StopWaste.Org - Bay-Friendly Gardening Workshop Series

Grow a beautiful garden. Build healthy soil

Hands-on Workshops � Spring Series begins March 13, 2010.

Two spring series run concurrently in the valley and north county locations from March - June. These hands-on workshops will help you put Bay-Friendly practices into place.

The workshops are offered by StopWaste.Org and its Bay-Friendly partners: EBMUD, Alameda County Water District, Wente Vineyards, Ploughshares Nursery, Alden Lane Nursery and Terra Bella Family Farms.

Please note that the workshop series rotates around Alameda County so that we can make it accessible to all residents. The fall series, which runs from September � November will take place in south county locations.

All workshops, except for �Design a Bay-Friendly Garden� are free. Drawing for a free compost bin and other garden gifts at every workshop.

Pre-Season Worm Compost Workshop - no registration required
Saturday, March 6
10 AM - 12 Noon Eco-House, 1305 Hopkins St. (near Peralta) Berkeley
Learn how to recycle your food scraps with red worms and get amazing organic fertilizer. This class covers all the nuts and bolts of composting with worms, how to harvest and end uses.

Spring Workshop Descriptions and Schedule

Bay-Friendly Gardening Basics
Considering form and function before planting can you save time and resources. This workshop will provide an overview of design and maintenance considerations and practices that will help you make smart choices at the nursery. Prerequisite for Design class. Details.
Saturday, March 13, 2010 10 AM - 1 PM	StopWaste.Org office 1537 Webster St., Oakland (use long term parking � meters only good for one hour) Register online
Saturday, March 20, 2010 10 AM - 1 PM	Amador Recreation Center 4455 Black Ave., Pleasanton Register online

Gardening from the Ground Up
Healthy soil is the foundation of a healthy garden. Understanding your soil will help you grow a blossoming garden this season and for seasons to come. Backyard composting, sheet mulching basics and other soil building techniques will be covered during this workshop. Details.
Saturday, March 20, 2010 10 AM - 1 PM	Oakland Demo Garden 666 Bellevue Ave., Lakeside Park, Oakland ($3 parking) Register online
Saturday, March 27, 2010 10 AM - 1 PM	Terra Bella Family Farm 7637 Foothill Rd., Pleasanton Register online

Creating Year-Round Edible Gardens
This hands-on workshop will offer vegetable gardening basics including: soil preparation, when and what to plant for our local climate, companion planting and pest control, plus creative ways to use your bountiful harvest. Seeds, catalogs, regional food source information, and other handouts will be provided. Details.
Saturday, April 3, 2010 10 AM - 1 PM	Wente garden 5050 Arroyo Rd., Livermore Registration starts March 22
Saturday, April 17, 2010 10 AM - 1 PM	Ploughshares Nursery 2701 Main St., Alameda Registration starts March 22

Go Native - Planting for Pollinators
Attract birds, butterflies and beneficial insects. Learn to diversify your garden by including California native plants that provide food, shelter, and nesting places for wildlife. Details.
Saturday, April 24, 2010 10 AM - 1 PM	Harvest Park Middle School 4900 Valley Ave., Pleasanton Registration starts March 22

High-Performing Plants for Low-Water Gardens
Discover the best-suited drought tolerant Mediterranean and native plants, trees and shrubs for a Bay-Friendly Garden. EBMUD Water Conservation Horticulture Specialist � Chris Finch will present her top 30 list, as well as tips for finding these plants. Details.
Saturday, March 27, 2010 10 AM - 1 PM	StopWaste.Org office 1537 Webster St., Oakland (use long term parking � meters only good for one hour) Register online

Gardening to Manage Pests Naturally
Control pests without the use of pesticides. Attract beneficial insects to your garden. Discover least-toxic methods for managing common garden pests such as snails, slugs, aphids and yellow jackets. Details.
Saturday, April 24, 2010 10 AM - 1 PM	Berkeley, Peralta Community Garden � corner of Peralta & Hopkins, Berkeley Registration starts March 22
Saturday, May 8, 2010 10 AM - 1 PM	Alden Lane Nursery 981 Alden Lane, Livermore Registration starts March 22

Let Worms Eat Your Garbage
Small on space and big on benefits � worm composting is a great way to recycle kitchen scraps into a fantastic organic fertilizer. Details.
Saturday, May 1, 2010 10 AM - 12 noon	Terra Bella Family Farm 7637 Foothill Rd., Pleasanton Registration starts March 22
Saturday, May 8, 2010 10 AM - 12 noon	Oakland Demo Garden 666 Bellevue Ave., Lakeside Park, Oakland ($3 parking) Registration starts March 22

