Learn four strategies to optimize pollinators' health and habitat

A cooking class for gardeners and foragers.

Learn about soil mix, nutrients, as well as details on matching the right plant to the right pot.

Pollinators are critical for the health of our ecosystems, food crops, and landscapes. See some of the Beacon Food Forest (BFF) with features that play a role in helping to protect and support pollinator populations highlighted including many of its Late Blooming plants…

Want to know what to eat from the Beacon Food Forest, or are you looking to learn how to prepare a few fresh vegetables while hiking? Learn how to prepare three easy seasonal dishes with Cheryl Wheeler, author of Foraging in Seattle…

In this class well be doing a bark graft on an established tree and talk about what grafting is and why you would want to graft (add new cultivars, better pollination, add a new branch to a tree, create a baby tree.)

Come get a start on the 2020 growing season with early season vegetable seeds. We’ll start some delicious veggies and show you how to start your garden whether you’re planting in containers or garden beds.

Learn to grow a variety of mushrooms in your own home garden and how to properly identify some delicious edibles when you are out in the woods as well as tour some of the fungus related work at BFF. This 2 hour course will cover mushroom ID, how to start mushrooms at home, and their uses for medicine, soil health and culinary arts with JAKE HARRIS, Mushroom Ambassador and Owner of Stone Soup Gardens.

Come learn about how to harvest and use medicinal plants at the Beacon Food Forest. local Herbalist Natalie Hammerquist will be teaching this two hour workshop aimed at kick starting your journey of using plants at medicine.

Want to know what to eat from the Beacon Food Forest, or are you looking to learn how to prepare a few fresh vegetables while hiking? Learn how to prepare three easy seasonal dishes with Cheryl Wheeler, author of Foraging in Seattle, with plants fresh from the BFF!

Would you like to plant an herbal area of your garden but aren’t sure how herbal plants are different than vegetables? (Hint: most of them are perennials) Come learn about planting herbs in guilds and then get hands on practice so that you can go home and plant with confidence! Learn a little about permaculture while we’re at it!

Much can be learned about Fruit Tree Guilds from careful observation and hands-on gardening practice so if you're ready to learn from, and contribute to, Beacon Food Forest (BFF), this class is for you!

Come out to the Food Forest and learn about the basics of pickling and veggie fermentation. We'll harvest the Food Forest's most abundant crop this time of year, green tomatoes! Together, we'll harvest a bunch of green tomatoes, then turn them into pickles. We'll talk about fermentation as another way of preserving the bounty and start some jars. You'll receive handouts with instructions and recipes for both processes. 

Join local herbalist and educator Natalie Hammerquist in this workshop on the identification, harvest and use of plant medicines at the food forest on beacon hill. The Beacon Food Forest has a wealth of medicinal plants growing which are available for the public to harvest. A few of these plants include: elderberry, mint, mugwort, motherwort, sage, rosemary, blue vervain, yarrow and more.

Spend the morning with Della on a plant walk around the Food Forest as she shares her wisdom and knowledge about Native connections to plants. Bring a bag lunch to share as we relax in the Gathering Plaza between the two parts of the day. In the afternoon, Della will teach us about Medicine making from the tradition of her people with a hands-on workshop. Students will each take home their own creations that they will be making along with Della (Rice) Sylvester. This is a rare opportunity to learn from a First Nations teacher and a wonderful way to deepen our connection to the land we live on from someone who originates from the land.

Did you miss our last berry class, come to this one! Have fun exploring the Beacon Food Forest and getting to know 5 species of berries to add to your home garden - Blueberries, Raspberries, Honeyberries, Currants, and Aronia. You'll get introduced to each of these species, review what each needs to thrive, share berry recipe ideas, and maybe even get to sample some Honeyberries! Handout will be provided - info on berries and some recipes.

We'll build a no-dig garden to demonstrate the importance of soil to healthy plant life. This exercise will also demonstrate how quickly you can begin permaculture gardening. As we build our new garden, well emphasize how important pollinators are in every garden and the challenges they face these days. You will leave with knowledge with what plants attract which pollinator. Youll also learn which ones share our area and how better to attract them.

Become familiar with basics of Permaculture, known as "permanent agriculture" and "permanent culture." It is a method of designing systems and things that will last, replenish themselves, and create abundance. Permaculture design is used to create places and structures that regenerate food, clean water, energy, biodiversity, and building materials, used by anyone, anywhere.

Raspberries, Black Berries, Marion Berries, Boysenberries, Logan berries are all cane growing berry plants that thrive in our gardens. These soft and delicious fruits are easy to grow and share with your friends and families.

Spring is just around the corner and now's the time to get some seeds started for your yard or container garden! We'll go over the basics of both styles of gardening with some handouts and then get things going by starting six plants that you choose from our seed stash. All materials will be provided in this two hour class. Get outside at the Food Forest, have some fun and get growing!

Plant Walk With an Herbalist at the Food Forest

All experience levels are welcome at this crash course in the medicine plants of the food forest. During this class, you will learn to identify the most useful plants of the season, how and when to harvest them, how to make them into medicine, and how to use them at home. We will also touch upon some basic skills for the beginning herbalist, such as how to dry herbs at home, and how to dose them.

Remember to buy your ticket ahead of time, as there is limited space available in this workshop. Tickets are $25 here. Scholarship tickets go quickly. Bring a notepad and durable shoes and a bottle to take home a concoction in, and get ready to touch and look closely.

Spend the morning with Della on a plant walk around the Food Forest as she shares her wisdom and knowledge about Native connections to plants. Bring a bag lunch to share as we relax in the Gathering Plaza between the two parts of the day. In the afternoon, Della will teach us about Medicine making from the tradition of her people with a hands-on workshop. Students will each take home their own creations that they will be making along with Della (Rice) Sylvester. This is a rare opportunity to learn from a First Nations teacher and a wonderful way to deepen our connection to the land we live on from someone who originates from the land.

Come make your own remedies in an outdoor garden setting right in the city! Participants will go home with a salve and tincture, all materials provided. Learn how to build your own apothecary using local ingredients.

In this hands-on, skill-building class, participants will receive the knowledge necessary to be able to produce small biochar stoves at home, properly charge biochar with organic materials, and apply biochar in an effective and efficient manner.

All experience levels are welcome at this crash course in the medicine plants of the food forest. During this class, you will learn to identify the most useful plants of the season, how and when to harvest them, how to make them into medicine, and how to use them at home.

We will bring several biochar kilns to show how to use them for cooking and medium scale processing of coarse woody debris. We will use the material from the BFF site to make charcoal and begin the process of charging the char in our composting area.