Workshops are held in my home garden in the Ohau River Valley, Levin
“...we were real beginner gardeners! Kath taught us how to start from scratch, and we have transformed our grassy plot into a fertile, abundant garden in a matter of months.Kath is knowledgable and enthusiastic; her teaching style is inclusive and reassuring. After each workshop we head home with a burning enthusiasm to try something new that we saw that day..." Annie and Jonty Thorne, Tawa
Beginner Gardener #1: Important Beginnings
Book into all three Beginner Gardener Workshops and get a beautiful macrocarpa seedtray!
This workshop teaches you how to get off on the right foot with your vegie patch. A little bit of planning at the beginning means you can do it right the first time!
Learn how to:
This workshop is a mix of theory and design exercise. You are invited to bring along a sketch of your place to work on in the workshop
Date: Saturday 17 September 2011 Time: 9.30 - 12.30 Price: $65.00
To run an organic edible garden you must understand the life of soil, and know how to keep your soil fertility up.
This workshop focuses on ways to get nutrition into your soil by growing compost plants at home and/ or using animals; and by foraging in your local community for soil goodies.
Learn how:
This workshop is a mix of hands on and theory, so wear your gardening gear and bring your gloves!
Date: Saturday 22 October 2011 Time: 9.30 - 12.30 Price: $65.00
Crop Rotation: Understanding crop rotation is essential for the organic food gardener! Rotating your crops prevents pest and disease buildup, and keeps your soils in balance. Having a crop plan for the year ahead is peace of mind - it takes the guess work out of what goes where next. This knowledge is important no matter how small your plot is.
How to grow the Best Seedlings: Knowing how to grow from seed means you can grow seedlings that are far healthier and more robust than any seedling you will ever buy. It means you can dabble with lots of different varieties - the wonderful world of heritage seedlings is now at your fingertips!
Growing from seed to supply your own garden is a little and often job. Combine this with a well set up seed raising area, and you have a no hassle, super healthy seedling supply for your garden.
Learn how :
This workshop is a mix of hands on and theory - bring your garden gloves.
Edible Backyard Festivals - for your edible gardening inspiration!
Edible Backyard Festival: Spring 2011
Date: Saturday October 8th Time: 10am - 3pm Price: $15.00
Booking is essential - there will be no gate sales. Please email kath@ediblebackyard.co.nz to book your place today!
The Shop is open today selling: Macrocarpa garden products, Slabs and Sleepers; Heritage seeds and seedlings; Natures Nest herbal remedies; Coffee and Food; Music...
Edible Backyard Summer Festival: 2012
Escape for a day! An enriching day for grown ups!
Dates: Choose either Saturday Feb 25th or Sunday Feb 26th Time: 10 - 3 Price: $20.00
Booking is essential - there will be no gate sales. Please email kath@ediblebackyard.co.nz to book your place today!
Date: Saturday November 5th Time: 9.30 - 12.30 Price: $75.00
This hands on workshop focuses on herbs that are abundant in spring, and how to transform them into remedies that treat the common ailments of this season; such as coughs, colds and allergies.
The herbs of the spring season are also powerful cleansers and you will learn to use them for an annual detox, or as a nutrient packed Vitality tonic.
Take home knowledge includes how to confidently identify, gather, process and utilise abundant, everyday herbs for everyday use. Taste tests and take home goodies included.
Date: Saturday 11 February 2012 Time: 9.30 - 12.30 Price: $75.00
Discover the power of a beautiful flower! The herbs studied in this workshop not only share their beauty during flowering but their healing gifts as well.
You will learn to identify, collect and process some of the most abundant, safe and useful flowers for home herbal use.
We will make an infusion useful for tummy aches, tension, sleep, and eyewash; a balm for the itches, burns and skin inflammations that summer brings; and a refreshing summer tonic cordial.
Date: Saturday 7 April 2012 Time: 9.30 - 12.30 Price: $75.00
Nature is remarkable - in Autumn many herbs take their goodness back to the earth for winter solace. We too can share in this healing process by harvesting roots that offer us a wide range of uses, such as nourishment, immune strengthening and soothing inflammation.
Learn to identify, collect and prepare remarkable roots for: an immune boosting tincture; an infused digestive soother; and a liver tonic vinegar.
Date: Saturday 10th September 2011 Time: 9.30 - 12.30 Price: $68.00
Spring diary (September, October, November); Wander the vegie patch and potager and learn how to get ready for summer, prepare your spring beds and look after your asparagus plot.
