Here are some opportunities to learn more about gardening. We're continually updating the listings here so seel free to send upcoming events in your area to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Date: March 28-April 2, 2010
Location: Big Sur, California

This dynamic five-day experience gives you the opportunity to fully participate in the Esalen Farm and Garden alongside our talented and experienced staff. In this day and age, local food security is a major issue facing communities worldwide. It is said that there is no greater form of activism than growing one's own food, no greater connection to the land than sowing, cultivating and harvesting from the earth that sustains us. This is the essence of SLOW food (Sustainable, Local, Organic and in respect to the Wild) and through it we come into a deeper relationship with and celebration of the whole process.

By participating directly with the Esalen Farm and Garden crew, you will experience the realities of what it takes to make a garden thrive. Days will begin with the morning harvest and hands-on experience with composting, seed starting, cultivation, irrigation systems, transplanting, companion planting and biodynamic farming techniques. Afternoon and evening sessions will look deeply into specific questions and topic of interest. From a seed planted with intention the world can change. Come learn how to participate in the amazing cycles of the season in the garden. For more information, visit http://www.esalen.org/

Timeless Spring in the Esalen Organic Garden

Date: April 25-30, 2010
Location: Big Sur, California

This is a hands-on week-long immersion in the life of the bountiful, 5.5-acre Esalen farm and garden, focusing on the practices and principles of local, sustainable agriculture. Whether you are a first-time grower dreaming of cultivating your own containers and gardens, or a large-scale experienced gardener-farmer, this workshop will teach you the skills needed to grow your own vegetables, herbs, flowers and fruit.

Workshop topics will include composting methods, soil management and preparation, fertilization, cover cropping, pest and disease control, beneficial insects and beneficial habitats, weed management, crop rotations, plant families, variety selection, seed saving, harvesting techniques, appropriate equipment, irrigation, inter-planting, year-round growing for productivity and beauty, and plant propagation. For more information, visit http://www.esalen.org/

Introduction to Organic Gardening

Date: April 30-May 2, 2010
Location: Camp Stevens in Julian, California

We will cover the basics of organic gardening during this weekend. Learn how to tend your garden from seed to harvest. Propogating plants from seeds and cuttings is one of the most satisfying of the horticultural arts and spring is the time to do it. For more information, visit: http://www.campstevens.org/framePrograms.html 

The Art of Gardening at Great Dixter

Date: Week of September 12-19, 2010
Location: Sussex, England

Christopher Lloyd was one of the most inspired plants men and garden writers of the past century. He spent his lifetime practicing and refining his art at Great Dixter, his family’s rambling Sussex ManorHouse in Southeast England. We are offering an intensive, hands-on course from February 13-20, 2010, conducted by Fergus Garrett, Lloyd’s talented head gardener and friend. This is a rare opportunity for 12 gardeners to learn and practice traditional techniques and gardening first-hand in the Great Dixter gardens, to discuss all aspects of border design and maintenance, and to tour nearby world-class gardens with Fergus and the Great Dixter team.The participants will be staying in individual rooms at the Collina House Hotel www.collinahousehotel.co.uk For more information and to book please contact Aaron Bertelsen This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Additional opportunities to cultivate green fingers at Greater Dixter are running throughout 2009-2010. They include Study Days with Great Dixter's Head Gardener, Fergus Garrett: a series of one-day courses on subject ranging from succession planting to exotic gardening. Also available are Exclusive Study Days, which include a two-night stay at Great Dixter's magnificent 15th Century manor house plus a day with Garrett and his team, who will guide a course tailor-made to participants needs. For more information, visit http://www.greatdixter.co.uk/

A Word About Community Gardens:

“The United States is on the verge of a renaissance of community gardening and urban farming.”

“To grow your own food gives you a sort of power and it gives people dignity. You know exactly what you’re eating because you grew it. It’s good, it’s nourishing and you did this for yourself, your family and your community.”
Karen Washington, Garden of Hope, Bronx, NY

Quote from Food Security Learning Center (run by World Hunger Year, with collaboration from the Community Food Security Coalition and support from the Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program of the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture).

For those without their own land who are interested in learning more about community gardens, here's a list of Web sites that can help you find a community garden near you:

See what others are doing with our links to local Community Garden sites.

To find one near you, visit http://acga.localharvest.org/ 

Atlanta: http://www.acfb.org/projects/community_garden/

Ann Arbor, Michigan: http://www.projectgrowgardens.org/communitygardens.htm

Austin, Texas: http://www.main.org/sacgarden/

Boulder, Colorado: http://www.growinggardens.org/

Burlington, Vermont: http://www.burlingtongardens.org/

Capital District (Albany, NY): http://www.cdcg.org/

Chester County, Pennsylvania: http://www.gardenscc.org/

Chicago: http://www.cpdit01.com/resources/community_gardens/index.html

Columbus, Ohio: http://columbuscommunitygardening.blogspot.com/

D.C.: http://www.dc-urban-gardeners.com/communitygardens.html

Decatur, Georgia: http://www.oakhurstgarden.org/

Juneau: http://www.juneau.com/garden/

Kansas City: http://www.kccg.org/

Madison, Wisconsin: http://www.cacscw.org/gardens/

Missoula, Montana: http://www.gardencityharvest.org/programs/gardens.html

Montgomery, Vermont: http://www.troutrivernetwork.org/mcg_index.htm

Nashville: http://www.nashville.gov/community_gardens/

New York: http://www.nyrp.org/gardens/index.php?sub=0 and http://www.greenthumbnyc.org/

Portland, Oregon: http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/index.cfm?c=39846

Salt Lake City: http://www.wasatchgardens.org/

Sacramento: http://www.saccommunitygardens.org/

San Francisco: http://www.sfgro.org/

San Jose, California: http://www.sjcommunitygardens.org/

Seattle: http://www.seattle.gov/Neighborhoods/ppatch/

Spokane: http://www.spokanegardens.com/

Tacoma: http://www.metroparkstacoma.org/page.php?id=699

Tuscon: http://www.communitygardensoftucson.org/

Vancouver, B.C.: http://www.cityfarmer.org/vanccomgard83.html

Westport: http://westportgardens.org/

Starting a Container Garden:

No community garden in your area? No yard? Perhaps a good start would be a container garden. Here is some advice on starting one from West Virginia University:

http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/hortcult/homegard/cntanegrd.htm

Want us to add your garden site? Please send it to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .