PAST WORKSHOPS 2009

DECEMBER 2009

URBAN COMPOSTING
Date: Saturday, December 5th, 2009
Time: 10AM – 12:00 NOON
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: FREE

Winter can be a great time to start a new compost pile or to jump start one that just isn't breaking down. Join Garden For the Environment for a fun, hands-on workshop teaching basic methods of both backyard and worm composting! Compost is a rich soil amendment that will greatly benefit your garden plants, houseplants, and the environment, by diverting compostable material from the landfill. Learn how to turn those food scraps or fallen leaves into "gardeners black gold". Rot on!

INTRODUCTION TO RAINWATER HARVESTING
Date: Saturday, December 12th, 2009
Time: 10AM – 12:00 NOON
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $15

Interested in rainwater harvesting? Want to know more about it? Join GFE and Laura Allen of Greywater Action as we explore the benefits of collecting rainwater just in time for the our winter rains! Rainwater harvesting can be as simple as a barrel under your downspout, or more complex with a large tank and pumps sending the water inside for toilet flushing. Learn about rainwater options in an urban area and get some hands on skills with working with rainbarrels at the GFE. 

NOVEMBER 2009

URBAN COMPOSTING
Date: Saturday, November 4th, 2009
Time: 10AM – 12:00NOON
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: FREE

Fall can be a great time to start a new compost pile as you tidy up the leftovers of the summer’s bounty!  Join GFE as we discover how to turn those leftovers, from the garden or the kitchen, into “black gold”. This fun, hands-on workshop teaches methods for both backyard and worm composting for all who seek to enrich the bounty of their garden and reduce their ecological footprint.  Come learn what you can do to improve your garden and prevent biomass from ending up in the landfill! Rot on!

INTRO TO ORGANIC GARDEN DESIGN
Dates: Saturday, November 7th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:30PM
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

Learn how to grow a healthy and beautiful garden that minimizes the impacts on the environment. From building a healthy soil with compost to selecting beautiful plantings appropriate for the Bay Area’s climate, this workshop will give you the basics to implement sustainable gardening practices.

Topics covered include:

• Importance of healthy soil
  
• Organic matter
  
• Composting
  
• Selecting colorful plants for the Bay Area climate
  
• Climate appropriate plants
  
• California natives
  
• How to water without waste
  
• Preventing nutrient run-off
  
• Irrigation basics and watering schedules
  
• Natural pest and weed management
  
• Pesticide alternatives
  
• Non-toxic weed control
Sponsored by the SFPUC

MAKE MORE PLANTS: CUTINGS & DIVISIONS
Date: Saturday, November 14th, 2009
Time: 10AM – 12:00NOON
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $15

Join Carey Craddock and Garden For the Environment as we explore the enormous potential of propagating through cuttings and divisions. Cuttings and divisions are horticultural propagation methods by which you can make two or more plants from an original plant.  You can use these easy techniques to make more of your favorite garden plant, for your own garden or to share with friends.  In this 2-hour, hands-on workshop we will learn a variety of techniques to make successful cuttings and divisions and you will leave with plant starts to grow at home.

INTRO TO ORGANIC GARDEN CARE
Dates: Saturday, November 14th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:30PM
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

Planning ahead for low-maintenance design and sustainable products is a key element to a successful organic garden. Join us to learn about natural maintenance practices that will keep your garden beautiful and your labor to a minimum.

• Weed control
  
• Value of mulch
  
• Non-toxic weed control
  
• Proper watering techniques
  
• Moisture and weed seed germination
  
• Diseases and watering
  
• Growing healthy plants
  
• Alternatives to chemical fertilizers
  
• Natural plant foods
  
• Insects
  
• Natural pest management
  
• Beneficial vs. harmful

Sponsored by the SFPUC

THE STATE OF THE URBAN FARM
An Evening with Author and Farmer
NOVELLA CARPENTER

Date: Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
Time: Doors at 6pm, Talk 6:30pm – 7:30pm
Location: Women’s Building, Audre Lorde Room, 3543 18th Street, San Francisco
Cost: $10 (Purchase Tickets Here)

Join Garden For the Environment and 18 Reasons as we excitedly bring you an evening with Bay Area urban farming hero Novella Carpenter who will present "The State of the Urban Farm."  A New York Times book critic said of her newly published book Farm City: the Education of an Urban Farmer (2009, Penguin Press) that it is "easily the funniest, weirdest, most perversely provocative gardening book I’ve ever read. I couldn’t put it down."

