Jack Jezreel will be hosting monthly gardening classes from March through October on Saturdays.

The early class (9:00am – 11:00am), “Yard Farming,” intended for intermediate and experienced gardeners, will explore how to rethink the use of the typical American yard. The emphasis will be on growing organically vegetables, fruit, herbs, and cut flowers, and the sessions will address a variety of related topics (see topics to be addressed).

The later class (11:30am – 1:00pm), “Getting Started,” is intended for beginners and will focus on how to manage a garden of 120 square feet. The topics covered will be similar to the early class but will be intended for a beginner’s experience.

All sessions will take place at Jack’s residence and participants will have the opportunity to witness the month-to-month changes, chores and challenges in both a very large garden and a smaller plot of 120 sq. ft. Each session will include a teaching tour of the yard, attention to a few focused topics, with conversation and questions encouraged at all times.

The motivation for this series is two-fold. First, growing food is immensely satisfying. There is little that is as wonderfully interesting and complex as working with nature, noticing its intricacy, and befriending the forces that feed us all. Being outdoors is a pleasure, and using our bodies for hard work is a gift. What could be better?

Second, it is hard to imagine that the price of food will not continue to go up. The effect of increasingly harsh weather due to climate change, as well as political volatility, will probably impact agriculture everywhere. The cost of irrigation and transport will likely rise. Growing our own food gives us some relief. In addition, what we can grow fresh in our yards will often taste much better and be more nutritious than much of what you can get in the store. Both classes will ratchet up the scale of home gardening from hobby to home economics.