Herb Class, Gardening Class, Herb Apprenticeship

What you will learn in a nutshell: If you want to learn how to garden, preserve food and herbs, connect with the earth, are thinking of gardening/farming as a way of life, and have a specific interest in growing and using herbs, this is a great experience. Learning includes but is not limited to the following - How to choose, order, organize, harvest, process and store seeds. How to grow, harvest and preserve healthy, nutritious food as well as culinary and medicinal herbs. This will include where, when and how to prepare a garden bed. How to make compost and care for it. Creating and using compost tea inexpensively. How to start plants from cuttings. How to plant seeds in trays and pots as well as direct planting in ground. How to transplant seedlings from pots to the garden. How to care for the plants once they are in the ground. General care of the garden throughout the spring, summer and winter months. How to harvest and preserve food and herbs for later use. Additionally, we will discuss caring for bees, small farm animals and any other topic the group is interested in. We will discuss many aspects of the foods and herbs that you will learn to grow and preserve. Expect to have fun and unexpected events such as a cheese making class pop up from time to time. You will study hard, and learn more than you can imagine! (Many details are listed by month below. I encourage you to email if you have questions about this class.) 541-736-0164 or class@herbaltransitions.com SpringPretty

How you will learn: Lecture as well as hands-on experience for the new gardener to intermediate level gardener. This class revolves around easy to understand principles and gives you the necessary hands-on activities to teach you to garden food and herbs and learn to preserve and use them. Although much of our time is spent in discussion or watching demonstrations, you will get a chance to get some hands on interaction with the plants. Extra time can be spent with Sharol in the gardens at no extra cost. Emails will be sent out to class members to let them know garden related activities they can be involved with through-out the summer.

Where you will learn: Wise Acres Farm – A farm in Pleasant Hill Oregon, devoted to teaching planetary citizens to be more self sufficient in a sustainable manner. It is 18 minutes from South Eugene and 25 minutes from North Eugene.

Who will be teaching: Classes are largely taught by Dr. Sharol Tilgner. Her bio is here. Dr. Tilgner's bio

Investment to learn: $425 - $525 (See discount schedule immediately below. Early payment has additional discounts!) sliding scale fee includes a whole winter to fall of class time, hands-on time in food and herb garden, preserving of vegetables and herbs as well as tasting what is in the garden and getting to take extra herb, fruit and veg home. You will also get to take home any extra veggie and herb starts. When we weed we dig up lots of valuable plants that you can take home with you. This includes vegetable babies, herb babies and berry canes.

Discounts: Receive a 15% discount if you register before November 15th, 2012. Receive a 10% discount if you register two months in advance. (Will take discount this year until class is filled, as people are having trobule coming up with funds. Trying to assist in order to fill this class rather than cancel it.) Refunds available up until two weeks prior to the class starting. There is a 20% surcharge on all refunds up until one month prior to the class when it changes to a 25% surcharge on all refunds. Remember there is a sliding scale for people who need it. Additionally, if you register as a group of 2 or more you can get a discount of 15% at any time. No other discounts can be taken with this 15% discount, but the sliding scale can still be used.

When you will learn: Specific scheduled Sundays from 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM, as listed below. You may also join Sharol in the garden at other times if you wish. She will email you activities that are taking place through-out the season. No matter the weather we will meet on the specified Sundays unless the weather is extrememly severe. Although we suggest you start this class in February, it is possible to join the class at any time. Sharol will also send emails to the class to notify them of things they should be thinking about as far as timing of plantings etc. You may also email her with questions if you can't wait for class.

The scheduled Sunday dates are below.
February 10th
March 17th
April 7th,
May 5th
June 2nd
July 7th
August - 4th
September 1st

I will be providing space for a harvest potluck to be held outside of class. The date will be decided by the class. Families welcome.

On regularly scheduled days we will meet at 9:30 AM each day and the class will break around 12:30 for lunch. Bring a sack lunch. Tea or other beverages will be provided. The class will end at 4:00 PM. Some days we may end earlier or go a bit late, but we will try to stick to the schedule. We will try to maintain the schedule dates and with the use of the greenhouse and being able to do things in the greenhouse environment, it will help us stay on schedule. Regarding the schedule that will be sent to you by email, you decide when you want to join us at the farm for our scheduled garden activities. We will offer many of them. If you can't make one you can come to another. It is highly advised you take advantage of these extra learning opportunities that are not a part of the regular class time. You can learn a lot and have extra time to ask questions. Additionally, Sharol will send you home with extra seedlings, seeds,extra vegetables or herbs etc. This is a great learning opportunity at no extra cost. Often you get one on one time with Sharol as many people are too busy to take advantage of it.

