Winter at Bridge Gardens

. . . a note from Rick

Winter is a great time to take stock of the gardens and to work on selecting seeds and plants for the upcoming season. Our planning process for the gardens' future continues as we keep up with the winter clean up to prepare for Spring.

During the first days of February, the relatively warm temperatures -- between two snow storms -- were welcome as we set about taking care of one of the few winter pruning projects: the Wisteria. While most plants have their pruning in spring or fall, the wisteria is pruned throughout the year and even in winter. It's recommended to take it back to three-buds at this time of year. The warm temperatures made this task enjoyable -- what a treat to have 50 degrees!

The mild weather in December and January

have also brought us some visitors -- it's always nice to welcome friendly faces in the off season. While we are officially closed during the winter months, April 2 is our official opening day for 2016, Lois Bender's watercolor classes have been taking place, and if the gates are open and the sun is shining please come on in and take a walk about. The evergreens and hollies are beautiful to look at, and when the light's just right you can catch the gardens' warm winter colors. And, we are already seeing some of our later winter flowers & plants bloom: witch hazel, snow drops, edgeworthia and a few winter jasmine flowers are bringing new color to the winter landscape everyday. . . and mahonia may be joining them soon!

Planning is also underway for our community gardens, which will expand up to 20-plots this season. We are so pleased that many of our gardeners are returning from last season and we have a number of plots still available. We hope that you will join us. (see details below).

Last, but certainly not least, we have a terrific line up for our Spring lecture series on local food, Long Island Grown -- farmers, winemakers, brewers, food artisans . . . and this year Chefs will join us and

moderator Laura Donnelly for what are always lively and inspiring Sunday afternoons. The series starts on Sunday, March 6 -- with limited seating, you'll want to purchase your tickets right away!

Wishing you a peaceful winter season, and looking forward to spring,

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This is the perfect time to become a member of the gardens!

Membership to Bridge Gardens is a great way to show your support of all the gardens have to offer: the diverse plantings, the educational programming on sustainable landscaping, healthy cooking, and music and art programming throughout the year. Members receive discounted fees for programming, and free admission for our popular Music at Six series in July and August.

Join Today and we look forward to seeing you this season . . .

. . . and please consider a Donation to help the gardens grow!

We need help covering the costs involved in changes to the plantings along Mitchell Road, required by the Town of Southampton. If you enjoy your visits to Bridge Gardens, please consider making your donation today to help us cover the balance of these costs, and add Bridge Gardens to your annual giving every year.

For more information on how you can help, please contact Pam Greene at our Southampton office at 631.283.3195 or PGreene@PeconicLandTrust.org

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Community Gardens at Bridge Gardens

Planning for the 2016 community garden season has begun!

If you are interested in leasing a garden plot to grow your own food, flowers, and herbs, let us know. We have a number of new plots available -- this is a great opportunity to learn best practices for a diverse array of vegetables, herbs and flowers. Rick & Denise are available to help you get started and provide advice and guidance throughout the growing season. It's also a great way to meet new friends and share ideas and techniques with your fellow community gardeners.

Contact Tom Hobson for more information and to

reserve your space at 631.283.3195, ext. 20.

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Bridge Gardens Notecards

Available for Your Gift-Giving Needs all Year Long!

Throughout 2014, photographer Jeff Heatley spent time each month documenting the changing seasons at Bridge Gardens.

The entire portfolio of images from Jeff is on his website,

Art & Architecture Quarterly, starting with

April 2014 through January 2015.

We've taken 8 of Jeff's beautiful images from the season and created a gorgeous gift set of note cards. What a wonderful way to share Bridge Gardens with your friends and family!

The notecards, $12 for a set of 8 cards, are available on

our website or by calling 631.283.3195.

Visit our online calendar for details.

Winter Watercolor Classes Continue!

Lois Bender continues her series of watercolor classes

-- for all skill levels --

individual projects welcome

Saturdays at Bridge Gardens, 12:00 - 3:00 pm

through April.

