Grow your own food from start to finish! These FREE classes are designed for the beginner vegetable gardener, but seasoned gardeners will learn something too. Families are welcome and activities for kids will be offered during Gardening Classes. Contact Lindsay at 907-479-1213 x 105 or email Lindsay.firstname.lastname@example.org to RSVP, but walk-ins are welcome.
Grow Your Own Food: New to gardening? Don’t know where to start? We’ll go over how to turn your porch or yard into a vegetable garden. Come design your dream garden and grow vegetables to feed you and your family throughout the summer. Includes ideas for gardeners with limited space (including apartments!) or on a small budget.
Monday March 27, 7-8:30 pm, JP Jones
Successful Soils: Learn what your soil needs to produce thriving vegetables. We will discuss fertilizers, organic soil amendments, compost, lime, top soil, and everything you need to do to get ready for planting. This class will also teach you what goes into your compost, how to tend to it, and how to use it. Learn passive, active, and worm compost techniques.
Monday April 10, 7-8:30 pm, JP Jones
*Free soil testing for residents in the Bjerrmark neighborhood.
Seed Starting: Come ready to plant! In this class we will plant seeds to be grown inside in order for them to get a head start in the garden. We’ll discuss lighting, watering, mixing containers, potential problems, what to start when, and when to transplant your seedlings into your garden. Learn which plants need to be started from seeds indoors to flourish. Seeds will be provided and participants will go home with seeds started in class.
Monday April 24, 7-8:30 pm, JP Jones
Containers, Soils, and Seeds: Couldn’t make the Monday evening classes? Come join us on a Saturday to design your garden, learn about how to make healthy soils, and plant seeds to grow inside for your garden. We will also discuss how to turn recycled materials into gardening containers.
Saturday May 6, 10:30-3:30 pm
Growing & Enjoying Herbs: Discover the delights of basil, mint, sage, rosemary, thyme, cilantro, and even some edible flowers. Plan to grow herbs in your garden and containers this summer. Learn which herbs are perennial and those that you need to plant each year, harvest tips, best preservation techniques, and ways to utilize your herbs. You’ll even go home with cilantro seed.
Monday May 8, 7-8:30 pm, JP Jones
Weed Management: Growing more weeds than vegetables? You’ll learn which weeds to look out for, how they grow, and how to best get rid of them. We’ll also cover different techniques to prevent weeds from growing and other weed control options.
Thursday May 11, 7-8:30, JP Jones
Hands-On Planting: Come join us at the Stone Soup’s Community Garden for a planting day! Learn to plant seed potatoes, transplant starts, and plant seeds directly into the ground. This is a hands-on learning class led by UAF Cooperative Extension Horticulturalist, Master Gardeners, and Stone Soup staff. Be ready to get your hands dirty!
Saturday June 10th, 1-4 pm, Garden Location: 500-598 12th Ave
Preserving Leafy Greens: Ever wondered what to do with all your leafy greens? Freeze them for later use or ferment them! We will cover how to prepare greens for freezing and how to make sauerkraut from cabbage.
Thursday July 13, 7-8:30 pm, JP Jones
Local Garden Tour: Join us for a local garden tour! We will visit residents with vegetable gardens to talk about how they tend and manage their vegetables throughout the summer and discuss harvesting techniques. Includes a visit to Hunter School Garden.
Saturday July 15, 1-4 pm. Meet at JP Jones.
Jams & Jellies: Berry season is here! We will discuss where to pick blueberries, raspberries, low and high bush cranberries, wild strawberries, cloudberries, and how to identify them. We will then demonstrate how to preserve berries by freezing and making jams & jellies to can. Participants will go home with jam.
Thursday July 27, 7-8:30 pm, JP Jones
Cooking Outside the Box: Learn how to combine fresh seasonal veggies with items found in this week’s food box to cook up nutritious, delicious meals. This class will be led by Stone’s Throw Chef Instructors and hosted in Stone Soup’s Community Garden, weather permitting, or at Stone Soup Cafe. Multiple dishes will be made and taste testing will follow. For this class RSVP is required. Email Lindsay.email@example.com or call 907-479-1213 x 105 to reserve your place.
Monday August 7, 6-8:30 pm
Saturday August 26, 1-4 pm
JP Jones Community Development Center—2400 Rickert St.
Stone Soup Garden—500-598 12th Ave
Stone Soup Cafe—507 Gaffney Rd
Are you interested in creating a community garden space? Community Gardens are a great way to bring people together, produce food, provide good nutrition, exercise, and creates a learning environment. FSWCD has many partners and can assist in your community's garden development.
Our partners include UAF Cooperative Extension, JP Jones, City of Fairbanks, Fairbanks Master Gardeners, Natural Resources Conservation Services, Rotary, and more.
All workshops are FREE and most will be held at the JP Jones Community Center. If you'd like to join on our emailing list to receive updates, please email Lindsay.firstname.lastname@example.org or call 907-479-1213 ext. 105.