VGN offers garden workshops on varying topics throughout the season. The best way to keep in touch and hear about workshops as soon as they are announced is by following us on Instagram (@vtgardens) and by signing up for our monthly newsletter (scroll down to the footer of this webpage to join our mailing list).
If you are interested in hosting a VGN workshop in your community, please email carolina@vtgardens.org and we’ll send you our menu of workshop offerings and fees.
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We are proud to offer many opportunities to share our expertise on garden-scale food production.
We have at least one workshop scheduled every month from March through October!
Scroll down to view the calendars for our Garden Like a Farmer series and for workshops in the Greenhouse at Landry Park.
Keep scrolling down to read individual workshop descriptions and registration notes.
- Garden Like a Farmer Workshop Series – Tools, tips & techniques for gardening with climate resiliency in mind, inspired by lessons we’ve learned from the farming community and adapting our practices to the garden-scale.
- Monthly workshops will take place at community garden sites in the Burlington area.
- Free for everyone thanks to funding from the City of Burlington’s Conservation Legacy Fund!
- Workshops include access to gardening materials for participants to take home, for example: row cover to protect from frost, hoops & staples to properly secure row cover, pest id cards, planting date charts, packets of seeds, and more!
- Greenhouse Events – Monthly workshops, drop-in demos, and community events focus on seed starting, seed saving, season extension and growing culturally meaningful crops.
- All events will take place in the Greenhouse at Landry Park, in Winooski.
- Free for everyone thanks to funding from the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program!
- Select workshops will include language interpretation for non-English speaking community gardeners.
- In addition to workshops, event listings below also include Drop-In Demos (stop by for hands-on learning with our Greenhouse Team) and Community Events (celebrating seasons and sharing abundance).
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Upcoming Workshops
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Succession Sowing from Solstice to Solstice – Thursday, June 11, from 5:30-7pm
at Greenhouse at Landry Park, Winooski
The summer solstice marks a seasonal shift to plan the remainder of the growing season. Our goal is to have a continuous harvest through late summer and into December by transplanting and direct seeding multiple times. Midsummer is when we prepare to start seeds for our favorite fall crops that grow particularly well during the cool weather of autumn – radicchio, cauliflower, broccoli, fennel, endive, lettuce, cilantro, and scallions, among many others. If you are starting a garden later than you hoped, if flea beetles devoured your arugula in spring, or if you are curious to explore garden-scale season extension, then this workshop experience is for you!
Free! Please register here to save your spot!
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Mulches: Pros & Cons of Various Materials – Thursday, June 18, from 5:30-7pm
at Seedsong Collective Garden, Burlington
Mulches serve three main purposes: reduce weed pressure, retain moisture in soil, and modulate soil temperature. Over the years we’ve experimented with various materials – straw, plastic, burlap, paper – and we are eager to share our experience and opinions on materials we continue to use and those that we have abandoned. During this workshop we will explore biodegradable & plastic-based mulches, discuss benefits & disadvantages to each, and demonstrate tips & techniques for using mulch at the garden scale.
Free! Please register here to save your spot!
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Garden with Kids: Farmers of the Future! – Friday, July 10, from 8:30-10:30am
at Family Room Collective Garden, Burlington
Today’s garden explorers are the tomorrow’s farmers. Children of all ages and their caretakers are invited to join us in the garden to explore the soils and plants that help us grow. We will use all of our senses as we walk through the garden, sample plants and make a garden-related art project. Come play in the garden and learn about growing climate resilient gardens and climate resilient kids.
Free! Please register here to save your spot!
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3-Session Workshop in July, August and September – in the Greenhouse at Landry Park
July 16, August, 20 and September 24 (Thursdays), from 5:00-7:00pm
$75 for the 3 sessions. Scholarships available!
This three session workshop will immerse growers into the practice of seed saving through hands-on learning, presentations, and field trips. We will begin with building a common understanding of seed terminology and botany. Participants will learn isolation and hand-pollination techniques, and also explore seed saving practices for encouraging high genetic diversity and bioregional adaptation. Together we will harvest seeds from dry-seeded and wet-seeded crops to learn processing techniques and review best practices for seed storage. Through all three sessions, we will discuss the value of seed saving for food sovereignty, climate resilience and cultural heritage.
Registration, including scholarship details, coming soon!
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Drop-in Demo: Garlic Harvesting & Curing – Wednesday, July 22, from 5:30-7:00pm
at Greenhouse at Landry Park, Winooski
Join us in the greenhouse to learn by doing! We will harvest garlic, talk about effective garlic curing methods, and learn how to save garlic seed for planting in the fall. Come celebrate garlic and learn tips & tricks for growing this amazing crop in your own garden.
We’ll be sharing iced herbal tea and fresh garlic oil on bread! No registration required, just bring a friend and drop-in!
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Garden-Scale Cover Cropping – Tuesday, August 25, from 5:30-7:00pm
at Thrive Teaching Garden, Burlington
Cover cropping improves soil health by reducing erosion, managing nutrients, and suppressing weeds. However it is also a very nuanced practice, especially at the garden-scale. In this workshop we will go over selecting cover crop seeds best suited for small-scale gardens, defining a seeding calendar, and coming up with a termination plan for successful cover crop management. Participants will tour our teaching garden site to see examples of various cover crop seed varieties and termination techniques. We’ll discuss benefits and disadvantages of winterkill versus overwintering cover crop and how to adapt management in both a tilled and no-till garden setting.
Free! Please register here to save your spot!
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Overwintering Greens to Extend Your Harvest Season – Thursday, September 10, from 5:30-7:00pm
at Greenhouse at Landry Park, Winooski
Overwintering techniques allow gardeners to grow cold-hardy greens through winter’s low temperatures and harvest vibrant green leaves in very early spring. Some of our favorite overwintering crops include spinach, kale, mache, claytonia, cilantro, arugula and scallions. During this workshop we will tour our raised bed setup inside the greenhouse and also discuss techniques to overwinter greens in a garden setting by using row cover and DIY hoop house designs. We’ll explore the science behind what happens to plant cells during freezing temperatures and how the Persephone period impacts plant growth. Participants will leave with seedlings and seeds to implement newly acquired skills at home.
Free! Please register here to save your spot!
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Perennials: Herbs, Fruits & Flowers – Tuesday, September 15, from 5:30-7:00pm
at Seedsong Collective Garden, Burlington
Incorporating perennials into your vegetable garden increases your access to seasonal harvests (including asparagus, blueberries, elderberry and sorrel to name a few!) and provides habitat for birds and beneficial insects (including pollinators and parasitoids). Proper management of perennials is crucial to maintain balance among your annual vegetables since many perennials aggressively spread, grow larger than anticipated, or have specific nutrient requirements. During this workshop we will walk through our garden layout considerations and highlight some of our favorite perennial small fruits, culinary & medicinal herbs, and native flowering plants.
Free! Please register here to save your spot!
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Garlic Planting – Tuesday, October 6, from 5:00-6:00pm
at Family Room Collective Garden, Burlington
Join us to learn about the nine-month long process of growing garlic. We will discuss different types and varieties of garlic, where to source seed, and best growing practices around fertility, harvesting and storage. We will work together to plant several beds of garlic that will be overwintered for next summer’s harvest. Help us close out the gardening season and learn about the joys of growing garlic!
Free! Please register here to save your spot!
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