Come share the adventure of starting and maintining a back yard or front yard home orchard. Topics to be covered will include: An introduction to the wide variety of fruit trees that can be grown in Michigan; considerations in selecting among the varieties available; choosing a site; preparing and planting a young tree; fruit tree forms and how to train young trees; and their annual care, including pruning and organic pest management.

Class Instructor: Royer Held

This class is free, but donations are appreciated. Please contact if you have any questions.

This class will teach you basic organic gardening methods. The class will cover topics such as soil quality and amendments, garden planning, plant nutrients and other organic plant care methods.

Project Grow Instructor:  Royer Held

Class is free, although donations will be gladly accepted.  Please contact us at info@projectgrowgardens.org for questions.

Learn to save heirloom plant varieties for future generations while enjoying them today. There are a multitude of heirloom vegetable varieties that survive today thanks to home gardeners like you. Discover the importance of seed saving and key seed saving techniques. Find out how to create and maintain your own heirloom vegetable varieties.

Project Grow Instructor:  Royer Held

Class is free, although donations will be gladly accepted. Please contact us at info@projectgrowgardens.org for questions.

The secrets to selecting, starting, and growing exceptionally delicious tomatoes and hot peppers, using organic cultivation practices will be revealed. Come learn about the best cultivars to grow and get tips to ensure a bountiful harvest.

Project Grow Instructor:  Royer Held

Class is free, although donations will be gladly accepted.  Please contact us at info@projectgrowgardens.org for questions.

Growing unusual potato varieties is easy and fun and they taste better than store-bought too! Learn about the history and characteristics of different potato varieties and how to raise them from seed or tubers.

Project Grow Instructor:  Royer Held

Class is free, although donations will be gladly accepted.  Please contact us at info@projectgrowgardens.org for questions.

This workshop is the first of two on composting and will cover different methods of hot and cold composting that are applicable in a community garden plot, backyard garden, and even in your kitchen! Master Composters Joet Reoma and Jesse Raudenbush will lead the class as well as a tour of Project Grow's Composting Education Center at Leslie Science Center. Come dressed for the weather. No fee, but pre-registration is required.

If you have a limited garden space but unlimited dreams of growing vegetables and flowers, come to this workshop on Square Foot Gardening to learn how to make them a reality. This established method of gardening, led by certified Square Foot Gardening instructor, James Lee, will show you how to set up your bed and to garden without weeds or the need for chemical fertilizers. Class will be held rain or shine; come dressed for the weather and to work outside. Fee: $10.00 per person; $15.00 per couple. Pre-registration and payment required.

The first of three workshops on beekeeping will introduce you to the world of bees. Topics to be covered include how to select, buy, and maintain the queen and her subjects and how to build and maintain a hive. Students will get to check out the hives of the instructor, Meghan Millbrath, located in the apple orchard of the Discovery Garden at Leslie Science Center. Come dressed for the weather.  No fee, but pre-registration is required.   In case of rain, class will be held on Sunday, April 21st, from 10am-noon.

This second workshop on beekeeping will take place at the hives maintained by Meghan Millbrath, instructor, that are located within the Discovery Garden at the Leslie Science Center. The hives will be checked to see how they are doing, after which students will be shown how to make splits in the hive. Come dressed for the weather. In case of rain, class will be held on Sunday, May 5th, from 10am-noon.

This workshop is the second on composting and focuses on the science of vermiculture or the use of worms to compost kitchen and other organic waste. Students will learn how to start and maintain a worm composting bin, as well as the benefits of worm castings in your garden. Les by Jesse Raudenbush, a third generation vermiculturist at Starr Valley Farms, students will also take home a pound of red wrigglers, a worm composting bin, and notes on how to maintain an active worm bin. Fee: $30.00 per person. Pre-registration and payment required.

The final workshop on beekeeping will cover pests and pathogens that can impact beehives. Again, the work will be done at the hives maintained by Meghan Millbrath, instructor, within the Discovery Garden, at the Leslie Science.  Come dressed for the weather.   In case of rain, Sunday, May 26, 2013, 10am-noon.

Want go grow beautiful flowering perennials, but aren't sure how to do it? Come to this class to learn how! Taught by Kirk Jones, who maintained an extensive garden of perennials that formed the basis of his bouquet business, Good Scents Gardens, this class will focus on how to design and start a perennial garden. Topics covered will include combining colors, season of bloom, and how the plant looks all the time it is not in bloom. Time will be allowed for individual questions and problems.

Becky Hutchins, professional grower and hybridizer of day lilies, will be teaching a class on day lilies:  how to hybridize them, collect and grow out the resulting seeds, and plant them successfully in the spring.  She will also answer questions you may have about day lilies in general, about your own day lilies, and about her own collection of day lilies.  If you have ever wanted to know more about the genera, this class is for you.  Class size is limited to 20, so register early.