Love Apple Farms

Workshop: Easy Solar Projects

Are your PG&E bills starting to look a little too costly?  Ride the renewable energy wave!  This beginner class will provide the basic expertise needed to get a small solar project up and running.  We will look at simple systems including solar electricity, solar water heating, and small-scale wind systems.

The class will be divided into two parts.  The first section will be a lecture that introduces students to the basic concepts and vocabulary of solar engineering.  The second part will be a demonstration of how a solar-powered light should be installed in an outdoor setting (specifically, our chicken coop). 

Some specific topics covered will be:  building remote solar lighting systems, installing a solar pump for a pond, understanding various panel configurations (including stand-alone and grid-tied systems), solar food dehydrating, solar cookers, easy battery charging for laptops and phones (for when the power goes out), micro hydro, and micro wind.  Today it is easy to purchase state-of-the-art solar components almost anywhere; more difficulty lies in understanding the design fundamentals.  Come spend a few hours learning the basics from a professional so that you can bring the power of the sun into your yard, too!

Instructor Thomas Wittman has been using solar power in many various forms since 1982 when he lived in an “off the grid” community.  He has also designed, lectured, and built systems for the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

ALL CLASSES ARE HELD RAIN OR SHINE!

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

June 22, 2013 (Saturday) 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.  $49  << Click date to register (gift certificate holders register by emailing loveapplefarm@gmail.com).

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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: Designing and Building Affordable Greenhouses

We're teaching how to build simple greenhouse structures, folks!

This class will familiarize you with the many options for providing heat and shelter for starting plants as well as growing plants in a greenhouse or cold frame.  Beginning with a simple "cold frame" and building up to more sophisticated structures, basic building techniques and materials will be presented.  Many kits will be reviewed as well as ways to build a substantial greenhouse from inexpensive materials you can get from a local lumber yard or recycle yard.   Aspects such as finding the right site, venting, heating and cooling, as well as basic layout of the structure will be presented in a way that is comfortable for the non-builder or adventurous gardener. 

Our instructor for this workshop is Thomas Wittman.  He has been building greenhouses and garden structures for over thirty years on his own farm, the UCSC Arboretum and The Farm and Garden Project as well as privately contracted installations.

ADVANCE REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED

Class Date:  December 19, 2010 (Sunday) 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Tuition: $49

Please review our cancellation policy prior to registration.

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 Farm gift certificates can be used toward classes, seedlings and merchandise, They are available for purchase here.

Check out other classes at Love Apple Farm.

Class: Tomato Cage Making

Anyone who has grown great tomatoes (or even not-so-great) can attest to the fact that staking them properly is a challenge.  I've found no commercially-made tomato cage that can hold a 10 foot plant.  And yes, my tomatoes regularly get above and beyond 10 feet. 

Don't let the size of these plants in the photos fool you.  I took these pics before the tomatoes grew so big as to make the cage hard to see.

This Love Apple Farm workshop shows you how to make and use what I call "proper" tomato cages.  These babies are 7 feet tall and two feet wide. 

You may take the class and learn how to do it yourself, which is $20 per person.  Most folks, however, want to take advantage of my discount price that day, and take home the tomato cages we make during class.

I usually charge $15 each for these mondo cages, which will last for decades.  But for one day only, class day, people can make and take the cages for $12 each.  We all help in the cage-making that day.  I require advance notice of how many cages you'd like to help make and buy.

You need not buy any cages to attend the class.  Regardless, you'll need to register in advance by clicking the "Pay Now" button below.  If you'd like to take away cages, let me know a week before the workshop by emailing me the number of cages.  You can pay for your cages "at the door."

ADVANCE REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED

Available class dates:

April 25, 2010 (Sunday) 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

THIS CLASS IS NOW FULL! THERE ARE NO ADDITIONAL CLASSES SCHEDULED.

Another Great Student Testimonial

Tamara O'Kelly attended a Love Apple Farm class last year, and I wanted to share her inspiring photos of how she was able to transform her back yard into a showpiece kitchen garden.  All of these photos are of Tamara's garden, located in Boulder Creek, CA.  I'm so proud of her! Hi Cynthia!

