Think Spring! Let's Get Growing: A Hands On Introduction to Organic Gardening *These workshops were co-sponsored by Garbage to Garden and the Bayside Neighborhood Community Garden as part of a collaborative introductory workshop series entitled Grow Your Own: A Hands On Workshop Series in the Garden.
Garden Educators from Maine Foodscapes and Maine Raised Gardens led participants in this free introductory to organic gardening workshop series. Topics included an overview of basic organic gardening skills including planning your garden using the square foot gardening method, sowing seeds, and tending young plants. We practiced taking a soil sample to send to the University of Maine Extension office and amended the garden beds using GtG compost. Participants gained further understanding of basic home gardening methods in the "Succession Planting and Season Extension" Workshop hosted in Portland's Bayside Neighborhood Community Garden. Finally, on October 14th, participants will explore the various methods for "Putting their Garden to Rest," a Fall Cover Crop, Soil Amendments, and Winter Gardening Skill-Building Workshop.
Saving Seed: A Workshop & Discussion with Will Bonsall
The Portland Public Library and Maine Foodscapes partnered to bring Maine seed saving legend, Will Bonsall, to the Main PPL Library on Saturday, November 18th, 2017 for a seed saving workshop. The program took place in meeting room #5. Why save your own seeds? There are many reasons, more control over what you grow, more varieties available, to preserve rare varieties, cultivate cold hardy varieties, economics… or an act of resistance against an increasingly aggressive industrial agriculture system. Participants joined us to learn more about the importance of crop diversity, how to save your own seeds, or how to start a garden with seeds from PPL’s seed library. About the Speaker Will Bonsall, director of the Scatterseed Project, is best known for his work in preserving crop diversity. His past occupations are as varied as his seed collection and includes draftsman, prospector, hobo, gravedigger, logger, musician, language teacher, and artist, among others. In addition to farming and seed saving, Bonsall is currently an active author. His works include Through the Eyes of a Stranger and Will Bonsall’s Guide to Radical, Self-Reliant Gardening. About Portland Grows @ PPL Portland Public Library cardholders in good standing are able to choose up to four (4) packets of seeds per month. The varieties will rotate depending on what is available and received from our partners, but will include beginner seeds that make it super easy to save seeds from: tomatoes, lettuce, beans, peas, and peppers. More information from the Portland Public Library website: https://www.portlandlibrary.com/events/seed-saving-will-bonsall/
Nose-to-Tail Butchery: A Hands On Edible Experience The Edible Educator for this event was Lily Joslin, Graduate Student of Green Mountain College's Online Sustainable Food Systems Masters Program.
Ever wonder what part of the pig you're eating when you eat ham? Pork chops? Sausage? Bacon? On Sunday, February 26th, 2017 at Fork Food Lab, 24 participants got to find out! Naturally, beer and bacon was served. Tickets came with a stellar dark smokey Oxbow Brewing Company farmhouse ale, recipe tastings, Winter Hill Farm cheese tastings, and a few pounds of Winter Hill Berkshire pork to take home. TOPICS COVERED:
History and culture of meat eating and processing
What it takes to get good meat from the farm to the kitchen table
Local and sustainable meat sourcing
Understanding retail cuts and cooking with the whole hog
This event was made possible by our Sponsors Winter Hill Farm (Freeport, ME) and Oxbow Brewing Co. Thank you to our Maine Foodscapes volunteers and to Fork Food Lab for providing us with an awesome space to build new community through edible adventures in the kitchen.
