ONLINE: Green Thumb Gardening

Winter appears to be settling in, but keep your thoughts on green and growing things with a recurring horticulture class series by UW Extension Dane County. The current series begins Jan. 11 and takes place most Mondays through March 1, including talks on seed starting, weed management, garden planning and more. Register here for the series or individual classes.

RSVP here for series/individual classes.

press release: The Green Thumb Gardening class series will give you the practical knowledge to keep your home garden thriving! Dane County Extension educators and local horticulture experts will provide in depth and accessible information for everyone from the novice to the experienced gardener. Register for the complete class series at a discounted price ($70.00) or individual classes ($12.00) according to your interests.

Vegetable Garden Planning and Techniques Jan 11 Organic Produce Outreach Specialist, Claire Strader will get you ready for vegetable gardening with strategies and tips for advanced gardeners as well as well as newer gardeners. She will talk about timing of crops, spacing, building productive soils, using cover crops, and more. You will leave with at least four electronic copies of handouts full of great information.

Seed Starting Jan 25 If you are a new gardener, or just looking for some tips on starting seeds, this lecture will cover it. You will get an electronic copy of a handout on optimal soil temperatures for the germination of many crops. (Speaker Lisa Johnson)

Vegetable Diseases Feb 1 Brian Hudelson, Director of the Plant Disease Diagnostics Clinic (https://pddc.wisc.edu/), will speak about common diseases of vegetables and their management. You will get tips and strategies for preventing disease as well and digital copies of a number of fact sheets on various common vegetable diseases. (Speaker Brian Hudelson)

Vegetable Insects Feb 8 Dr. Russ Groves of UW-Madison Wisconsin Vegetable Crop Entomology (https://vegento.russell.wisc.edu/) will review the life cycles common insect pests of a variety of crops and give you techniques to combat them in the garden. You will receive a number of electronic fact sheets on insects covered during the talk.

Cover Crops Feb 15 Cover crops bring extra nutrients to the soil and help control weeds. Some also attract pollinators, which can help increase your crop yield.  Organic Produce Outreach Specialist Claire Strader will talk about different types of cover crops to use in different situations, as well as when to plant and remove them.

Weed Management in Vegetable Gardens Feb 22 Learn how to identify various common weeds in the vegetable garden and use their life cycles and other techniques to manage them. Cultural techniques will be stressed, but organic and traditional chemical control products will be briefly discussed as well. (Speaker Lisa Johnson)

Seed Saving/Harvesting and Storage March 1 Learn how to successfully harvest and store seeds from a variety of crops. Success is more likely with some crops, and less likely with others. Learn which crops are easiest and most reliable for getting the results you want. We will also cover proper storage of seeds and seed viability testing. (Speaker Lisa Johnson)

To insure equal access, please make requests for reasonable accommodations at least 10 days prior to the scheduled program, service or activity. If you need this material in another format please contact Lisa Johnson at 608-224-3715 or Email at johnson.lisa@countyofdane.com.

An EEO/AA employer, University of Wisconsin-Extension provides equal opportunities in employment and programming, including Title VI, Title IX, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements.

La Universidad de Wisconsin-Extensión, un empleador con igualdad de oportunidades y acción afirmativa (EEO/AA), proporciona igualdad de oportunidades en empleo y programas, incluyendo los requisitos del Titulo VI, Título IX, y de la Ley para Americanos con Discapacidades (ADA).

Tus Tswv Hauj Lwm Ntawm (EEO/AA), ntawm lub Tsev Kawm Ntawv Qib Siab (University of Wisconsin-Extension) pab rau kev ncaj ncees txog kev hauj lwm thiab kev pab cuam, xws li nyob rau hauv Title VI, Title IX, thiab ntawm tsab cai Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) yuav tsum kom muaj.