Due to mother nature dictating when we plant and transplant etc. we may not always be able to use scheduled days for hands-on experience with seeding, transplanting, thinning, weeding etc. However, since we will have additional days available for people to join us, you should be able to get hands-on experience at everything if you make it a priority.

We will meet at the first of the year to discuss general gardening techniques and go through seed catalogs and learn how to make decisions on the best seeds to order for your needs. You will go home with knowledge on how and where to order seeds and make plans for where those seeds will be planted and grow into your future vegetables and medicinal herbs. After this first class all other classes will be a mix of verbal instruction/lecture and hands-on experience. There will also be specific additional days available that students can come join in the daily activities and learn first hand with Sharol in the food, herb garden or orchard/vineyard to learn more about recognizing the various weeds and plants and how to grow the desirable plants into nutritious and health promoting vegetables and herbs. Let Sharol know what your specific interests are so they are addressed.

March - Sept you will be sent an email telling you what days special events are taking place at the farm. Please tell us days and times of the day you are available and we will try our best to include those days and times. Realize we have to work around mother nature which is largely the weather as well as the dates when plants are simply ready for us to complete a particular activity.

General activities may include but are not limited to the following: rolandplough

The Soil: Building soil, composting, compost tea, biodynamic preps.
Preparing the Garden areas: What you need to do to have your garden beds ready to go. Consideration of crop rotation, cover crops, or beds lying fallow.
Seeds: Choosing seeds, Harvesting seeds, Storing seeds, When to plant the different seeds and how to plant them in trays for transplanting. Will discuss direct seed planting and plant seeds in the garden.Taking care of your planted seeds.
Cover Crops: Why and when to use them.
Herbs as Food, Flowers and in the Landscape
Medicinal Herb Gardens: What to plant, where to plant and how to plant
Plant Diseases: How to prevent them, How to treat them naturally.
Plant Pests: How to protect your plants, How to treat them naturally to get rid of pests.
Beneficial Insects: There are good bugs & bad bugs - learn who is who and how to increase the good ones.
Propagation from Cutings: Learn to take cuttings and how to start them.
Potting up: Moving seedlings into larger pots.
Transplanting vegetables into the garden & Direct Seeding: We will transplant plants and direct seed outside. Discuss care of the newly transplanted and seeded garden.
Gardening Astrologically: Why garden astrologically and how to use the Stella Natura Calendar.
Greenhouses & Coldframes: Types, How they fit into the bigger picture, Benefits and problems.
Rotational Crops: Why rotate crops, The specifics of rotating crops
Using Native Plants
Proper Pruning Techniques
Mother Natures Cycles in the Garden/Farm
Using Water Features in the Garden: How water features benefit the beneficial insects, animals and you.
Caring for your garden through the spring: Hands-on caring for the transplants and seedlings coming up. Thinning, transplanting seeds as needed, weeding. feeding. watering methods, pest control and beneficial insects.
Caring for your garden through the summer: Timing of replanting of direct seed crops, methods to keep weeds down, preventing sunburn and dehydration of plants. Thinking about cover crops for fall and winter time. An introduction to seed collection and collection of seeds through-out summer/fall.
Caring for your garden through the fall and winter: Fall plantings, plants that do well in the fall or will winter over, extending the season with use of cloches, cover crops, seed collecting, greenhouse growing, planning for next year.
Collecting and Preserving: All through the year we will be collecting and preserving various veggies and herbs so you may learn various techniques of perservation used by home-makers and herbalists.

Specific topics and activites that may be covered are listed below:Not all topics are listed, and mother nature will dictate changes in the schedule, but it gives you a rough idea of what will take place.

January (Due to the weather being colder, I have not been planting in January the last couple years. Previously, I could plant these things in the greenhouse in January. Sow Indoors/Greenhouse: Direct sow in greenhouse ground or trays for later transplantation. Depends on weather, usually now need to wait until Feb
Beet family: beets
Carrot family: carrots
Mustard family: radish
Onion family: Leeks/onions, chives
Pea family: for greenhouse growing – shelling peas, snow peas, snap peas
broccoli raab and artichoke, lettuce, arugula, swiss chard, endive (frisee), pac choi

February Class
Planning your garden: Considerations for the location of your garden. Size of garden and other specifics. How to get the soil ready to go. When to plant seeds and put transplants out. Bring questions about your specific site to class. Bring photos of possible sites. The photos should include surrounding bushes, trees and buildings as well as the actual area you will be planting in. We will visit stedent's gardens at some point in the year. This gives everyone new ideas on how to grow their own garden.
Plant & or Seed selection: Seed and plant company selection and consideration of collecting own seeds in future. Ordering of seeds. Organizing and preserving seeds you purchase or grow.

February Plantings
Also see January list which usually now gets moved to February due to longer winters.

