Class Descriptions
Urban
Gardening
listed alphabetically
WHY ARE THERE NO DATES?
New dates will be listed on February 15th, 2012.
Our 2012 session starts March 15.
Yes, the class you are interested in will most likely be offered again, we are busy making sure that happens right now.
The best way to know when your class is scheduled is to subscribe to our newsletter, which you can do using our contact form, link on left sidebar.
Thanks for your patience !!!!!
Additions and changes in RED. Classes in GREY not yet open for registration.
Classes without dates listed are not happening this season but will be listed again in the future.
Pre-registration is required and exact location is given once you have registered.
Many classes will repeat if there is enough interest. If a class is past or you do not get in on time, please contact us and we will let you know if another session is forming. Classes are for age 12 and up unless other wise
indicated.
Backyard Mushroom Cultivation
This course will introduce you to the world of fungi and give you some understanding of their modes of livelihood in the natural environment, so you can invite them to join you in your garden where they can provide aesthetics, soil building, mycoremediation, food, medicine, dyes, fibers, and other herbal uses. We'll learn about designs and techniques to integrate mushrooms with differing lifestyles into the plants and animals that already share your garden. Then we will create mother beds and mycelial mats, plug logs, dip hydrogen peroxided mulch materials,learn how to add mushrooms to your veggie beds, sling slurry and see how to quickly and easily turn your kitchen into a mushroom cultivation laboratory! This class will overflow you with information and inspiration to get started with a fungal family of your own. You are welcome to bring any mushrooms to be identified and find out their favorite methods of culture, and you can take home some cultures to get you started.
Container Gardening: Edibles
Instructor: Bonnie Boruki
Lcation: South Berkeley
Cost: $30-60
Growing edible plants in containers has many advantages for the urban gardener. Whether you have limited space, poor soil, or problems with gophers and other pests, container gardening may be a alternative solution to planting directly in the ground. In this class we will explore different types of planting containers, including ones you can make yourself, potting soils and amendments, what types of plants to grow, annuals and perennials, and caring for container plants.. Starts or cuttings will be available for you to take home and try in your own garden. Handouts on soil mixtures and suggested container plant companions.
Dormant Season Fruit Tree Grafting
Sunday January 29 1pm-3:30pm
Instructor: Asa Bradman
Location: Berkeley
$25-45 plus $10 supply fee
Grafting is a wonderful way to make more from less in a small urban orchard and begin to explore the joy of variety in fruiting plants. In this class we will learn and practice methods which may be used for grafting dormant scion (cuttings) onto both rootstock and mature trees. You will gain an understanding of plant propagation and the role of grafting, the basic science of grafting, which fruits which are compatible, which take to grafting more readily and tools needed. We will then get hands on practice and each participant will go home with at least two grafted apple trees.
Kitchen Medcine: Growing & Using Culinary Herbs
Instructor:Frieda Kipar
Location: North Oakland
Cost: $30-60 plus $10 supply fee to be paid on day of workshop
In many cultures the herbs and spices used on food are not only delicious, but are powerful tonics for keeping the people who prepare and eat the food in good health. In this class we’ll learn to work with several common kitchen herbs to prepare food that both tastes good and is good for you. After a short primer on the best and easiest way to grow, harvest, dry and store your spring herbs, we’ll learn about their tonifying aspects, constituents and uses. Using this knowledge, we’ll make an herbal gomasio (sprinkle), syrup, and vinegar for each participant to take home.
Organic Gardening 101
Instructor: K.Ruby Blume
Location: North Oakland
Cost: $50-80
This day long course will introduce you to the essentials and foolproof basics of organic gardening. In the first part of the day we'll learn about dirt, including soil types, tilling and amending,options for composting and sheet mulching, cover crops and more. In the second half of the class we will focus on plants: seeds and satrts, sun and shade, water, weeds and garden planning. There will be lots to touch and feel, garden tour, and break out exercises including hands-on work in the garden. Bring your questions and get your hands dirty!
This class is for beginning gardeners and those wanting to learn
more about organic perspectives and techniques
Organic Gardening 101 for Late Summer & Fall
Instructor: K.Ruby Blume
Location: North Oakland
Cost: $45 - 65
This class will introduce you to gardening basics with a focus on what is happening in the garden from August through the following spring. We will talk about basic soil amending, sheet mulching, Fall and winter garden crops, Bay Area watering issues for summer and Fall and more. hands-on projects. Everyone will go home with couple 6-packs of early season seed.
