Upcoming Workshops: Vermicomposting, Fruit Tree Care

By | January 5, 2015

From The Living Arts School:

Worms! Indoor Vermicomposting

Have you been thinking of starting a worm farm? Does reducing and recycling your kitchen waste sound appealing?  Red wrigglers are the best recyclers in the world – converting nearly their own weight into black gold every day!
Vermicomposting is apartment-friendly, does not smell (bad), and is a great way to recycle your kitchen scraps into valuable nutrients.  It’s also a great system to introduce to your classroom!

Learn about worm biology, basic composting chemistry, the uses of worm castings and how to brew compost/worm tea!   This hands-on workshop with have worm farm demos which include building and maintaining your own worm farm. Plus, you will take home free worm starters to begin vermicomposting immediately!

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Instructor Tara Rae Kent currently garden-farms on the Front Range of Colorado.  Tara Rae holds an Advanced Permaculture Design Certificate and Permaculture Teacher’s Certificate.   An avid composter, she has been vermi-composting for over a decade, starting dozens of folks with worm farms every year.  She teaches at her home as well as around the state of Colorado offering various Permaculture and urban farming classes at schools and festivals.  She has managed several greenhouses, USDA-organic, non-certified organic, and permaculture farms with experience in 3 climate zones – cool and wet; cool and dry; and warm and wet.   Over the last 15 years, Tara Rae has worked in scientific laboratories for universities, taught water quality monitoring classes, and authored a nature center field guidebook. She holds a Master’s Degree in Freshwater Ecology, and works as an environmental scientist/ecologist for HDR EOC.  Her passion for sustainable living has led her to volunteer for the Sustain Arvada Advisory Board to City Council, making recommendations for sustainable community development and vitality.

No experience necessary.  This is a Parent & Child approved workshop, meaning that your child ages 6-13 may come to the workshop with you, for a reduced price.  Seniors also receive a discount off of their registration fee.  Minimum of 4 participants, maximum of 15.  Pre-registration is required.

Sunday, February 8th, 1:30-4pm.  $40.  Register here

 

Why, How & When Do We Prune? Fruit Tree Care for Everyone

Join us for a comprehensive exploration of the art of dormant fruit tree pruning and training.  Learn how to encourage your trees to yield high quality fruit much earlier in their lives and live significantly longer, as well as proper techniques for removing dead, diseased, or broken limbs.

During this workshop we will meet at Morning Side Orchard to discuss why, how and when we should prune our fruit trees.  We will walk through the orchard and look at young and old trees,  and talk about what to look for in the structure of the tree when pruning. Hands-on practice with pruning, and techniques for making the proper cuts will be an important part of this workshop, so that all participants can leave with the know-how to care for their own fruit trees.

Please note: All participants must arrive with their own set of pruning shears, in order to have the chance to practice the techniques we will be learning in the workshop.  This is an outdoor workshop, so please dress warmly.

Instructor Wesley Swartz has always been close to nature.  He first started working in nurseries at a very young age and eventually traveled to Europe to supplement his education by working on organic farms and nurseries in Italy and Spain.  He has been managing a private orchard in Boulder for the last 5 years and teaches classes on orcharding and permaculture to interested community members.  Wesley truly loves everything associated with orchard life—beekeeping, composting, guild planting and grafting–and his passion for what he does is contagious.

No experience necessary.  Please bring a pair of pruning shears and a notebook & pen.  For participants ages 14 and older, minimum of 4 participants, maximum of 15.

Saturday, February 14th, 1-4pm.  $45.  Register here

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