2008 Fall Classes

Detroit Urban Gardening Education Series

Aug  9^th  KEEP GROWING DETROIT–Soil Building/Cover Crops with Vicki Morrone from MSU; at Earthworks Garden, 1264 Meldrum, 1-3PM Healthy soil is the key to beautiful and nutrient rich vegetables.  Come learn how you can improve your soil by using cover crops and natural soil building techniques.  Participants in the Garden Resource Program attending this class will also receive cover crop seed.  

August 21^st  COOKING CLASS–Healthy Ways to Cook Traditional Food with Chef B.J. Williams of H2O-Essence of Life; at New Prospect Missionary Baptist Church, 6330 Pembroke at Livernois, 6-8PM.  Learn how give your favorite home cooked meals a healthy facelift! Chef B.J. will demonstrate how to cook delicious meals without using unnecessary salts, fats and sugars (including variations for diabetics).

August 28^th  Detroit’s Edible Ecology; at Hope Takes Root Garden, 2839 Wabash, 6-8PM. Julie Cotton from UofM and Patrick Crouch from EarthWorks will show participants how plants commonly found in Detroit’s vacant lots and gardens function as food (for people and pollinators), medicine, and environmental purifiers. They will also demonstrate how these plants provide clues to knowledgeable gardeners about soil quality, water availability, and garden health.

September 2^nd  WORKING LESSON–Succession Planting; at EarthWorks Urban Farm, 1264 Meldrum, 6-8PM.     Plant & learn! At this working lesson, gardeners will learn what to plant at this time of year for great harvests well into the Fall months.

September 3^rd  KEEP GROWING DETROIT–Preparing & Seeding Beds in Solar Passive Greenhouses; at Catherine Ferguson Academy, 2750 Selden, 6-8PM John Biernbaum from the MSU Student Organic Farm will lead us through the process of preparing and seeding beds in greenhouses. He will cover different approaches both with and without specialized tools.

September 13^th  Seed Saving; at Catherine Ferguson Academy, 2750 Selden, 1-3PM Saving seeds is economical, develops varieties adapted to local growing conditions…and its fun!  Come learn basic seed saving methods of your favorite varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers.

September 17^th  KEEP GROWING DETROIT–Low Tunnels; at Crary Elementary; 16164 Ashbury Park, 6-8PM           A low tunnel is a type of mini–greenhouse that is heated by the sun. Adam Montri from MIFFS and the MSU Student Organic Farm will discuss the key steps toward creating a working, productive low tunnel, the range of uses for structures, and the fruits and vegetables that can be grown in them throughout the season.

September 18^th  COOKING CLASS–Pickling & Fermenting; at Capuchin Soup Kitchen, 1264 Meldrum, 6-8PM.   Join us to learn about preserving produce from your garden through pickling and fermentation. We will be    learning about making kimchi, sauerkraut, pickles and more. 

September 22^nd  COMPOSTING–Building a Pile & Materials; at Hope Takes Root, 2839 Wabash at Temple,     5:30-7:30PM. Putting off starting a compost pile? Learn the basics of choosing materials, building and maintaining a pile so you’ll have finished compost ready for spring’s early plantings. We will build piles at the Compost Workgroup’s pilot project bins and gardeners will have an opportunity to take home materials for your personal compost piles.  

September 25^th  Canning; Location TBA, 6-8PM. This hands-on class in the kitchen will take the mystery out of canning and food preservation as we go step-by-step though basic canning and food preservation techniques.  You’ll leave this class with confidence to get started canning and to keep home-grown foods on the table year round! Pre-register for this class by contacting Lindsay 313-365-1568 or lindsay_detroitagriculture@yahoo.com

October 1^st  KEEP GROWING DETROIT–High Tunnels; at Catherine Ferguson Academy, 2750 Selden, 6-8PM High Tunnels are a form of greenhouse that are large enough to walk in and are heated by the sun. Adam Montri from MIFFS and the MSU Student Organic Farm will discuss key features to a working high tunnel, the range of uses for structures, and the fruits and vegetables that can be grown in them throughout the season.

October 5^th  FIELDTRIP–Giving Tree Farm; Bus leaves from The Greening of Detroit at 9AM and return at 3PM. (PLEASE NOTE: this field trip changed from originally scheduled day!)  Come with us to visit Giving Tree Farm, an organic farm and CSA located on 22 acres of land in north Lansing. We will be learning about the unique and cutting edge growing methods being used on the farm including their amazing greenhouse operation. Contact Ashley at 237-8736 for more information about this trip.

October 7^th  WORKING LESSON–Seed Saving; at EarthWorks Urban Farm, 1264 Meldrum, 6-8PM.  Get hands-on practice choosing and processing seeds. This will compliment the Seed Saving class held September 13^th.

October 16^th  COOKING CLASS–Communal Cooking with Angela Kasmala of Detroit Evolution Laboratory; Location TBA, 6-8PM. Come share in the joys of cooking together in the kitchen with your gardening friends as we prepare a locally grown, healthy meal for the Annual Bioneers Conference.

October 23^rd   Composting with worms (Vermicomposting); at American Indian Health & Family Services,     4880 Lawndale, 6-8PM. This hands-on class will go through the process of separating worms from finished casting as well as how to make the most of this nutrient rich fertilizer. We will also cover getting started with worms, how to build a bin, screening and making compost tea.

November 4^th  WORKING LESSON–Dividing Perennial Flowers and Vegetables, at EarthWorks Urban Farm, 1264 Meldrum,6-8PM. Come learn how to split perennials in the garden with several different splitting techniques. This will get you prepared for the Garden Resource Program’s Great Perennial Divide!

November 8^th  FIELDTRIP–Calder Dairy; Bus leaves from The Greening of Detroit at 8AM and returns at 2PM. Calder Dairy is a local dairy farm that has been in business for over 60 years. We will be touring their farm and learning about their dairy operation, marketing strategies, business plan and their advice to small scale farm/garden business owners.

CANCELLED November 20^th   FOOD FOR THOUGHT–Impact of conventional agriculture; at Catherine Ferguson Academy, 2750 Selden, 6-8PM. Conventional agriculture depletes soil fertility, is highly dependent on decreasing fossil fuels for fertilizers and machinery and is marginally profitable for the farmers trying to make a living using it. This presentation and discussion will focus on learning more information on the state of the agricultural system in the US as well as what we can do to change it. 

November 21^st   FOOD FOR THOUGHT–Race and Food Security: An Anti-Racism Agenda with Anan Xola Lololi from Toronto’s Afri-Can Food Basket, Detroit Urban Garden Education Series, Focus Hope, 1400 Oakman, 6-8PM.

Although the Food Security Movement in North America is strong and gaining ground, it does not yet represent the multiracial and diverse characteristics of communities at all levels. Generally, members of culturally diverse communities do not occupy meaningful leadership roles in the movement and are not represented in key organizational positions. Join us in this Food for Thought presentation and discussion to explore this shortfall further and to learn about the work that Anan Xola Lololi is doing with the Afri-Can Food Basket to create positive change in Toronto.

November 22^nd  COMPOSTING–Building a Pile & Materials; at Hope Takes Root, 2839 Wabash at Temple,  10-12PM. Learn the importance of turning and curing your compost to ensure a high quality finished   product with hands-on (bring your gloves) turning of the Compost Workgroup’s pilot project.

For more information and locations, please call Lindsay at 313-365-1568