The Hauck Arboretum may just be Cincinnati’s best kept botanical secret! A stroll along the pathways of this historic public garden reveals new surprises on each visit. Join us for an informal walk around Hauck Botanic Garden and discover the history of the park and the plants growing within it.

COST: Free!

Handwashing reduces the spread of foodborne illnesses—and it begins right in the garden! It's also a Good Agricultural Practice and essential for the safety of any garden space, whether that's a production business or a community, school, or backyard garden.

Join Nicole Gunderman from Hamilton County Conservation District at our CUF Restoration Site, where she'll share step-by-step instructions for making a DIY handwashing station using inexpensive materials. You'll learn what supplies are needed to stock your station and how to site it at your garden, farm, market booth, or roadside stand.

INSTRUCTOR: Nicole Gunderman (Hamilton County Conservation District Agricultural Specialist)

COST: $20 / $15 for active CGC volunteers

Ever wanted to create your own little terrarium world? Here's your chance! At this workshop, you'll learn how to assemble your very own terrarium—then get hands-on and bring to life a creation of your own to take home! No experience necessary. We'll also provide post-care tips to keep your terrarium thriving.

INSTRUCTOR: Luis Aguilar-Dwyer (CGC Enviromental Education Specialist)

COST: $50 / $45 for active CGC volunteers

The power of plants connects us and helps us maintain healthy, thriving lives. Join the Civic Garden Center to explore new worlds of plants while you relate to the familiarity of the sights and sounds of a beautiful historic garden. Each session will include a slideshow of local plants, a short lecture on international plant habitats and cultural agricultural practices, followed by an interactive hands-on horticultural activity.

Free and welcoming to all.

Plants make great food, but they’re not just for eating! We humans have plants to thank for everything from building materials to containers, art supplies, and—of course—medicine. Join us as we explore and (re)discover unique uses of garden plants.

This class will be held at the Melrose Medicinal Garden: 2647 Melrose Ave, 45206.

COST: Free! (Donations welcome)

Are you curious about backyard beekeeping? Join Nicole Gunderman from Hamilton County Conservation District at our CUF Restoration Site for a basic introduction to what's involved in raising honeybees. You'll leave with enough information to make an educated decision about whether you'll go for it and learn more or it isn’t the right time or project for you.

Either way, you’ll learn a lot about honeybees, their fascinating life cycle, the important role they play as pollinators, and the next steps you can take in your beekeeping journey! You'll get to explore an empty beehive (no live bees) and handle the “tools of the trade,” including a protective bee suit, smoker, and hive tool.

Note this class will be held offsite at 2774 W. McMicken Ave.!

INSTRUCTOR: Nicole Gunderman (Hamilton County Conservation District Agricultural Specialist)

COST: $20 / $15 for active CGC volunteers

Did you know that the CGC is host to seven different types of composting systems? Take a walk with us to learn about the different methods of composting we have and how you can incorporate composting into your life! You’ll see Earth Cubes, vermicompost, bokashi, Johnson-Su bioreactors, a three-bin system, a tumbler and a top-loading composter.

COST: Free!

The power of plants connects us and helps us maintain healthy, thriving lives. Join the Civic Garden Center to explore new worlds of plants while you relate to the familiarity of the sights and sounds of a beautiful historic garden. Each session will include a slideshow of local plants, a short lecture on international plant habitats and cultural agricultural practices, followed by an interactive hands-on horticultural activity.

Free and welcoming to all.

The Hauck Arboretum may just be Cincinnati’s best kept botanical secret! A stroll along the pathways of this historic public garden reveals new surprises on each visit. Join us for an informal walk around Hauck Botanic Garden and discover the history of the park and the plants growing within it.

COST: Free!

Join us in the garden for a Healthy Harvest experience! We'll start with a tour of the garden with time to explore and learn, then enjoy a cooking demonstration (with samples, of course!) using freshly picked produce. We’ll cover topics like seasonality, unique and rare crops, and new ways to use old standbys.