Design a Bay-Friendly Garden
Design a Bay-Friendly Garden that meets your needs. Landscape designers will be on hand to advise and troubleshoot. The Bay-Friendly Gardening Basics class is a prerequisite. Some advance homework. Advance registration and $15 non-refundable fee required. Details.
Saturday, May 8, 2010 10 AM - 1 PM	Alden Lane Nursery 981 Alden Lane, Livermore Registration starts March 22
Saturday, June 5, 2010 10 AM - 1 PM	StopWaste.Org office 1537 Webster St., Oakland (use long term parking � meters only good for one hour) Registration starts March 22

Workshop Descriptions

Bay-Friendly Gardening Basics

This class provides an overview of the Bay-Friendly philosophy, approach and integrated practices that make for a sustainable garden. It is a mix of lecture and hands-on activities, including:

Breakouts on: soil, managing pests and plant selection � where you�ll be introduced to the primary Bay-Friendly maintenance practices.
Small group design activity to instill fundamentals and help with getting started on your own garden.

Attendance at this class is a prerequisite for participating in Bay-Friendly Design.

Gardening from the Ground Up

The foundation of a Bay-Friendly garden is healthy soil. And the best way to build healthy soil is to amend with compost and/or cover with mulch.

This class digs deeper into how to:

identify your soil type
how to best amend your soil
identify finished compost and appropriate mulch for uses such as pathways, around ornamental beds, in edible beds
build a compost pile in a backyard bin � hand�s on activity
sheet mulch to replace a lawn, build new planting bed � hand�s on activity

This class always takes place outdoors, rain or shine. Dress appropriately, including toe-covered shoes. If you have garden gloves, you may want to bring them.

Creating Year-Round Edible Gardens

Please note that this class is geared toward beginning edible gardeners. It focuses on the proven bio-intensive techniques for urban plots. It is a mixture of lecture and hand�s on activities. Elements include:

review of soil science basics
companion planting to attract beneficial insects and optimize productivity
small group design activity for planning and planting
double digging and planting veggie starts � hand�s on

This class always takes place outdoors, rain or shine. Dress appropriately, including toe-covered shoes. If you have garden gloves, you may want to bring them.

Go Native: Planting for Pollinators

This specialized workshop gives you the tools to create wildlife habitat � for young and mature wildlife -- including birds, butterflies and beneficial insects. The focus is on creating native plant communities to create habitat. You�ll learn:

how to assess your current garden habitat
the plant communities in which California natives thrive and which ones work in your garden
How to propagate plants � that you can take home and plant in your garden through hands on activities
Other useful tools for attracting wildlife � water features, hiding places, food for young wildlife

High Performing Plants for Low-Water Gardens

Interested in finding the plants that will thrive in our Bay Area�s unique climate and bring another dimension to your garden? This workshop opens up the opportunities and shows you the diversity of low-water using Mediterranean and California native plants. Using the plant list from the comprehensive EBMUD plant book, seasoned horticulturists will share their top 30 Bay-Friendly plants � slide show and lecture format. Plant list will be provided.

This workshop also includes tips for grouping plants for water consumption, design tips and troubleshooting, ideas on where to find natives and Mediterranean plants.

Gardening to Manage Pests Naturally

Did you know that 95% of the bugs in your garden are not pests? This class will give you the tools to identify beneficial insects and common garden pests as well as the knowledge to incorporate basic Integrated Pest Management practices in your garden maintenance. Through hands on activities, you�ll also learn:

how to identify good bugs and bad bugs
how to attract beneficial insects like ladybugs and lacewings to your garden
how to apply integrated pest management to your home garden
common, easy to use, less-toxic products and practices for controlling specific garden problems, such as snails, aphids and weeds.

Let Worms Eat Your Garbage

If you want an inexpensive but highly valuable organic fertilizer for your garden � worm castings are the way to go. This class goes step by step through the fundamentals of composting with red wiggler worms � the best digesters in nature.

Elements include:

basics on worm composting: what is it? What are the benefits?
creating a worm habitat � assembling a worm bin (hands on)
trouble shooting the worm bin system � workshop presenters use the Wriggly Wranch stacking model which is sold by StopWaste.Org
harvesting worm castings and all the ways you can use them in your garden (hands on)

If you have a Wriggly Wranch and have questions or had problems, this class is a great opportunity to get answers.

Design a Bay-Friendly Garden

The Basics class is a prerequisite for this class, so that participants understand the Bay-Friendly philosophy and approach. Homework will be assigned prior to the Design Class. There is a non-refundable $15 fee for this class.

Choosing a section or room of the garden on which to focus, participants come armed with a site plan/map, picture and completed Bay-Friendly design survey.

Within small groups, each participant will have an opportunity to share their design challenge with a landscape designer or architect. This is meant to be a group learning activity, as many residents face common design challenges.

We encourage participants to come as prepared as possible: [bring site map to scale, ideas for how to use the site � is it for entertaining, for kids� use, edibles? understanding of site � how much sun, shade, slope] All of this information will help the designers help you.