Bonner County Gardeners ready to bloom with Spring Workshop Series

The seemingly endless winter has gardeners champing at the bit to begin some sort of garden or landscape work. Fortunately, the Bonner County Gardeners Assn. has solutions at hand with their upcoming 2020 Home Horticulture Workshop Series beginning on March 18. Eight classes will be offered, featuring experts in their individual fields to showcase a variety of subjects at the Ponderay Events Center, 401 Bonner Mall Way, Ste. F., Ponderay, Idaho.

Classes will be held Wednesday evenings from 6-8 p.m., except for one field trip, as follows:

- March 18 — Pruning, presented by Gail Locke: Pruning insures safety, increases yield and maintains the health and appearance of your shrubs and trees. Several techniques will be demonstrated. Learn how, when and what to prune and how to maintain your pruning equipment. Bring your spring tools for evaluation and maintenance.

- March 25 — Raised Bed Gardening, presented by Becky Reynolds: Becky will explore the advantages of raised bed gardening and provide a variety of methods of growing vegetables in raised beds and containers.

- April 1 — Mushrooms, presented by Art Church: Art will introduce attendees to the forty-plus varieties of wild edible and delicious mushrooms available in this area, with special emphasis on awareness of poisonous varieties. He will also provide instructions on growing your own at home.

- April 8 — Home Orchard Care, presented by Kyle Nagy: This class will provide information from the how-to of planting to month by month care of your orchard. If you have fruit trees or plan to plant some this class is a must.

- April 15 — Preparedness for the Rural Resident, presented by Tim Gift: Tim, a retired firefighter, will discuss forest management and landscape practices to reduce fire hazards. He will also provide general guidelines for preparedness for any natural disaster.

- April 22 — No class will be held.

- April 25 — Saturday Field Trip: Compost,, presented by Ann Warwick and Janae Dale, will take place from 2 — 4 p.m. at 768 Samuels Road.

Ann will introduce you to her compost pile and discuss care and maintenance for good production.

Janae will demonstrate “Worm bin” composting and explain how to build your own for great compost and harvest.

- April 29 — Herbs and Edible Flowers, presented by Monica Mitzel: Learn how to use common “weeds” bushes and trees for medicinal and edible purposes.; Monica will also provide recipes for oils, salves and vinegars, as well as food and drink.

- May 6 — Cooking with Spring Greens, presented by Alex Jacobsen: This class is back by “very popular demand” Alex, owner of the Pack River Store, will show you how to incorporate spring greens into delicious meals as well as include tastes of some of Alex’s creations.

Classes are $10 each per person. Fees cover the cost of venue, publications, and the non-profit activities of the BCGA. You may indicate the classes you wish to attend and send with a check to the address listed above. You may also pay online with a credit card via “Pay Pal” at bcgardeners.org. or show up for class with cash or a check. Email inquiries to bcgardeners@gmail.com or call the message line: 208-265-2070. It is requested that attendees not bring children under age 12.

Valle Novak writes the Country Chef and Weekend Gardener columns for the Daily Bee. She can be reached at bcdailybee@bonnercountydailybee.com. or by phone at 208-265-4688 between the hours of 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.