SLIDING SCALE

Our virtual workshops are available with sliding scale pricing. The lowest price, our "institutional" price is for use by teachers at public schools who are incorporating gardening into their curriculum or anyone who is running or involved in a nonprofit organization focused on the intersection of social justice, the environment, food justice and/or sustainability.

Virtul Workshops during Covid-19

For the past 6 years we have been teaching an introductory veggie gardening workshop for beginner gardeners at our urban farm & plant nursery. Covid-19 has moved the workshop online, but we are still just as excited to share all of our knowledge & resources with you this season. One other big change to our gardening workshop is that we've decided to make it into a series! In the past we tried to cram all of our most essential tips and tricks into one 3 hour info-bonanza. It could be challenging for people to soak it all in. This season we are splitting the workshop into 4 sections that will focus on what is happening in your garden during each specific season. Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer have all been filmed and are available to watch online!

VIRTUAL WORKSHOP: INTRODUCTION TO VEGGIE GARDENING IN SOUTH FLORIDA - VIDEO 1, FALL

Video one is our "fall" section and it focuses on starting a new veggie garden in your yard & planning its initial planting. We start with an hour long lecture-style discussion on topics such as picking the right location for a garden, the USDA hardiness zone map and how to use it, soil types, plant spacing and our list of easy to grow crops. After the lecture we move on to a hands on demonstration where we install & plant a standard 4 x 8 foot raised bed. We will go through all of the steps outlined in the lecture, show you how we chose the location, how we built the raised bed, and we plant some popular herbs in the garden to show you our favorite planting & watering techniques.

VIRTUAL WORKSHOP: INTRODUCTION TO VEGGIE GARDENING IN SOUTH FLORIDA - VIDEO 3, SPRING

Video three is our "spring" section and it focuses on what to do to continue working in your garden after your main fall planting and take the best advantage of the rest of the season. We start with an hour long lecture-style discussion of how spring weather effect your plants, which new crops are best for planting now that its heating up, and we cover the basics of organic pest management practices. After that we move on to a hands on demonstration where we use our exhibition garden to talk about saving seeds, and after that farmer Chris French will show us his big messy compost pile and his stash of leaf bags while he talks about the importance of composting with spring leaf abundance.

VIRTUAL WORKSHOP: INTRODUCTION TO VEGGIE GARDENING IN SOUTH FLORIDA - VIDEO 2, WINTER

Video two is our "winter" section and it focuses on what to do to continue working in your garden after your main fall planting. This video also starts with an hour long lecture on topics like crops for cooler weather, succession planting for continual harvest through the season as well as methods for continued organic fertility and pest management. After that we move on to a hands on demonstration where we use the verdant fields of French Farms to show some hands on techniques like thinning root crops, harvest lettuce and herbs using the "cut and come again" method and farmer Chris French will walk us through his tomato patch so we can see his trellising and pruning methods in action.

VIRTUAL WORKSHOP: INTRODUCTION TO VEGGIE GARDENING IN SOUTH FLORIDA - VIDEO 4, SUMMER

Video three is our final workshop which focuses on growing food for yourself through our most challenging season: SUMMER! Summer is challenging because its when the weather in South Florida is at its most extreme. Its extra rainy, extra humid and extra hot which means many of the traditional veggies we are used to eating simply wont grow. But thats ok! There are many crops eaten around the world in other Tropical climates that will thrive during the summer like lemongrass, turmeric, bananas, sweet potatoes, tropical spinaches and winged beans. In this video we talk about perennial fruit tree plantings from how to design them to what plants to include, and then we visit the fields of French Farms to discuss the importance of cover cropping for the success of your veggie garden come fall. The best part about this workshop is that its FREE! Thats right, this workshop is free to watch online anytime. We are just really excited about sharing information about summer growing!

RESOURCE GUIDE

We get a lot of emails from community members looking for help learning about farming, gardening, and all aspects of the local food community. We have an ongoing list of links in the following categories:

Fellow Farmers, Gardeners & Exciting Plant Projects

Local Herbalists & Bee Keepers

Farm, Garden & Food Books

Websites and Organizations for Online Learning & Research

Companies we buy seeds and supplies from

Whether it's through an educational workshop, a quick stop at our farmers market booth, or a visit to our edible plant nursery we strive to always be empowering our customers to grow their own food & medicine at home through education & exposure to farming in an urban environment.

- Muriel and Tiffany