This class will be held at the Loveland Presbyterian Church Community Garden: 6796 Loveland-Miamiville Rd, 45140.

COST: Free! (Donations welcome)

Join us in the garden for a Healthy Harvest experience! We'll start with a tour of the garden with time to explore and learn, then enjoy a cooking demonstration (with samples, of course!) using freshly picked produce. We’ll cover topics like seasonality, unique and rare crops, and new ways to use old standbys.

This class will be held at the Mt. Airy Commons Community Garden: 5536 Colerain Ave, 45239.

COST: Free! (Donations welcome)

When life gives you a bunch of old bricks, build a patio! That’s just one of many resourceful projects on show at the Camp Washington Community Garden, where years of problem-solving and creative solutions prove that sometimes you already have what you need to get the job done.

This class will be held at the Camp Washington Community Garden: 1252 Bates Ave, 45225.

COST: Free! (Donations welcome)

Join us in the garden for a Healthy Harvest experience! We'll start with a tour of the garden with time to explore and learn, then enjoy a cooking demonstration (with samples, of course!) using freshly picked produce. We’ll cover topics like seasonality, unique and rare crops, and new ways to use old standbys.

This class will be held at the Northgate Community Garden: 9151 Zoellner Rd, 45251.

COST: Free! (Donations welcome)

Do you want to create your own native plant landscape, but you don’t know how to start? Or do you already have a native plant garden but want to utilize design principles more effectively to help it look its best? This immersive three-part series will help get you there!

Native plants can transform an urban lawn into a wildlife sanctuary while adding beauty and value to your home. They’re often hardier and require less maintenance than traditional landscape plants. Planting your garden with native plants can also make you a loud-and-proud advocate for conservation. But it’s important to understand some basic principles of landscape design and site planning if you want your native garden to be successful.

Each class in the series will cover one piece of the landscaping puzzle—from site analysis to plant selection to proper planting and long-term maintenance. You’ll have the opportunity to practice your skills on an example garden in class and leave with the resources you need to apply what you’ve learned to your own yard.

CLASS DATES: Tuesdays, August 11, 18, and 25, 6-8pm

INSTRUCTORS: Julie Dennewitz (CGC Horticulturist) and Mary Dudley (CGC Director of Education)

COST: $75

Ever wanted to grow your own mushrooms? Join Pete and Emalee Richman of Rich Life Farm & Fungi as they teach the basics of controlled environment mushroom cultivation. You'll learn the step-by-step process to growing your own gourmet mushrooms using readily available products.

MEET YOUR INSTRUCTORS: Pete & Emalee Richman (Rich Life Farm & Fungi)

COST: $20 / $15 for active CGC volunteers

Learn how to save your own seeds in this hands-on class!

Join us as we cover topics such as why seed saving is important, the difference between wet-seeded crops (like tomatoes and cucumbers) and dry-seeded crops (like lettuce and beans), how pollination works and how to prevent unwanted crosses between similar plants, and proper cleaning and storing of saved seeds.

The class will be led by farmer and seed-saver Katie Chase, who will bring a wide variety of her own farm-grown seeds to process together as a group, including beans, peas, okra, tomatoes, cucumbers, zinnias, sorghum, and more! You'll also have the opportunity to take some of these seeds home to plant in your own garden or share with others.

INSTRUCTOR: Katie Chase

COST: $20 / $15 for active CGC volunteers

Join us in the garden for a Healthy Harvest experience! We'll start with a tour of the garden with time to explore and learn, then enjoy a cooking demonstration (with samples, of course!) using freshly picked produce. We’ll cover topics like seasonality, unique and rare crops, and new ways to use old standbys.

This class will be held at the West End Community Garden: 941 Poplar St, 45214.

COST: Free! (Donations welcome)

For those of us seeking a path to sustainability in our gardens, native plants are essential.

The plants that are native to our region are aesthetically beautiful, beneficial to wildlife, and biologically diverse. Many of them are also edible! And because they're adapted to our soils and climate, it takes fewer inputs to have a bountiful garden.

Join us as we munch our way through the garden and learn more about these incredible species.

