Gardens in Relationship: Designing with Native Plants
2026-03-11 17:30 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | The Nan and George Mathey Center for People and Nature at Burley Farms, 247 North River Road, Epping, NH, 03042, United States
Join us as Landscape Designer Ashley Robinson and Van Berkum Nursery’s Director of Outreach & Education Roanne Robbins explore the art and science of designing native plant gardens that support biodiversity while reflecting both your personal goals and the realities of your space. Participants will learn how plants interact over time and how those relationships shape dynamic, living landscapes. The session focuses on creating resilient, sustainable, and visually engaging gardens that provide ecological value year-round. Attendees are encouraged to bring photos, sketches, and site-specific information to collaborate and brainstorm their designs with Ashley and Roanne.
Ashley Robinson has nearly 20 years of experience designing and consulting on ecologically grounded landscape practices, with a strong emphasis on native plants, biodiversity, and regenerative land stewardship. Her work centers on integrating homes into their landscapes in ways that support local ecosystems and strengthen connections to place.
She holds a degree in Urban Studies from the University of San Diego and has studied at Radcliffe and the Landscape Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ashley values collaboration, field-based learning, and ongoing education, continually deepening her understanding of dynamic ecological systems.
Guided by a deep respect for natural processes and regional landscapes, Ashley’s designs prioritize habitat creation, ecological resilience, and long-term environmental health. She currently resides in Vermont and serves on the board of the Vermont Nursery & Landscape Association. She is also a member of the Biodiversity Alliance and the Ecological Landscape Alliance.
https://www.arobinsonlandscapes.com/
Also, you will have an opportunity to participate in SELT’s first annual native plant sale before it ends on March 15 and ask Roanne questions about the plants that are a part of the sale.

Registration required: CLICK HERE

2026 Volunteer Field Season Kick-Off
2026-03-14 09:00 - 12:00
Join SELT’s Volunteer Program Staff at The Nan and George Mathey Center for People and Nature on Saturday, March 14 from 9:00 am to noon for the fourth annual Volunteer Field Season Kickoff!
The Kickoff will give volunteers a chance to meet SELT staff and other volunteers, and learn about some of the ways to volunteer with SELT. After light refreshments we’ll do a group icebreaker, then split into groups for three rotating training sessions. We’ll finish up with a review of the volunteer portal and time tracking sheet, with time for questions. This event is open to anyone interested in volunteering with SELT, so feel free to share this information with your friends and bring them along!
Field Season Kickoff Schedule

9:00 am – Arrival, coffee, networking
9:15 am – Welcome and icebreaker
9:30 am – Rotating training sessions (details TBD)
11:00 am – Volunteer program info and Q&A
12:00 – Event ends

REGISTER HERE

Little SELTies Storytime: Early Spring 1 of 2
2026-03-19 10:00 - 12:00
We welcome our Little SELTies to join us for a morning of nature stories, songs, and activities in the Pratt Family Community Room at the Mathey Center at Burley Farms. Led by SELT’s Education Program Manager, Lizzy Franceschini, we will start our morning inside the community room with story time activities, then head outside for a short hike in the forest and/or winter play in Burley’s Backyard. This program is designed for children ages 0-5 and their caregivers. Storytimes for Early Spring will run on 3/19 & 4/2.

Registration Required: CLICK HERE

Reading Rural Landscapes with Dr. Rob Sanford
2026-03-25 17:15 - 18:30
Join us for an active engagement PowerPoint presentation on viewing and interpreting common local rural environmental features that provide clues to our historical past. Ordinary landscapes can reveal what happened in the past. So, we will not be dealing with the exotic, just what you might expect to see around your own homes. You can follow up these clues with historical research, oral interviews and field work. But sometimes it is fun to just look around and see what we see on a walk. Time and weather permitting, we will go outside after and see what our setting at Burley Farms happens to say.
Rob Sanford is a Registered Professional Archaeologist and a Professor Emeritus of Environmental Science & Policy at the University of Southern Maine. His books include Reading Rural Landscapes, River Voices: Perspectives on the Presumpscot, and Cultural Resources Archaeology.
Registration Required: CLICK HERE

Little SELTies Storytime: Early Spring 2 of 2
2026-04-02 10:00 - 12:00
We welcome our Little SELTies to join us for a morning of nature stories, songs, and activities in the Pratt Family Community Room at the Mathey Center at Burley Farms. Led by SELT’s Education Program Manager, Lizzy Franceschini, we will start our morning inside the community room with story time activities, then head outside for a short hike in the forest and/or spring play in Burley’s Backyard. This program is designed for children ages 0-5 and their caregivers. Storytimes for early spring will run on 3/19 & 4/2.

