Come join us for our spring gardening workshops as Farmer Al shares techniques and tips that are sure to inspire beginner and veteran gardeners. These workshops are designed to encourage engaging conversations, provide educational demonstrations, and offer experiential learning through hands-on activities in the greenhouse and production field. Bring a notebook and your questions. Be prepared to learn as we explore the art of agriculture and share in the love of growing our own food!
About the Instructor: Al Lakomskis is a seasoned farmer with substantial experience in growing crops in Arizona, California, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Out of the seven farms he has managed, five of the farms worked from a CSA (Community Supported Agricultural) model. His strength as a farmer is managing a wide variety of seasonal crops ensuring high quality produce without the need for inorganic sprays and pesticides. He enjoys interacting with the public and has taught agriculture and sustainable farming practices to school aged children, farm interns and volunteers, veterans, special needs students, and adults looking for careers in Agriculture and/or interest in growing their own food. He designed a garden manual that is used for a nationwide program that provides opportunities for experiential learning and teaches agricultural and environmental education. Farmer Al looks forward 2024 being his second season of growing crops for HCFC CSA. He is also excited to sharing his farming tips with HCFC families wanting to grow backyard gardens.
First Class - March 16 10 am - 2 pm
10:00 am Introduction 15 min
Activities In Greenhouse
10:15 am Seed Starting 15 min
10:30 am Transplanting 30 min (with demo)
11:00 am Plant Spacing 15 min
11:15 am Co-planting 30 min
11:45 am Pest Control 15 min
12:00 pm Lunch/ Q and A - 30min
Activities In Field
12:30 pm Light vs Heavy Cultivation 30min
1:00 pm Healthy Harvesting 30 min
1:30 pm Healthy Soil 15 min
1:45 pm Q and A 15 min
Cost: $40
Children Activities will be offered from 10 am - 2 pm
Second Class - April 20 10 am - 2 pm
10:00 am Refreshers from Class 1:
Plant and Soil 30 min
10:30 am Global Natural Farming Inputs Explainer 10 min
10:40 am Harvesting Specifics : Vitality, Flower Production, Fruit Production with Demonstration
1 hour 20 min
Making inputs - Water Soluble Calcium, Fermented Plant Juice, Lactic Acid Bacteria
12:00 pm Lunch/ Q and A - 30 min
12:30 pm JADAM Inputs Explainer 10 min
12:40 pm JADAM harvesting and demonstration 45 min
- Leaf Mulch, Bucket compositions, Processing/Bottling
1:25 pm Applications and techniques 25 min
1:50 pm Q and A 10 min
Cost: $40
Children's Activities will be offered from 10 am - 2 pm
Class Topics
● Seed Starting
● Transplanting
● Design Layout
● Light-Touch Cultivation
● Greenhouse Growing
● Outdoor Row Crops
● Polyculture Gardening
● Healthy Harvesting
● Integrated Agro Forestry Field Design
● Making Plant and Soil Amendments
Some methods of gardening that will be explored:
Global Natural Farming
Natural Farming was founded by Dr. Cho Han Kyu in the 1960’s. It uses nature’s power to grow healthy crops and increase crop yields. In Natural Farming, inputs are made from readily available, local materials.
Inputs that will be discussed are:
Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ), Water soluble calcium (WS-Ca), Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB)
JADAM was established in 1991 by Youngsang Cho. JADAM is an economical way to perpetuate soils from local and readily-available materials. It offers an array of fungal-dominant soil drenches and natural pesticides to improve soil conditions which promote plant health and vitality.
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Heritage Creek Farm & education center
2126 Rissermill Road, Mount Joy
Copyright © 2021 Heritage Creek Farm Camp - All Rights Reserved.
"Lettuce" be your farmer!
Order online throughout the pre-season. Harvest lists updated each week by 9 am on Monday.
Join our CSA with weekly or bi-weekly harvests starting on May 23.