INSTRUCTOR: Mary Dudley (CGC Director of Education)

COST: $20 / $15 for active CGC volunteers

Green your clean and make your own body soap!

Want to reduce the number of chemicals in your cleaning routine? Rely less on processed products? Have a skin care routine that reflects your values? Take control cleaning supplies this year with your own handmade soap. Knowing how to blend your own soaps will open a new world of options. The ingredients you need might already be in your cupboard!

This hands-on workshop will cover the basic process of making handmade soaps, specifically incorporating oils infused from native plants. We'll watch a demo of how to make cold process soap, then make our own rebatch samples to take home. While our soaps solidify, we'll learn more about the native plants in them. You'll leave with the skills to craft your own unique creations, resources for next steps, and a rebatch soap sample.

The workshop is geared toward beginners, though those with experience are welcome to share their success stories. Children aged 8 and up are welcome to attend with their guardians.

INSTRUCTOR: Mary Dudley (CGC Director of Education) & Stephanie Fransen (CGC Administrative & Facilities Manager)

COST: $35

Learn to protect and monitor monarchs, grow native milkweed, and supercharge your backyard habitat—just in time for fall planting!

Late August is a high-stakes window for breeding and migrating monarch populations. By understanding how you can best support this special species in your home, school, community, or public greenspace, you're helping to increase urban biodiversity, monitor local habitats, and helping to provide immediate, measurable lifelines for these endangered pollinators.

We'll begin the class with an overview of monarch conservation and local milkweed varieties, then explore a monarch monitoring and surveying method and community science projects. We hope you'll leave feeling excited and fully prepared to kickstart or enhance a productive pollinator habitat in your own yard!

INSTRUCTOR: Luis Aguilar-Dwyer (CGC Environmental Education Specialist)

COST: $20 / $15 for active CGC volunteers

The CGC and Sidestreams welcome you to the newly renovated Daryl Gordon Garden in Madisonville! Take a tour of this storied space, which includes row cropping, aquaponics, and live chickens. You'll learn how this garden was reactivated and once again turned into a part of Madisonville’s vibrant community.

This class will be held at the Daryl Gordon Community Garden: 6001 Chandler St, 45227.

COST: Free! (Donations welcome)

Learn to dye textiles using common plants!

In this beginner-friendly workshop, we'll explore botanical dyeing using native plants collected at the Civic Garden Center—many of which are likely in your own backyard! After a quick introduction and a demonstration, you'll use a bundle dye technique and an iron after-bath to make a botanically dyed tea towel to take home. While your creation is steaming, we'll discuss common dye plants so you can start your own botanical color journey. You'll leave with your hand-dyed tea towel and a handout that explains the process and lists favorite dye plants.

No prior dye or plant knowledge is required to participate.

INSTRUCTOR: Devan Horton

COST: $35

Learn to be more in the present moment and reduce stress and anxiety with evidenced-based practices that create better health, foster more joy and creativity, and help us come closer to the reciprocity we have with nature.

We all need to have internal tools to help us build and maintain mind-body resilience and joy for our health and to share our best selves with the world. Many of us also yearn to feel closer to nature and better appreciate the reciprocity we share with it.

For both beginners and those wishing to refresh their skills, local mindfulness meditation teacher, author, and artist Cathy Sacco will explore nature-based mindfulness practices that can be incorporated into your everyday life. She'll also discuss stress physiology, the role of the senses, and the benefits of self-compassion and gratitude. You'll have the chance to experiment with guided meditation, gentle mindful movement, observation, and art in nature, and you'll learn how to build a home practice right for you.

INSTRUCTOR: Cathy Cebulski Sacco

COST: $25

Don't miss out on months when you could still be growing! This class will cover strategies to make your harvest last beyond the traditional growing season. You'll learn how South Cumminsville gardeners take advantage of every opportunity to grow, including crop covers and perennial crops (like fruit trees)!

This class will be held at the South Cumminsville Community Garden: 3618 Roll Ave, 45223.

COST: Free! (Donations welcome)