Environmental and High Tech Gardening,, The best of both
Class Description
People get passionate about gardening. Some get their back up about it. Environment friendly becomes a buzz word. The other side of that coin has a saying "Organic Gardening means It Doesn’t Work" So which is right? Save the Planet? grow a Garden that isnt 9/10ths weeds? I like to take from both camps. Both have virtues, both have failures. Neither is so righteous as the proponents believe. Come with your arguments for or against. I can show you why High Tech can be non polluting, and Organic can get the job done right. Both have a lot to offer to the open-minded student.
Class Requirements
You should have a desire to learn Gardening and even if you know it well, be ready to rethink some common misconceptions.
Class Supplies
If you want your experience to be more than theoretical, I recommend 1) a small space in afternoon sun to garden. 2) basic garden tools, Hand Pick, hoe, shovel, yard rake, 3) Fertilizer which we will discuss in early classes WHICH ONES. 4) seed or bedding plants of your choice
Frequently asked Questions I heard A LOT
Why do all my plants die? I have a brown thumb
Growing a plant is not a decorating decision, nor like adopting a puppy or kitten. It has to do with knowing where the plant originally comes from and duplicating that environment as much as possible.
Why should I fertilize? Don't plants get their food from sun water and soil?
Plants combine minerals (micronutrients) from the soil, CO2 from the air, light from the sun, and water to make photosynthesis. The element everyone forgets is the building block of plant tissue, Nitrogen. It is the meat and potatoes with micro nutrients in the soil as vitamins.
But don't plants get Nitrogen from rain and soil? No one fertilizes the forests, yet the trees grow tall and strong.
In very small amounts there is Nitrogen in rain. In smaller amounts it is also in soil. But soil doesn’t retain nitrogen past the plant using it, and two hours after a rain the water has lost its nitrogen as well. Forests depend on animal urine and feces, bone and blood all have high nitrogen contents, and the death of other plants who surrender their gathered recourses back to the soil. For every tree in the forest, 100 smaller trees died and gave up their minerals and food stuff.
My plants have a mystery illness. I am doing everything right yet they still look terrible.
Plant illness is a direct result of poor or improper care. The biggest enemy of your garden, is ignorance of plants.