Start your own vegetable garden: A pitch session by North Berkshire Transition on April 2

If you live in Williamstown and would like to start a Vegetable Garden plan to attend this introduction on Sat April 2nd.

Time: April 2, 2011 at 10am to May 28, 2011 at 7pm
Location: First Congregational Church
Organized By: COOL Williamstown, First Congrational Church, Williams College Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives, Center for Ecological Technology, Williams College for Environmental Studies, Northern Berkshire Transition Towns and Wild Oats Community Market.:

Event Description:

The “In My Backyard” collaboration offers the following garden-related events, each specifically intended to involve community members in fun and productive work toward diminishing our carbon outputs:
April 2 â€" Introduction to Backyard Gardening and Guided Vegetable Garden Tour (10:00 am â€" 1:00 pm) Free and open to all.  First Congregational Church, 906 Main St, Williamstown.  Refreshments will be served.
April 9 â€" COOL Williamstown Launch/Composting Workshop
 (10-11:30 am ) Free and open to all. First Congregational Church, Williamstown

START YOUR OWN VEGETABLE GARDEN $60/ Registration required and space is limited. (Five Saturdays, April 16th â€" May 28th, 3:00 â€" 4:30pm)
See http://coolwilliamstown.org/ to register.  Classes held at First Congregational Church, Williamstown as well as individual gardening sites. Instructor: Linda Wagner.
A limited number of novice gardeners may register to attend five gardening workshops that will provide instruction and mentoring to gardeners.  Workshops include how to site, dig and plant a 4' x  8' sustainable bio-intensive vegetable garden. Compost, seeds, seedlings and a gardening primer will be available for workshop participants. Hands-on work sessions will help each household establish and plant their own and each others’ gardens. Follow up site visits from the instructor and "garden mentors" for support and advice is included.  A model garden will be located at the First Congregational Church of Williamstown.
 
"First Church, at the head of Spring Street, is a visible venue for a demonstration garden," notes Lauren Stevens, a church member. "The garden will be a teaching tool for the workshops and an inspiration to the community." The harvest from the garden will be donated to local food pantries through the Williams College Zilkha Center.
 
COOL Committee organizer, Wendy Penner adds, “this first year is really a pilot project that intends to build the collaborative ties of these organizations.  We are excited to be offering programs about gardening, composting and steps toward energy reduction that help develop healthy living habits.  We are all going to be learning along the way so we will post reports in community outlets and keep people apprised of our progress.”
 
Additional events in the “In My Backyard” campaign will include a public forum about Williamstown’s Energy Future.  “We want to broaden the discussion about what we can do ‘in our backyard’ to include considering what we can do locally to take charge of the energy we are using in our homes and what type of energy we want to generate locally” adds Penner.
 
Other community organizations collaborating on the “In My Backyard” campaign include Williams College Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives, Center for Ecological Technology, Williams College for Environmental Studies, Northern Berkshire Transition Towns and Wild Oats Community Market.

See more details and RSVP on Northern Berkshire Transition:
http://northernberkshiretransition.ning.com/events/event/show?id=6027471%3AEvent%3A3702&xgi=3V1C01U39khe9e&xg_source=msg_invite_event