Come join the GANG! Green Acres Neighborhood Garden

Green Acres Neighborhood Association is excited to present a new series of eight monthly workshops open to Green Acres residents, the Bloomington Permaculture Guild, and the general public. Participants will learn how to grow a permaculture garden in our local area from seed to harvest. In addition, anyone who agrees to help maintain the garden between workshops will be entitled to participate in its bounty.

The purpose of this Green Acres initiative is threefold:
* To promote connectivity, food security, and celebration in our neighborhood and to encourage other neighborhoods to do the same.
* To promote permaculture principles and practice by demonstrating the creation of a neighborhood garden.
* To promote the concept of public/private collaboration for the common good.

Where: 2601 E. Dekist
When: March 28, April 25-26, May 23, June 27-28, July 25, August 22, September 26, October 24

Fees: $100 for all eight workshops or $15 per class day, neighbor and volunteer discounts available

SPACE IS LIMITED to twenty participants; contact Ann Kreilkamp by March 14 at 334-1987 or arkcrone@gmail.com to register for the workshops or with any questions about the workshops.

Details of each workshop are in the full post.

Green Acres Neighborhood Garden
2009 Monthly Workshops

Saturday, March 28, 10am - 4pm

Getting Grounded in the Earth:

Planting and Transplanting Useful Trees and Shrubs

The condiditons of a planting site are as important as the plant. Soil type and drainage, available water and sunlight, exposure to drying winds, winter stresses, predation, and other factors must be considered. Matching the needs of the plant to the site increases survivability, performance, and longevity.

At this event we will be learning how to transplant shrubs to new locations and how to plant new fruiting shrubs and trees. A short lecture/slideshow (with handouts) opens the day and then we will move directly into the landscape for hands-on planting and transplating demonstrations. 12:30 pm - BYO lunch (refreshments provided)

Saturday and Sunday, April 25-26, 10am - 5pm

A Carpet Sandwich, Please - Hold the Water:

Small Pond Construction for Rainwater Catchment and Irrigation

The hole has already been dug, so the remaining tasks are a breeze. Learn all about shaping the sides and bottom, lining with a carpet/plastic/carpet sandwich, installing stone edging, creating a silt trap/wetland bog, installing edible and flowering water and bog plants and finishing touches.

Lecture and slideshow (with handouts) at the start of the first day and hands on tasks for remainder with breaks at 12:30 for BYO lunch (snacks and refreshments provided).

Saturday, May 23, 10am - 5pm

Mulch Ado About Something Delicious:

The Lasagna Style Instant No-Dig Garden

People complain about having black thumbs in the garden. In fact, that's the right color. When we focus on feeding and growing soil the earth gets blacker. Healthier soil means healthier plants (and healthier people too). You can have a grean AND black thumb without an aching back and learn to make, in a few short hours, an instant organic food garden that needs almost no weeding.

Learn how a small amount of additional garden work will develop, expand, mulch and plant existing beds that can be made using soil previously excavated from the pond and drainage earthworks. Lecture and slideshow (with handouts) at the start of the day and hands-on tasks for the remainder with break at 12:30 for BYO lunch (snacks and refreshments provided).

Saturday and Sunday, June 27 & 28, 9:30am - 5pm

The Fascinating, Fully-Featured, Fabulous, Functional, Ferrocement Fence

Learn through lecture, slideshow and demonstration how to build a beautiful, strong, long-lasting fence that will exclude deer, provide a trellis for grapes and espaliered fruit, including built-in seating, and create microclimates for sensitive plants. The technique, utilizing a skeleton of rebar and steel with a skin of mortar, has been used to build 300 ft long boats, water tanks, and houses.

We can teach you how, over the course of two days, to build a beautiful and functional garden element by attaching 6-inch rebar mesh to preinstalled rebar uprights and then applying mortar coats to both sides and finishing with a final earth tone-tinted coat of waterproofing cement. Your fence can be customized for your garden space and designed in an attractive wave pattern for extra strength, featuring alcoves for lighting and the potential for three-dimensional sculputural elements.

Lecture and slideshow (with handouts) at the start of day one and hands-on tasks for the remainder with breaks at 12:30 for BYO lunch (snacks and refreshments provided).

Saturday, July 25, 9am - 5:30pm

Planning, Prepping, and Planting for the Fall Garden

The "end" of the growing season is the best time for many of the garden's best yields, especially with early planning. Warm soil and cool breezes encourage rapid growth of many food crops and there's less concern about bugs and weeds. Fall is also a great time to add trees and shrubs when the warm soil nutures the new plants. This class will consider the species options, essential seeding and transplant tasks, and general garden prep for an extended and abundant fall harvest.

Lecture and slideshow (with handouts) at start of the day and hands-on tasks for remainder with break at 12:30 for BYO lunch (snacks and refreshments provided).

August 22, 9am-5:30pm

Drought- and Stress-proofing Your Home and Garden

The most important principles of drought-proof gardening are to understand your climate and microclimate, take good care of the soil, and select appropriate plants. In this class you will learn how to have happy, thriving plants in hot, dry periods as well as in the deep freeze of winter. We'll consider how to disease proof your garden too. We will also look at the strategies for stress-proofing your home through all the seasons.

Lecture and slideshow (with handouts) start the day and hands-on tasks for the remainder with break at 12:30 for BYO lunch (snacks and refreshments provided).

September 26, 9am - 5:30pm

Preserving the Harvest: Canning, Drying, and Fermentation for Food Security

Instant and fast "foods" have colonized the psyche of our culture and displaced the ancient arts of food preservation. We have thus become more dependant and less able to care for ourselves and families. The rising costs of production oblige us all to relearn and reclaim the skills that were commonplace to our elders. This one-day class will examine and apply the basic means of creating a food reserve for improved winter nutrition, lower food costs, and a healthier diet.

Lecture and slideshow (with handouts) at the start of the day and hands-on tasks for the remainder with break at 12:30 for BYO lunch (snacks and refreshments provided).

October 24, 9am - 5:30pm

Extending the Growing Season

The twin challenges of climate change and energy decline will require us to make the most of opportunities to lengthen both ends of the growing season. We'll take ca loste look at the multi-tude of options including cold and hot frames, cloches, greenhouses, wind barriers, heat islands, and other features. A wider array of plant choices can also so a long way to extend our food production. Year-round production is not out of the question for Indiana. We will explore several successful models thriving in much colder climates.

Lecture and slideshow (with handouts) at the start of the day and hands-on tasks for remainder with break at 12:30 for BYO lunch (snacks and refreshments provided).

Instructor and Project Director: Keith Johnson

botanist, gardener, and permaculturist; keithdj@mindspring.com

Registrar and Project Manager: Ann Kreilkamp

2601 DeKist property owner and steward; arkcrone@gmail.com

This Green Acres Neighborhood Garden (GANG) Initiative is sponsored by the Green Acres Neighborhood Association (GANA) in cooperation with The Bloomington Permaculture Guild, Transition Bloomington, Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Economy (APPLE), Renaissance Permaculture Farm, and Permaculture Activist magazine.