Soil Chemistry & Plant Nutrition to Grow - Master Class
Hear about Michael's journey with soil chemistry and growing, and how the introduction to agronomy and plant nutrition has influenced his growing practices. The talk will cover information about growing healthy plants with strong immune systems as well as how to measure this. It will also discuss how to make and use amendments, including compost and why this is an integral factor in growing healthy plants, as well as highlighting some common mistakes most gardeners make when working/feeding soil.
In summary, this talk is about tips and tricks for growing healthy disease resistant plants time and time again, increasing yields, minimising inputs with inexpensive amendments, measuring plant health & why balancing soil chemistry must be at the forefront of our aspirations as sustainable gardeners.
Michael will also provide an example of how they managed to grow full sized garlic cloves in the great inundation that was spring 2022 despite rust being present as early as August in some areas.
Presenter: Michael
Michael is a multidisciplinary horticulturalist come organic market gardener with experience in natural areas restoration & management, and placements in two separate botanic gardens.
Michael currently splits his time across two roles, the first, as Farm Manager on Remi's patch - a no-till, biointensive market garden. The second as a co-owner and operator of Plenty Valley Produce - a minimal till agroecological wholesale farm, set within a share farming structure on Walwa Park farms. Here they implement a multifaceted agriculture system building soil carbon, increasing biodiversity and producing affordable, local, organically grown produce for companies such as Ceres Fair Food.
Friends of SGA receive a 15% discount on all Master Classes. You can become a Friend of SGA here.
Green Gardening Professionals (GGP) members receive a 30% discount on all MasterClasses. Read more about becoming a GGP here.
Integrating Biodiversity into Food Growing - Master Class
For centuries growing food and conservation have been like oil and water but this talk will dispel this notion and demonstrate that food growing practices don’t have to be hostile to biodiversity but rather can compliment one another. Many small changes can be made that vastly improve biodiversity outcomes while not harming and often improving business models at the same time. In this talk you will hear about the role of large old trees in the landscape and how to monitor and manage their health. You will also hear about several examples from the region including from the Regenerative Market Garden farm on which Cameron lives where growers and conservationists are implementing innovative practices to integrate conservation outcomes with a sustainable business model. All of which is applicable to almost any scale of farming, be it in your own backyard or broadacre. Cameron will also talk about Biolinks’ watershed repair project including the importance of citizen science in conservation.
Please Note:
- If you are unable to attend the live online class, a recording will be available to watch for five days following the session. Please purchase a ticket prior to the class date to access the recording
Presenter: Cameron O’Mara
Cameron is a conservationist currently working with Biolinks Alliance, a not-for-profit organisation whose goal is to achieve large scale conservation outcomes across central Victoria. Cameron has worked for the past decade in native bushland conservation across Victoria and participated in conservation projects overseas including in the Peruvian amazon. His current role as Heathcote local to landscape facilitator entails reaching out to landholders in the region and assisting in ecological repair of degraded landscapes. Cameron is also managing their flagship project the spring plains watershed repair which aims to restore the ecological function of a degraded gold mining site. Many of the approaches used to integrate biodiversity into agricultural areas overlaps with sustainable farming practices such as those found in the regenerative agriculture movement.
Friends of SGA receive a 15% discount on all Master Classes. You can become a Friend of SGA here.
Manage and Harvest your Weeds
Manage and Harvest your Weeds
With all the rain, your garden will be growing really well, maybe even doubled in size. That jungle may be made up of your vegetables and your plants, but you'll have experienced a surge in weed growth as well.
This masterclass will talk about garden weeds, the different types and the approaches you can use to remove them efficiently and effectively whilst minimising the impact on your local environment. Not only do weeds have propagation and growing superpowers, but they are jam packed with nutrients. Learn how you can unlock these nutrients and use them to feed your garden or safely consume them yourself.
Book your ticket HERE
Please Note:
- If you are unable to attend the live online class, a recording will be available to watch for five days following the session. Please purchase a ticket prior to the class date to access the recording.
Presenter: Teresa Day
Teresa is the Learning and Training Manager at Sustainable Gardening Australia with extensive experience across sustainable design, community development and environmental education. Teresa is an avid home gardener, chicken keeper and forager that is keen to show how sustainable choices, and lifestyle changes can be implemented by everyone.
Companion Planting
Companion Planting
Heard about companion planting but don’t know what it is or where to start? This session will explain how to use companion plants to improve the health and productivity of your garden; with a focus on using companion plants as decoys, camouflage, pest repellents and disease suppressants.
Learn what you should pair and grow together in your garden as well as tips on what you shouldn't pair. The Master class will also discuss how companion plants can provide a new food source.
Book your ticket HERE
Please Note:
- If you are unable to attend the live online class, a recording will be available to watch for five days following the session. Please purchase a ticket prior to the class date to access the recording.
