Itching to get out and start planting? The City of Campbell River Recreation and Culture Department is offering gardening workshops this spring with Leslie Cox (a.k.a. “The Duchess of Dirt”) and Dr. Thierry Vrain, a soil biologist and passionate gardener.
Cox and her husband John have transformed their Black Creek garden into a beautiful and restful retreat. When Leslie is not in her garden she divides her time between writing a bimonthly gardening column for the Comox Valley Record newspaper, writing articles for various magazines such as Canadian Living and Gardens West; working with the students and teachers at several elementary schools as the developer and coordinator of the Green Sprouts School Garden Program and many other gardening activities. Leslie will be at the Campbell River Community Centre for the following workshops;
Thursday April 5 – Dying Easter Eggs Naturally, 1 to 3 p.m. Cost is $30 ($26 for 50+ members). Learn the art of using herbs to create colours for dying cloth and decorating various wares including Easter eggs! Please bring one dozen hard boiled eggs with you.
Saturday May 5 – Growing Food & Edible Landscape Design, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Cost is $30 ($26 for 50+ members). Learn which food crops to grow in which season and how to incorporate them into your landscape.
Dr. Vrain is a retired soil biologist who worked as a genetic engineer with Agriculture Canada.
Saturday June 2 – The Gene Revolution, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost is $30 ($25 for 50+ members). Learn how technology has revolutionized agriculture and about its impact on our health and the environment.
Saturday June 2 – Save Our Seeds, 2-2:30 p.m. Cost is $25 ($20 for 50+ members). How to choose seeds (open pollinated, heirloom, hybrid or genetically engineered) and what happens during the miracle of germination.
Sign up for both of Dr. Vrain’s workshops and save. Cost for two workshops is $49 ($44 for 50+ members).
Register now at the Community Centre or the Sportsplex. For more information on these or other gardening programs, please call the Community Centre, 250-286-1161, or the Sportsplex, 250-923-7911. Happy gardening!