On Wednesday, November 18th Novella Carpenter will read from this best-selling book, present a slide show about her own Oakland-based urban farm, discuss the state of the urban farming movement today and what she thinks we can all learn from the urban farmers she's met while traveling across the United States.  After her presentation we'll stroll around the corner to 18 Reasons and gather to sip wine, enjoy a few nibbles, and mingle while Novella signs books.

Immediately following: After Party & Book Signing
Join us at 18 Reasons for wine, nibbles and book signing with Novella!

OCTOBER 2009

URBAN COMPOSTING
Date: Saturday, October 3rd, 2009
Time: 10AM – 12:00NOON
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: FREE

Fall can be a great time to start a new compost pile as you tidy up the leftovers of the summer’s bounty!  Join GFE as we discover how to turn those leftovers, from the garden or the kitchen, into “black gold”. This fun, hands-on workshop teaches methods for both backyard and worm composting for all who seek to enrich the bounty of their garden and reduce their ecological footprint.  Come learn what you can do to improve your garden and prevent biomass from ending up in the landfill! Rot on!

ORGANIC VEGETABLE GARDENING FOR WINTER
Date: Saturday, October 10th, 2009
Time: 10AM – 12:00NOON
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $15

Join Carey Craddock and Garden For the Environment as we explore the potential bounty of an organic vegetable garden throughout winter!  We’ll discuss soil building techniques, when and what to plant in your winter garden, and the produce you can reap by gardening year round.  We’ll prepare a garden bed with compost and plant a winter vegetable crop!

NATIVE PLANT LANDSCAPING & PLANT SALE
Date: Saturday, October 17th, 2009
Time: 10AM – 12:00NOON
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $15

Join Peter Good of Goodscapes, and GFE, as we cover the basics and benefits of for native plants in your garden! Learn how to select, propagate and care for natives, for year-round beauty, to save water and work, and provide vital food and shelter for local native birds and butterflies. After the workshop, peruse the wide selection of local varieties for sale, propagated by native plant specialist Greg Gaar, of HANC's Native Plant Nursery! 

INTRODUCTION TO ROOFTOP GARDENING
Date: Saturday, October 24th, 2009
Time: 10AM – 12:00NOON
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $15

Do you find yourself gazing out across the urban landscape imagining a roofscape of lush green and food producing gardens? Roof gardens are being implemented as an attractive and effective response to the urban challenges by providing numerous environmental and health benefits. In this workshop we will showcase inspiring roof gardens from around the world, discuss the many benefits, introduce various methods and technologies and demonstrate how to build your own self-watering container so you can be a part of roofscape transformation here in the Bay Area. Join GFE and Maya Donelson from Graze the Roof as we take urban agriculture to the next level! (Image of Maya Donelson by Peter DaSilva for the NY Times)

SEPTEMBER 2009

URBAN COMPOSTING
Date: Saturday, September 12, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

Fall can be a great time to start a new compost pile as you tidy up the leftovers of the summer’s bounty!  Join GFE as we discover how to turn those leftovers, either from the garden or the kitchen, into “black gold”. This fun, hands-on workshop teaches methods for both backyard and worm composting for all seeking to enrich the bounty of their garden and reduce their ecological footprint.  Come learn what you can do to improve your garden and prevent organic waste from ending up in the landfill! Rot on!

FALL EQUINOX OUTDOOR FILM SCREENING
Date: Saturday, September 19th, 2009
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $10 Donation

The How-to Homestead folks are back again for our annual Fall Equinox Outdoor Film Screening on Saturday, September 19th, 6:30pm-9:30pm. Get ready for a cornucopia of fun as the How-to Homestead crew serves up movies, live music, a garden sing-along, and garden tastings.

Featured films include lovingly crafted and super inspiring shorts about home-brewing beer, fermenting dandelions, growing wheat, baking bread and installing a simple greywater system.

