This Week in the New Jersey Skylands

May 20 - 27

Planet Jersey

Memorial Day is around the corner as May approaches its verdant peak. Is your garden in? With the right planning and effort, a 20 x 20 plot --400 square feet -- you can grow enough vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers for you, your family, and some extra for the local food pantry for under $100. Learn how to maximize your garden space, prepare your soil, keep the produce coming through three seasons, and preserve it to last through next winter with some tips from a local pro.

How about your yard? If all those insecticides, herbicides, and fertilizers don't fit your vision of "green thumbness," look to these alternatives for making a Jersey Grown lawn and garden come alive!

Well-Sweep Herb Farm, 205 Mt. Bethel Rd. in Port Murray

For herbs, there is no better source anywhere than Well-Sweep Herb Farm in Port Murray. Visit any time, but this evening (Friday) you can learn about the healing properties of nature's pharmacy, perhaps just beyond your own doorstep with a Medicinal Herb Walk at 6:30pm. Call for reservations 908/852-5390. Or plan on coming to the Spring Open House on June 6. More about the farm....

And if you want to learn a thing or two about perennials, the colorful all-season fun that a bed of flowers can bring, the New Jersey Botanical Garden in Ringwood is the place to be for workshops and viewing this weekend. 20 Morris Rd., 973/962-9534.

Finale

The Theatre at RVCC winds up the 2010 season with a Saturday night performance by the River City Brass Band. Behind a bubbly barrage of brilliant blasts, this ensemble shines, featuring unforgettable music, amazing solos, dazzling duets, triumphant trios and a surprise or two! On Sunday TheatreworksUSA presents Charlotte's Web in RVCC's final Family Sampler at 1 & 3:30pm

The theater is located at Rt. 28 and Lamington Road in North Branch. 908/725-3420. A special Skylands discount is available at this link.

USGA Golf House and Museum

On the Green

The Pynes Putting Course is a nine-hole course routed over a 16,000 square-foot green located adjacent to the USGA Museum in Far Hills, and is inspired by the world-famous Himalayas putting green in St. Andrews, Scotland. Visitors have the opportunity to use one of four putters that are replicas of historic, antique clubs like those used by golf's great champions. Armed with the equipment and technology of the past, players are able to understand a bit of the game as it was played in the late 19th or early 20th century. The course is one of many attractions at the world's premier collection of golf artifacts and memorabilia, renovated and expanded in 2008. Whether you are an avid golfer, a scholar of the game’s history, a casual sports fan, or simply someone interested in the history of American culture, the USGA Museum aims to provide an experience that is truly unique and memorable.

Pine Creek or Pine Valley? Pine Creek is the ultimate miniature golf course.

Or head over to one of the largest and most beautiful miniature golf facilities in America at Pine Creek Miniature Golf . Two 18-hole courses roll over acres of natural countryside in a country club setting. Spacious, romantic, and charming, Pine Creek has become the outing of choice for groups from the likes of J&J, Ortho/McNeill, Merck, Princeton University, and, yes, for lots of kids. Is this Pine Creek or Pine Valley? Pine Creek is ten minutes north of Lambertville and ten minutes south of Flemington at 394 Route 31, West Amwell. (609) 466-3803.

Town and Country

Ryker's Lake on Sparta Mountain

Sparta is on parade this weekend, first on Saturday at the annual Sparta Day fair and family festival, 10am - 4pm at the Mohawk Avenue School. 973/300-7309. Then on Sunday, Sparta Mountain Day is a fun, family-oriented day of health, fitness and environmental activities. 8am - 1:30pm.

The Boonton Main Street Organization will present a free all day Music Festival at Canalside Park on Saturday (5/23). Performers include Full Circle Band, Bearin' Peace, Cabo Frio, Sunny Gee, Union Forge Blue Grass Band. 973/257-9107

And, north of the tension line, West Milford will demonstrate its sustainability at Highland Greenfest with green vendors, speakers, live music, food, and a variety of activities designed to help attendees learn to live green, protect the environment, and enjoy nature. 10am - 5pm. Bubbling Springs Park, 1428 Macopin Road. 973/998-9811.

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