Spring is in the air and Tuesday Market is around the corner! Mark your calendars…
2022 Spring Garden Workshops
Grow Food Northampton will once again host a series of workshops at our Community Farm this spring. Join us to learn about a variety of gardening topics. All workshops will take place in person at 140 Meadow Street in Florence.
The base price for tickets is $10 per workshop. We encourage BIPOC participants, those experiencing economic hardship, and those from systemically marginalized communities to opt for a fee that works for you. And we encourage those who wish to help GFN increase our support for low income and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) gardeners to pay more than the base fee. Please opt for a fee that works for you and that fairly represents your ability to support our work. If you want to pay $0, please email Ellena@growfoodnorthampton.org and we will register you.
Check out all of the details below:
Medicinal and Culinary Herbs in Your Garden
Sunday April 24th 11AM – 12:30PM
Are you excited about growing culinary and medicinal herbs? Do you want to know more about the perennial herbs you already have in your garden?
Join us at Sawmill Herb Farm for a workshop on propagating and dividing perennial herbs. We will start with a spring tour of the gardens, where we will highlight beneficial properties of specific plants. We will learn about using low till and minimal disturbance practices to grow perennial herbs, and basic strategies for incorporating herbs into an existing vegetable garden.
We will focus on propagating and dividing plants in the spring for proper plant care. We will demonstrate several techniques, and participants will have a chance to get their hands in the dirt to practice!
Bed Preparation / No Till Farming
Wednesday, April 27th, 5:30pm -7pm
What is no-till farming and what are some basic methods to prepare low to no-till garden beds?
Join us to learn gardening and farming strategies that hold the soil, retain nutrients, and sequester carbon while growing food. We’ll be focusing on bed preparation methods for the beginning of the growing season that can translate to any garden size.
We will look at examples of these techniques, including cover cropping, tarping, and mulching in the Giving Garden and Song Sparrow Farm.
This is an outdoor in-person event. Wear closed-toed shoes and appropriate clothing for garden work.
Mushroom Inoculation – 2 dates!
Sunday May 8th 11am- 1pm
Thursday, May 12th 5:30pm -7pm
Learn the tools and techniques to grow gourmet mushrooms! Join Grow Food Northampton to learn about cultivating shiitake mushrooms in a hands-on work party to grow mushrooms for the Giving Garden as we expand our fresh mushroom donations to local partners. Participants will engage in the multi-step process of inoculating hardwood logs for shiitake cultivation.
Come prepared to get your hands dirty! Shiitake logs can weigh up to 15 lb, we will be using drills, and hot wax. Participation is limited to 8 people. Wear closed-toed shoes and appropriate clothing for garden work. Contact Ellena if you have your own battery powered drill that you can bring to the work party.
Asparagus and Strawberry Planting
Wednesday, May 18th 5:30pm -7pm
Come plant asparagus and strawberries in the Giving Garden! Join us to learn about our no-till farming methods in the Giving Garden while establishing asparagus and strawberry beds to expand our perennial plantings.
In this hands-on workshop we will discuss our methods for sheet mulching, sequestering carbon, increasing soil health and growing nutrient-dense produce while preparing and planting 6 beds of asparagus and strawberries.
All Giving Garden produce is donated to our local partner food pantries and meal sites. This is an outdoor in-person event. Wear closed-toed shoes and clothes appropriate for garden work. Registration required.
Have questions or need more information on any of the workshops? Contact Ellena- ellena@growfoodnorthampton.org
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