FREE GARDENING CLASSES FOR 2010

IMPORTANT NEWS! IFCGA once again has a schedule of interesting, practical gardening classes on tap for the 2010 season.  To accommodate the enthusiastic response we anticipate again this year the classes will be held at the same location as last year  - Idaho Falls Recreation Annex, 1575 N. Skyline, a couple of blocks north of the Skyline and Grandview intersection as you head towards the airport. Topics and dates for the classes are listed below. Please note that most classes have been expanded to a 2 hour time slot in response to feedback from last year asking for more time for each topic. No registration is necessary - just come grow with us!

Native Plants in Your Gardens
  Wendy Velman, BLM Botanist

1/9/10
10:00am

Building Healthy Soil: Composting and Mulching
  Sue Miller, Master Grower

1/16/10
10:00am
Basics of SE Idaho Vegetable Garden
  Kevin Hardy and Dewayne Arave, East Idaho Organics

1/23/10

10:00am
Get Growing: Starting and Growing Seedlings Indoors
  Kristi Appelhans, Master Grower, IFCGA President

1/30/10
10:00am

Gardening for Birds, Butterflies, and Pollinators
 Mark Heckenbach, Advanced Master Gardener

2/6/10
10:00am
 

Children of the Nightshade: Growing Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant, and Potatoes
 Alan Croft and Kristi Appelhans, Master Growers

2/13/10
10:00am
Water-wise Gardening and Irrigation Methods
 Pat Kolbet and Tony Appelhans, Master Growers

2/20/10
10:00am

Garden Roundtable
 Discussion and Q&A with our panel of experts

2/27/10
10:00am



Going Green: Practical Tips for Saving Money and Saving the Earth
 
Mike Dietz, USU Sustainable Living Specialist; Director, Utah House

3/20/10
10:00am
2010 Garden Registration!
 Learn about the community gardens, register for your garden spot, and meet the other gardeners. Come grow with us!
4/10/10 9:00am


MORE GROWING INFORMATION ONLINE!

Terrific teachers and scintillating students make our classes engaging and educational but we know that occassionally there is a class you'd really like to attend that you can't quite fit into your schedule. For that reason we have posted notes from some of our previous classes on the website.

Class notes are currently available for:

DOWN IN THE DIRT: The basics of getting your seeds in the soil

COVER CROPPING - Summer and Winter

COVER CROPS:  Preparation and Planting

Fall Soil Preparation for Spring Success

PASS IT ON! A Beginning Guide to Saving your Own Seed

Growing Tomatoes from Seed

Transplanting your Tomatoes

The Miracle of Mulch

Growing Strong: Starting and growing seedlings indoors
 


ABC's of Healthy Soil

Some links to info and calculations  

Organic Matter – Bulletin from University of Minnesota that has a good discussion on this topic:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/cropsystems/components/7402_02.html

Organic Materials Review Institute:
http://www.omri.org/

University of Idaho web site for all their publications:
http://info.ag.uidaho.edu/

To determine the texture of your soil:
http://weather.nmsu.edu/teaching_Material/soil456/soiltexture/soiltext.htm

Contains a table showing amount of water soil will hold plus information on watering:
http://info.ag.uidaho.edu/pdf/CIS/CIS1098.pdf

Water-use tables to determine amount of water used per day:
http://www.usbr.gov/pn/agrimet/id_charts.html



Determining Amount of Water to Apply to a Lawn
  • Loam soil holding 1.8 inches water/foot soil
  • Deplete to 50%
  • Usable amount is 0.9 inches
  • Daily water use is 0.2 inches/day
  • 0.9 inches divided by 0.2in/day = 4.5 days
  • Effective application rate of .3 in/hr
  • 0.9 inches divided by 0.3 in/hr = 3 hours per irrigation


*** If you would like to be on the Idaho Falls Community Garden mailing list please contact us at (208) 524-0383 or send an e-mail to  growifcga@gmail.com.****

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