Everything You Want to Know about Gardening, Conservation & Sustainability: Special 4-Part “Down & Dirty” Series

What are the recycling rules in town? How can table scraps help the environment? How can someone make garden art from items in the home? What’s upcycling? How do you make a mini greenhouse? Are worms good? What’s the best way to arrange those flowers you grew? What makes a good pollinator garden?

A new, four-part workshop series, “Down & Dirty w/ The Green Team” will answer all those questions, and more, through a collaboration between Trackside Teen Center, the Wilton Garden Club, Wilton Go Green, and the Wilton Conservation Commission.

The Green Team is comprised of members representing each of the organizations and overseen by Wilton residents Pam Nobumoto and Laurie Musilli. The duo manages the Green Teens group during the spring and summer and wanted to extend their garden and conservation program to the entire community during the winter months to provide timely and relevant information.

“We reached out to Trackside Director Lori Fields, who loved the concept and suggested we put together a series of workshops for the public and use the Trackside Teen Center for the events,” Musilli said.

The workshops will be held on the first four Thursdays in March from 3:30-5 p.m. at Trackside (15 Station Rd.) and are open to adults and Wilton middle and high school students as an after school activity. Membership to Trackside is not necessary.

Nobumoto said the sessions will provide answers to lots of questions people have related to gardening, conservation, and sustainability.

“Laurie and I are thrilled with these workshops which will be packed with
information on how we can all become better stewards of our environment with some gardening and creative fun thrown in for the mix. We are also grateful to the workshop facilitators who will volunteer their time and expertise, and to the Trackside team who are incredibly generous in offering their facilities for these meaningful programs,” she said.

Space is limited and registration is required. The cost for the entire four-week workshop series is $50.

March 2: Week One — Winter Seed Sowing (Anne Djupedal Gura and Wayne Gura)
March 9: Week Two — Pollinator Pathways and Growing Your Own Native Plants (Jackie Algon and Dave Havens)
March 16: Week Three — Garden Art and Floral Design (Dana Wolfson, Gretchen Kilmartin and Michele Klink)
March 23: Week Four — Recycling, Zero Waste and Backyard Composting (Tammy Thornton and Jackie Algon)

Workshop class, facilitator and registration info can be found online.