The Pepperfield ProjectESTABLISHING A KITCHEN GARDEN
The Pepperfield Project is offering a season-long instruction in planning, establishing and maintaining a small food-producing garden, with emphasis on a close-to-the-house kitchen garden of vegetables and herbs. Spring sessions will deal with the planning and design process, various strategies for converting lawn, perennials, or weed patches, and planting. Summer sessions will include weed, disease and pest management, trellis techniques, summer harvest, and second plantings for fall. A September session will cover fall harvest, garden cleanup and other winter preparation chores, and some seed-saving (although an August session is skipped in order for participants to accommodate a more intensive seed-saving workshop jointly sponsored by the Seed Savers Exchange August 8).
While this series is designed for anyone wanting to establish a back-yard garden, we also encourage Master Gardeners and others interested in doing volunteer community service to use this program for additional training. As more school and community garden projects arise, especially in response to the Food and Fitness Initiative, there will be a growing need for informed helpers to assist in all stages of planning and management. The kitchen garden series will provide much useful information toward that end.