Tree and Shrub Pruning
Saturday March 25th
11:00am – 12:00pm
RSVP Required
Meet at SEE Outdoor Classroom + Garden
Class Cost: $10
Class Description
While it might seem scary to cut branches off your precious woody plants, it’s an important part of keeping shrubs and trees happy and healthy! In this class, you’ll learn about why pruning is so important, when it should happen, and basic techniques using handheld pruners. You’ll see a demonstration of shrub and tree pruning in real time, and will have the chance to practice removing unwanted branches and growth from woody plants. Get your pruning questions answered, and leave this class ready to give your own Front Range shrubs and trees what they need.
About the Instructor
Kyle Katsos was born and raised at the foot of America’s Mountain. He has come to steward the natural world around him through protracted observation, calculated interaction, and an insatiable appetite for knowledge. As a Certified Permaculture Designer and practicing landscape designer Kyle employs plant driven design with a keen eye for drainage and human interface to craft masterful landscapes around Colorado.
Seed & Planting Swap +
Garden Planning
Wednesday March 29th
5:00pm – 7:00pm
PPLD East Library in the East Community Meeting Room
Public Event
$5.00 suggested donation at entry
Share your bounty of plant babies and seeds, and swap to try something new! We’ll provide upcycled containers and labeling materials. Bring any seeds (non-GMO preferred) or plants (annuals, perennials, houseplants, plant starts) that you’re looking to rehome! Nothing to swap? We’ve got seeds to share, come join us anyway!
Also enjoy an interactive garden planning workshop with support from SEE staff and local gardeners to support maximizing your growing space, so you are ready for action! Bring your current garden plans with you or we will have square-foot garden templates available.
Compare plans with local gardeners, and understand the importance of plant spacing and companion planting.
Composting Workshop
Saturday April 1st
1:00pm – 3:00pm
RSVP Required
Meet at SEE’s Outdoor Classroom + Garden
Class Cost: $15
Class Description
Learn how living organisms in the Soil Food Web (Biocomplete method by Dr. Elaine Ingham) function as the main players in decomposing organic material to create soil fertility. After an introduction to composting and discussion of the method, we will gather and assemble a wire bin compost pile.
About the Instructor
Tanvi Lad is a practicing ecologist, soil microbiologist, and community compost builder. She learned about permaculture and regenerative principles starting in Peace Corps service in Malawi. Over the past 3 years, she’s been practicing and sharing knowledge about biologically-active soil in hopes to empower community members to steward their soil’s fertility.
Water Harvesting: Making the Most of Every Drop
Saturday April 15th
First Offering: 10:30am – 12:00pm
Second Offering: 1:00pm – 2:30pm
First Offering RSVP Required
Second Offering RSVP Required
Meet at SEE Outdoor Classroom + Garden
Cost: $10
Class Description
Better than rain barrels, beyond drip irrigation, join Kyle as he teaches you to transform the way you water your yard. Rain barrels are a drop in the bucket compared to the ways you’ll learn to slow, stop, and sink water in your landscape. Not only will you save on your water bill, your landscape will weather drought better, your plants will develop better root systems, and you’ll make the most of every precious drop that falls out of the sky! Your backyard ecosystem and bank account both benefit!
About the Instructor
Kyle Katsos was born and raised at the foot of America’s Mountain. He has come to steward the natural world around him through protracted observation, calculated interaction, and an insatiable appetite for knowledge. As a Certified Permaculture Designer and practicing landscape designer Kyle employs plant driven design with a keen eye for drainage and human interface to craft masterful landscapes around Colorado.
Working with Fungi in the Garden
Saturday May 13th
1:00pm – 3:00pm
RSVP Required
Meet at SEE Outdoor Classroom + Garden
Cost: $10
Class Description
Join MycoSprings to learn about working with fungi in the garden! Fungi play an important role in soil health, and they can be great companions to add to your garden. The class will begin with a discussion of saprophytic and mycorrhizal fungi, and how to cultivate each. Then, there will be a hands-on demonstration of interplanting garden giant mushrooms in a garden space.
About the Instructor
Mercedes Perez-Whitman (she/they) is an earthworker and citizen mycologist. She is the founder of MycoSprings LLC, a mycologically-focused business that also offers landscaping services. Mercedes’ work is embedded in improving land health by cultivating native and climate relevant plants and fungi, alongside land, environmental and food justice advocacy.
Tickets Coming Soon!
