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Sustainable Foods, Farm & Gardens   

 
  • Seed Propagation

  • Starting your own seeds allows you to choose the crops you want to grow and it provides a sense of stronger connection to the plant. Class will discuss seed starting supplies including soil, trays, domes, grow lights, watering, and heat mats. We will also discuss soil blocks and other methods. Participants will propagate annual vegetable seeds during this class, and take them home to grow and plant in their own gardens.

     


     
     
  • Fee: $50.00
  • Instructor: Joannee DeBruhl

    Capacity Remaining: 22

  • Dates: 3/1/2025 - 3/1/2025

    Times: 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

  • Sessions: 1

    Days: Sa

  • Building: KVCC Food Innovation Center

    Room:

  • Starting your own seeds allows you to choose the crops you want to grow and it provides a sense of stronger connection to the plant. Class will discuss seed starting supplies including soil, trays, domes, grow lights, watering, and heat mats. We will also discuss soil blocks and other methods. Participants will propagate annual vegetable seeds during this class, and take them home to grow and plant in their own gardens.  

 

  • Beekeeping 101

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    Hybrid format - information about virtual and in-person sessions will be shared with participants via email.

    Join instructors Charlotte Hubbard, Brian Walters, and Bob Candido in the first course of this three-part Beekeeping series, and learn about introductory bee biology, needed equipment, apiary preparation, options for obtaining bees, and how to get them into their new home. 

     
 

  • Mushroom Cultivation

  • Come join us in learning about growing your own gourmet mushrooms from locally available materials! We will grow oysters, shiitake, winecaps, and more. Students will learn how to procure substrates and create good environments for mushroom growth. We will also discuss how to use coffee grounds and other composted material as substrates for mushroom growth.  Some mushroom identification is practiced during this course as well. Come ready to learn about the savory mysteries of fungal farming. Students take home different inoculated mushroom media at the end of each session. 

     
 

  • Visible Mending

  • Do you have a favorite shirt or pair of jeans with a hole in them, stains, or weak spot? Do you hate the idea of sending them to the landfill? Here’s your solution: transform your holey clothing into a work of slow fashion art! If you can thread a needle and sew on a button, you’ve got the skills you need. The fiber industry is one of the biggest polluters in the world- behind only the oil and gas industry. Repairing and refurbishing your clothing keeps your clothing out of the waste stream, saves you money, gives you a creative outlet, and will make you the envy of your friends. Join us in this 6 week exploration into the world of mending. We will be learning mending of socks, jeans and other pants, shirts and more types of clothing using techniques of weaving, embroidery, knitting, and more. Minimal sewing skills are required- we’ll teach you what you need to know although some familiarity is useful.

     
  • Fee: $140.00
  • Instructor: Lori Evesque

    Capacity Remaining: 17

  • Dates: 3/6/2025 - 4/10/2025

    Times: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

  • Sessions: 6

    Days: Th

  • Building: KVCC Food Innovation Center

    Room:

 

  • Gardening for Wildlife

  • In this course participants will learn about the necessary role native plants play in creating local ecosystems and how to garden for wildlife in a space of any size. Participants will be introduced to common native trees, grasses, and flowers, and discuss how to incorporate these plants into their gardening practices. Participants will learn different germination methods for seed starting and make their own kit to take home.

     
  • Fee: $30.00
  • Instructor: Emily Demorest

    Capacity Remaining: 23

  • Dates: 3/10/2025 - 3/10/2025

    Times: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

  • Sessions: 1

    Days: M

  • Building: KVCC Food Innovation Center

    Room:

 

  • Make Your Own Herbal Tea Mix

  • Herbal tea is one of the most beloved beverages around the world. In this class, you will learn about the benefits of drinking herbal teas, the art of making your own tea blends, and you will have an opportunity to taste a variety of herbal teas grown at the Food Innovation Center.

     
 

  • Tour of the KVCC Food Innovation Center

  • ValleyHUB is a farm, food hub, and education center based at the Food Innovation Center at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. The Urban Farm at ValleyHUB showcases a range of sustainable agricultural practices. The five-acre site includes an indoor grow room, a heated greenhouse, outdoor raised beds, and two passive solar hoophouses. The Food Hub is a licensed food processing facility equipped to produce fresh-cut fruits and vegetables at a range of production scales. Join us on this *FREE* tour to explore our beautiful site, and learn about our programs and practices.

     
  • Fee: $0.00
  • Instructor:

    Capacity Remaining: 21

  • Dates: 3/22/2025 - 3/22/2025

    Times: 1:15 PM - 2:30 PM

  • Sessions: 1

    Days: Sa

  • Building: KVCC Food Innovation Center

    Room:

 

  • Seed Stewardship: Garden Design for Food & Seed

  • Whether you are tending a half-acre, a few raised beds, or some pots on your patio, you can learn how to design your garden to produce an abundant yield of both food and viable seeds for planting next year! In this hands-on workshop, we will examine a variety of garden designs, plant the seed garden at the Food Innovation Center, and workshop participant garden plans. We’ll help you decide which seed crops will do best in your garden and teach you what you need to know to steward those crops to a successful seed harvest.

     
  • Fee: $40.00
  • Instructor: Amy Buskirk, John Edgerton

    Capacity Remaining: 23

  • Dates: 3/24/2025 - 3/24/2025

    Times: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

  • Sessions: 1

    Days: M

  • Building: KVCC Food Innovation Center

    Room:

 

  • Teaching Gardening to Kids: Seeds & Sprouts

  • Do you have a budding gardener, scientist, or chef at home? Are you a green-thumbed educator looking for new ways to bring the wonderful world of plants into your classroom? In this class, we will cover how to sow, grow, and harvest microgreens with your curious young learners, accompanied by options for games, recipes, and other activities for exploring seeds and sprouts with kids ages 5 - 10. Participants will leave with a tray of microgreens to grow, as well as plentiful print and online resources for integrating agriculture and horticulture into your learning environment.