Presenter: Teresa Day
Teresa is the Learning and Training Manager at Sustainable Gardening Australia with extensive experience across sustainable design, community development and environmental education. Teresa is an avid home gardener, chicken keeper and forager, that is keen to show how sustainable choices, and lifestyle changes can be implemented by everyone.
Simple and Thrifty Produce Growing for Home Gardeners - Master Class
Overspent over the holiday period and looking for ways to be a little more frugal in February. Growing at home is one easy way to reduce the money spent on fresh produce. Not sure how to grow vegetables yourself or where to start? Join food growing fanatic Karen Sutherland to learn about some of the easy vegetables and fruits to grow to help save money and feed yourself and your family.
Please Note:
- If you are unable to attend the live online class, a recording will be available to watch for five days following the session. Please purchase a ticket prior to the class date to access the recording.
Presenter: Karen Sutherland
Karen Sutherland has been growing her own food since she could wield a shovel and has spent her working life training and working as a gardener. Through her business Edible Eden Design, she now inspires and educates food gardeners by consulting, writing and teaching.
Friends of SGA receive a 15% discount on all Master Classes. You can become a Friend of SGA here.
Grow to Eat the Rainbow - Master Class
We've all heard the saying 'Eat the Rainbow' but is there any merit in these words? Turns out the scientific evidence to support the benefits of a colourful dietary intake are increasing. The word "Phyto" comes from the Greek language and means plant. Phytonutrients are natural compounds produced by plants that give them rich colours, distinctive tastes, and aromas.
Phytonutrients significantly impact the human body, providing health benefits that may help protect from chronic diseases. This session will equip you with some general principles to apply to your garden planning, planting, and harvesting as well as menu planning to optimise your health and wellbeing on an individual level in your home garden, local community garden or even just when shopping at a Farmer's market or Greengrocer.
Please Note:
- If you are unable to attend the live online class, a recording will be available to watch for five days following the session. Please purchase a ticket prior to the class date to access the recording.
Presenter: Catherine Fallon
Catherine is a Dietitian/Nutritionist and Market Gardener at Somerset Heritage Produce, a farm that uses regenerative agriculture principles to grow vegetables on the banks of the Goulburn River in Seymour.
Catherine is passionate about seasonal eating and has a keen interest in spreading nutritional knowledge to improve people's health and wellbeing whilst also focusing on planetary health and food security. Catherine conducts cooking workshops and educational sessions on a variety of topics that range from pickling and preserving, zero waste cooking, food & mood, immune boosting foods and much more.
Friends of SGA receive a 15% discount on all Master Classes. You can become a Friend of SGA here.
You, Your Garden and Climate Change - Master Class / GGP event
We are delighted to be offering this Master Class, presented by Dr Greg Moore, OAM, one of Australia's leading tree experts.
Public and private gardens are going to be major contributors to how cities cope with climate change. They will have profound health, economic and environmental benefits for our society if we get things right. What can you do in your little, or big patch to make a difference?
Join us for this special presentation exploring how you at an individual level can play a role in preventing climate change and benefiting planetary health.
Book your ticket HERE
Dr Greg Moore, OAM
Dr Greg Moore is one of Australia's leading and best known tree experts. Greg's extensive industry involvement includes his time as Principal of the Burnley campus of Melbourne University for almost 20 years, as well as Senior Lecturer and Head of the School of Resource Management. Greg is also on the board of a number of industry groups (including SGA, Greening Australia (Victoria) and Treenet) as well as being highly sought after for lecturing, public speaking, writing and supervising research.
PLEASE NOTE: If you are unable to attend the live online class, a recording will be available to watch for five days following the session. Please book a ticket prior to the class date to access the recording.
Connected Open Space - Free Master Class / GGP event
We are delighted to be offering this free Master Class on Connected Open Space, presented by Dr Greg Moore, OAM, one of Australia's leading tree experts.
During the various COVID lockdowns, people flocked to open space - parks, gardens linear parks along waterways. These spaces were vital for peoples' health, wellbeing and coping strategies. Open space needs to be functional and connected open space is essential if it is to perform its role in a modern city. Not everyone has equal access to open space and in many cities, properly connected open space can be rare.
Join us for this special presentation exploring how our cities and communities can benefit from connected open spaces.
Book your ticket HERE
Dr Greg Moore, OAM
Dr Greg Moore is one of Australia's leading and best known tree experts. Greg's extensive industry involvement includes his time as Principal of the Burnley campus of Melbourne University for almost 20 years, as well as Senior Lecturer and Head of the School of Resource Management. Greg is also on the board of a number of industry groups (including SGA, Greening Australia (Victoria) and Treenet) as well as being highly sought after for lecturing, public speaking, writing and supervising research.
