Greentree Naturals announces organic gardening workshops
Diane Green will present her annual organic gardening series of workshops that take the gardening experience from A to Z — that is, from seed starting to harvest and seed-saving — with a welcome change of class days from Mondays to Saturdays, making the popular series more accessible to weekday workers.
Scheduled for every other Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the seven-workshop series begins on May 4 and ends on July 29 at $25 per workshop. A 10% discount will be given for prepay and signup for the entire series. Diane Green has been teaching these organic gardening on-farm workshops since 1995 and is a certified Farmer Mentor/instructor for University of Idaho Cultivating Success Small Farms program. The schedule is as follows:
May 4 — Seed Starting: All aspects of basic seed biology, planting for success, bed preparation, seeding methods, direct sowing, depth, optimal environmental considerations for germination, and seedling care.
May 18 — Planning Your Organic Garden: preparing he soil for planting, direct seeding and transplanting, companion planting, planting for beneficial insect habitat, intercropping and crop rotation; planning for seed-saving, record keeping, garden maps and succession planting are all part of planning for a successful harvest.*
June 1 — Fertilizing Organically: Fertile soil is the first step in increasing yields. Discussion includes adding nutrients to your garden organically, cover cropping, composting, organic amendments as well as foliar feeding, and how to take a soil sample.
June 15 — Natural Weed Control: on any organic garden, particularly newly cultivated ground, weed control often commands a major part of a gardeners time; discussion will include using different types of organic mulches and weed prevention strategies used to control unwanted plants.
June 29 — Natural Pest Control: in a diverse ecosystem pest populations are regulated naturally. Participants will learn to access pro-active control practices that minimize harm to pollinators and beneficial insects, insect identification, natural pest formulas, and plant-based relationships for natural pest control, and how to make their own insect traps and natural insect sprays.
July 13 — Harvesting the Bounty: After the time and effort of growing a successful crop, timely harvesting for peak flavor and good storage is essential. Techniques for harvesting optimal yields for vegetables, herbs, cut flowers and for post-harvest handling to assure food safety will be provided.
July 29 — Seed Saving: Guidelines on how to save vegetable, herb and flower seeds from your garden to plant next year involves selection suitable plants from which to save seed, harvesting seeds at the right time, and proper over-winter storage. Discussion will include hand pollination, seed cleaning and seed storage.
To find out more and reserve your spot, email diane@greentreenaturals.com or call 208-263-8957. All workshops are at Greentree Naturals Certified Organic Farm outside of Sandpoint. Don’t miss this chance to interact with and learn from this highly regarded hands-on expert.