Earth Shaping
Saturday May 20th
11:00am – 1:00pm
at SEE Outdoor Garden and Classroom
Bat Conservation w/ Cave of the Winds
Thursday June 4th
5:30pm – 7:30pm
at SEE Outdoor Garden and Classroom
Cilantro from Root to Seed w/ Gather Food Studio
Sunday July 9th
2:00pm – 4:00pm
at SEE Outdoor Garden and Classroom
Dyer’s Chamomile w/ Mel Williams
Saturday July 22nd
10:00am – 12:00pm
at SEE Outdoor Garden and Classroom
Edible Weeds w/ Gather Food Studio
Sunday July 23rd
2:00pm – 4:00pm
at SEE Outdoor Garden and Classroom
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What do you want to learn?
SEE offers hands-on, experiential learning in topics related to food production, sustainable living, local ecosystems and whole system design, and artisanship. With our large garden space and connections with local experts, we’re poised to provide a range of clinics and courses. What are you curious about? What skills do you want to build? How can SEE help you become more savvy and self-sufficient?
Fill out our survey to help us meet your needs!
We’re working on our 2023 class schedule, and need your input! Please help us by sharing your (and your outdoor-loving kids’) availability so we can plan classes at convenient times.
Past Classes
Cold Frame Building Workshop
If you’re interested in making the most of your growing space through the season, cold frames are for you! Cold frames are like miniature unheated greenhouses that offer plants a desirable microclimate with more frost-free days and protection from weather and critters. Class time will focus on how to use a cold frame to extend your growing season, considerations for siting and building your own, and assembling a cold frame kit! Choose between the basic class price with information and instruction, adding on a set of instructions detailing materials, tools, and process for constructing your own cold frame, or buying a pre-cut kit with instructions to assemble at home.
Worm Composting
Join Kelly Bull to learn how to turn your trash into treasure and keep the easiest and most productive pets you’ll ever have! Worm composting is one of the easiest and most reliable compost methods. The system taught in this workshop can even be done indoors (great for anyone with apartments or pesky wildlife!). You’ll leave this workshop with the confidence and knowledge necessary to be a successful worm farmer. Your garden will thank you!
Beginner Botanical Watercolors
Join our returning instructor Helen Smithwick for another botanical watercolor class! This class will focus on painting bell peppers and will be hosted at Phelan Gardens. Learn techniques to capture these beautiful fruits, while gaining confidence to paint perhaps your first masterpiece!
Cheesemaking 102: Mozzarella
In this introductory cheese class we make our own mozzarella then turn it into amazing summer caprese salads. Learn how to properly use rennet, cut curd and additional WAYS to use your WHEY without throwing it AWAY (ok, I’m done!). There’s nothing quite like making your own fresh ball of mozz. We’ll also cover basic cheesemaking, different techniques for cheesemaking. Leave with our tips and tricks for perfecting cheese at home in your very own kitchen. This is a hands-on class. Each group will make a batch of EACH cheese to take home! Plus, Cortney will pre-make mozzarella for us to taste in one of her very favorite recipes!
On the menu: Easy Caprese Style Pasta
Growing Structures: Simple Raised Bed
If you’re looking to get off the ground, take control of your soil medium, and level up your growing structure game then this Simple Raised Bed is for you. There is a plethora of perks to growing in a raised bed and building your own doesn’t have to take the whole growing season. Choose between the basic class price with information and class instruction, or add on a set of instructions detailing materials, tools, and the process for constructing your own raised bed. Alternatively, you can purchase a pre-cut kit with instructions to assemble at home.
Class time will focus on when, where, and how to establish a raised bed in your garden, as well as considerations for siting and building your own. We’ll also actually assemble a raised bed kit during the class! Soil is not supplied, but tips for building much of your own soil medium are included in the class and instructions.
Cheesemaking 101: Ricotta and Mascarpone
Has making your own cheese been on your bucket list? During the first part of this introductory workshop we focus in on two great beginner’s cheeses. Cortney, owner of Gather Food Studio, will teach you how simple it is to make your own fresh cheeses at home, and you’ll never buy ricotta again! We’ll also cover basic cheesemaking, different techniques for cheesemaking. Leave with our tips and tricks for perfecting cheese at home in your very own kitchen. This is a hands-on class. Each group will make a batch of EACH cheese to take home! Plus, Cortney will pre-make some of the cheeses for us to taste in recipes. On the menu: Balsamic Mascarpone Stuffed Strawberries; Kale & Whipped Ricotta Pizza.
