On Thursday March 28, Friends Academy will offer a spring gardening program entitled "Getting Your Garden Started and Improving Its Productivity and Nutrient Content."  The lecture will begin at 8:30 am and will be held in the Commons of the Early Childhood through Grade 8 independent school on Tucker Road in North Dartmouth.

Using the Friends Academy Garden as an example, Steve Walach will present strategies for making your home garden as productive as possible.  Attendees will learn about seed selection, crop rotations, fertilizers, soil tests, optimal garden layouts plus tricks/tools to extend the growing season.  Attendees will also fill professional grade seedling trays with high quality compost and seed them with easy-to-handle pelleted seed.

If weather permits, a tour of the school’s garden will conclude the workshop.  This program is free and open to the public.

Steve Walach has managed school gardens for 13 years.  Last year the Friends garden yielded 5734 pounds of vegetables from approximately 1900 square foot of growing beds, or 3 pounds per sq.ft. It was his most productive garden ever.  Steve regularly conducts workshops at the Summer and Winter Conferences of the Northeast Organic Farmers Association.