Civic Garden Center Calendar of Events, Classes and Tours July, August, September 2013

Dear Partners in Gardening and Environmental Education,

I am sending you the Civic Garden Center’s class line-up for the next two and half months in the hopes that you can share some or all of these listings with your constituents. We hope you will share this exciting calendar of educational opportunities with the people who look to you as a resource. We would be happy to share your events so please feel free to send them to me by email.

Please let me know if you require this information in a different format or if there is anything I can do to assist in your spreading the word about the CGC’s programs. We create events for each class on our facebook page: facebook.com/civicgarden if you wish to share those.

Sincerely,

Ryan Mooney-Bullock
Program Manager, Green Learning Station
Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati
rbullock@civicgardencenter.org
513.221.0981 x22
www.greenlearningstation.org

Garden Pest Problem Solving Panel
Tuesday, July 9, 6:00-8:00 pm
Instructors: Kate Cook, Carriage House Farm and Melinda O’Bryant, Turner Farm
Cost: $10 (free for CGC volunteers)
Summer is here and with it the myriad critters who want to enjoy our fruit, herb and vegetable plants. Bring your burning pest questions to our panel of experts to find out how they handle them. Feel free to bring specimens (both plant and animal) or photographs to serve as clues.

Intro to Passive House
Thursday, July 11, 6:00-8:00 pm
Instructor: James Beck, Builder, Affiliations: PHAUS, Passive House, HERS, Energy Star
Cost: $5 suggested donation
There is a way to combat rising energy prices. Build a home that doesn’t need artificial energy. The passive House Standard is the world’s highest energy efficiency standard. By taking seasonal advantage of interior heat gains and passive solar gains, it drastically reduces the energy load required to operate a building, resulting in about a 90% savings on heating and cooling cost, and about 75% energy savings overall, with a big bonus: a significantly smaller carbon footprint. Think simplicity, flexibility, energy independence, freedom from high utility bills, comfort, health, durability.

Permaculture Series: The Permaculture Yard
Saturday, July 20, 10:00 am-Noon
Location: 5087 Grosse Pointe Lane, Cincinnati, 45238
Instructor: Vince and Amy Stross, Hillside Community Garden Coordinators
Cost: $10 (free for CGC volunteers)
Edible landscaping is building up quite a buzz in the gardening community these days. Food in our yards? What a great idea! Edible forest gardening takes this concept a step further by mimicking the structure and functions of healthy forest ecosystems to add natural resilience, stability and abundance into our edible landscapes. Visit a .10-acre residential permaculture site in its 3rd year of development. See two types of rain harvesting techniques, an edible landscape that includes various fruit trees, berry bushes, and vegetables, and many perennial plantings that both support the health of the soil and a diversity of birds, bees, and butterflies. Hear stories about how the site has been incorporated into a community-building ethic.

Family Class: Munch Your Way through the Garden
Saturday, July 20, 2013 10:30am-Noon or 1:00-2:30pm
Instructor: Madeline Dorger, CGC Youth Education Coordinator
Fee: $5 per participant, registration is required. Contact Madeline at 221-0981 or mdorger@civicgardencenter.org
July is a great time of year to eat tomatoes ripe off the vine. We love to eat straight from the garden in the summer, and so do some of our favorite insects. Munch your way through the garden and discover what other insects help our garden grow.

Fall Vegetable Gardening
Tuesday, July 23, 6:00-8:00 pm
Instructor: Charles Griffin, Our Harvest CSA Farm Manager
Cost: $10 (free for CGC Volunteers)
Most of us think that spring is the time to pour all our energy and resources into the garden – but the fall garden offers a bounty that can take you into winter and even into the next year. Come to explore the crops that are suitable for fall planting and harvesting, crops for overwintering, season extension methods and how these crops fit into a rotation planting schedule.

Lovely and Luscious Lamiaceae
Tuesday, July 30, 6:00-8:00 pm
Instructor: Sue Trusty, Horticulturist
Cost: $10 (free for CGC volunteers)
Also known as the mint family, this is the third largest plant family worldwide. It includes many plants of culinary and ornamental interest, including herbs (mint, sage, basil), landscape plants (beebalm, Russian sage, coleus), medicinal plants (horehound, chaste tree) and a few unusual members (lion’s ear, patchouli, teak). Members of this family are widely grown in our area, not only because of their aromatic qualities but also their ease of cultivation. Come learn the fun facts about the mint family!