Garden Planning
Gardening in Colorado is a unique challenge. This class will give you the confidence to begin planning your garden before the last frost hits! Participants will learn how to read seed packets, the importance of plant spacing, where to source local seeds, and how to nurture their ecosystem with companion planting and mulch. Participants will learn to use the square-foot gardening method which maximizes limited growing space and will have time to practice planning with classmates and the instructor.
Soil Building
The importance of healthy, active soil cannot be overstated – it’s the groundwork for thriving plants and richer ecosystems. Learn to build and improve soil by working with locally-available inputs to enhance the natural processes that create healthy soil. You’ll come away from this class with a better understanding of where to start with your own soil improvement, and hands-on practice of five strategies to add to your “soil building toolkit”!
Beekeeping on the Front Range
Are you interested in raising honeybees but unsure of where to start? Then this class is for you! Join Leonard and Dolly Rickerman, owners of Rocky Mountain Bee Supply, to cover the basics of beekeeping before deciding if this is the hobby for you. Beekeeping on the Front Range requires specific practices for your colony to thrive in this climate. They’ll give an overview of the information and equipment necessary to begin beekeeping and bring examples of their equipment for participants to view. Participants will gain the knowledge necessary to make an informed decision about pursuing the wonderful hobby of keeping bees.
Kombucha Brewing
Brewing kombucha at home is an easy, inexpensive hobby to channel your creativity while producing a fresh probiotic! In this class, we’ll cover the basics of starting and maintaining a kombucha SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast). You’ll learn about first and second fermentations, flavoring and bottling, and troubleshooting common problems. Participants will be provided with pellicles to start their own SCOBY at home!
How to Stay Safe in the Wilderness
The objective of this course is for participants to gain confidence and competence when going into the wilderness while minimizing impact to the ecosystem being utilized. We’ll cover how to prepare for the wilderness, what information to know before going, and how to best practice leave no trace principles.
Water Harvesting: Making the Most of Every Drop
Better than rain barrels, beyond drip irrigation, join Kyle as he teaches you to transform the way you water your yard. Rain barrels are a drop in the bucket compared to the ways you’ll learn to slow, stop, and sink water in your landscape. Not only will you save on your water bill, your landscape will weather drought better, your plants will develop better root systems, and you’ll make the most of every precious drop that falls out of the sky! Your backyard ecosystem and bank account both benefit!
Macrame Plant Hanger Workshop
Learn the basics of macrame through creating a plant hanger! In this two-hour, beginner friendly workshop participants will master the square knot and come away with a finished plant hanger.
DIY Oyster Mushroom Cultivation
Learn the basics of mushroom growing and make your own oyster mushroom grow kit! This method can be used for both indoor and outdoor settings and utilizes low cost and free materials sourced from the waste stream. You’ll also learn the benefits of utilizing “spent” mushroom spawn in gardening and composting.
Calendula Salve Class
Learn how to make your own calendula salve! You will come away from this class with an understanding on how to grow and use calendula. The energetics and uses of the plant will be discussed, as well as how to use it fresh and dry it. There will be a calendula tea tasting followed by a demonstration on creating a salve. Each participant will take home a half ounce container of salve and know how to make more for next time!
Botanical Watercolors for Beginners
Do you love flowers and painting? Want to connect creatively with the botanical beauty of garden spaces? Then this class is for you! Participants will be led by Botanical Illustrator, Helen Smithwick, in the painting of pansies and poppies using watercolors. Learn techniques to capture these seasonal moments of awe and wonder, while gaining confidence to paint perhaps your first masterpiece!
In our follow up class, participants were lead through painting Christmas cactus flowers at Phelan Gardens. They learned the basics of washes, applying paints, and glazes, and left the class with botanical masterpieces!
Learn to Winterize Garden Bed + Garlic Planting
Join SEE’s Garden Manager, Tayler Jones, in the winterization of our community garden. Learn how to prepare a garden for the off-season, harvest organically grown veggies, nurture the soil + plant garlic for next season!
Plant Walk & Yucca Cordage
Join SEE’s Garden Manager, Tayler Jones, in a plant walk at The Shire! You’ll learn basic botany terms and gain confidence in foraging to aid in identifying native edible and medicinal plants. Enjoy a nature bathing inspired tea ceremony and process yucca fibers to craft your own cordage! Some plants we’ll get to know: Scrub Oak, Yucca, Purslane, Lamb’s Quarter, Raspberry, Gooseberry, Ponderosa Pine, and Juniper.
Learn to Grow: Garden Planning
This class is best suited for those growing with limited space as our Garden Manager, Tayler Jones, will teach about the square foot gardening technique. You will gain greater knowledge about soil quality, seed sourcing, understanding seed packets and hardiness zones, as well as the importance of mulching and companion planting.