PLEASE NOTE: If you are unable to attend the live online class, a recording will be available to watch for five days following the session. Please book a ticket prior to the class date to access the recording.
Understanding Weather for Gardeners - Master Class
To enable us to best design and grow our green spaces, gardening in a changing climate requires a robust weather & climate understanding. This master class will help you join the dots between large-scale climate patterns (like La Niña & El Niño) and our daily weather & gardening lives. Weaving together key weather principles with topics like annual rainfall and topography, frost and drought, this session will equip gardeners with a practical weather knowledge foundation for their growing endeavours.
Please Note:
- This class will draw on Victoria and Melbourne as key location examples, however the principles will be the same for most gardeners in South-East Australia (roughly between Adelaide and Sydney, and not too far inland).
- If you are unable to attend the live online class, a recording will be available to watch for five days following the session. Please purchase a ticket prior to the class date to access the recording.
Presenter: Jeremy Prentice
Born in a time when Victoria was still commonly referred to as the Garden State, Jeremy has long been fascinated with the lives of our botanical friends. With experience ranging from edible landscaping to tropical glasshouse curation, hunting Nepenthes sp. and Rafflesia sp. (aka photographing), to stewarding vegetative giants like Victoria sp. and Amorphophallus titanum, Jeremy has been working and growing in horticulture for a number of decades. These days he is exploring the wondrous complexity of understanding our weather and climate patterns, and finding unique and enjoyable ways to share those stories with willing ears.
Enter the Understanding Weather (UW) courses: designed as applied weather knowledge to enrich our daily lives, each tailored version draws on the same principles, with the content crafted to suit the learners' niche - be it for Gardeners (UW for Gardeners), Lovers (UW.4.LVRS), or the deeply committed WeatherNurd (our year-long multisession course).
Friends of SGA receive a 15% discount on all Master Classes. You can become a Friend of SGA here.
Growing Subtropical Plants in Cool Climates - Master Class
Holidaying at home might be wearing a bit thin, but creating a tropical paradise in your home garden can bring holiday-like joy. There's a range of subtropical plants that are great for permaculture and home food gardens and that can be grown in cooler climates if you know how. Avocados, babacos, macadamias, bananas, coffee, turmeric, galangal and ginger - have we got your interest!?
Join Karen Sutherland in this Master Class on successfully growing subtropical plants in Australia.
This class will be most suitable for gardeners in the Southern parts of Australia, including Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the cooler parts of NSW. However, anyone who would like to learn more about growing subtropical plants is welcome to attend.
Please Note:
- If you are unable to attend the live online class, a recording will be available to watch for one week following the session. Please purchase a ticket prior to the class date to access the recording.
About Karen Sutherland:
Karen Sutherland has spent her life in the garden, from an 8 year old growing vegetables to training at Ceres, Melbourne Zoological Gardens and Burnley College, as well as Permaculture Design with Bill Mollison. She spent 20 years maintenance gardening and landscaping, before focusing on edible plants in her business Edible Eden Design. She writes, teaches, speaks and consults on a range of edible gardening projects, including collaborative indigenous interpretive gardens. She has a micro-nursery, selling native food plants and others online as well as a range of interpretive plant ID signs for bush food gardens.
Friends of SGA receive a 15% discount on all Master Classes. You can become a Friend of SGA here.
GGP Peer Evening - Werribee Park Gardening for Good
This free special presentation is brought to you by SGA's Green Gardening Professionals program.
The GGPs are professional gardeners, horticulturists, landscapers, food gardeners, educators, trainers and nursery people who are committed to contributing to a sustainable future through the world of gardening. For more info on the GGP program and becoming a member please visit the SGA website here.
This month we're lucky to be hearing from Parks Victoria's James Brincat and his colleagues at Werribee Park, situated 35km west of Melbourne. Werribee Park, including Werribee Mansion and the Victoria State Rose Garden is a renowned venue for hosting festivals, music events and weddings however recent COVID lockdowns have severely impacted the running of this significant and loved heritage site.
In an inspiring move they have partnered with AMES Australia and their local Sikh community to make this time an opportunity to assist their local community and help those in need. This is a great example of how horticulture and those of us in the industry can have a positive impact on not only the environment but also the people around us.
This presentation will include discussion on these projects and a saag cooking demonstration, followed by a Q & A.
To attend this special free webinar register HERE (or click the green ticket button in top right corner above and pop in your details).
Grow Into Summer - Vegie Gardening Master Class
Summer is just around the corner. Is your garden ready?
In this online workshop, biologist and permaculture teacher Donna Livermore will help you prepare for growing vegetables this summer, whether you have a large, small or balcony garden.
Donna will provide expert tips and tricks on soil preparation, planting and maintenance of your summer crops. There will also be an opportunity to troubleshoot your gardening problems in a Q&A with Donna.
