We made it to spring and new opportunities to deepen your knowledge of gardening are blooming. Beginning with virtual and moving on to safe, in-person workshops, Fabric of Life will open the season with programs that focus on soil and moving on to container gardening.
The classes are being taught by M.L. Altobelli, who has over 40 years of experience creating healthy sustainable soils and growing colorful mixed flower and vegetable gardens. Altobelli was a founding member of the Ecological Landscape Alliance.
Sarah Davis, marketing and program agent for Fabric of Life, said she is excited to have Altobelli leading their gardening workshops. The first workshop will take place virtually on Zoom April 20 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Davis said there is a limited number of participants, but it is fine to check-in the day of for availability.
“There will be an hour of instruction time and then a half-hour for questions,” said Davis. She said Altobelli will be teaching the basics of composting and soil management. “We’ll talk about how nutrients get depleted and how to incorporate nutrients to support healthy microorganisms.”
Admission to the virtual class is based on a sliding scale fee from $22.50 to $27.50.
“We just try to have our costs covered and be as reasonable as possible,” Davis said, noting the workshop will be recorded and people can access it later as well.
An in-person workshop will be held Saturday, May 1, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lunch will be provided, and the sliding scale cost is $130 to $195. The workshop will take place on the grounds of Fabric of Life at 80 Bassett Road in Shelburne.
COVID-19 precautions will be in place with masks and social distancing. There is a limit of 12 participants and all activities will take place outdoors. The rain date is Sunday, May 16, although, Davis said, “A little bit of rain probably won’t prevent us from holding the workshop on the first.”
Davis said the first half of the day participants will work on plots on the Fabric of Life property learning about amending and optimizing soil for the health of the plants you grow and general productivity.
“We’ll explore the garden, what exists already and what physical parts are already there,” said Davis. For example, she said sandy areas will be the best for leeks, garlic and onions that require good drainage. Participants will learn about what grows well in which type of soil and how to deal with the kinds of weeds you have.
“This is so you aren’t spending your summer battling weeds and grasses,” she said.
There will be a discussion about raised beds and how to keep soil from compacting.
“Raised beds are just a really big container that can open up gardening to more people to grow flowers or greens, for example,” said Davis, adding that “people are going to get their hands dirty.”
Davis said that participants can engage at whatever their physical ability. “We want to make it as assessable as possible,” Davis said.
Altobelli will teach about soil tests and answer questions about what might help participants in their home garden.
“She’s great at helping people understand what really makes a garden work,” said Davis.
Davis explained that microorganisms and fungi act as nutritional delivery systems in the soil to the plants.
“They make the nutrients accessible to the plants. We’ll be looking at what improves the microbiome,” she said.
Davis said in our region we tend to have a lot of calcium in our soil. If there is a poor “delivery system,” the plant can’t access enough of the calcium, which can create soft spots and rot on tomatoes, for example. There are inoculants that can be used to improve the situation. Davis said that the use of synthetic fertilizers can ruin your efforts to have a healthy garden long-term.
“Synthetic fertilizers kill a lot of the organisms you need to have healthy soil. They are just a quick fix or a Band-Aid. They end up making the problem worse in the long run,” she said.
The second half of the day will be spent doing a deeper dive into understanding soil and amendments, and how that relates to your home gardens. Davis said participants are welcome to bring soil tests from their homes to review.
“We’re going to look at what a season-long story of the Fabric of Life Garden (looks like),” said Davis.
They will provide weekly updates via their website and social media.
“We’ll have pictures and write-ups so people can follow,” she added. There will be four virtual follow-ups for participants so they can connect with others and ask questions as the season progresses. “We want to teach techniques to create plenty in your gardens and things you can do to have greater success.”
Davis said the dates of the follow-up virtual sessions aren’t written in stone yet, but the approximate times will be as follows.
The first week of July: “That’s the beginning of the flowering season. Everything looks promising and there is lots of optimism.” The third week of July: “That’s right about when people are going on vacation, they are losing interest, or they are starting to deal with heat and drought situations,” she said. The final session will occur around Labor Day as this is traditionally the time when most people start to put their gardens to bed.
“With weather changes, even from 10 years ago, we’re finding people can keep even their tomatoes going right up to frost,” said Davis.
Around Labor Day is also when gardeners decide to “ramp things up” or prepare the garden for the following year. Davis said if soil is properly amended “tomatoes can be just as sweet up to the very end. If soil hasn’t been properly amended, they can turn tart or bitter.”
Davis said if Fabric of Life has enough interest, it is going to work on getting amendments for interested parties at the end of the growing season and having them available for pick-up at the farm.
“Overall, we’ve been working to support the local community from both sides to make connections,” said Davis.
Fabric of Life is a nonprofit with a mission to preserve and pass on traditional skills such as agriculture, construction, music, craft and hand skills that were more prevalent generations ago.
“We want to pass the knowledge onto a new generation,” Davis said.
For more information, visit
fabricoflife.org/events.
Cris Carl is an avid local gardener, licensed therapist and certified herbalist. She is an experienced journalist who has written for the Recorder for many years. She can be reached at cstormfox57@gmail.com.