$50/class, reservation required through Lois' website at www.GardenSpiritsNY.com

Save the Dates:

Long Island Grown Returns to Bridge Gardens

Make a plan to join us for the 2016 season, featuring conversations with farmers, artisan food producers, winemakers, chefs and more as we explore the entrepreneurial and innovative ways they are creating agricultural products to meet evolving consumer tastes. We are fortunate to have Laura Donnelly returning as our moderator and Edible East End as our media sponsor.

March 6: The Cocktail Party with Vaughan Cutillo of Montauk Brewing Co., Michael Kontokosta of Kontokosta Winery, and Chef Noah Schwartz of Noah's
March 20: The Appetizer with Nadia Ernestus of Hamptons Brine, Mirijana Ujkic of Wild Feast Foods, and Chef Tom Schaudel of The Petulant Wino
April 3: The Entree with Patty Gentry of Early Girl Farm, Rich King of North Sea Farms, Chef Joseph Realmuto of Nick & Toni's, and Ed Tuccio of North Quarter Farm
April 17: The Dessert with Alexander Damianos of Duckwalk Vineyard, Patricia DiVello of Patty's Berries and Bunches, and Tom Wickham of Wickham's Fruit Farm

Bridge Gardens 2016 members receive a discount on the ticket price:

Individual tickets: $25/person; $20/Bridge Gardens member

Series tickets: $90/person; $70/Bridge Gardens member -- purchase the full series and receive a 1-year subscription to the Edible magazine of your choice: East End, Long Island, Brooklyn or Manhattan. For more info . . .

To reserve, call Robin at 631.283.3195 ext. 19 or events@peconiclandtrust.org. Last year's series sold out, so reserve your seats early! And if you haven't seen it yet, watch now the video essay of last year's series produced by volunteer Geoffrey Wells . . .

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Sponsors & Partners

A special thank you to Robert Boyle of

RB Irrigation for his Corporate Sponsorship

of Bridge Gardens this year!

And to Marders,
Mahoney Tree Farm, and Summerhill Nursery for their support of Bridge Gardens with the donation of plant materials and landscaping services.

If you'd like to know more about becoming a sponsor

of the Gardens, please contact Kathy Kennedy at 631.283.3195 or KKennedy@PeconicLandTrust.org.

Lawn and Garden Advice

The Peconic Land Trust partners with the

Perfect Earth Project, Peconic Estuary Program, and

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County

to offer advice to homeowners on Sustainable Landscaping.

Also, we welcome back

Paul Wagner, of Greener Pastures Organics

for his Free Advice Wednesdays, starting April 2 through October!

Stop by the Gardens on Wednesday from 2-5pm to meet Paul

and get answers to your lawn care questions.

Visit our Lawn and Landscape advice section

on our website for more tips!

www.PeconicLandTrust.org/turf.html

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About Bridge Gardens and the Peconic land Trust

Bridge Gardens is a unique demonstration garden with a focus on sustainable practices in the heart of Bridgehampton, featuring an expansive herb garden, perennial and vegetable beds, an array of specimen trees and shrubs,

community garden plots, and much more.

Managed by Rick Bogusch, Bridge Gardens is a stewardship project

of the Peconic Land Trust, which conserves Long Island's working farms,

natural lands and heritage. Bridge Gardens supports the Trust's mission

by serving as a multi-purpose, multi-disciplinary outdoor classroom,

demonstration garden and community resource.

For more information, visit our website at

www.PeconicLandTrust.org or call 631.283.3195.

Please help us further reduce our carbon footprint - If you change your address, or would like to receive all (or some) of your communications from the

Peconic Land Trust by email, let us know!

Contact Janet Schutt, Systems Manager, at 631.283.3195 ext. 24 or

email her at JSchutt@PeconicLandTrust.org.

Thank you for all you do in support of conservation in our communities!

Peconic Land Trust conserves Long Island's working farms, natural lands, and heritage for our communities now and in the future.

Financial Disclosure Statement: A copy of the last financial report filed with the New York State Attorney General may be obtained in writing to: New York State Attorney General's Charities Bureau, Attn: FOIL Officer, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271 or Peconic Land Trust, PO Box 1776, Southampton, NY 11969.