Could the screening also feature a short by you? Check out howtohomestead.org for the current call for work to find out more.

We look forward to seeing you on September 19, breaking bread, singing and enjoying films under the stars.

DROUGHT TOLERANT GARDENING
Date: Saturday, September 19th, 2009
Time: 10AM – 12:00NOON
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $15

Learn the basics of sustainable, resource efficient garden design. This class will work with foliage color and texture, as well as sequence of bloom. Learn about drought tolerant plants while exploring ways you can enhance an existing landscape or plan for a new one.

HERBAL REMEDIES FOR STRESS AND ANXIETY
Date: Saturday, September 26th, 2009
Time: 10AM – 12:00 NOON
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $15

Have you ever gone out into nature when you're stressed and felt the tension melt away? Connection with the natural world is an ancient remedy for stress. Sometimes our urban lives can take us far away from nature and deep into our daily worries, causing physical and emotional ailments from insomnia and digestive troubles to depression and anxiety. Learning to reconnect with plants can be great way to heal from or prevent stress in the body. In this class, we'll explore herbs used for the nerves, muscles, endocrine and immune systems--all to support your body's stress response. Each participant will make their own relaxing herbal eye-pillow to take home!

AUGUST 2009

URBAN COMPOSTING
Date: Saturday, August 1st, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

Give your summer garden a boost that will guarantee vibrant colors and delectable veggies for the months to follow! Aside from encouraging beneficial soil organisms and conserving a non-renewable resource, composting makes an excellent fertilizer that releases nutrients slowly at a rate which the plants can use them. This fun, hands-on class teaches methods for backyard and worm composting for home and community gardens. Come learn what you can do to improve your garden and prevent organic waste from ending up in the landfill! Rot On!

SUMMER PRUNING FOR FRUIT TREES
Organic Fruit Tree Care Series
Date: Saturday, August 8, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $15

Summer prune fruit trees? Yes! Summer Pruning helps ripen fruit, slows down overly vigorous trees, and encourages strong branches for next year’s apples! In this workshop you will learn how to make the right cuts on your fruit trees this Summer.  Join Matthew Sutton of Orchard Keepers, ecological tree care specialists, and learn to enhance the health and yield of your fruit trees with appropriate Summer Pruning techniques. This workshop is from 10am till 12noon, with informal Summer Pruning practice from 1pm-2pm.

ORGANIC CONTAINER GARDENING
Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $15

Want to grow an organic garden, but don't have any soil? Containers can provide a solution for the urban gardener with little space, as well as a new element to a garden that needs some rejuvenation. Join GFE and Carey Craddock for this workshop where we'll discuss types of containers to use, and what kinds of soil and plants do best in them. You'll be amazed at the beauty and bounty you can grow in a container!

JULY 2009

URBAN COMPOSTING!
Date: Saturday, July 11th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:00 Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

Give your summer garden a boost that will guarantee vibrant colors and delectable veggies for the months to follow! Aside from encouraging beneficial soil organisms and conserving a non-renewable resource, composting makes an excellent fertilizer that releases nutrients slowly at a rate which the plants can use them. This fun, hands-on class teaches methods for backyard and worm composting for home and community gardens. Come learn what you can do to improve your garden and prevent organic waste from ending up in the landfill! Rot On!

INTRODUCTION TO GREYWATER
Date: Saturday, July 25th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $15

Interested in learning how to reuse your greywater in your own garden? Residential greywater, which is wastewater generated from domestic processes such as washing dishes, laundry and bathing, is a valuable water resource that can be recycled to irrigate plants! Join GFE and the Greywater Guerrillas for this workshop where you'll learn about the best low-tech, low-cost systems, and how to maintain them. You'll also get practice with the components as you plumb a demo greywater system!

JUNE 2009

URBAN COMPOSTING!
Date: Saturday, June 6th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:00 Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

Give your summer garden a boost that will guarantee vibrant colors and delectable veggies for the months to follow! Aside from encouraging beneficial soil organisms and conserving a non-renewable resource, composting makes an excellent fertilizer that releases nutrients slowly at a rate which the plants can use them. This fun, hands-on class teaches methods for backyard and worm composting for home and community gardens. Come learn what you can do to improve your garden and prevent organic waste from ending up in the landfill! Rot On!