     
  • Fee: $40.00
  • Instructor: Forest Gluys

    Capacity Remaining: 18

  • Dates: 3/29/2025 - 3/29/2025

    Times: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

  • Sessions: 1

    Days: Sa

  • Building: KVCC Food Innovation Center

    Room:

 

  • Home Landscape Design

  • This three-night course will help participants design, install and maintain landscaping and gardens for various needs and spaces. By selecting plants that match local climate, soil, and light exposure, participants will gain insight on how to plan and implement low maintenance gardens. Four garden designs will be discussed: Plantings for property borders, designs for water-thrifty gardens, designs for busy gardeners and installing beds and borders. One class evening will be at a local nursery, where participants will have the opportunity to view plants for the right design, right place, color and texture, and discuss what may fit best in their specific landscapes.

     
  • Fee: $40.00
  • Instructor: Scott Stokes

    Capacity Remaining: 18

  • Dates: 4/7/2025 - 4/21/2025

    Times: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

  • Sessions: 3

    Days: M

  • Building: KVCC Food Innovation Center

    Room:

 

  • Intro to Backyard Poultry

  • In this introductory class to keeping backyard poultry, the participants will learn the basics of raising chickens on a small scale, including breed selection, raising chicks, housing, handling, sanitation, and flock wellness.
     
  • Fee: $30.00
  • Instructor: Sam Barber

    Capacity Remaining: 17

  • Dates: 4/12/2025 - 4/12/2025

    Times: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

  • Sessions: 1

    Days: Sa

  • Building: KVCC Food Innovation Center

    Room:

 

  • Made in the Shade

  • Shade is increasingly valuable in our warming climate for keeping cool. Yet many people think they need to remove their shade cover in order to have a beautiful garden. In this two-hour session, we will highlight native and introduced plants that thrive in the shade, as well as design principles that can guide the creation of your space. 

     
  • Fee: $40.00
  • Instructor: Emily Demorest

    Capacity Remaining: 24

  • Dates: 4/12/2025 - 4/12/2025

    Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

  • Sessions: 1

    Days: Sa

  • Building: KVCC Food Innovation Center

    Room:

 

  • House Plants Propagation and Care

  • House plants have many benefits, including improving air quality, reducing stress, and adding beauty to your living environment. In this class, you will learn how to select house plants that are suitable for your space and time. You will also learn how to care for and share your favorite plants with friends and family, by learning various propagation techniques. Each participant will take home the plants that they propagated in class.

     
 

  • Urban Homesteading

  • Join us in revealing many of the ways to make more food with less from home! In an era of climate change and energy decline, we will benefit from being more involved in producing our own food to ensure access to the most nutritious and life supporting meals. The secret is that it can be fun and easier than you think to care for your family, friends and city’s ecology. Come join us in learning to make simple gardens (indoor and outdoor), planting perennial food crops, foraging wild edibles, preservation and fermentation of crops, raising urban livestock, cheese making, composting and mushroom cultivation. A class for all ages and all scales of land access.

     

     
 

  • Home Gardening Basics

  • This class will focus on outlining a plan to start vegetable crops outside in spring, and then transition to summer and fall crops. Simple strategies to effectively grow vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers will be covered. Where, when, spacing, depth, etc. will also be discussed. Participants will engage in hands-on activities such as seed starting, transplanting, up-potting of tomato plants and more. Everyone will have an opportunity to take home several vegetable plants to transplant in their own gardens.

     
  • Fee: $50.00
  • Instructor: Joannee DeBruhl

    Capacity Remaining: 24

  • Dates: 4/26/2025 - 4/26/2025

    Times: 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

  • Sessions: 1

    Days: Sa

  • Building: KVCC Food Innovation Center

    Room:

 

  • Tour of the KVCC Food Innovation Center

  • ValleyHUB is a farm, food hub, and education center based at the Food Innovation Center at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. The Urban Farm at ValleyHUB showcases a range of sustainable agricultural practices. The five-acre site includes an indoor grow room, a heated greenhouse, outdoor raised beds, and two passive solar hoophouses. The Food Hub is a licensed food processing facility equipped to produce fresh-cut fruits and vegetables at a range of production scales. Join us on this *FREE* tour to explore our beautiful site, and learn about our programs and practices.

     
  • Fee: $0.00
  • Instructor:

    Capacity Remaining: 24

  • Dates: 4/26/2025 - 4/26/2025

    Times: 1:15 PM - 2:30 PM

  • Sessions: 1

    Days: Sa

  • Building: KVCC Food Innovation Center

    Room:

 

  • Beekeeping 102

  • This course is the second in the three-part Beekeeping series. Weather permitting, hands-on learning in the Food Innovation Center’s apiary is planned for each week, where students will evaluate hive strength, health, and how to support growing colonies. Classroom review will cover swarming, splits, integrated pest management, and a further focus on biology through the season and keeping bees in Southwest Michigan.

     
 

  • Tour of Solfed Farm

  • About six years ago, Larissa and Ondrej embarked on a journey to build an off-grid straw-bale house with the help of their community. Their dream was to live closer to the land and more gentle on the Earth. This tour will include learning about the process of building their house, outdoor kitchen and solar-powered farm, as well as the technical aspects of living off-grid, only 15 minutes from downtown Kalamazoo. Enjoy a morning, visiting this beautiful space and meeting this energetic couple.

     

     
  • Fee: $20.00
  • Instructor:

    Capacity Remaining: 19

  • Dates: 5/17/2025 - 5/17/2025

    Times: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

  • Sessions: 1

    Days: Sa

  • Building:

    Room:

 

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