I took your "Grow Better Veggies" class and thought I'd send you some before and after shots of my garden so you could see how well I paid attention in class!  So, here is my story.

In the beginning...there was an asphalt driveway...and the hungry gardener said, "Let there be veggies!" and she and a friend separated the asphalt from the soil.  And it was so. 
The compost truck arrived, the raised beds were built and the deer fencing erected.  It took her MONTHS, not seven days. Even though the seedlings were planted late, the sun shone on them and they grew and were fruitful.  So fruitful, that now the hungry gardener is no longer hungry and neither is anybody else in the neighborhood, including the resident chickens and goats!  

Walking through my garden and "grazing" is no less than a biblical experience for me (pardon the pun)...I am in heaven eating all of the yummy, organic heirloom veggies that I started in your class.  I have devoted most of my spare time to learning about Biodynamic gardening and learn something new everyday and share as much of that with others as I can.  I'm now focusing on learning how to schedule my seed sowing and crop rotation so that I can be as productive as possible all year long.  The learning curve is always tougher in the beginning!

Thank you for such an inspiring class and for getting me off on the right foot!  I've never had such success before!

                                                Sincerely,

                                                Tamara O'Kelly
                                                The Historic Hartmann House Inn

Workshop: Early Spring Vegetable Gardening

Take advantage of our mild California Bay Area climate to get your vegetable garden up and productive for the season!  Why wait for summer to start harvesting your own healthy and organic produce? 

This class will teach you what's possible to grow and pick in early spring.  You will be able to plant and sow in February and March, then start to pick your bounty in April.  Learn sustainable organic techniques that will let you seamlessly integrate your early spring vegetable garden into your summer plantings of warm-weather lovers.

We will discuss lettuces, spinaches, chards, bok choy, tatsoi, carrots, turnips, radishes, snow and shelling peas, mustard, mizuna, cress, kale, and other quick-growing veg that will tide you over til the warm weather hits.  This class differs from our Winter Vegetable Gardening Class, as it only concentrates on quick, cool-weather plants that you will be able to put in now and harvest in the spring.

Every student gets to sow a flat of seeds to take home to tend along with instruction on how to grow them out.

In addition to the culture requirements of each of the vegetables, the topics covered in class will include: bed preparation, heat and light requirements, frost control, germination tricks, companion planting, organic pest control, fertilizing, and harvesting techniques. 

ALL CLASSES ARE HELD RAIN OR SHINE!

ALL CLASSES REQUIRE ADVANCE REGISTRATION, EVEN FOR GIFT CERTIFICATE HOLDERS

February 10, 2013 (Sunday) 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.  $69 plus small $10 materials fee  << Click to register (gift certificate holders register by emailing loveapplefarm@gmail.com)

If the class date doesn't work for you or if the class is full, email us at loveapplefarms@gmail.com to request another workshop date.

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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: Non-Toxic Gopher, Mole, and Vole Control

Love Apple doesn't fool around when it comes to gopher control. We only use the best. And the best farmer for the job is Thomas Wittman.  He has agreed to come to the farm to teach this essential skill for every home gardener.

Thomas started his gopher career as an organic farmer in 1982.  He trapped gophers daily for over twenty years and founded a non-toxic, wildlife damage control company, Gophers Limited.  He has been a consultant and lecturer on rodent problems since 1991.

Thomas gives an intensive 3-hour workshop on eliminating not only gophers from your garden, but moles and voles as well.  His business has had great success training farmers and gardeners on how to control these destructive pests without the use of poisons. 

The seminar will consist of an early morning trap setting session, a Power Point lecture on basic problem-animal biology focusing on behaviors and mannerisms that lead to effective trapping or control.  The lecture will also include attracting predators, using sprays and drenches, different fencing and barrier options, various organically-approved pyrotechnic processes and several trapping methods.  After the lecture, the group returns to the trapping site set up earlier and traps are checked, reset and new areas are set to demonstrate proper trapping techniques.

ALL CLASSES ARE HELD RAIN OR SHINE!

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

March 31, 2013 (Sunday)  9:00 a.m. to Noon  $49  CANCELED

Please email us at loveapplefarms@gmail.com to be notified when we add another class date.