HERBAL FIRST AID
Date: Saturday, June 13, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:00 Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $15

Do you know which common weed is nick-named the "band-aid plant"?? Which feathery leaf stops bleeding? How many quick uses can you name for Lavender essential oil and Chamomile tea bags? Come find out the answers to these questions and much more.  Just in time for the summer travel season!! In this workshop, you will learn about the basic ingredients of an herbal first aid kit-good for home use, travel, camping, or keeping in your purse day-to-day. There will be a demonstration kit to unpack and explore. Plus, a handout detailing the basic herbs in the kit and their actions. You can take it home, and build your own!! This workshop is open to all levels of experience.

ORGANIC GARDENING WITH CHILDREN
Date: Saturday, June 20th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:00 Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $15 per Household

Summer is the perfect time to bring the whole family outdoors to experience nature in the City! Urban gardens are outdoor classrooms that ignite a sense of wonder in kids and adults alike. Many different subjects can be taught in the garden from science to math to health to art. In this class, we’ll discuss ways that the home garden can provide a hands-on, inter-active learning environment. Parents and children are all welcome!

INTRO TO ORGANIC GARDENING, JUNE 2009
Sponsored by the SFPUC

INTRO TO ORGANIC GARDENING
JUNE 2009

6/13 - Intro to Organic Garden Design
6/20 - Intro to Organic Garden Care
6/27 - Intro to Organic Garden Watering

INTRO TO ORGANIC GARDEN DESIGN
Date: Saturday, June 13th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:30PM
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

INTRO TO ORGANIC GARDEN DESIGN
Learn how to grow a healthy and beautiful garden that minimizes the impacts on the environment. From building a healthy soil with compost to selecting beautiful plantings appropriate for the Bay Area’s climate, this workshop will give you the basics to implement sustainable gardening practices.

• Importance of healthy soil
  
• Organic matter
  
• Composting
  
• Selecting colorful plants for the Bay Area climate
  
• Climate appropriate plants
  
• California natives
  
• How to water without waste
  
• Preventing nutrient run-off
  
• Irrigation basics and watering schedules
  
• Natural pest and weed management
  
• Pesticide alternatives
  
• Non-toxic weed control

INTRO TO ORGANIC GARDEN CARE
Date: Saturday, June 20th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:30PM
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

INTRO TO ORGANIC GARDEN CARE
Planning ahead for low-maintenance design and sustainable products is a key element to a successful organic garden. Join us to learn about natural maintenance practices that will keep your garden beautiful and your labor to a minimum.

• Weed control
  
• Value of mulch
  
• Non-toxic weed control
  
• Proper watering techniques
  
• Moisture and weed seed germination
  
• Diseases and watering
  
• Growing healthy plants
  
• Alternatives to chemical fertilizers
  
• Natural plant foods
  
• Insects
  
• Natural pest management
  
• Beneficial vs. harmful
  

INTRO TO ORGANIC GARDEN WATERING
Date: Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:30PM
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

INTRO TO ORGANIC GARDEN WATERING
Planning ahead for low-maintenance design and sustainable products is a key element to a successful organic garden. Join us to learn about natural maintenance practices that will keep your garden beautiful and your labor to a minimum.

• Weed control
  
• Value of mulch
  
• Non-toxic weed control
  
• Proper watering techniques
  
• Moisture and weed seed germination
  
• Diseases and watering
  
• Growing healthy plants
  
• Alternatives to chemical fertilizers
  
• Natural plant foods
  
• Insects
  
• Natural pest management
  
• Beneficial vs. harmful

MAY 2009

URBAN COMPOSTING!
Date: Saturday, May 2nd, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:00 Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

Jump-start your spring garden with some homemade compost! Aside from giving veggies and flowers a healthy start, composting encourages beneficial organisms in the soil and can help break the life cycle of plant pests and disease. Join Garden For the Environment for this fun, hands-on class teaching methods for backyard and worm composting. Come learn what you can do to improve your garden without chemical fertilizers or pesticides and prevent organic waste from ending up in the landfill! Rot on!