Collection of herb roots and preserving them now or in March
Sow Indoors/Greenhouse:
Aster family: lettuce - endive:frisee, escarole
Beet family: spinach, swiss chard
Carrot family: celery, celeric, parsley
Mustard family: arugula, radishes
Pea family: snow peas, shelling peas, snap peas
Pea family: shelling peas, snap peas, fenugreek
Solanacaea or Nightshade family: tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, eggplants.

General March Activities you may be involved with at scheduled times or additional dates:
Set up logs for growing mushrooms
Food and herb garden, orchard activities
Care of trees and berries – organic sprays – compost tea
Transplanting of leeks, onions
Planting of new trees/vines/bushes in orchard
General small yard pond care
Tools of the trade - what to use and how to use them
Poplar bud picking
Biodynamic sprays and compost sprays as needed FoodGarden&Barn

Last chance to dig up any roots needed for teas or other preps
Clean out bird boxes if not already cleaned
Fly catcher set up
Set up hops and trellis
Planting of many seeds in trays
Spread minerals/Kelp if not done earlier
Compost making
Add any new bed edgings, new beds, lay pathways
Set up new irrigation if not already up (not farm irrigation - small garden irrigation)
Have codling traps ready to go
Make new mason bee blocks if needed
Care for bees - You may watch from afar if you wish
New vines planted
Slug control
Set up pea supports
Look for tent caterpillars

Sow Outdoors:
Beet Family: spinach, swiss chard
Carrot family chervil, fennel
Flax family: flax
Mustard family: arugula, radishes
Pea family: snow peas, shelling peas, snap peas SmallPond

Sow Indoors:
Mint family: summer savory
Mustard family: radishes, bok choi or joi choi, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, kale
Pea family: shelling peas, snap peas, fenugreek
Flowers: Zinnias and Chinese asters

March Later Plantings
Sow Outdoors:
Nightshade: potatoes in ground now or April
Hardy annual flowers can be sown outside now such as alyssum, calendula, California poppy, forget-me-nots, sweet peas.
Sow Indoors: Any items from early in month not sown

General April Activities you may be involved with at scheduled times or additional dates:
Greenhouse activities
Weeding in herb beds and garden as well as orchard, berries (You learn to identify plants and you get to take many extra plant babies home!)
Creek clean up - not part of class but we do it each year
Care of trees – organic/biodynamic sprays – compost tea
Planting of seeds in trays and garden
Transplanting
Compost making
Garden bed activities
Collect nettles for beer, tea, food
Slug control
Repot seedlings into 4 inch pots
Weeding party
Label herb Signs
Lay down fabric mulch
Check out timing of ashing of insects pathherbs

Cleaning pond
Weed whacking - We will not weed whack, but will demonstrate how a weed whacker works and different heads for them and care of the weed whacker.
Ant control
Apple maggot traps out at petal fall if needed (Flies black and white striped with white spot on back.)

April Early Plantings
Aster family: lettuce, put summer savory out
Beet family: beets, orach, spinach, swiss chard, quinoa
Carrot caraway, carrots, chervil, cilantro, dill, fennel, parsnip, parsley
Mint family: basil
Mustard family: radishes, bok choi or joi choi, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi
Onion family: Set onion family plants out which were started in greenhouse
Squash family: Usually end of April but will try to get it sown in pots to be transplanted out this day as it is a good day astrologically and the only Sunday we could do it. Cucumbers, melons, summer and winter squash varieties

April Later Plantings
Mustard family: cabbage,
Pea family scarlet runner beans

General May Activities you may be involved with at scheduled times or additional dates:
Greenhouse activties
Bathing goats and clipping hoofs (You may watch if you wish to learn about goat care.)
Weeding in herb beds and garden as well as orchard, berries
Care of trees – organic sprays – compost tea
Planting of some seeds in garden
Transplanting
Compost making
Pick valerian flowers for biodynamic prep
Apply biodynamic compost preps when appropriate
Biodynamic sprays and compost sprays as needed
Set up bean/pea supports
Ashing of insects if needed
Thin fruit on trees
All irrigation working to garden, orchard and herb beds
Collect calendula flowers, rose petals, plantain leaves, comfrey leaves
Make calendula succus PondPath

Beneficial nematodes in garden if needed
Coddling moth traps out
Put out yellow sticky paper for cuke beetles if necessary
Food collection

May Early Plantings
Sow Outdoors
Aster family: lettuce, burdock, Mexican sunflower, sunflower
Beet family: beets, orach, new Zealand spinach, swiss chard, quinoa
Carrot family: caraway, carrots, cilantro, dill, fennel, parsnip
Grass family: corn
Mint family: summer savory, perilla
Mustard family: radishes, bok choi or joi choi, broccoli, cabbage
Pea family: beans - fresh eating and shelling

May Later Plantings
Any seeds still needing to be sown and see above May general activties.