 

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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.

One of Love Apple Farm's Successful Students

One of my students, Craig Dally, sent me this lovely photo of his garden.  He tells me that all of the plants in the picture (except for the Petunias) were grown from seeds and plants he got from one of my workshops.  Here are his thoughts on his beautiful garden:

Dear Cynthia,
After attending your Summer gardening class in March, I went home armed with new knowledge and two flats sown with all sorts of summer vegetables seeds: arugula, kale, lettuces, sunflowers, cucumbers, nasturtiums, pole beans and eight tomato seedlings. After several weeks of caring for my new "kids", I decided to plant my summer garden April 19th. My family thought I was way over the top. Now, they've changed their tune. They hawk over the plants (just like me) looking for any pests or disease. They count the days till the next compost tea (worm pee) and remind me to apply the Serenade on alternate weeks. We all marvel at the natural health the plants enjoy and are eagerly anticipating the first ripe love apple.

I didn't reinvent the wheel, I listened to an experienced pro and took the advice you gave to heart. It works. You'll be seeing me at a Master's Tomato class soon. Thanks for a life lesson well worth learning: gardening is good for your heart and soul and pulling a family together in a way I never imagined.

You're the best,

Craig D.

Workshop: Tomato Masters

This is a hands-on seminar on backyard tomato growing.  Learn the latest techniques for fertilizing, pruning, and soil amending for maximum production, health and taste.  Yes, you CAN help your tomatoes taste better.  Yes, you CAN achieve results to make even your most doubting relatives and neighbors envious.

We'll also talk staking, proper garden siting, mulching, watering, disease and pest control, harvesting, the heirloom vs. hybrid debate, and seed saving.

2010 was particularly challenging with a cool season delaying ripening, a new pest decimating tomatoes (the Russet Mite!), and a new-to-California disease that is threatening as well (Phytopthera Infestans).  Come learn how to deal with these issues to get a jump on it for next season (don't wait until it's too late!)

Cynthia will take you through the garden and discuss her tips and tricks to help you grow better tomatoes.  You need not have experience growing tomatoes to get a lot out of this class.

ALL CLASSES ARE HELD RAIN OR SHINE!

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

Click on an available date to register:

May 25, 2013 (Saturday) 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.  $49  SOLD OUT!

July 7, 2013 (Sunday) 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.  $49  << Click to register (gift certificate holders register by emailing loveapplefarm@gmail.com)

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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: Container Vegetable Gardening

Whether you want to grow tomatoes in hanging baskets, like I'm showing off above, or you want to utilize a small space, our Container Vegetable Gardening class is the workshop for you.  Learn all about how to successfully grow vegetables in containers.  It's harder than it looks!  From the proper potting soil to use, to a plethora of available container options, we also investigate space requirements, sunlight needs, the all-important fertilizing, and companion planting for maximum yield and results.

We will be focusing on different vegetables depending on the date of the class -- more warm-weather loving ones at the end of April and more winter-hardy types in September. 

This workshop is ideal for:
 - Renters who need to take their gardens with them when they move.
 - Those who have gopher problems.
 - Plots with poor soil or other disease issues. 
 - Apartment dwellers who don't have any ground to grow in.
 - Folks with large decks who would like to grow vegetables in pots rather than the standard landscape container plants.

ALL CLASSES ARE HELD RAIN OR SHINE!

ALL CLASSES REQUIRE ADVANCE REGISTRATION, EVEN FOR GIFT CERTIFICATE HOLDERS

April 7, 2013 (Sunday) 2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.  $49   << Click to register (gift certificate holders register by emailing loveapplefarm@gmail.com)

If the class date doesn't work for you or if the class is full, email us at loveapplefarms@gmail.com to request another workshop date.

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What class participants say:

"I just wanted to thank you for the great container gardening class. I really learned a lot and feel like I could get started. I took a class at another location and yours really was so much more helpful and inspiring."  -- Shiela V.

   

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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.

Photo credits: First photo of Cynthia and the hanging basket taken by Jamie Cole and originally published in Progressive Farmer Magazine. Second photo of the tiered garden boxes from Fraserside Community Services in British Columbia.  Third photo courtesy Darlene Marie. 

