Registration now open.

Spring Gardening Know-How Series

Four 1-1/2 hour ONLINE sessions

One weeknight per week for 4 weeks

Wednesday evenings, 7:00-8:30 PM

February  7, 14, 21 & 28, 2024

Knowing HOW-TO is important in the short-term. But gardening KNOW-HOW is forever!   Traditionally, winter is the time for gardeners to plan.   Take advantage of being indoors this February to gain the gardening knowledge that will serve you in the coming  spring and for years to come. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or just starting out, our tips and tricks will give you the edge you need to succeed. Join us and let’s grow together!

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: The Know-How Series is designed for home gardeners of all levels of experience. Lecturers are senior Massachusetts Master 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 Spring Gardening Know-How Series. 

• How to Master Basic Pruning: Learn about the science behind when, how, and why to prune your woody plants. Learn which plants can be pruned by a home gardener and which require the services of a professional.

• How to Select and Acquire Seeds: Are you swamped by beautiful, glossy seed catalogs? Do you still have some of the seed packs you ordered last year, but are considering ordering more? Do terms like “hybrid”, “F1”, and “heirloom” confuse you? Are you puzzled by the hundreds of different types of tomatoes or Zinnias seeds? This lecture will help you answer these questions and more!

• Ergonomic Gardening: Four hours of gardening can pose more ergonomic stress than a full week of work. Ergonomics is about fitting the task to the person. A good fit improves your performance, comfort, productivity and safety. Learn how your postures, techniques and tools affect your risks and gardening experience. Learn habits to maintain and make use of the most valuable tool, your body, so it can operate at peak performance and enhance your gardening experience.

• How to Garden Organically: Just what is organic? While there is much talk about the benefits of organic gardening, there is also a great deal of confusion about what exactly this means. We will discuss what is or is not meant by organic gardening, how organic standards apply to the home gardener, and what organic techniques you can most easily employ in your own gardens.

SPRING 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.

• Nancy Brais received her Master’s in Rehabilitation Counseling and retired as an Ergonomics Manager from Raytheon. She developed her passion and knowledge for ergonomics providing disability management services for return to work, loss prevention and musculoskeletal wellness efforts. Nancy is an avid gardener and as such, has personal experience with the aches and pains from the ergonomic risks of gardening tasks. She is a 2018 graduate of the Master Gardener program and became a Landscape Design Consultant through the National Garden Club Federation in 2017. The human body is a wonderful and versatile machine, and no doubt is the most important “gardening tool” available to you.  DaVinci created his works of art with an appreciation for natural movement and attributes of the human body. This appreciation and understanding of the human body can help you to develop body awareness and ergonomic habits that can keep you digging in your garden in comfort and safety.

• Tony Bonanno has been a Massachusetts Master Gardener since 2007. He designed, built, and oversees the Victory Gardens at the Veterans Community Health Care Center in Lowell and is the horticulture leader for the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Concord’s Outreach Organization, teaching and running a volunteer program at the facility’s farm.  Tony also chairs the Topsfield Fair Home Garden committee and is a Certified Massachusetts State Fair Judge. An accomplished vegetable grower, he was named a Top Vegetable Exhibitor at the 2017 and 2019 Topsfield Fairs.

COST: The cost of the four-lecture Spring 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. 

Learn gardening basics and beyond at MMGA’s online

Spring Gardening Know-How series 

 February 7, 14, 21 and 28, 2024 

To ensure everyone has a great educational experience, space is limited. Registration closes once we are full or at 5:00 PM, Sunday, February  4, 2024. Refunds for series cancellations must be requested by Sunday, February 4, 2024. Refunds not available for individual missed classes. 

Questions?

Click here for answers to frequently asked questions

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 is open until  January 12th, 2024!