Please note:
- If you are unable to attend the live online class, a recording will be available to watch for five days following the session. Please purchase a ticket prior to the class date to access the recording.
- This class is suitable for gardeners in temperate and cool climates.
Presenter: Donna Livermore
Donna Livermore is an educator, biologist, permaculture and gardening teacher. She is passionate about living a life of good health and sustainable abundance with a strong connection to the environment and local community.
Donna has many years of experience growing a productive food garden in the front yard of her tiny suburban block in Melbourne and more recently on a larger site in Central Victoria, where she is realising her goal of food resilience and growing high quality, nutrient dense food.
Donna is reimagining what it means to live a good life and shares this with others in her local community and through her Instagram page, A Good Life in the City & Town.
Friends of SGA receive a 15% discount on all Master Classes. You can become a Friend of SGA here.
Growing Native Food Plants
Learn how to grow and use native food plants with Karen Sutherland from Edible Eden Design.
Native plants have been used as a source of food for thousands of years. Yet until recently native edibles have been largely overlooked and under-utilised in our backyards.
This class will explore a range of native edible and useful plants that are suitable for a variety of gardens: from urban backyards to schools to public spaces. Karen will share a range of real-life native food gardens and provide advice for using native edibles in your own garden.
Please note:
- If you are unable to attend the live online class, a recording will be available to watch for three days following the session. Please register prior to the class to access the recording.
- Karen is based in Victoria and this class may emphasise plants suitable for the southern states of Australia (Vic, SA, NSW, Tas). However gardeners from all over the world are more than welcome!
Friends of SGA (FOSGA), Members and Green Gardening Professionals (GGPs) receive a 15% discount on all Master Classes.
About Karen Sutherland:
Karen has spent her life in the garden, from an 8 year old growing vegetables to training at Ceres, Melbourne Zoological Gardens and Burnley College, as well as Permaculture Design with Bill Mollison. She spent 20 years maintenance gardening and landscaping, before focusing on edible plants in her business Edible Eden Design. She writes, teaches, speaks and consults on a range of edible gardening projects, including collaborative indigenous interpretive gardens. She has a micro-nursery, selling native food plants and others online as well as a range of interpretive plant ID signs for bush food gardens.
Growing Backyard Fruit Trees
Learn the principles of backyard orchard culture with Angelo Eliades from Deep Green Permaculture.
When fruit trees are not properly maintained, they can become overgrown and hard to manage. Harvesting, netting, pruning and spraying become needlessly difficult, and the glut of fruit produced all at once is usually lost to birds and possums!
Backyard orchard culture is an innovative system in which high-density plantings of fruit trees are maintained at a small size for easier maintenance. Using this technique, it is possible to produce excellent yields without excess and waste, while extending your crops throughout the year.
In this online webinar, Angelo will cover pruning, pest & disease management, feeding and general fruit tree care. He will also explain which productive plants and companion plants can be planted beneath fruit trees.
Please note:
- If you are unable to attend the live online class, a recording will be available to watch for one week following the session. Please register prior to the class to access the recording.
- This class is suitable for all gardeners in climates where deciduous fruit trees can be grown.
Friends of SGA (FOSGA), Members and Green Gardening Professionals (GGPs) receive a 15% discount on all Master Classes.
About Angelo Eliades
Angelo is a presenter, trainer and writer in the areas of sustainable gardening and permaculture. He works part time as a horticulturist, writes for Good Organic Gardening Australia magazine, has a demonstration food forest garden in Melbourne’s inner suburbs, and runs the educational website Deep Green Permaculture (https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/)
Green Spaces: Vertical, Rooftop and Rain Gardens
Learn how you can create a beautiful and thriving garden, no matter how restricted your space.
In this Master Class, horticulturalist Sarah Hardgrove will discuss a range of different growing systems suitable for a variety of different spaces including vertical gardens, rooftop gardens and raingardens. Sarah will show you how to set up the infrastructure for your garden and will also cover plant selection and maintenance.
If you are unable to attend the live class, a recording will be available to watch for three days following the session. Please register prior to the class to access the recording.
Master Class Presenter: Sarah Hardgrove
Sarah is a horticulturalist and landscape designer with experience in designing, installing and maintaining a wide variety of green infrastructure elements from green walls and rooftop gardens to raingardens, ground level gardens and terrace courtyards. Passionate about sustainable gardening, urban agriculture, urban greening and enhancing biodiversity, she loves sharing her knowledge to encourage more people to connect with plants and nature. Sarah works as horticulturalist at Bulleen Art & Garden, and runs her own consulting, design and maintenance business, Wildgrove Horticulture. She conducts regular workshops for councils and educational institutions on a variety of gardening and environment related topics.