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

April 21, 2013 (Sunday) 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.  $49  << Click to register (gift certificate holders register by emailing loveapplefarms@gmail.com)

If the class date doesn't work for you or if the class is full, email us at loveapplefarms@gmail.com to request another workshop date.

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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

April 28, 2013 (Sunday) 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.  $49 plus small materials fee of $10   << Click to register (gift certificate holders register by emailing loveapplefarm@gmail.com)

July 27, 2013 (Saturday) 2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.  $49 plus small materials fee of $10  << Click to register (gift certificate holders register by emailing loveapplefarm@gmail.com)

If the class date doesn't work for you or if the class is full, email us at loveapplefarms@gmail.com to request another workshop date.

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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 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

February 16, 2013 (Saturday) 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.  CLASS CANCELED - IF YOU WERE REGISTERED, YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE ENROLLED IN APRIL 14 CLASS (WE SENT EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS ABOUT THAT ON FEB 3)

April 14, 2013 (Sunday) 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.  $49 plus materials fee of $10  << Click to register (gift certificate holders register by emailing loveapplefarm@gmail.com)

If the class date doesn't work for you or if the class is full, email us at loveapplefarms@gmail.com to request another workshop date.

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 from Seed

Learn how to grow your own pepper seedlings. Sow and take home a flat of up to 48 different  types of peppers.   Choose from our seed bank of over 75 kinds of these delectable nightshades to sow and bring back to your garden and give to friends.

Peppers 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

Click on an available date to register (gift certificate holders should register by emailing us at loveapplefarms@gmail.com):

January 20, 2013 (Sunday) 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.  $45  SOLD OUT!  << Click to register (gift certificate holders register by emailing loveapplefarm@gmail.com)

(this class is held in late January, as that is the optimal time to start peppers from seed so that they are ready to transplant out into the garden by May).

If the class date doesn't work for you or if the class is full, email us at loveapplefarms@gmail.com to request another workshop date.

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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: Winter Vegetable Gardening

 
Learn how to start and tend a winter vegetable garden.  Growing a garden in winter is possible with our mild California climate.  Winter gardens are not just limited to greens and cabbage.  This is an intensive, all-day workshop.  We will discuss over 30 different kinds of winter vegetables.

Everyone gets to sow a flat from our seed bank to take home to tend and transplant.

Learn how to battle the cold temps, bed preparation, winter pest and disease issues, as well as the critical sow dates for winter crops. The earlier in the season you get going, the better, as you need to sow some crops in late summer for winter growing.

ALL CLASSES ARE HELD RAIN OR SHINE!

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

September 14, 2013 (Saturday) 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.  $69 plus small mat'ls fee of $10 <<Click on date to register (gift cert holder register by emailing loveapplefarms@gmail.com)

October 12, 2013 (Saturday) 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.  $69 plus small mat's fee of $10 <<Click on date to register (gift cert holder register by emailing loveapplefarms@gmail.com)

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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 Participants Say  

" We've taken your summer veg and winter veg classes.  They were invaluable.  I really can't thank you enough for those workshops.  The knowledge and inspiration you gave us has changed the way we relate to food, the way we eat, and even the way we feel about our home.  Growing and cooking our own food is deeply satisfying and nurturing -- and not just for us.  My co-workers have been treated to a whole lot of pumpkin bread, muffins, and risotto, thanks to that first summer veg class!"  -- Andrea

"Cynthia, I am an experienced gardener and I enjoyed your class immensely.  Other people who know you also appreciate and praise your work and your sharing!  You put a lot of thought into preparing for classes. Thank you for all the materials, suppliers, new veggies, tips!  You are doing a terrific job with the farm and you are an inspiration to me." -- Inani

"Great class! I came away with some great plans for my garden.  Your style is great!  You don't intimidate us and we feel free to ask questions." -- Rick

"I really felt that you had great information on winter gardening.  I feel so inspired."  -- Carolyn

"I thought the class was great. This is now my second class I have taken with you (tomato seed class).  The class moved along in a timely fashion, was interesting throughout and filled with tons of valuable information.  I will definitely continue on with your classes.  Thanks for offering them!" -- Cherie

 

The Winners of the Class Tuitions Contests Are...

