Baltimore Urban Agriculture

Diane Ott Whealy, an expert gardener and co-founder of Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) will discuss ways gardeners protect genetic diversity of our food supply through heirloom gardening in North America. She will also share tips for designing and planting the perfect combination of flowers, vegetables and herbs. This lecture is free and open to the public. May 21, 7pm in the Greenhouse Classroom, Cylburn Arboretum, 4915 Greenspring Avenue, Baltimore. RSVP by baltimoremg [dot] katiedix [at] gmail [dot] com (email).

The Baltimore Herb Festival will be held Saturday, May 25, 9:30am-3pm in Leakin Park, Baltimore. Featuring food, live music, lectures, and dozens of vendors from around the region! $5 for adults, children 12 and under free. Parking is free. For more details & directions check out the website or info [at] baltimoreherbfestival [dot] com (email the organizers).

The first annual Spring Health Fair, co-hosted by Cecil Elementary School, Greater Greenmount Community Association, Inc., and Boone Street Farm. Cecil Elementary garden club students will be working with us to help share information on how to help keep our neighborhood clean and healthy. Come out to support our garden club students and learn about how to keep our neighborhood clean and healthy! Wednesday, May 29th, 3-6pm at the Boone Street Community Garden, Boone Street, between 21st and 22nd Streets, Baltimore.

Herbalist Olivia June will host a three-part workshop at Real Food Farm on the medicinal properties of herbs and everyday weeds found in your backyard. Sessions will be a combination of classroom-style and experiential learning, so bring a notebook and a pair of comfortable shoes for exploring the farm!

Class 3: The basics of making teas, tinctures and topical preparations using the herbs from previous classes. Tuesday, June 4, 6:30-8pm at Real Food Farm, 2801 Lo Drive, Baltimore. $30 for all three classes. $20 for CGRN, Farm Alliance, and Real Food Farm CSA members. Priority given to those able to attend all three. rffeducation [at] civicworks [dot] com (Email) if you can only attend one or two. See the event page and register online! Registration ends May 14.

Calling all citizen watchdogs! Blue Water Baltimore is looking for a few good stewards to participate in their Adopt-a-Stream program. Workshop participants will learn about Baltimore watersheds and how to help City and County agencies protect and improve our local streams. Topics will include how to properly identify problems such as sewer breaks and illicit discharges, who to contact to report such problems, and how to plan and promote community events such as stream clean-ups and tree plantings. After the training, stream stewards will walk their section of stream at least twice per month to keep an eye out for any problems and to identify restoration and cleanup opportunities.

Tuesday, June 18, 6-8pm at BWB Watershed Center, 3545 Belair Road, Baltimore. See the event page for more info, then register with Debra volunteer [at] bluewaterbaltimore [dot] org (by email) or phone: 410-254-1577 x100.