Registration Required: CLICK HERE

Dover Pottery Studio at SELT - April 2026
2026-04-22 17:30 - 20:00
* THIS EVENT IS AT CAPACITY * Please feel free to reach out to register@seltnh.org to inquiry about a waitlist.
Join and for a fun and unique experience making pottery at SELT. We will begin with a short 30-minute walk into the forest at Burley Farms to get natural items to use in making imprints on the pottery and then Kim Hanson, owner of The Dover Pottery Studio will lead a 2-hour pottery making session.
In this hands-on session, you’ll create your very own unique Bird Feeder using a variety of hand-building and clay construction techniques. This session is designed for all skill levels. After the session, our studio staff will glaze and fire your creations, making them ready for pick-up approximately four weeks after the workshop.
The event is limited to 20. The cost is $65 to cover material costs and glazing.

Registration and payment required in advance: CLICK HERE

Little SELTies Storytime: Spring 2026 Session 1 of 2
2026-04-23 10:00 - 12:00
** THIS EVENT IS CANCELLED **
We welcome our Little SELTies to join us for a morning of nature stories, songs, and activities in the Pratt Family Community Room at the Mathey Center at Burley Farms. Led by SELT’s Education Program Manager, Lizzy Franceschini, we will start our morning inside the community room with story time activities, then head outside for a short hike in the forest and/or spring play in Burley’s Backyard. This program is designed for children ages 0-5 and their caregivers. Storytimes for spring 2026 will run on 4/23 & 5/7.

Registration Required: CLICK HERE

What’s Wild in New Hampshire with Eric Orff
2026-05-06 17:30 - 18:30
Join us on Wednesday, May 6th at the Mathey Center in Epping for an inspiring presentation by Eric Orff that will teach us about the “wild” right here in New Hampshire, and how to better appreciate and protect it.
As the state’s first bear biologist in the 1970s, Eric Orff began a half-century career as a “forest ranger who works with animals,” his stated dream job as a 7-year-old. With more than thirty-one years at the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and another fifteen years with the National Wildlife Federation, Eric still publishes a video blog called “What’s Wild in New Hampshire” that regularly receives hundreds of thousands of views each week.
Eric’s career has spanned much more than bears; he has been called to work with White-tailed Deer, bats in a laundry room, snakes in a bathroom, and more. Journey with Eric through his childhood fishing expeditions, “eeling” mishaps, and dancing with fire in the field. Don’t miss a chance to learn about Eric’s entertaining and inspiring stories as a wildlife biologist. After the event, the book will be available for purchase and signing.
Registration Required: CLICK HERE

Little SELTies Storytime: Spring 2026 Session 2 of 2
2026-05-07 10:00 - 12:00
We welcome our Little SELTies to join us for a morning of nature stories, songs, and activities in the Pratt Family Community Room at the Mathey Center at Burley Farms. Led by SELT’s Education Program Manager, Lizzy Franceschini, we will start our morning inside the community room with story time activities, then head outside for a short hike in the forest and/or spring play in Burley’s Backyard. This program is designed for children ages 0-5 and their caregivers. Storytimes for spring 2026 will run on 4/23 & 5/7.

Registration Required: CLICK HERE

Eyes on the Sky: Raptors of SELT
2026-05-20 17:30 - 18:30
Discover the fascinating world of raptors with Tailwinds NH at Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire. Meet live raptor ambassadors and learn how hawks, owls, and vultures are uniquely adapted to life in New Hampshire’s forests and fields. This engaging program highlights their vital roles in healthy ecosystems and simple actions we can all take to help them thrive.

Registration Required: CLICK HERE

More about Tailwinds can be found at tailwinds.live

Wildflowers and Woodwinds - Spring 2026
2026-05-31 14:30 - 17:30
Join us for a beautiful spring afternoon featuring wildflowers and woodwinds at the Burley Farms. We will start the afternoon with a wildflower hike lead by Evy Nathan from Pollinator Pathways New Hampshire. The Burley Farm fields should have a variety of flowers blooming in late May and Evy will help us identify them and discuss the pollinators who rely on these beautiful plants. The wildflower walk is limited to 22 guests.
After the walk, we will come into The Pratt Family Community Room for a woodwinds concert by the Avalyn Reed Trio.
In this year celebrating 250 years of American democracy, the Avalyn Reed Trio is pleased to offer music by the creative and expressive voices that have sustained and buoyed us through the years. The concert features works by William Billings, Amy Beach, Stephen Foster, George Gershwin, Peter Schikele, Scott Joplin and John Philip Sousa: some of America’s delightful legacy in musical notes!
Since coming together in 2023, three musician friends have delighted audiences throughout the region with their beautiful concert programs and sparkling commentary. The Avalyn Reed Trio is composed of two clarinets and a bassoon, giving it a warm and uniquely-blended sound. “Avalyn” means “beautiful breath of life” and the word “Reed” refers to the reeds used on these instruments to produce the sound.