I run contests every time I send out a newsletter (I know I keep saying that, but some of you haven't gotten the news yet!).  Only my newsletter subscribers can enter.  In my last installment, a couple of weeks ago, I promised to give away a couple of class tuitions to one of my upcoming gardening (and chicken) classes.  The winners get to pick which class they want to come to.  Click here if you want to subscribe to my free newsletter and get in on these contests.  Click here if you want to see a list of my classes.

The winner of a full class tuition goes to Annette T. of San Jose, who wanted to win a seat in my chicken class.  Congrats, Annette!  You'll be receiving three chicks, a starter brooder kit, and two hours of learning how to care for these babies, with the end result being fresh eggs for you and your family!

The winner of a buddy seat tuition to a class in which they've enrolled, is Diana C. of Santa Cruz.  Diana greatly increased her chances of winning the buddy seat because she enrolled in four of my classes.  She gets to bring a friend for free to any one of those classes.

My next class, Grow the Earliest Tomatoes, is this coming Saturday, February 2, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. here at the farm in Ben Lomond.  I'll be showing folks how to get their tomatoes to fruit a whole month early, with some hard work and perseverance.  Class participants get to take home 6 already growing plants of my proven earliest maturing tomato varieties.  There are a few spots left in that class, so email me at loveapplefarm@gmail.com if you'd like to enroll.  The class costs $30, plus a materials fee of $18.

In the meantime, congratulations to our two winners, and we'll see you soon!

Workshop: Growing Tomato Transplants from Seed

Learn how to sow and care for young tomato seedlings!  Participants choose from over 125 varieties of heirloom tomatoes from Love Apple Farm's specialty seed bank.  We sow them in seed flats and soil (supplied), while receiving direction and instruction on proper soil to use, heirloom variety selection for your individual growing conditions, germination requirements, care after seedlings emerge, proper transplanting techniques, and more.  Students take home a sown flat of up to 48 different varieties of tomatoes with the potential for a total of 150 live plants (that's a value of $600).  Plenty for your garden and as gifts for your friends, too!  Tomato seeds sown in these classes will be ready for your spring planting.  Classes limited to those 12 years and older.

We also have a Growing Pepper Transplants from Seed class.

ALL CLASSES ARE HELD RAIN OR SHINE!

ALL CLASSES REQUIRE ADVANCE REGISTRATION, EVEN FOR GIFT CERTIFICATE HOLDERS

March 10, 2013 (Sunday) 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.  $49 plus small $10 materials fee << Click to register (gift certificate holders register by emailing loveapplefarm@gmail.com)

If the class date doesn't work for you or if the class is full, email us at loveapplefarms@gmail.com to request another workshop date.

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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.

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Class participants have said:

"Just wanted to tell you again how much I enjoyed your Tomato Seedling Class.  This was the first time I've had any success with seeds and, while raising those little guys was certainly time consuming, it was very rewarding.  I think I only ended up losing one seedling and that was because I accidentaly dropped a grow light on it …ooops.  Needless to say, I had a LOT of little plants at my house.  In fact, after setting aside about twenty plants for myself and giving away a bunch to friends and family, I still had over 100 plants.  So, I donated the excess plants to my grandson's pre-school for their fund-raiser."  -- Jan K.

"I took your seed class in February and have had great success with my seedlings.  I'm still farming them out to neighbors and family in Sonoma, Los Gatos, and Pleasanton -- always spreading your words and good advice for their success."  -- Judy D.

"I had fantastic luck with the seeds we started in your seminar -- practically every one came up and and I shared dozens of seedlings with my friends."  -- Teri M.

Farm Animal of the Week: Buff Laced Polish Hen

Isn't she a pretty girl?  This breed is called a Polish, also known as a "Top Hat" chicken because of the feathers poking out of the top of her head like some crazy Rod Stewart impersonator.  These chickens' head-dresses are so lush and full, they sometimes obscure their eyes, much like a hairy Lhaso Apso dog.  Her coloring is called "buff lace" because of the delicate white edging around her beige-colored feathers.

