of Belfast’s historic homes. Though Belfast’s first gardens
were likely composed mostly of edible plants, by the time Belfast became a city in 1850, the
ideal of bringing botanical beauty to one’s own spot of land was an established New England
tradition. The famed rose garden of Admiral Veazie Pratt on Primrose Hill will be a feature of
the talk.
Megan Pinette is President of the Belfast Historical Society and Museum and also serves as
curator of the Belfast Museum. Active with the historical society for the past twenty-five years,
Megan has worked on “The Museum in the Streets,” the thirty interpretive panels along the
waterfront, downtown, and residential streets, and on the Church Street architectural and history
walking tour brochure.

November 18, 2025
Jen Ries: Trees For the Home Landscape

Are you looking for native, fruiting, ornamental or shade trees for your yard? Jen Ries from
Fedco will explore the possibilities for your zone with considerations for purpose, mature size,
climate resilience, and ecological significance. She will also give tips for how to ensure a
successful tree gardening experience.
Jen Ries coordinates the bare root tree nursery at Fedco Seeds, Inc, a small agricultural
cooperative in Clinton, Maine. She and her husband homestead in Montville with extensive
gardens and a small tree nursery.