Registration Required (you will need to register for both separately)

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE WALK (limited to 22)
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE CONCERT (limited to 44)

SELTie Book Club - Spring 2026
2026-06-17 17:30 - 19:30
The SELTie Book Club continues! The book selection this time around will be An Immense World by Ed Yong and the discussion on June 17 will be led by Vicki Brown who recommended the book during a previous book club discussion. Light refreshments will be provided.
The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every kind of animal, including humans, is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of our immense world.
In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us. We encounter beetles that are drawn to fires, turtles that can track the Earth’s magnetic fields, fish that fill rivers with electrical messages, and even humans who wield sonar like bats. We discover that a crocodile’s scaly face is as sensitive as a lover’s fingertips, that the eyes of a giant squid evolved to see sparkling whales, that plants thrum with the inaudible songs of courting bugs, and that even simple scallops have complex vision. We learn what bees see in flowers, what songbirds hear in their tunes, and what dogs smell on the street. We listen to stories of pivotal discoveries in the field, while looking ahead at the many mysteries that remain unsolved.
Funny, rigorous, and suffused with the joy of discovery, An Immense World takes us on what Marcel Proust called “the only true voyage . . . not to visit strange lands, but to possess other eyes.”

Registration Required: CLICK HERE

Tree ID for You and Me: Identifying the Hardwood and Softwood Trees of Southern New Hampshire
2026-06-20 08:30 - 23:00
Join Naturalist and author Tom Eid for a presentation, discussion, and on-site tree identification program.
Learn the basics and refine your skills for tree identification. Burley Farms is home to a diverse and healthy Appalachian Oak-Pine Forest. We will discuss habitats and growth characteristics and spend time outdoors exploring the local woods.
The session is in 2 parts. Part 1 is an interactive presentation. Part 2 is in-the-field, hands-on, tree identification. Attendees can work individually or in small groups to identify the primary hardwood and softwood trees at Burley Farms.
No previous tree identification or experience required.
About Tom Eid…
Tom is a certified naturalist with the Audubon Society, a Coverts Cooperator with the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, a Land Steward for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, and a Wildlife Steward for the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game.
He is an active volunteer for the New England Big Trees program, Nature Groupie, Bear-Paw Regional Greenways, Moose Mountains Regional Greenways, and the Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire.

Registration Required: CLICK HERE
This event is limited to 20.

Mindful Mornings with Rooting in Nature
2026-06-24 09:00 - 11:00
What is Forest Bathing, and how can it enhance your health and wellbeing?
Join Certified Forest Therapy Guide Brittany Carr of Rooting in Nature for a meaningful morning of learning, mindfulness, and connection with nature. This event will be divided into two parts:

First Half: We’ll begin with an engaging presentation exploring the history and science of Shinrin-yoku, the Japanese practice of “taking in the forest through our senses.” Discover how slowing down and engaging the senses can calm the mind, lower stress, and deepen your connection to the natural world. Brittany will share research-backed benefits alongside her own healing journey through Forest Therapy.
Forest Bathing Experience: Following the presentation, we’ll step outside for a brief guided Forest Bathing session. This experience is designed to give you a taste of what a full session entails, awakening your senses and grounding you in the present moment

We’ll wrap up the morning with tea, reflection, and quiet conversation.
In a world that often moves too fast, taking time to reconnect with nature—and with ourselves—has never been more important.
What to Bring:

Dress for the weather in layers
Wear sturdy shoes or boots and long socks
Bring water and something comfortable to sit on, like a small mat or pad

Come slow down, breathe deeply, and experience the restorative power of nature through mindful, sensory connection.

Registration Required – CLICK HERE
Cost – $15 per person plus a $5 suggested donation

Pathogens, Processors, and Partners – Fungi Talk & Walk
2026-06-24 17:30 - 19:30
Join UNH graduate and Biotechnologist Maxwell Leavitt for his presentation “Pathogens, Processors, and Partners.” a discussion on the critical and often unseen roles fungi play in our natural world both locally and abroad. Learn about the interactions fungi have with plants (Including examples from our own backyards) and how these relationships, for better or worse, shape industry, ecology, and our lives. From mushrooms to molds to mildews, all are welcome. This talk promises to be equal parts entertaining and informative. We hope to see you there!
Weather pending, the presentation will be followed by a short walk at Burley Farms to see what fungi we might find.

Registration Required: CLICK HERE
Difficulty (Walk): Easy
