gardening/farming

• Part I: Wednesdy, October 17 6:00pm-9:00pm
• Part II: Thursday, October 18 6:00pm-9:00pm

In this extensive two part workshop, participants will learn to plan, implement and care for a healthy, affordable, and sustainable garden. Part 1 covers site selection, soil health, raised bed installation, plant families, garden planning and planting. Part 2 covers water efficiency, pest and weed management, harvesting, composting and winterization. Participants are encouraged, but not required to sign up for both parts.

Please pre-register for these workshops. You can sign up here!

Presenter Information: Rodney Bender has been the Garden Programs Manager for Growing Gardens for the past eight years. He has a degree in Sustainable Agriculture with an emphasis on urban gardening and garden education. Rodney believes everyone has the ability to grow their own food and loves teaching people to find their green thumb. He has been teaching workshops for City of Portland Fix it Fairs, Muddy Boot Organic Festival, Oregon Food Bank, Home Forward, Neighborhood House, Neighborhood Associations and Habitat for Humanity for the past eight years.

Do you love working with kids, gardening, learning and spending time outdoors in all kinds of weather? Well, come on out and join our amazing Volunteer Education Team! 

We are gearing up for, yet another, fantastic Fall Season here at Sauvie Island Center (SIC) with hopes that you will be joining us! 

Our Volunteer Educators lead small groups of elementary school students through hands-on, farm-based lessons on pollination, healthy soil, plant parts, the food web and planting and harvesting in the Grow Lunch Garden. We strive to provide quality, experiential learning opportunities for students and are seeking energetic and flexible field trip leaders to help us accomplish this goal.

The full day New Volunteer Educator Training will be held on Friday, September 14th from 8:45 am to 3:00 pm, at Howell Territorial Park on Sauvie Island.Lunch will be provided. (Please let me know of any dietary restrictions you may have).This training is for those who desire to become a Volunteer Educator for the Fall 2012 Season and have never before attended our Volunteer Educator Training. Our physical address is: 13901 NW Howell Park Rd - Portland, OR 97231Here is a cut and paste link to our website for directions: http://www.sauvieislandcenter.org/about/directions/

We will meet at the large, red barn behind the 2-story, white Howell House. Please park in the designated 'Public Parking' area in front of the Howell House and walk back to the barn.RSVP to jennifer@sauvieislandcenter.org by September 11th for the Volunteer Educator Training Day.Our Fall Field Trips will be offered on Tuesdays, some Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays beginning Tuesday, September 18th and run through Thursday, November 15th. Volunteer Educators are asked to be available from 8:45am to 2pm on field trip days. We ask that you be able to commit to at least four (4) Field Trips during the Fall 2012 Season. 

Please email your completed Volunteer application form found on our website (http://www.sauvieislandcenter.org/get-involved/volunteer/) to:

Jennifer James, Education Program Manager - jennifer@sauvieislandcenter.org

 We will also ask you to fill out a Background Check at the Volunteer Educator Training Day. We will need to see a current photo ID in order for the form to be valid. The Background Check is required in order to work with youth. 

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. 

Volunteers make this work possible!!! Thank You!

Join us for an immersion into the world of mushrooms and mushroom cultivation. Learn how to grow mushrooms at home, using simple, low-tech methods that utilize free and easily obtainable resources. Set up your back yard garden patch and keep your mushrooms thriving! Also learn basic mushroom taxonomy, ecological niches, and common edible and medicinal mushrooms that you can grow or harvest locally. Everyone receives printed instruction materials. A limited number of spawn kits will be available for purchase for $10-20.

Tuesday, December 4 6:00pm-8:00pm

Cost: $10-$30 sliding scale donation

Sign up at Growing Gardens Learn & Grow page

Learn to start healthy seedlings indoors, using low cost methods with big results. The topics covered in this workshop include the materials you'll need to get started, the types of plants that should be started indoors, timing, planting and caring for seedlings, hardening off and using your space efficiently to grow a large quantity of plants. Participants will go home with a planting calendar, a list of resources and a six pack of plant starts.

Presenter Information: Kathy Katz is a local grower who has for the past 25 years been studying small scale/intensive food production models and learning to incorporate them into her own operation. She has spent many years supporting and volunteering for non-profit organizations because she feels it's important to get nutrient dense food to everyone in our community. A longtime contributor to Growing Gardens programs and supporter of their mission to teach the important skill of growing you own food. Currently Kathy is running a small seedling operation, mentoring new gardeners, helping with a few local school gardening projects and working on returning to the small farm her family owns.

Part I: Wednesday, October 17 6:00pm-9:00pm

Part II: Thursday, October 18 6:00pm-9:00pm

Sign up at Growing Gardens Learn & Grow page.

In this extensive two part workshop, participants will learn to plan, implement and care for a healthy, affordable, and sustainable garden. Part 1 covers site selection, soil health, raised bed installation, plant families, garden planning and planting. Part 2 covers water efficiency, pest and weed management, harvesting, composting and winterization. Participants are encouraged, but not required to sign up for both parts.

Presenter Information: Rodney Bender has been the Garden Programs Manager for Growing Gardens for the past eight years. He has a degree in Sustainable Agriculture with an emphasis on urban gardening and garden education. Rodney believes everyone has the ability to grow their own food and loves teaching people to find their green thumb. He has been teaching workshops for City of Portland Fix it Fairs, Muddy Boot Organic Festival, Oregon Food Bank, Home Forward, Neighborhood House, Neighborhood Associations and Habitat for Humanity for the past eight years.