Rain Gardens: Home-scale Rainwater Harvesting for Urban Gardeners
Instructor: Cleo Woefle-Erskine
Location : Berkeley or Oakland TBA
Cost: TBA
Simple, low-cost rainwater catchment systems can increase your backyard harvest, reduce storm runoff, recharge the aquifer, and lower your water bill. Participants will design and plant a "rain garden" that infiltrates runoff from the roof, and learn how to integrate rain barrels, cisterns, and rain-fed ponds into the home garden.
Seed Starting: Growing Your Own Vegetables From Seed
Cost: $30-50 plus $10 supply fee to be paid on day of workshop
Starting vegetables from seed can save money and give you access to thousands of vegetable varieties not available as transplants. We will start with a discussion of the history of seed saving and then learn which seeds are best planted directly in the ground and how and when to start them. Then we will move on to talk about seed that are best started indoors, including the importance of cleanliness, viability, seed starting mixes, containers, how many seeds to plant and how deeply, watering, fertilizing and providing light and heat for your seedlings. We will discuss hardening off seedlings and how to transplant them into the garden. Together we will mix up a seed plating medium and participants will plant several 6-packs of seeds to take home. A resource list will be provided
Urban Berry Patch
Instructor: K.Ruby Blume
Location: North Oakland
Cost: $25-50
For many people fresh berries are a manna from heaven. If you like them from the store, you are going to be even more enthusiastic when you pick them right from your own berry plants, warmed by the sun! And lucky for us, many berries thrive in our area! This course will cover selection, planting and care of the major berries for our area. We will talk about Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, Huckleberries and Mulberries as well as some lesser known berries.
Urban Orchard: Care and Pruning of Backyard Fruit Trees
Instructor: Molly Bolt
Location: South Berkeley
Cost: $50-80
Do you want to get the most out of your yard? Are you thinking of adding fruit trees, or do you want to take better care of the ones you have? This class is for you! This full-day workshop will offer a comprehensive look at caring for your backyard orchard. Participants will learn basic tree identification, nursery specimen selection, desirable structure for mature trees, how to train young trees, pruning techniques, when in the year to prune each species, and how to diagnose and treat the most common conditions affecting orchards. Integrated pest management strategies will be covered, with a focus on preserving beneficial insects. We'll evaluate tree placement in the yard and discuss strategies for effective irrigation and fertilization. Participants are encouraged to come with pictures of their trees or drawings of their yards as examples to analyze. A large portion of the day will be hands-on practice doing mid-season structural pruning on plums and apples. Other species discussed may include citrus, olive, pomegranate, fig, apricot, persimmon and almond. Please bring hand pruners and a wood saw if available; instructor has extras if necessary.
Urban Orchard Care: Winter Pruning
Saturday January 28 10am-1pm
Instructor: Molly Bolt
Location: South Berkeley
Cost: $40—65
This hands-on class will cover the basics of reconstruction, aesthetic and fruit tree pruning. Participants will practice assessment and pruning skills, as well as some common insect and disease identification. We will also discuss seasons for pruning, tree anatomy, and best installment practices. Bring hand tools if you have them. Class is outdoors. Raindate: Same time following weekend.
Winter Gardening Essentials
Saturday January 14, 10am-4pm
Instructor: K.Ruby Blume
Location: North Oakland
Cost: $60-85
In the cold time of year time when the soil and plants are resting, there are still many important tasks to be accomplished in the garden to prepare for a spring and summer bounty. This class will cover winter gardening essentials including garden planning, bed preparation, seed selection & seed starting, bare root fruit selection & planting, dormant season care of perrenial fruit & shrubs, basic pruning, cover cropping, composting and basic mushroom cultivation. The class will include a tour of the winter garden, lecture & hands-on..
Introduction to Urban Homesteading
What is Urban Homesteading? Is it possible that urban homesteading can save the world? Or even just save us some money? What is the relationship between homesteading and permaculture? Some of these questions and more will be addressed in a fantastic slideshow showing what is possible followed by a walking tour of several urban homesteads. You will see greywater systems, urban food forests, animals, beehives, rainwater catchment and more. Hold a bunny! Poop in a real composting toilet! There will be opportunities to taste home grown goodies and time allowing, to participate in a small hands-on project.
Seed Saving
In this era of total consumerisation and corporate control over food, its time to take back our 12,000 year people’s history of seed saving and adapting our own seeds for our local micro-climates and soils. Learn basic botany as it applies to seed saving, what types of vegetables are self-pollinators and which are cross pollinators, and how to save both types. Learn how to select plant characteristics of your own choosing and advantage. Learn what is a hybrid and what is open pollinated and why it matters. Learn about plant selection, seed saving, seed processing, seed storage, and local seed swaps. There will be seeds to take home.