BENEFICIAL BUGS
INVERTEBRATES IN THE GARDEN - PESTS, POLLINATORS, PARASITOIDS AND PREDATORS
Date: Saturday, May 9th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:00 Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $10

What’s all the buzz about beneficial bugs? How can insects actually protect my veggies?! Why do garden stores sell ladybugs? Find the answers to these questions and many more with GFE and Thomas Wang, Entomology professor at the City College of San Francisco. Spend a morning in the garden as we explore the diversity of invertebrates in the garden, and discuss their ecological roles. We will share methods for encouraging beneficial bugs, reducing pests, while making your garden an ecological oasis of flora and fauna!

Impress your friends and neighbors with year round kale and broccoli, grown on your balcony or in your backyard! Join GFE and urban gardener, Justin Valone, as we dive deep into the delicious and bountiful world of Brassicas! In this workshop we will learn how to cultivate these very well adapted and nutritious vegetables. We will learn the history of these coastal vegetables along with how to plant, grow, harvest and of course eat them!

Learn how to keep production high and labor low with perennial veggies! Join GFE and urban permaculture designer, Kevin Bayuk, as we explore low maintenance, drought tolerant, perennial, edible vegetation for the San Francisco garden.  We’ll grapple with these questions: What is a perennial? Why perennials? What plants work in San Francisco?  Can you garden with perennials and annuals?  Participants will also get a resource sheet of interesting perennials to try in San Francisco. One season is nice, but we love veggies with longer lives!

APRIL 2009

URBAN COMPOSTING!
Date: Saturday, April 4th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:00 Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

Jump-start your spring garden with some homemade compost! Aside from giving veggies and flowers a healthy start, composting encourages beneficial organisms in the soil and can help break the life cycle of plant pests and disease. Join Garden For the Environment for this fun, hands-on class teaching methods for backyard and worm composting. Come learn what you can do to improve your garden without chemical fertilizers or pesticides and prevent organic waste from ending up in the landfill! Rot on!

CITY CHICKENS! AND DUCKS TOO!
AN INTRODUCTION TO RAISING AND CARING FOR HEALTHY CHICKENS AND DUCKS IN SAN FRANCISCO
Date: Saturday, April 11th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:00 Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $15

You can keep chickens and ducks in San Francisco! Join Paul Glowaski and Cooper Funk of Urban Eggs for an exciting workshop on organic “eggriculture”. You will learn how to legally keep chickens and ducks in San Francisco, from coop design to health concerns, and what to feed them and examples of appropriate organic systems for both chickens and ducks.

ORGANIC GARDENING FOR SUMMER IN SAN FRANCISCO
Date: Saturday, April 18th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:00 Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $10

ONLY A FEW SPACES LEFT

Get ready for San Francisco Summer gardening!  Although Summer in SF may not feel much different from Winter, there are many crops that need the longer days and (slightly) warmer weather of Summer to mature.  Learn about sowing food crops such as beans, squash, tomatoes, as well as herbs and flowers for your late Summer and Fall harvest.

MARCH 2009

URBAN COMPOSTING!
Date: Saturday, March 7th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:00 Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

Jump-start your spring garden with some homemade compost! Aside from giving veggies and flowers a healthy start, composting encourages beneficial organisms in the soil and can help break the life cycle of plant pests and disease. Join Garden For the Environment for this fun, hands-on class teaching methods for backyard and worm composting. Come learn what you can do to improve your garden without chemical fertilizers or pesticides and prevent organic waste from ending up in the landfill! Rot on!

BASICS OF BACKYARD AND WORM COMPOSTING
and Community Workday at Koshland Park Community Learning Garden
Date: Saturday, March 21th, 2009
Workday: 11AM - 2PM
Compost Workshop: 2PM - 4PM
Location: Koshland Park Community Learning Garden, corner of Page Street and Buchannon Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

Join Garden for the Environment and the Hayes Valley Park Group for a Community Workday and Urban Composting workshop. We will spend the morning working in the Koshland Park Community Learning Garden from 11am till 2pm. Then, from 2pm till 4pm, we will dive into Backyard and Worm Composting! In this workshop for the beginning composter we will offer easy guidelines for composting at home. Composting at home not only saves compostable waste from the landfill, but it also produces an excellent garden fertilizer! Join us and ROT ON!

