Adult Education
Hone Your Skills of Self-reliance and Environmental Stewardship
We offer adult students a diverse selection of classes: Gardening and grow your groceries, herbal studies, culinary arts, nature and environment, natural arts and crafts and animal husbandry to inspire you to participate in a local sustainable food system. The skills we teach go beyond self-reliance and environmental stewardship. With every interaction we open a world of possibilities to people who may never have had access to the beauty, wisdom and innate knowledge that our natural environment provides.
We offer both individual classes and longer courses.
Grow Your Groceries
These classes teach adults basic gardening skills to transform outdoor spaces into thriving, abundant edible organic gardens. We offer both individual classes and longer courses, such as the Beginning Home Gardener Weekend Intensive. Individual class topics include: preparing spring, summer, fall and winter gardens; building soil fertility; garden design and seasonality; irrigation and water management; natural pest management; composting; fruit tree care; seed saving; beekeeping; foraging wild edibles and more.
GYG Upcoming Classes
| Event | Venue | Date | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drip Irrigation | American River Ranch |
| In this drip irrigation class, come learn the basics of building your own system. We will learn about all the necessary parts, look at various systems here at the farm and practice building a few in our raised beds. |
Sold Out |
| Garden Like a Farmer: Preparing a Garden for a Successful Season | American River Ranch |
| Learn how to set up your garden like a farmer! A garden is a wonderfully complex place, but managing it doesn’t have to be complicated. |
Register |
| Regenerative Agriculture Farm Tour | American River Ranch |
| Take a tour of the farm while learning the principles of regenerative agriculture. See how our farmers implement regenerative practices that revitalize the land and restore the historic American River Ranch. |
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| Garden Like a Farmer: Growing Healthy Soils | American River Ranch |
| It all starts with the soil. Learn how to avoid the common mistakes beginning gardeners make. |
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| Attracting Pollinators to Your Garden | American River Ranch |
| In this class, you’ll learn about the needs of various pollinators and how to create an optimal survival environment in your garden. |
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| Regenerative Agriculture Farm Tour | American River Ranch |
| Take a tour of the farm while learning the principles of regenerative agriculture. See how our farmers implement regenerative practices that revitalize the land and restore the historic American River Ranch. |
Register |
| Garden Like a Farmer: Beat the Heat! Preparing Your Garden for the Sacramento Summer | American River Ranch |
| Don’t let summer heat be the reason your garden fails—learn the skills to keep your garden success continuing through our tough summer weather. |
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| Composting and Vermicomposting | American River Ranch |
| In this workshop you will learn the basics of each type of composting. We will look at our backyard size systems and practice feeding, turning and troubleshooting. |
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Herbal Studies
We offer both individual herbal classes and longer courses, such as the Family Herbalist Course Beginners Program. the Intermediate Herbalist Courses Part A and B and the Homegrown Herbalism Course. Students will learn how to identify, grow and use herbs for health and wellness. Most classes are experiential with tasting, smelling, and hands-on activities with herbs. Topics include: basics of herbal medicine; the art of herbal medicine making (beginning and intermediate); the spring, autumn and winter herbal; growing medicinal and culinary herbs; herbal first aid; herb walks along the American River Parkway; introduction to aromatherapy and more.
Herbal Studies Upcoming Classes
| Event | Venue | Date | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nervines and Adaptogens: Herbs for Calm and Well-being | American River Ranch |
| This class will introduce a number of my favorite nervines and adaptogens and demystify the process of choosing the best one(s) for you. |
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| Herb Walk, Talk & Tea: A Monthly Journey Through Nature's Pharmacy | American River Ranch |
| Join us for an enchanting herbal exploration that will transform your understanding of local plant life and traditional healing! |
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| The Art of Herbal Medicine Making | American River Ranch |
| This introductory class will cover simple herbal remedies you can make at home, and when and how to use them. |
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Culinary Arts
Our culinary arts program features a variety of classes that teach adults the basic cooking skills to prepare fresh, whole foods into delicious, healthy meals. The Art of Home Cooking are seasonally-themed classes that inspire you to cook from scratch using basic techniques and wholesome ingredients. Topics include: soups and broths, sauces, greens, pizza, braising, stir-frying and grilling. The Meal Prep Hands-on Cooking workshops are offered monthly where the students prepare the components of seasonal recipes for the upcoming week’s meals (different types of proteins, a myriad of vegetables, a healthy grain and sauces). Participants leave the workshops with containers of prepped ingredients, a plan for the week and a selection of building-block recipes. The Garden to Pantry Food Preservation classes are a combination of hands-on and demonstration style. Students learn a variety of ways to preserve food utilizing the seasonal produce grown on the farm: canning, dehydration and fermentation.
Culinary Arts Upcoming Classes
There are no listings in this category currently available. Check back soon!
Nature and Environment
We offer bird walks along the American River Parkway where you will learn how to identify through sight and sound a variety of resident birds. The walks are ideal for beginner to intermediate birdwatchers. Herbal studies instructors lead herb walks along the American River Parkway to show students how to identify and use over 25 plants for food and medicine. Beekeeping classes are offered for the aspiring urban backyard beekeeper to those who are serious about beekeeping as a profession. All of our nature and environment classes are experiential, emphasizing our connection to the natural world and how to become stewards of the land.
Nature and Environment Upcoming Classes
| Event | Venue | Date | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bird Walk | American River Ranch |
| Start your morning off with a pleasant walk around American River Ranch. We will experience a variety of resident and migratory birds. |
Register |
| Create a Thriving School Garden throughout the Summer | American River Ranch |
| This workshop will discuss ways to “over-summer” your school garden. We will learn about drip irrigation, building and using ollas, creating healthy soil for water retention and discover plants that will grow throughout summer with limited care. |
Register |
| Bird Walk | American River Ranch |
| Start your morning off with a pleasant walk around American River Ranch. We will experience a variety of resident and migratory birds. |
Register |
Natural Arts and Crafts
The joy of succulents are a variety of hands-on workshops that show you how to create beautiful and useful pieces of art made from succulent plants and other natural materials. Class topics include: succulent container gardens; succulents in a wine bottle; decorative succulent pumpkins; succulent terrariums and succulent wreaths. We will be adding woodworking, photography and art classes soon…
Natural Arts and Crafts Upcoming Classes
There are no listings in this category currently available. Check back soon!
Animal Husbandry
Every year we offer a raising backyard chickens workshop where you will learn how to raise chickens for egg production and soil fertility as well as choosing the right breeds, providing a healthy diet, housing and optimal care for your chickens.
Animal Husbandry Upcoming Classes
There are no listings in this category currently available. Check back soon!
Teacher Training
Growing Together is our teacher training program which supports the Garden in Every School movement, established by Delain Eastin. The goal is to develop sustainable garden programs that will impact campuses through healthy eating, science learning, connection to food and improving student pride in their school. Activities include hands-on workshops and a biannual symposium.
Teacher Training Upcoming Classes
| Event | Venue | Date | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Create a Thriving School Garden throughout the Summer | American River Ranch |
| This workshop will discuss ways to “over-summer” your school garden. We will learn about drip irrigation, building and using ollas, creating healthy soil for water retention and discover plants that will grow throughout summer with limited care. |
Register |
