HANDY WITH THE HOE: Historic horticulturalist Charlie Thomforde strikes an 18th century pose at the 1719 William Trent House Museum, 15 Market Street, Trenton, where he will present an illustrated lecture “In Search of Trenton’s First Garden,” Sunday, June 2, at 2 p.m. Mr. Thomforde will compare and contrast William Trent’s colonial garden with known facts about Monticello and Williamsburg. His talk will cover heirloom plants and colonial techniques still used today and a tour of the historically accurate kitchen garden of Trenton’s oldest building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Complimentary refreshments provided. Donation welcome. Ample free parking nearby. For more information, call 609-989-0087, or visit: www.williamtrenthouse.org.

The first-ever Titusville Heritage Festival, which will feature booths by more than 25 local farms, artisans, and organizations, will take place Saturday, June 1 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Titusville. The festival, part of the church’s 175^th Anniversary Celebrations, will give visitors the chance to celebrate the living history of the greater Titusville community, which the church has called home since 1838.

Festival-goers will be able to visit displays by local farms and farm suppliers such as WildeWood Alpaca Farms, Gravity Hill Organic Farm, Shelterwood Farm, Shibumi Mushroom Farm, Fulper Dairy Farm, Cedar Hill Nursery, the Howell Living History Farm, Egomatic and Rosedale Mills; hear music by the Hot Taters, a Dixieland jazz band; sample food by Bitter Bob’s Barbecue and It’s Nutts; see the artistry of Titusville residents Cheryl Jackson, Ruth Sullivan and Bill Taylor; and learn more about local organizations such as 4-H of Mercer County, the Titusville Fourth of July Committee, Boy Scouts Troop 1776, the Union Fire Company and Rescue Squad, Pet Rescue of Mercer, Capital Health, the Central Jersey Choral Society, the Titusville United Methodist Church and Rolling Harvest Food Rescue.

Children and their families will experience crafts, old fashioned games, and balloon animals in a child-friendly KidZone. The church, as part of its commitment to mission outreach, will offer craft items made by the Bahamas-based Karazim Ministries, which supports the forgotten poor of Grand Bahama Island and FEBA, or Woman, Cradle of Abundance, a Congo-based ministry which provides educational opportunities for women and street children in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In lieu of an admission price to the festival, the church will collect voluntary contributions of non-perishable canned goods for the monthly food pantry sponsored by its mission partner, the West Trenton Community Center, which provides services for residents of Trenton’s Stuyvesant Avenue neighborhood.

Admission to the festival is free. Vendors may charge a nominal fee for food, goods, or services offered. The main parking lot for the festival will be at the Titusville Academy, located at 86 River Drive, with overflow parking at the Titusville United Methodist Church, located at 7 Church Road. A complimentary shuttle will run from both lots to the church throughout the day. Parking at the First Presbyterian Church will be very limited, and visitors should not park on the Delaware River side of River Drive.

The First Presbyterian Church of Titusville is located at 48 River Drive in Titusville, six miles south of Lambertville and one mile north of the Washington Crossing Bridge, on the banks of the Delaware River. The just-released, definitive history of the church, “Shall We Gather … 175 Years Along the Delaware,” will be available at the Titusville Heritage Festival and online at titusvillechurch.com. For more information, call (609) 737-1385.