Love Apple Farms

Workshop: Designing the Perfect Vegetable Garden

This is a vegetable garden-landscape design-construction workshop.  Learn how to site your vegetable beds for maximum efficacy by taking into consideration factors such as climate, season, and sun exposure.  You will learn numerous approaches to bed design, including methods that use straw wattles, recycled concrete, lumber, and cinderblocks. 

You will also receive valuable information on what to fill your newly constructed beds with and how to do it properly.  Not all soil is alike!  We've got supplier recommendations for you that will save you money and give you maximum results due to superior soil fertility. 

Topics also covered in class:

Starting out:  Learn how to install a vegetable garden on any surface, from an existing lawn to concrete.

Bed sizes:  Proper sizing is important, from their height to their width.  You want maximum workability and comfort to you, the gardener.

Paths:  Considerations of path materials, cost, and efficiency.

Holding in your soil:  From various types of lumber, to many other hardscape materials, learn what you can do and how to save money doing it.

Filling your new beds:  Top soil varies in vitality and useability.  Learn how to get a deal and the best start for your new plants.

Other important elements:  Where are you going to put your hobby greenhouse?  Compost pile?  Worm bin?  Do you have space for a small chicken coop or beehive?  Where is the best place to put these important structures?

All these questions and more are explored in detail at this exciting workshop.  Even if you've got an existing garden, it's not too late to tweak it into perfection!

ALL CLASSES ARE HELD RAIN OR SHINE!

ALL CLASSES REQUIRE ADVANCE REGISTRATION, EVEN FOR GIFT CERTIFICATE HOLDERS.

Click on an available date to register:

January 22, 2012 (Sunday) 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.  $55  SOLD OUT!
March 3, 2012 (Saturday) 2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.  $55
May 6, 2012 (Sunday) 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.  $55

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Please read our cancellation policy in case you are not able to attend your scheduled class. 

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive information about new classes, planting tips, free give-aways, and more exclusive content. 

If the workshop dates don’t work for you, if the class is full, or if you’d like to request that another class be added, please email us and we’ll do our best to accommodate you!

Love Apple Farms gift certificates can be used towards classes, seedlings, and merchandise.  They are available for purchase here. 

Check out other classes at Love Apple Farms by clicking here.

Workshop: Compost, Vermiculture & Soil Fertility

Using your own home-made compost is the single best thing you can do to increase your garden's fertility, ward off pests, and keep diseases at a minimum.  Worm castings have also been shown to be a similarly powerful tool.  Great gardeners will have both an active compost bin and worm bin up and running at all times.  They know the benefits to their garden are enormous.  Using your own compost and worm castings will also drastically cut down on the amount of soil amendments, fertilizers, insecticides and fungicides that an organic gardener usually needs to purchase to maintain their vegetable plot.

Come to Love Apple Farm and learn what these benefits are, how to properly build a compost pile (we build one ourselves during class), learn how to harvest it and use it on your garden. 

The second half of the workshop is devoted to vermiculture: how to start, maintain, and use to full benefit a proper worm bin.  See how we feed our worms, harvest the castings, and even make a fabulous worm tea for use as a supplemental fertilizer.  Students will take home a worm bin, complete with starter worms!

ALL CLASSES ARE HELD RAIN OR SHINE!

ALL CLASSES REQUIRE ADVANCE REGISTRATION, EVEN FOR GIFT CERTIFICATE HOLDERS.

Click on an available date to register:

April 7, 2012 (Saturday) 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.  $55
June 23, 2012 (Saturday) 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.  $55
July 24, 2012 (Tuesday) 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.  $55

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Please read our cancellation policy in case you are not able to attend your scheduled class. 

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive information about new classes, planting tips, free give-aways, and more exclusive content. 

If the workshop dates don’t work for you, if the class is full, or if you’d like to request that another class be added, please email us and we’ll do our best to accommodate you!

Love Apple Farms gift certificates can be used towards classes, seedlings, and merchandise.  They are available for purchase here. 

Check out other classes at Love Apple Farms by clicking here.

Class: Summer Vegetable Gardening

2010 Class Dates Now Scheduled!

This is an all day, intensive seminar on starting and tending a summer vegetable garden.  Participants sow and take home two full flats of summer vegetables (a $52 value).  Topics covered: bed preparation, fertilizing, amending, proper sow and transplant dates for specific crops, discussion of over 20 different warm-weather veggies to grow, warmth, light, and climate needs, companion planting, pest and disease control, on-line preferred discount vendors of gardening supplies and seeds.

Farmer Cynthia Sandberg takes you out into her garden and shows you how.  See the pests in person, the composting techniques, bed preparation - hands on and up close.

This workshop is a great basis for either someone new to gardening, or someone who just wants to ramp up their yield and over-all garden vitality.

Consider giving this class as a gift to a friend or family member.  Gift certificates are available for all classes.

The class is held at Love Apple Farm in Ben Lomond, California.  Click here for farm directions and a map.  If you've got questions before you register, please contact loveapplefarm@gmail.com.

