I am so excited that this weekend I start attending the Victory Garden Certification Classes taught Master Gardeners. I became an avid home gardener about four years ago and in the last two years have become pretty serious about growing most of my fruits and vegetables.
Last year I started making lasagna gardeners using layers of compost, leaves, grass and such to basically create my own soil in my garden beds. I also went to adding some raised beds.
The first year of my endeavors in Ventura I had some major coups and some glorious failures. As I've been determined to do everything in an organic manner and even moreso, by not using any pesticides but rather working with beneficial insects and substances like milk pray as a fungicide. It's fascinating what is possible and I've been on a steep learning curve. Last year I gained more confidence in my research ability and a keener eye to catching problems early when they showed up for our and did much better.
I have ordered so many heirloom seeds I almost need a personal organizer and of course! I'm looking at expanding the gardens again. What's fun is Chris has joined me in this effort in the garden and love of growing things so now I have a partner in crime. There's nothing quite like working the land with someone together in harmony and actively creating food and beauty in nature. Happily he will be attending the classes with me.
I will try to blog some of what I'm learning so you can come along for the ride. The Master Gardener teaching us specializes in making school gardens which really excites me! We will be learning at Saturn Elementary in Los Angeles at their impressive school gardens!
Here are the topics we will cover:
Week 1 (Sunday April 11): planning, tools, seed starting, building raised beds, choosing containers, plant selection (what to grow and when to grow it)
Week 2 (Sunday, April 18): transplanting, soil preparation, irrigation, mulching
Week 3 (Sunday April 25): pest management (weeds, diseases, insects), beneficial insects, organic pesticides and fertilizers.
Week 4 (Sunday May 2): composting, harvesting, seed saving, review, recipes, graduation and certificates
