Enjoy Five Dollar Gardening Classes at the Co-op this Summer!
Acquire gardening advice from the experts this summer! Valley Natural Foods is teaming up with the Dakota County Master Gardeners to provide some top notch, inexpensive, $5.00 gardening classes (for members) that will bring your skill set to the next level! All proceeds from these classes will benefit the Dakota County Master Gardeners’ program. This year the program has faced cuts and is in need of support.
The mission of the Master Gardener program is to teach others in the community about horticulture. In Dakota County, there are more than 130 active Master Gardeners who volunteer several thousand hours per year. A love of gardening, a search for knowledge and a desire to share that knowledge with others is central to why people join the Master Gardener program. They remain Master Gardeners to enjoy the friendship of others who share their interests, to gain and share research-based horticultural knowledge and to give back to the community through their volunteer commitment. The Dakota County Master Gardeners teaching at Valley Natural Foods this summer are: Shari Mayer, JoAnne Sabin, John Zweber, and Paul Wood.
Our June-Sept. 2011 class series booklet will be in-store soon but here are a few $5.00 gardening classes that you can sign-up for today! Call 952-891-1212 ext. 221 to register or stop by customer service. You can also view our co-op calendar for a complete listing of these and other classes through this September.
Raving about Raingardens
Tuesday, June 7th, 2011
6:30-8:00 p.m.
Instructor: JoAnne Sabin
$5.00/members, $8.00/non-members
Rain gardens are a great way to add beautiful landscaping to your yard and protect overloaded urban streams at the same time. A rain garden is a garden of native perennials, grasses and shrubs planted in a depression which captures rainwater runoff from your roof, driveway and patio. Rain gardens significantly reduce the amount of storm water runoff and surface water pollution leaving your property. In this class, learn how to assess your site to determine the best location and size, how to calculate impervious surfaces, determine soil suitability, choose appropriate plants, and how to maintain your new rain garden.
Square-Foot Gardening
Saturday, June 11th, 2011
12:00-1:00 p.m.
Instructor: John Zweber
$5.00/members, $8.00/non-members
Learn the basics of Square-Foot Gardening, the practice of planning small, but intensively planted gardens. Attend this class to understand how to select a proper site, construct a square foot garden, determine the right amount of plants, maintain proper plant care, along with learning harvesting and other methods to extend the growing season. Square-Foot Gardening is less work, it saves water, creates less weeds, is pesticide/herbicide free, is easily accessible and can effectively utilizes small spaces.
Tags: dakota county master gardeners, Education, gardening classes