Preserving the Harvest: Water Bath Canning
Wednesday, July 31, 6:00-8:00 pm
Instructors: Betsy DeMateo & Jennifer Even, OSU Extension Agency
Cost: $10 (free to CGC Volunteers)
Do you want to preserve fruit, jams, jellies, tomatoes, or salsa? Come find out how to can safely and efficiently. With water bath banning you can preserve your garden harvest to enjoy delicious, high quality products throughout the year.

Season Extenders: How to build and use cold frames and low hoop tunnels
Saturday, August 8, 10:00 am-Noon
Instructor: Peter Huttinger, Neighborhood Gardens Program Coordinator
Cost: $10 (free for CGC volunteers)
Harvest cool weather crops later in the fall and sooner in the spring by protecting them from the weather with a cold frame or low-hoop tunnel. In this hands-on workshop you will learn how to design and build a system that will work for your vegetable garden. You will also learn strategies for using hoop tunnels and cold frames successfully, and ideas for where to find materials at low cost.

Preserving the Harvest: Freezing, Drying, Pickling and Fermenting
Wednesday, August 14, 6:00-8:00 pm
Instructor: Besty DeMateo & Jennifer Even, OSU Extension Agency, Hamilton County
Cost: $10 (free for CGC Volunteers)
Discover even more ways to make your harvest last longer by fermenting and drying your vegetables. Sauerkraut is just one way to preserve cabbage, but you can also make a delicious Kimchi. Tomatoes, fruits, squash and others can be dried for a taste of garden freshness even through the winter. Don’t miss this opportunity to stretch your garden harvest for months longer!

Cooking the Garden’s Bounty
Saturday, August 17, 12:00-2:00 pm
Instructors: Cecelia and Madeline Dorger
Location: Eco Garden, 1720 Main St, Cincinnati, OH (just north of Liberty in Over the Rhine)
Cost: $10 (free for CGC volunteers)
What better place to learn how to cook scrumptious food than in the very place where it is grown. Come to the Eco Garden, harvest the bounty, and cook up a meal with us. This garden is the very heart of urban agriculture. The Ebner family works in this garden with neighborhood teenagers to grow garlic, greens, tomatoes, and gorgeous squash. We will pick the produce as part of the class and cook it on-site for a late afternoon lunch. Bring your appetite for knowledge and tasty food alike!

The Joy of Heirloom Tomatoes
Tuesday, August 20, 2013, 6:00-8:00 pm
Instructor: Jerry Luebbe, President – Cincinnati Heirloom Open Pollinated Tomato Associate Growers (CHOPTAG)
Cost: $10 (free for CGC volunteers)
Join us for a tomato taste test in the height of the season to sample a wide variety of heirloom tomatoes. Pick up ideas for which varieties to grow next year and how to use them in your kitchen. Learn the art of tomato seed saving so you can pass on your own heirloom seeds.

The Bird Friendly Landscape
Thursday, August 22, 6:00-8:00 pm
Instructor: Sue Trusty, Horticulturist
Cost: $10 (free for CGC volunteers)
It’s fun and interesting to incorporate plants in the landscape that will attract the interest of our flying feathered friends. This presentation reveals the secrets to attracting birds to your yard using appropriate plants and landscaping. Also learn how to make your backyard a certified wildlife habitat.

Rawsome: Preparing and Eating Raw Foods
Thursday, August 29, 6:00-8:00 pm
Cost: $20 ($10 for CGC volunteers)
Summer brings fresh foods from the garden. In this evening session we will introduce what raw food is and simple ways to include more living foods in your diet. Create and enjoy some delicious raw foods in the class and take home supplies to help you incorporate raw foods into your daily diet.

Making the Most of Perennials: How to Dig, Divide and Transplant
Saturday, September 7, 10:00 am-Noon
Instructor: Bennett O. Dowling, CGC Horticulturist
Cost: $10 (free for CGC volunteers)
Spring and fall are two ideal times for dividing and transplanting your perennials. This class will be a hands-on demonstration of dividing certain common perennials as well as a discussion of which perennials prefer certain times of year for division. Take away tips for effective transplanting with minimal shock, and hopefully a confidence boost to get over that fear of hurting your plants (they’re tougher than you think)!