ADVANCE REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.

Available class dates (choose one):

March 20, 2010 (Saturday) 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

April 18, 2010 (Sunday) 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

May 1, 2010 (Saturday) 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

May 18, 2010 (Tuesday) 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

NEW CLASS DATE ADDED: June 3, 2010 (Thursday) 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Click here to register for June 3 class:

What class participants have said:

"I just wanted to Thank you for a great class on Sunday.  I am studying and working on becoming a garden designer/fine gardener and have been inspired my friend Sally to try growing veggies.  I feel like I learned some very valuable techniques and information to get started at your class.  I can't wait to take another class at your wonderful Farm/Garden.  You inspired me to start up my compost pile again.  Everything from the chickens, to the beautiful plants and edibles were so interesting and beautiful, I actually felt a little sad to leave."  Randy S.

Workshop: Growing Herbs

This class will teach you the basics of growing your own herb plants from seed. You take home a sown flat of your choice of herb seeds to tend.   Learn the soil, light, warmth, fertilizing, and climate requirements for the basic culinary herbs: basil, chives, oregano, rosemary, marjoram, tarragon, thyme, parsley and cilantro.  We will also discuss some of the more esoteric herbs such as dill, savory, salad burnet, shiso, stevia, lavender, sorrel, bronze fennel, anise hyssop, mints, chamomile, catnip, borage, lovage, lemon balm, and more.

We will sow a tray of herbs for you to take home, divide and pot up already-growing herbs here at the farm, and take cuttings for rooting of other perennial herbs.  The value of the plants propagated in this class for you to take home is potentially $150.

ALL CLASSES ARE HELD RAIN OR SHINE!

ALL CLASSES REQUIRE ADVANCE REGISTRATION, EVEN FOR GIFT CERTIFICATE HOLDERS.

Click on an available date to register:

April 1, 2012 (Sunday) 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.  $55

Photo by Greg Silva

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Please read our cancellation policy in case you are not able to attend your scheduled class. 

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive information about new classes, planting tips, free give-aways, and more exclusive content. 

If the workshop dates don’t work for you, if the class is full, or if you’d like to request that another class be added, please email us and we’ll do our best to accommodate you!

Love Apple Farms gift certificates can be used towards classes, seedlings, and merchandise.  They are available for purchase here. 

Check out other classes at Love Apple Farms by clicking here.

Workshop: Growing Peppers + Eggplants from Seed

Learn how to grow your own pepper and eggplant seedlings. Sow and take home a flat of up to 48 different  types of peppers and eggplants.   Choose from our seed bank of over 50 kinds of these delectable nightshades to sow and bring back to your garden and give to friends.

Peppers and eggplants can be difficult to start from seed, but this class teaches you everything you need to know.  It is also scheduled in winter, as these tomato relatives can take quite a long time to get going before the weather is hospitable enough to plant them in your garden in April or May.

We have also scheduled a Growing Tomato Transplants from Seed class the same day (earlier in the morning), so that if you are so inclined, you can attend both classes!

ALL CLASSES ARE HELD RAIN OR SHINE!

ALL CLASSES REQUIRE ADVANCE REGISTRATION, EVEN FOR GIFT CERTIFICATE HOLDERS.

There is only one class date available:

January 28, 2012 (Saturday) 1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.  $45

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Please read our cancellation policy in case you are not able to attend your scheduled class. 

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive information about new classes, planting tips, free give-aways, and more exclusive content. 

If the workshop dates don’t work for you, if the class is full, or if you’d like to request that another class be added, please email us and we’ll do our best to accommodate you!

Love Apple Farms gift certificates can be used towards classes, seedlings, and merchandise.  They are available for purchase here. 

Check out other classes at Love Apple Farms by clicking here.

Happy Holidays from Love Apple Farm

We have glorious holly trees outside that provide us beautiful splashes of red berries in an otherwise brown and green month.

It's December, which means "Fall" has finally come to California! Our Japanese maple is showing some beautiful leaf colors.

 

We have many large Cedars and California Redwood trees at the farm.

 

Happy Holidays!

Go Out and Buy the December Issue of Gourmet Magazine!

The December 2008 issue of Gourmet Magazine is full of beautiful photos and delicious recipes, all holiday related of course.  But the big news is that there is a pull-out 2009 calendar sponsored by Anolon cookware, and I'm in it!

Anolon and Gourmet Magazine are featuring great chefs and their preferred farmers in the calendar.  So it was that I found myself trying to look as nonchalant as possible with David Kinch of Manresa.  The fabulous photographer, Andrea Fazzari, was a consummate professional.  She really knew what she was doing.  Despite the 100 degree weather that day, she remained calm, cool, and collected, and managed to get us to look that way as well.

I also want to point out that not only were the tomatoes in the photo grown by me and later served at the restaurant, but the rooster held by the chef was also "served" a few days later as well.  It doesn't get any more real than that!