Registration now open.

Winter Gardening Know-How Series

Four 1 ½ hour sessions

One weeknight per week for 4 weeks 

Wednesday evenings, 7:00-8:30 PM 

November 6, 13, 20 & December 4, 2024

As the growing season winds down, there has never been a better time for gardeners of all levels to enhance their horticultural knowledge. At MMGA, we believe that understanding the fundamentals of gardening can significantly impact your success in cultivating a flourishing garden. Our upcoming Winter Know-How series—Botany for Gardeners, Hydroponic Growing, the Origin/History of Vegetables and GMOs: Boon or Bane—is designed to cater to both novice and experienced gardeners alike. Together, we can enhance our local gardening landscape and foster a deeper appreciation for the food we grow and purchase. Join us and let’s grow together!

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Whether you are a beginner or experienced gardener, the Know-How Series is designed for you to become a better gardener and steward of your environment. Lecturers are senior Massachusetts Master Gardeners and experienced gardeners. Handouts are provided for most sessions, and there will be plenty of time for live Q&A with the speakers. 

TOPICS:

At the MMGA, we love to talk about gardening and horticulture. But we also like to listen. We’ve selected four timely  topics based on countless discussions with home gardeners to create our four-week Winter Gardening Know-How Series. 

• Botany for Gardeners: Botany is the branch of biology dealing with plants. You can be a fabulous gardener and know next to nothing about botany. But if you learn a little botany, patterns start emerging and keeping your garden healthy and vibrant becomes much easier. A little knowledge about botany can also open your eyes to the fascinating ways plants have adapted to be able to grow in almost every environment on earth.

• Hydroponic Growing: Growing crops without soil is much easier than most people can imagine! With some simple, inexpensive equipment crops can be grown indoors year-round. In this lecture, we will discuss how hydroponic gardening works, and look at a few simple systems that can be built with materials easily available at big box stores and on the internet. Plans and resources will be shared with participants so that they begin their own adventures into hydroponic growing. 

• Origin/History of Vegetables: Understanding the origins of the vegetables we consume is essential to enriching your gardening experience. For instance, what is an heirloom tomato?  What group of people were responsible for breeding 4 major food crops? What vegetables originated from Kale? Learn about the fascinating origins of the vegetables we eat each day and what they looked like when they grew in the wild before people started breeding them for better yields and flavors. 

• Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) Plants: Are GMOs a boon or a bane? The debate surrounding genetically modified organisms is as complex as it is crucial, especially for those of us passionate about gardening and sustainable practices. We invite you to delve into this multifaceted topic with us, where we will dissect the data and explore how GMOs influence our health, the environment, the agricultural economy and how they may aid in addressing global food insecurity.

WINTER KNOW-HOW SERIES PRESENTERS are senior Massachusetts Master Gardeners (MGs) who are passionate subject matter experts and trained speakers.

• Gretel Anspach is the Chairman of the Board at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, a Lifetime Master Gardener with the Massachusetts Master Gardener Association, and a recently-retired systems engineer for Raytheon.  She won the MMGA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. Gretel established and maintains a 20,000 square foot food production garden that has provided fresh produce to the Marlboro and Maynard Food Pantries for the last ten years.  Her primary interest and focus is always in the science behind horticulture.

• Jean Theurkauf has been a Certified Master Gardener since 2018 and is now a Principal Master Gardener and graduate of the MMGA Speakers Bureau Training Program.   She has always been an avid gardener, inspired by both her mother and mother-in-law.   In a past life, she was a database engineer, and has always been fascinated by the relationships to be found in complex systems, such as those in the natural world.  She is also a fiber artist and painter.   Jean is proud to volunteer and share her love of gardening with inmates in the Massachusetts Department of Corrections at  MCI Shirley.

• Bonnie Power has been a Massachusetts Master Gardener since 2016 (now a Lifetime MG) and member of the MMGA Speakers Bureau since 2018…and a serious outdoor/indoor gardener most of her life. Curious and research-oriented by nature, she has many horticultural interests and areas of expertise. Bonnie holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Zoology, which informs her perspective on the management of garden insects. She is a member of the MMGA Soil pH Testing team and also volunteer guide at Garden in the Woods, a Native Plant Trust botanical garden in Framingham. She learned to grow vegetables as a child from her father, and flowers and houseplants from her mother. Early in her marriage her father-in-law provided her first lessons in organic gardening.  At home in Marlborough, Bonnie grows a variety of vegetables and ornamentals (with a bias for natives).

COST: The cost of the four-lecture Fall Gardening Know-How Series is $60.00, payable online by credit/debit card or PayPal. Classes are not available individually. Price includes a number of handouts and  live Q&A time with speakers. 

Grow your gardening skills - Join MMGA’s online

Winter Gardening Know-How Series 

November 6, 13, 20 and December 4, 2024 

To ensure everyone has a great educational experience, space is limited. Registration closes once we are full or Sunday, November 3, 2024. Refunds for series cancellations must be requested by Sunday, November 3, 2024. Refunds not available for individual missed classes. 

Have questions about how to register, class payment or other related topics? Please see answers to frequently asked questions here

or

Email us at KnowHow@MassMasterGardeners.org

Do you get the winter gardening blues? For in-depth gardening/horticultural education, join us for our virtual 10-week Home Gardener Boot Camp Program. Registration for the 2025 program begins in fall, 2024.