Garden Education

Learn to Grow With Us

Garden Education Classes

February 24th at 5:30 

Natural Paper-Making: The craft of papermaking is an ancient tradition. Now, it is a fast-paced, high production industry, long forgotten about for its’ delicate practice. Learn about the origins, processes and different plants in the area that can be used for fiber in making this everyday material. We will also be dipping our hands into recycled pulp to make our own paper. Participants are invited to use old notes, bills, letters, musings, etc. to shred, blend and pull into new sheets.

 

March 3rd at 5:30

Botanical Dyes: Learn to draw out vibrant colors from nature’s palette, all while staying waste-conscious.  Participants will experiment with using plant based dyes and stamps made from food scraps and kitchen spices to create their own eco-friendly dyed fabrics and watercolor prints.

 

Classes are free to participating Capital Roots’ community gardeners and $10 for the general public. Make sure to RSVP by email to gardens1@capitalroots.org today to receive your class link!

 

Getting Started

Planning Your Vegetable Garden

Dreaming about next year’s garden has helped many gardeners survive the gray winter months.  These five keys to a successful garden will help you to turn these dreams into a concrete plan for a successful vegetable harvest. 

Tips for Beginning Gardeners

Thinking about starting a vegetable garden? That’s the right place to start – thinking about all the things that need to come together to make your garden as productive as it can be.

Planting Schedule

Another guide to the best planting dates in the Mid-Hudson Valley region.

Maintenance

Beneficial Insects

Not all insects are pests! “Beneficial insects” actually help gardeners by naturally managing pest populations.

Feed Your Soil

Each spring, we spend lots of time talking about dirt.  Well, soil, that is.  Almost any gardening question is answered with some reference to building healthy soil, and this is because we know that the best way to a high-yield, pest-free garden is to build rich, healthy soil!

Soil Enrichment: An Overview

Healthy soil is the key to a productive garden. While there are a wide variety of good organic fertilizers on the market to feed your plants over the growing season, by focusing your efforts on enriching the soil itself, you will not only increase productivity, but improve the earth for more sustainable growing over the long term.