General June Activities you may be involved with at scheduled times or additional dates:
Greenhouse activities
Weeding in herb beds and garden as well as orchard, berries
Biodynamic sprays and compost sprays as needed
Planting of some seeds in garden
Compost making
Make herbal oil for salve
Make hypericum oil, beer, tincture as needed
Make root beer or other soda from herbs
Seed collecting as needed
Food collection as needed
Garlic harvest/braiding if soft neck
Collect herb flowers and herb leaves etc as needed

June Early Plantings
Aster family: lettuce
Carrot family: cilantro, dill goats

Onion family: green onion
Pea family: beans
Squash family: cucumber, summer squash

June Later Plantings
Beet family: beets, swiss chard
Carrot family: carrot, finnochio
Onion family: green onion
Mustard family: brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, turnips, kale (sow now or first 1/2 of July for winter veggies)

General July Activities you may be involved with at scheduled times or additional dates:
July is a slower time for the garden care and the farm's focus in on maintenance of various farm equipment, website etc. May make blueberry jam and if so, will invite you to join us. May also make it in August. Fall plantings happen now and general garden maintenance.

July Plantings
July is time for fall and winter veggie planting
Aster family: lettuce, frisee
Beet family: beets, spinach, swiss chard
Carrot family: carrots, finnochio, parsley,
Mustard family: radishes, bok choi or joi choi, broccoli, brussel sprouts
Onion family: green onion
Pea family: snow peas, snap peas, some bush peas

General August Activities you may be involved with at scheduled times or additional dates:
Greenhouse activities
Weeding in herb beds and garden
Compost making
Seed collecting as needed
Making jam, preserving foods (freezing, canning, drying)
Food collection
Wine making with berries/grapes as available
Fermentation of veggies
Apple cider, Pear cider some years
Collect herb flowers and herb leaves etc as needed
Harvest hops
Harvest blackberries and elderberries now-Sept for wine etc.
Huckleberry collection class

August
August is time for harvesting as is the month of September. In these two months, you will receive a weekly email telling you of things that will be harvested, when and what type of preparations will be taking place. There will be many chances to learn. The class will also decide on a day to have a harvest potluck in August or September. We will share the bounty from our gardens with each other and our friends and families.

General September Activities you may be involved with at scheduled times or additional dates:
Greenhouse activities
Weeding in herb beds and garden
Compost making
Seed collecting as needed
Making jam, preserving foods (freezing, canning, drying) - demonstrations available of all.
Food collection
Collecting hazelnuts
Plant garlic toward end of month or Oct
Fermentation of veggies
Gardeners Potluck at the farm: Bring your family!

September Plantings & Harvesting
I plant garlic between Sept 15th and Oct 15th usually.
September is time for harvesting and preserving. If we have not yet covered all the necessary things you need to learn about these processes we will cover it here. This is a catch up time if needed.

October
In October there may be grape harvesting. Some years recently the grapes have not ripened enough and it depends on the weather. Some harvesting of pears, apples and other fruits takes place now. This is the time to begin putting the garden to bed for the winter.

Lodging:
Camping on the farm: $15/night per each person. Please enquire about longer stays if interested. Private cabin with a single bed and loft bed available for $35 per night for three or more nights or $45 per night for one night. Includes use of outdoor kitchen and bathroom with hot shower. The cabin is available at reduced price for longer term stays.
Motel 15 minutes away
Many motels/hotels 20 minutes away - click here for details

Fee: The whole summer of learning $425 - $525 sliding scale fee. Includes class time, time in food and herb garden, preserving of vegetables and herbs as well as tasting veggies/fruit and getting to take extra herb, fruit and veg home. You will also get to take home any extra veggie and herb starts. When we weed, we dig up lots of valuable plants that you can take home with you. This includes vegetable babies, herb babies and berry canes. If you join me in the garden on the unscheduled dates to weed and plant, I will send you home with any extra veggies, seeds, starts etc that we may have available on that day.

Discounts: Receive a 15% discount if you register before December 15th, 2012. Receive a 10% discount if you register one month in advance. Refunds available up until three weeks prior to the class starting. There is a 20% surcharge on all refunds up until one month prior to the class when it changes to a 25% surcharge on all refunds. Remember there is a sliding scale for people who need it. Additionally, if you register as a group of 3 or more you can get a discount of 20% at any time. No other discounts can be taken with this 20% discount, but the sliding scale can still be used. For instance if three people are registering as a group for $450 on the sliding scale, they would each get $90 off the fee and pay only $360 each for the entire 9 months of classes.

I encourage you to email/call if you have questions about this class.) 541-736-0164 or class@herbaltransitions.com

Living Garden 2013