MARCH INTRO TO ORGANIC GARDENING WORKSHOPS
Sponsored by the SFPUC

INTRO TO ORGANIC GARDEN DESIGN
Date: Saturday, March 7th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:30PM
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

Learn how to grow a healthy and beautiful garden that minimizes the impacts on the environment. From building a healthy soil with compost to selecting beautiful plantings appropriate for the Bay Area’s climate, this workshop will give you the basics to implement sustainable gardening practices.

INTRO TO ORGANIC GARDEN CARE
Date: Saturday, March 14th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:30PM
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

Planning ahead for low-maintenance design and sustainable products is a key element to a successful organic garden. Join us to learn about natural maintenance practices that will keep your garden beautiful and your labor to a minimum.

INTRO TO ORGANIC GARDEN WATERING
Date: Saturday, March 21st, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:30PM
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

Water is vital to garden health. But, when is enough, enough? Join us to learn earth-friendly ways to water the garden and the most efficient practices for the Bay Area’s Mediterranean climate.

FEBRUARY 2009

URBAN COMPOSTING!
Date: Saturday, February 7th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:00 Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

Winter can be a great time to start a new compost pile or to jump start one that just isn't breaking down. Join Garden For the Environment for a fun, hands-on workshop teaching basic methods of both backyard
and worm composting! Compost is a rich soil amendment that will greatly benefit your garden plants, houseplants, and the environment, by diverting compostable material from the landfill. Learn how to turn those food scraps or fallen leaves into "gardeners black gold". Rot on!

I HEART FRUIT TREES! a Valentines’s Day Workshop
GROW APPLES, PEARS and PLUMS in SAN FRANCISCO
Date: Saturday, February 14th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:00 Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $10

WE HEART FRUIT TREES! Learn the basics of organic fruit tree care for apples, pears and plums in this workshop diving into the world of fruit trees and organic fruit tree care. You will learn the basics of fruit tree planting, irrigation, fertility, pest management, and winter pruning with Orchard Keepers, ecological fruit tree experts. This workshop will cover both pome fruits and stone fruits (apples and plums) and will discuss apples, pears and plums best suited for San Francisco.

INTRO TO IRRIGATION SYSTEMS
Date: Saturday, February 21st, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:00 Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $10

Join Garden For the Environment and the Urban Farmer store for this workshop on the basics of installing an irrigation system. Learn from Bay Area expert, Tom Bressan, the most effective and efficient ways to deliver water to your landscape with minimal waste!

JANUARY 2009

URBAN COMPOSTING!
Date: Saturday, January 10th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:00 Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: Free

Winter can be a great time to start a new compost pile or to jump start one that just isn't breaking down. Join Garden For the Environment for a fun, hands-on workshop teaching basic methods of both backyard and worm composting! Compost is a rich soil amendment that will greatly benefit your garden plants, houseplants, and the environment, by diverting compostable material from the landfill. Learn how to turn those food scraps or fallen leaves into "gardeners black gold". Rot on!

ORGANIC GARDENING FOR WINTER IN SAN FRANCISCO!
Date: Saturday, January 17th, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:00 Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $10

Gardening can be year-round work, especially through the mild winters of our Mediterranean climate. In this workshop you will learn techniques to keep your garden thriving through winter and into spring. Topics for winter-specific organic garden care will include: Winter pruning to encourage vigorous Spring growth, mulching, weeding tips, pest control practices and suggestions for varieties of Winter Vegetables.

HERBAL MEDICINE-MAKING FOR WINTER HEALTH!
Date: Saturday, January 31st, 2009
Time: 10AM - 12:00 Noon
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Cost: $15

Are you tired of that runny nose and sore throat? Do you want to feel empowered around your own health this year? In this workshop you will learn how to create two simple herbal remedies for the common winter bug. We will be making one herbal vinegar and one herbal infused honey for cold care. We will talk about the basic actions of the plants we use and how they work in combination. You will leave with a jar of each remedy for your medicine cabinet, plus handouts with copies of the recipes. This workshop is open to all levels of experience.

To pre-register, please call (415) 731-5627, or email info@gardenfortheenvironment.org.