Wow! And what a workshop it was!

The gardening workshop drew more participants than we saw in the last two years combined.  Victor led a 1 hour long exploration of hugelkultur complete with wonderful illustrations.  Kurt spent an hour described in detail how he assembled his current root cellar and provided many hints on how others could do the same successfully.  I followed up with another hour of fruit-talk (my favorite, though the other presentations were super informative) and Victor provided dozens of photos of fruits that he has experimented with.  And, the audience provided numerous examples of thought-provoking questions.  I think everyone went away with a head full of ideas and useful knowledge.  It looks like we may see more than a few hugel beds pop up around town.
  A big thanks to all the participants for making this such a huge success (and helping set up and clean up)!  I personally want to thank Victor and Kurt for taking the time on a beautiful Sunday afternoon to share their wisdom with all those in attendance.  I also want to thank the Golden Valley Lions Club for allowing us to hold the workshop in the Ken Kunkel Community Center.
  Did you miss the workshop?  No problem, the hugelkultur and fruit growing presentations are on the farm website.  Unfortunately, you had to be there for the root cellar presentation.
  We are already thinking about ideas for next March at our 4th Annual Gardening Workshop.  If you have suggestions, drop us a line using the email address on our website.

Thanks again everyone and happy gardening!!

Gardening Workshop Handouts Now Available

We have updated our website to include the presentations on hugelkultur and fruit growing.  Feel free to download them (they are 20MB each, though) and bring them with you to the workshop.  We have also decided to use a video monitor to display the presentations tomorrow.  Here is a link to our website.

See you all around 3pm!

Gardening Workshop Agenda

Well, I think it is all settled.

1. Victor Johanson (world traveler) will be presenting on hugelkultur

2. Kurt Wold (Pingo Farm) will present on construction and use of root cellars

3. I (Solitude Springs Farm) will provide an introduction to growing fruit (with assistance from Victor)

4. General gardening Q&A session

You don't want to miss this information-packed session.  Remember to mark it on your calendar!

  Sunday, May 23rd, from 3pm to 6pm at the Ken Kunkel Community Center (next to the Goldstream General Store and Ivory Jacks).

We have yet to put handouts on the website.  Hopefully, they'll be there before next Friday.

Over 2000 page views reached!!

On Wednesday, March 12th, our blog received its 2,000th page view!!  The first 1,000 took two years, but the second 1,000 only took one year.  Thanks to all of our followers for making this happen!!  It is probably fitting that this milestone occurred just before our free gardening workshop next Sunday.  The workshop is our way of thanking our supporters that live in the area.
  I spent about an hour this morning talking to a fellow grape grower in Minnesota.  He is one of my sources for grapevines and a real wealth of information.  We exchanged experiences and he gave me some ideas to try in my quest to ripen grapes in our challenging climate.  We also spoke about getting to meet each other face-to-face in Nebraska City, Nebraska, at Vitinord 2015.  While I most likely won't have wine to share at the conference, I will have more valuable experience to share than I did at Vitinord 2012.  I can't wait!

Workshop details

Well, we have finalized the discussion topics for our upcoming gardening workshop.  For the main event, we have asked Victor Johanson to share his knowledge of hugelkultur.  He has traveled around the globe studying this innovative gardening philosophy and has had great success using it in his own garden.  Other topics will include an introduction to root cellars, growing fruit, and our usual Q&A session on gardening in the area.  We will provide refreshments and some interesting door prizes.  This is an event you don't want to miss out on!!!

We will post a notice here as soon as we have presentation materials available on our website.  Feel free to print them out and bring them with you to the workshop, or pass them on to someone you know that can't attend.

See you there!!!

Gardening Workshop Is All Set Up

We finalized the location of this month's gardening workshop.  It will be held at the Ken Kunkel Community Center near Ivory Jacks in Goldstream Valley.  Be sure to save the date of March 23 from 3pm to 6pm on your calendar.  It will be an information-packed event and as always we will have door prizes (including a few peony roots).  Unfortunately we won't be able to give away a hugelkultur bed (that would be a bit messy), but you will definitely be able to build your own this summer!  We will post an updated topic outline soon.

Gardening workshop is coming!!

Just a quick update on the gardening workshop.  It is tentatively set for 3 to 6 pm on Sunday, March 23rd.  We have not received confirmation of the reservation yet, so we are hesitant to post the location.  As soon as we know for sure, a new post will be added here and an advertisement will be put on Craig's List.  It will be an information-packed afternoon, so be sure not to miss out!