In the Garden with the Master Gardeners
We are very excited to be offering a 9 week/1 topic week course (Sept. 6-November 1) held on Fridays from from 9:00 am-noon that will give you the opportunity to learn by practicing gardening skills.
Would you like to dig in, get your hands dirty, and get some real hands-on experience in the garden with Master Gardeners? These days, many of us are concerned about food security, and would like to know more about how to successfully grow our own food and maintain our gardens. This is a chance to make new gardening friends and rub shoulders with your local Extension Master Gardeners in an informal, friendly, and nurturing environment.
And, of course, you’ll be able to ask the Master Gardeners questions as you move through the activities we have planned. The cost for this hands-on gardening series is $100—that’s just $10 for each session. The classes will be held at the Master Gardener Demonstration Gardens at the Cowlitz County Fairground. We will meet indoors before each session for a short briefing, then go out and get our hands dirty! Please register and pay online--Space is limited - first come first dig! Just DO IT!
Here’s what we’ll cover:
1) Build a class raised bed: work together to build a raised bed. Learn about the best placement for raised beds; how to check for good drainage with a perc test; choices for soil or soil mediums to fill the beds, and where to get it, how to calculate amounts of soil needed.
2) Soils: Bring in a soil sample from home and conduct a soil texture test, run a soil nutrient test on your home sample and take home a Rapitest Soil test kit. You’ll learn how soil textures affect how plants grow, how soil pH and nutrients interact for plant health, the difference between our native soil and purchased bulk soil media. We’ll talk about how to improve wet/clay soils.
3) Irrigation: Plan a drip irrigation system for the raised bed, and participate in assembling it. You’ll also learn about the pros and cons of different watering methods.
4) Seed propagation: Learn reliable ways to plant seeds and nurture the seedlings to the transplant stage, looking at temperature, air, water, and light to create optimum conditions. Examine the seed packs for valuable information about germination requirements, days to maturity, disease resistance, etc. You’ll be transplanting pre-started plants into the raised bed, and plant some seeds to germinate at home.
5) Solving Common Garden Problems: Bugs, disease and more: You may also bring in problems from your own garden. You’ll be introduced to the very best way to manage problems in your home garden--IPM--Integrated Pest Management.
6) Saving seeds: Learn how to save seeds from various vegetable plants to use for the following growing season. We’ll harvest seeds from tomatoes, peppers, and squash, and you’ll take them home to finish the process. You’ll have some great seeds to start your garden next summer.
7) Planting/transplanting tree/shrub: Learn how to give pricey new trees and shrubs their best start by choosing the right plant for the right place. You’ll be planting a tree--examining and preparing the roots, digging the hole, properly placing the plant, backfilling and mulching it.
8) Pruning: Most pruning takes place in late winter, but you will be introduced to the basic pruning cuts. You will have the opportunity to sharpen your pruners with your free sharpener and disinfect your tool prior to removing dead, damaged, diseased and dysfunctional branches using the pruning cuts you’ve learned.
9) Plant propagation: Chance to propagate plants with hard and softwood cuttings, as well as root division. You'll also learn how to divide dahlia tubers.
10) Winning Against Weeds: Identification and Control Strategies in the PNW: This hands-on session will focus on identifying common local weeds and exploring effective management strategies. You will learn how to distinguish between different weed species and understand their growth patterns. We'll provide guidelines on how to control these pesky plants both chemically and through natural methods