With chickens, we just can't call them a regular color name, like beige or grey.  For some reason, the poultry breeders have to sex it up a bit and euphemize it, much like nail polish.  "Red" is changed to "Hot Kiss" and "Pink" is not going to sell unless it's named "Valentine Ice."

So the same with chickens.  We call brown "buff" and grey "silver."  Is this more than you wanted to know about chicken colors?  Perhaps for most of you it is.  But for the few of you who have thought it might be cool to have your own hens for homegrown eggs (not ANYTHING like store-bought eggs, mind you) and manure to enrich your compost pile, then you might be interested in my "Keeping Chickens" class that I'll be having on April 19th.

You don't need to live in the country to keep a few hens.  You can do so with proper planning in your backyard.  At this class, you'll learn how to keep baby chicks happy and healthy until they are full sized and start laying eggs.  You'll learn what to feed them, how big of a yard they need, how to keep them from flying out, how to get them to lay eggs throughout the winter months when they usually stop laying.

You get to take home three baby girl chicks (no roosters - your neighbors will thank you), along with supplies to keep them happy until you can build or buy a proper coop (about a six week window).  We'll talk about coop design and a simple do-it-yourself plan will be one of the hand-outs.

The three chicks you get will be a Polish like the cutie in the picture, a Cochin, like my previous post, found here, and an Araucana chick.  Each breed lays a different egg color, so you will end up with white, brown and green eggs, like those shown in this gorgeous photo taken of our eggs by Pim Techamuanvivit.

So if any of you in the greater California Bay Area want to come learn about chickens, click here to be directed to my "Upcoming Classes/Events" page.

 

Gardening Class: Grow Your Own Tomato Transplants from Seed

This class used to be called "Tomato Seed Sowing," but I thought I needed a more descriptive name.  I mention the name change so that those of you who like to take this class year after year will know it.  Here's a photo of my tomato apprentice, Rachael, after last year's class.

Rachael has probably been my youngest student, as most folks who attend my gardening seminars are adults.  When I first saw her, I worried that she would not be able to focus for my entire lecture.  But she did great, taking home a sown flat of tomato seeds that she was able, with her new knowledge, to nurture into about 70 or 80 tomato starts.  She didn't need that many, so Rachael ended up selling her extras at my seedling sale later, and made over $100.  I was very proud of her.  Rachael has continued to come to the farm and volunteer over the past year, and has learned a whole bunch of stuff about plants.

Believe it or not, but this is the time to start thinking about starting seeds for tomatoes. The "Grow Your Own Tomato Transplants from Seed" class is all about learning how to get that little bitty seed into a healthy, robust plant, ready to go out into the garden.  As some of you know, doing that is harder than it looks.  Soil, airflow, lighting, watering, fertilizing, potting up, are all important to know how to do right.

The thing that keeps a lot of people coming back to this class is that they get to take home a sown flat of tomato seeds, and choose up to 48 different varieties to place in their 48-cell flat.  My seed bank currently holds over 125 varieties of tomatoes, some "normal" such as Early Girl, but most highly unusual like JD's Special C-Tex, Purple DogCreek and Portuguese Monster.

It has not been unusual for my students to successfully propagate 100 or 150 plants from this class alone.  I know that some folks have even sold their excess, just like Rachael.  I love hearing those stories! 

I'm offering the class on four different dates.  Choose an early date if you want to plant out in early April.  Choose a later class if you want to plant out in May.  Click here to go to the dates and fees. All classes are held here at Love Apple Farm in Ben Lomond, California.  We are located 45 minutes from San Jose and about an hour and a half from San Francisco. Here is a complete list of the tomato seeds you will be able to choose from: 

