Home & Garden

An introduction to the basics of organic gardening, presented by the Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association (MOFGA). Interested in learning how to grow your own vegetables in a sustainable manner? Join us for an evening-long workshop on how to grow your own garden organically. We'll talk about the basics of soil science and how to enrich your soil to produce healthy, high-yielding plants. The course will also cover the fundamentals of making and using compost, the principles of crop rotation and how to incorporate green manures to manage nutrients in the garden. Other topics will include how to tell the difference between cultivated plants and weeds, basic weed control strategies and cultural methods for dealing with pests. The instructor will be an experienced farmer or gardener from your region. We will even receive free seeds! All are welcome, from first-timers to experienced gardeners who want to experiment with new techniques.  This is a live online class with ZOOM.

In this two-part workshop, we will focus on organic methods to help gardeners and homesteaders establish and maintain healthy fruit trees for home fruit production. 

In Part 1, we will discuss variety selection and soil preparation for planting young fruit trees, as well as how to grow a young tree in its early years before flowering and fruit production.  This is a live online workshop using ZOOM.

C. J. Walke has been working for the Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association since 2006 and for the past decade, he has focused on providing technical services to farmers and teaching practical skills related to organic tree fruit cultivation.

In this workshop, we will discuss backyard composting as a method to manage kitchen food scraps and debris from your gardens and lawns, as well as how to recycle those nutrients into usable compost that can go back into your soil.  We will cover the biology of the composting process and different techniques for successful backyard composting.  This is a live on-line workshop.

Makeup class, if needed, 03/02/22.

C. J. Walke has been working for the Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association since 2006 and for the past decade, he has focused on providing technical services to farmers and teaching practical skills related to organic tree fruit cultivation.

Beekeeping is a wonderful and fascinating hobby and for Peter, a profession, or should that be obsession? This 90 minute interactive class explores what it is like to keep bees, what is the equipment needed, where to go for help and advice, what is the cost and what are the rewards.

For those who decide to take up the hobby, Peter will be running several follow-up, in depth classes. Have your list of questions ready!  This is a live online class using ZOOM.

 Peter Cowin aka, the Bee Whisperer, started keeping bees in the 70’s at the age of 11, and now tends to more than 130 colonies. He is past President of Penobscot County Beekeepers Association and mentor to many local beekeepers. Peter runs a beekeeping supply store in Hampden Maine. He sells packaged bees and produces queensand makes hundreds of nucleus colonies for sale each year. His bees produce thousands of pounds of honey per year sold under the Bee Whisperer name. Peter has been teaching beekeeping at his honey farm and in Adult Ed for more than 8 years.