Fall Gardening Basics Classes

Each fall Urban Harvest offers a six-part series providing the basic skills of gardening and laying the foundation for growing organic vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs and lawns in the southeast Texas climate. This series is excellent for folks new to gardening, new to growing vegetables or new to organic practices in the garden. You may sign up for any individual class or take the whole series at a discount. Instructors include some of the most well-known and respected organic gardening specialists in the Houston area.

Calendar of Classes and Events

The Gardening Basics series typically begins in early September and is held on a weekday evening in the Urban Harvest classroom. For pricing, class dates and times,check our Classes and Events calendar in August.

Classes include:

• Class #1--Backyard Composting: learn to make compost using garden refuse, yard waste, and other organic materials.
• Class #2--Working with Soils & Mulches: teaches you how to have good soil using organic sources.
• Class #3--Fertilizing Fundamentals: explores the many excellent organic fertilizers on the market today. The basics of soil fertility, plant nutrition, and fertilizer application tools, techniques, and scheduling will be profiled.
• Class #4--Ecological Pest Management: teaches how to manage pest problems in your garden by encouraging pests to have their own pests.
• Class #5--Learn to Grow Transplants: A Focus on Tomatoes & Peppers: teaches you to grow vegetables and other plants from seeds that begin either indoors or in a greenhouse and are transplanted to the ground. Receive information on everything from building a greenhouse to purchasing a light for less than $15 that grows more than 100 transplants.
• Class #6--Irrigation for Gardeners: shows you how to have a great garden while using water efficiently.

Below is detailed information on each class.

Gardening Basics 1: Backyard Composting
Compost is one of the best soil amendments you can add to your garden. It improves plant health, makes the soil more fertile, helps retain water in dry periods and decreases soil erosion and disease damage during wet ones. One way to get good compost is to buy it, but an even better way is to make it using garden refuse, yard waste and other organic materials that are available free. As well, you get healthful exercise and reduce landfill and pollution. In this class, you will get hands-on lessons in composting so come ready for gardening.

Gardening Basics 2: Working With Soils And Mulches
In this class you will learn the basics of soil preparation, bed building, estimating soil amounts needed, selecting soil blends and amendments, and how to select and use mulches. This class will also include a primer on soil structure and the soil food web. The soil food web relates to the relationship between nutrients, water, organic matter cycles, beneficial microorganisms and their interactions with the soil and surrounding environment. Bring a small baggie with some of your garden soil.

Gardening Basics 3: Fertilizing Fundamentals
This class will explore the basics of soil fertility and plant nutrition, as well as the many excellent organic fertilizers available for landscape and food crops. Application techniques will be profiled as will fertilization schedules.

Gardening Basics 4: Growing Transplants With A Focus On Tomatoes
Every spring and fall gardeners search the stores for the right varieties of peppers and tomatoes. Often, they settle for a poor selection of non-organic, expensive transplants. In this class, learn to grow transplants from seed with everything from a greenhouse you build to a light you can buy for less than $15 that will grow 100 plants.

Gardening Basics 5: Ecological Pest Management
Learn how to manage pest problems in your landscape and garden by enhancing and restoring landscape ecology. You will learn how to provide habitat to attract and sustain beneficial organisms. These destroy your pests. Specific plants, insects, habitat requirements and management techniques will be covered. Feel free to bring pictures or a baggy filled with your latest insect problems (leaves or insects).

Gardening Basics 6: Irrigation For Gardeners
Grow a beautiful garden while protecting the watershed and reducing the load on our natural resources. Be able to vacation in July without losing your landscape investment. Summer is the perfect time for using a water-conserving irrigation system, but winter is the perfect time for planning it and installing it. This class compares several types of irrigation systems, helps you learn how to select the proper system, design the layout, install, and maintain an economical and practical home irrigation system.