Amazon Chocolate (new for 2008)
Ananas Noir
Aunt Ruby’s Green
Aunt Ruby’s Green Cherry
Azoychka
Barad’s Yellow
Basinga
Beauty Lottringa
Bi-color Cherry
Big Beef
Big Rainbow
Black Bear (new)
Black Cherry
Black Ethiopian
Black from Tula
Black Krim
Black Oxheart (new)
Black Plum
Black Prince
Black Stripe Cherry (new)
Black Zebra
Blondkopfchen
Bloody Butcher
Brad's Black Oxheart (new)
Brandysweet Plum Cherry (new)
Brandywine OTV
Brandywine Landis
Brown’s Yellow Giant
Burpee's Supersteak (new)
Camalay
Camp Joy Cherry
Caspian Pink
CelebrityVFFNTA
Chapman
Cherokee Purple
Chocolate Vintage (new)
Chuck’s Yellow
Church (new)
Copia
Cosmonaut Volkov
Costoluto Genovese
Costoluto Florentino
Coustralee
Coyote
Earl’s Faux
Early Girl
First Lady
Fourth of July (new)
Gardener’s Delight
Gary O'Sena (new)
German Red Strawberry
Giant Belgium (new)
Gold Medal
Grandma Josie (new)
Grape
Green Doctors (new)
Green Giant
Green Zebra
Grub's Mystery Green (new)
Hawaiian Pineapple
Heart of Compassion
Hippie Zebra
Homer Fike’s Oxheart (new)
Hugh’s
Isis Candy Cherry
Lemony
Japanese Black Trifele
Japanese Oxheart
Jaune Flamme
JD's Special C-Tex (new)
Jersey Devil (it's back!)
Julia Child
Kellogg’s Breakfast
Kentucky Beefsteak
King Pineapple (new)
Lemony
Love Apple
Love Happy (new cross of mine)
Magnum (new)
Mammoth German Gold (new)
Mandarin Cross (new)
Marianna’s Peace
Marvel Stripe
Matina
Moskvitch
Mr. Brown (new)
Nebraska Wedding
Neves Azorean Red
Northern Lights
Oaxacan Jewel
Orange Russian 117
Orange Strawberry
Oregon Spring
Paul Robeson
Peacevine Cherry
Persimmon
Pineapple (new)
Pink Accordian
Plum Lemon
Porterhouse Steak (new)
Portugese Monster  (new)
Purple Brandy
Purple Calabash
Purple DogCreek (new)
Purple Russian
Red Pear
Riesentraube
Rosalita
Rose
San Francisco Fog
Siletz
South American Giant
Southern Pride (new)
Stupice
Sungold
Super Marzano
Sweet Horizon
Taxi
Texas Star
Thessaloniki
Tigerella
Tommy Toe Cherry (new)
Top Sirloin (new)
Tree's Bottom Yellow (new)
Valena Pink (new)
Vintage Wine
Virginia Sweets (new)
West Virginia Sweet Meat (new)
White Cherry
White Tomesol
Wild Bill's Big Red (new)
Yellow Brandywine
Yellow Pear
Zogola (it's back!)

Gardening Class: Grow the Earliest Tomatoes

I finally have my schedule of spring gardening classes set!  The hard part is trying to figure out what sort of classes people want.  One of the classes I thought people might like, "Grow the Earliest Tomatoes," necessitated me running out to my greenhouse and sowing seeds of my earliest maturing varieties:

This is the earliest I've ever sown tomato seeds.  My intention is for these babies to be ready to give out to participants in the "Grow the Earliest Tomatoes" class on February 2.  Students will learn the newest technology to get their tomatoes to fruit and ripen in early summer, rather than having to wait until mid to late summer for their first ripe tomatoes.  Class participants will take home varieties bred to mature early, such as Matina, First Lady, Siletz, Stupice, San Francisco Fog, Oregon Spring, and Early Girl.  I also sowed the varieties that turned out to ripen first in my garden last year, which were Lemony, Homer Fikes, Camp Joy Cherry and Sungold.

This class won't be for wimps or people not willing to put in some work.  If you want ripe tomatoes by the end of June (instead of the end of August, which sometimes happens here in Coastal California), then you'll need to fuss over them quite a bit and know what you're doing.  But if you want to do the work, I'm more than happy to show you how to do it.  This should be a fun and interesting experiment for those of you who want to be the first on your block to have ripe tomatoes.

For a full class description and tuition information, click here to be directed to my Upcoming Events/Classes page.  You will also find my other newly added classes to the schedule.  I'll talk about each one individually as the days go on.