Backyard Botany and Beyond!

A six-week Winter series of classroom-based lecture and discussion at Zenger Farm, introducing concepts and techniques for the organic backyard gardener. 

Saturdays, 10:00 - 11:30 AM:

December 6, 2008 - December 20, 2008

January 10, 2008 - January 24, 2008

Zenger Farm

11741 SE Foster Road

Portland, OR, 97266

Registration Information

Cost: $65 (All 6 classes) or $13 per class.  Includes a weekly packet of references.  Advanced registration is required. 

Payment by cash or check (payable to 'Ryan Hofrichter') can be sent to 11741 SE Foster Road; Portland, OR; 97266. 

Please contact Ryan Hofrichter at ryanlee.hofrichter@gmail.com or 786-972-1333 for more information!

Course Descriptions

Saturday December 6, Backyard Botany:  While it may not deepen enjoyment of the Butternut squash you grow to know that they are Cucurbita moschata, monoecious, and develop from a flared peduncle, botanical details can inform every activity in the garden -design and planning, propagation and cultivation, harvesting and seed saving.  For this reason, we'll open the series with a study of Latin names, plant identification and patterns, and life cycles.

Saturday December 13, Crop Planning:  Need 75 heads of lettuce next season?  Fine, but how much seed should you order after considering how long the plant holds in the ground, frequency of harvest, greenhouse problems, and thinning?  Determining your harvest goals, planting schedule, and seed needs can actually be quite tricky.  We'll consider which vegetables we're able to grow here in the Willamette Valley and review life cycles, successions, plant spacing, and varietal considerations.  We'll also learn the motivations for rotating crops and some common rotation schemes, and finish by putting together, in groups, sensible plans for major crop types.

Saturday December 20, Fruit Trees: In our growing area, we can reliably choose from nearly fifty varieties of apples, cherries, figs, nectarines, peaches, pears, persimmons, and plums.  A number of other little known or tricky-to-grow fruits complete my sense of abundant supply here.  Do your time, backyard space, and interest in managing fruit trees justify planting a few?   Are you willing to prune, train, spray, and clean up rotten drupes to encourage a vigorous, plentiful tree?  We'll go over the many questions to consider before planting and a collection of basic management strategies.  Propagation, grafting, and other advanced techniques will not be covered.

Saturday January 10, Vegetable Cultivation: Alliums, Composites, Chenopods, Brassicas, Cucurbits, Solanums, Legumes - we'll review some common vegetable plant families and learn how to cultivate the species among them.  Weed management and harvest/handling techniques will also be offered in brief.

Saturday, January 17, Hot Composting, Worm Composting: Ever take a walk through Forest Park and notice the understory? Composting in full effect.  In the garden, we can mimic this natural process by managing the decomposition process and utilizing the final product, fulfilling our obligation to feed the soil before being fed ourselves.  We'll cut through the often-confusing world of compost recipes, carbon-to-nitrogen ratios, and turning, and scrutinize Zenger's current worm-bin system.  If we'd like to brave the weather, we can build and troubleshoot a few piles, and leave with a handful of red wriggler worms. 

Saturday, January 24, Seed Saving: Historically, humans have benefited from an extraordinary diversity of about 7,000 plant species for food, each further expressed by thousands of varieties.  We owe tremendous thanks to the farmers and gardeners before us, who have promoted this diversity through the ritual of seed saving.  Today, only thirty species (but mostly corn, rice, soybeans, and wheat) provide 90% of the world's food.  We can, I think, re-strengthen our food system through this joyful practice.  Toward that end, we'll discuss the essential skills needed: familiarity with plant reproduction, maintaining varietal integrity, and seed cleaning/storage.  Bring your seeds to swap and share with other local gardeners!

Location