DIG - Grow Organic Vegetables Year-Round

Introduction to Organic Vegetable Gardening is for people who are new and novice vegetable gardens and for those who have gardened in other parts of the country but aren’t sure how to be successful in Maricopa County. Master Gardener Emily Heller will guide you through our two major gardening seasons and our shoulder seasons, what grows in each, location, soil preparation and water needs. She will also address the advantages and processes of organic gardening. You will walk away with confidence that you can be a successful vegetable gardener in the desert environment.

Learning Objectives include:

1. Understanding Our seasons: warm, cool and shoulders
2. Selecting a good location
3. Choosing the right plants by season/variety/preference
4. Preparing the soil for organic gardens
5. Watering, mulching and controlling weeds and insects in organic gardens

Instructor: Master Gardener, Emily Heller

• Emily Heller grew up in Florida in a family who loved to garden. She came to Phoenix in 1998, became a Master Gardener in 2014, and now participates in the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension's Beginning Farmer Program. She is a former journalist and loves the challenges and learning experiences of growing food in the low desert.