Growing Microgreens
Want to learn how to grow organic food in small spaces while localizing where your food comes from? In this class, you will learn how to grow your own nutrient-dense microgreens, step-by step at home. All participants will receive the materials needed to get started, and get to take their seeded trays home to grow and eat! Whether you’re already a microgreen fiend or just want to move towards producing more of your own food, this class is for you!
Soil Building
The importance of healthy, active soil cannot be overstated – it’s the groundwork for thriving plants and richer ecosystems. Learn to build and improve soil by working with locally-available inputs to enhance the natural processes that create healthy soil. You’ll come away from this class with a better understanding of where to start with your own soil improvement, and hands-on practice of five strategies to add to your “soil building toolkit”! Participants will also get a sample of Azomite to use in their own soil.
Tree & Shrub Pruning
While it might seem scary to cut branches off your precious woody plants, it’s an important part of keeping shrubs and trees happy and healthy! In this class, you’ll learn about why pruning is so important, when it should happen, and basic techniques using handheld pruners. You’ll see a demonstration of shrub and tree pruning in real time, and will have the chance to practice removing unwanted branches and growth from woody plants. Get your pruning questions answered, and leave this class ready to give your own Front Range shrubs and trees what they need!
Vermiculture Basics
Worms help create compost and make food scraps useful, especially when limited on space or materials. Learning to raise and use worms, or “vermiculture” is easier than you might think! Incorporating an indoor “worm farm” into your lifestyle and growing practices helps reduce waste and improve soil in a variety of ways! In this class, you’ll learn about the process and benefits of using worms to break down food scraps, discuss problem-solving a worm composting setup, and participate in building a demonstration indoor/outdoor worm farm.
Mycology Basics & Mushroom Bed Building
Familiarize yourself with fungi, and get some hands-on experience in cultivating mushrooms and using fungi to improve soil. You’ll learn about edible mushrooms and ways to cultivate various types that do well in the southwest. After a short presentation covering the basics of “mycology” (the study of fungi), there will be a brief cooking demo with tasty oyster mushrooms. Then, you’ll help make an oyster mushroom bed on site with organic, recycled materials. Participants can take home some fungal spawn to inoculate substrate, add to a compost pile or put directly onto a garden bed. You’ll leave this class with an understanding of how fungi can work for you to enhance your diet and your soil!
Colorado Animals Meet & Greet
Get up close and personal with a range of animal ambassadors from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo that call this area home! The “Zoomobile” will bring us and a range of animal guests that are native to the prairie and foothills we live in. Zoo staff will showcase and teach about a variety of animals, with opportunities to touch and interact with them throughout the program. Come experience Colorado’s fauna like never before!
Gardening Basics
Whether you think you have a “brown thumb”, or you want to learn more about gardening with some hands-on practice, Gardening Basics is for you! Participants will learn about considerations when selecting and laying out plants, how to seed and plant a variety of crops, how to harvest established crops, and how to troubleshoot common problems.
Composting – The What’s, Why’s, and How’s
This class will equip you with answers to all your basic What, Why, and How questions about composting. You will come away with a deeper knowledge of the essence of composting, what it is and why it is so important, and how you and your household can start doing it TODAY! Get hands-on practice in building a compost pile and using finished compost on established plants and garden beds. Participants will get to take home finished compost.
Cold Frame Construction
Gardeners in Colorado can extend their growing season by several weeks by using a well-built, strategically-placed cold frame. A cold frame is like a tiny greenhouse – it’s a structure that creates a warm microclimate to grow in before ambient air temperatures are warm enough for growing. In this class, you’ll learn how to build a wooden (treated lumber) 4’x4′ cold frame with a UV-stabilized polycarbonate lid, step-by-step! You’ll go home with the skills to be able to build your own, and select and prepare a suitable site to grow in.
Introduction to Whole System Design (Virtual)
The hot, cold, dry, and windy semi-arid climate that is Colorado Springs can baffle even the most seasoned gardeners. Intro to Whole System Design offers a fresh perspective on your landscape’s potential, mental frameworks to analyze and evaluate opportunities, and practical strategies to make your place more abundant and resilient. Whole System Design is an approach that considers the interactions of all factors within a site, and aims to organize natural systems into reinforcing and regenerating patterns. This class builds an understanding of zone analysis, sector analysis, and inputs and outputs for a given site, and allows participants to start applying these principles to their own home and landscape.
sustainableeducationalexperience.org 