Know your crops: spring Peas, nourishing spring greens (puha, kale, endive, collards, mache), how to grow juicy beetroot, get ready for potatoes, early beans under cloches, companion flowers for summer
Spring pests: organic solutions for slugs and aphidsSummer in the Organic Vegie Patch:
Date: Saturday 3rd December 2011 Time: 9.30 - 12.30 Price: $68.00
Summer diary (December, January, February); Wander the vegie patch and potager and see what jobs I'm doing now, learn how to delateral, prune and tie up tomatoes
Know your crops: growing kumara in the lower half of the north island, success with carrots, bumper crops of organic tomatoes, pumpkin - for summer eating and storing, the importance of heritage corn, companion flowers for autumn.
Summer pests: organic solutions for shield bugs and whitefly
Autumn in the Organic Vegie Patch
Date: Saturday 10th March 2012 Time: 9.30 - 12.30 Price: $68.00
Autumn Diary (March, April, May); Wander the vegie patch and potager and learn how to do your autumn cleanup and prepare for winter
Know your crops: the art of celery, growing good garlic, the importance of broadbeans, winter brassicas , how to have salads all through winter, companion flowers for winter/ spring;
Autumn pests: organic solutions for cabbage white butterflies and tomato looper caterpillar
Caring for your Fruit Trees: Spring
Date: Saturday 24th September 2011 Time: 9.30 - 12.30 Price: $68.00
Spring Diary (September, October, November); wander the orchard and the subtropicals and learn how to manage spring orchard pests; get ready for codling moth, foliar spraying - what to use, when and how to do it; the importance of thinning fruit and how to do it
Know your crops: growing stonefruit in the lower north island - plums, peaches, nectarines and apricots. Give your stonefruit a spring prune. Managing leaf curl - to copper spray or not?
Caring for your Fruit Trees: Summer WORKSHOP FULLY BOOKED
Date: Saturday 14th January 2012 Time: 9.30 - 12.30 Price: $68.00
Summer Diary(December, January, February); wander the orchard and subtropicals and learn the art of watering - how much your trees need and how to do it. How to nurture your fruit trees through summer.
Know your crops: How to grow pipfruit (apples and pears). Varieties to suit our bioregion. Managing pest and disease; and care through the year.
How to Prune Fruit Trees: pruning your fruit trees well is essential for abundant crops, to keep them at the right height, and to keep them in a strong shape to better cope with winds and heavy crops.
Fruit Tree Pruning: Pipfruit
Date: Saturday 18 June 2011 Time: 9.30 - 12.30 Price: $68.00
This workshop is hands on - a unique opportunity to really get to grips with pruning!
I'll teach you the right tools for the job; the nature of pipfruit and how to prune them; then you'll get to have a go to reinforce your learning.
Wear: garden clothes and gumboots. Bring: pruning kit - clean sharp seceteurs, saw and loppers.
"In preparation for our community orchard we enlisted a group from Wellington to participate in Kath’s pruning workshop. It gave us the confidence to be our very own pruning experts. We were given 3 simple rules to remember and the hands on practical workshop meant that the knowledge was imbedded for seasons to come… highly recommended." Mel Beirne, Wellington
Which Fruit Tree goes where? Subtropicals and Citrus
Date: Saturday 5th November 2011 Time: 2pm - 5pm Price: $68.00
This workshop comes just at the right time to be ordering your subtropicals and citrus for planting this spring.
Part 1: Growing subtropicals in the lower north island yes it can be done! This workshop will focus on tamarillos, passionfruit, bananas and avocados - what their individual needs are and how to create a site for them to flourish in, common pests and diseases and care of them through the year. See the development of our subtropical area.
Part 2: Growing citrus in the lower north island. Choosing varieties to suit our bioregion. We will look at lemons, limes, mandarins, grapefruits and oranges. You'll learn how to create a site for them to flourish in, and how to manage them through the year. How to plant and prune your new trees.
Which Fruit Tree goes Where?Pipfruit and Stonefruit
For your fruit trees to be successful you need to put the right variety (on the right rootstock) in the right place! This workshop will teach you how.
Date: Saturday 11th February 2012 Time: 2pm - 5pm Price: $70.00
This workshop comes just at the right time to be ordering your deciduous fruit trees for planting this winter.
You'll learn:
Students of this workshop are very lucky to have Sarah Frater from Edible Garden www.ediblegarden.co.nz to teach them all about choosing varieties and rootstocks that work best in our bio region.
Chickens integrate beautifully into an edible backyard - making compost, keeping weeds out, and managing pests and disease - all this and eggs and entertainment too! With smart design you can use your chooks to do alot of your garden work for you!
Date: Saturday 7th April 2012 Time: 1.30 - 4.30 Price: $68.00
Learn how to create a smart design for chickens at your place (how much room does a chicken need?) - see our chook house/ runs in action; How many chooks do you need and what types to choose; Learn how to feed them organically and keep them in top health using weeds and herbs; How to use a chook tractor - see our tractor in action; Some common chook problems - flightly chooks, mites, worms, scaly leg, predators