Managing Rain on your Property: Tour and Talk
Monday, September 9, 5:30-7:00pm
Instructor: Ryan Mooney-Bullock, GLS Program Coordinator
Cost: Free.
Did you know that 14 billion gallons of raw sewage and stormwater flow into our region’s streams each year during rain events? Explore the ways the Green Learning Station is reducing the amount of stormwater that goes into our sewer system and develop your own list of actions to take at home. This class will cover the key things to consider when selecting green stormwater controls and will provide you with ideas and resources for getting started on your project. All ages welcome.

Putting Your Garden to Bed
Saturday, September 21, 1:00-3:00 pm
Instructor: Peter Huttinger, Community Gardens Coordinator
Cost: $10 (free for CGC Volunteers)
This class will discuss the seasonal cycles of the garden with an emphasis on building healthy soil, including the use of green manure crops and composting. Most of the class will take place in one of our community gardens so dress to be outside, working with soil and cover crops.

Saving Seeds
Tuesday, September 17, 6:00–8:00 pm
Instructor: Sue Trusty, Horticulturist
Cost: $10 (free for CGC Volunteers)
Collecting seed from plants can be exciting, economical and is essential for preserving genetic diversity of plants. Through discussion and demonstration, find out how to collect and store seed from annuals, perennials and woody plants; learn the best references to use in determining collection techniques; discover the difference between hybrids and open-pollinated plants.

History of Hauck’s Sooty Acres: talk and tour
Saturday, September 28, 2:00-3:00 pm
Guide: Bennett O. Dowling, CGC Horticulturist
Cost: Free as part of the Great Outdoor Weekend
When gardening enthusiast Cornelius J. Hauck landscaped this property in the first half of the 20th century, he named it Sooty Acres in reference to the smoggy air of this urban site. Despite all the challenges of city living, many of his original specimen trees and shrubs thrive. Learn about the history of the gardens and some of the interesting heritage trees on the grounds, such as a rare oak, and other specimens you do not commonly see in our region.

Green Learning Station Tours
To learn more about the Green Learning Station’s features, stop by during daylight hours for a self-guided tour using our educational signage and QR code-linked videos. Want to talk to a real person? Attend one of the guided tours listed below. Tours happen the last Saturday of the month in the spring, summer and fall at 10 am and 11 am. See below for specific dates and tour descriptions. Tours begin at the base of the Green Learning Station steps, are engaging and interactive, fun for the whole family and free. You will be outside in the sun for a full hour so please plan accordingly.

10:00 am tour: Growing Food in the City
Growing food isn’t just for farmers! At the Civic Garden Center we grow food in pots, on rooftops and in our own “backyard.” Learn easy strategies for getting started with urban (or suburban) vegetable gardens on this tour that will have you tasting, tromping and digging in the dirt (and compost).

11:00 am tour: Slowing Stormwater in the City
Did you know that you can help improve the quality of the Ohio River from your own backyard? Visit the Green Learning Station to find out how we are keeping rain where it falls and what you can do at home to do the same.

2013 Tour Dates: July 27, August 31, September 28, October 26

Additional information about and online registration for each of the above events and programs is available at www.CivicGardenCenter.org. Registrations can also be made over the phone at 513.221.0981.

The Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati is a gardening resource dedicated to building community through gardening, education and environmental stewardship. Its delightfully landscaped eight acres located on Reading Road two-and-a-half miles from downtown Cincinnati are open Monday to visitors Monday through Saturday from 9am to 4pm at no charge. The grounds are maintained by volunteers who donate their time and provide financial support. The non-profit organization was founded in 1942.

The Civic Garden Center provides education and information to individuals, schools, organizations and businesses through its Horticulture Hotline, Hoffman library, classes, hands-on workshops, tours, field trips and special events. The Neighborhood Gardens program touches over 40 communities throughout the tri-state.

2715 Reading Rd., Cincinnati, Ohio 45206, 513/ 221-0981

(12-11-19 redirect from lohre.com)