Even if you don’t live on a farm, you can still grow farm-fresh fruits and vegetables in your own back yard. Learn the best practices for growing delicious organic produce from local experts at these St. Louis–area farms, garden centers, and universities.
University of Missouri St. Charles County Extension Center
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260 Brown, St. Peters, 636-970-3000, extension.missouri.edu/stcharles
The University of Missouri’s Master Gardener program is offered annually and involves 15 weeks of training and 30 volunteer hours. Learn about soil properties, home fruit and vegetable production, herbaceous ornamentals, and more. Twenty of the program’s volunteer hours must be completed in the center’s impressive demonstration gardens, where master gardeners offer hands-on demonstrations to the public in a wide variety of garden settings, including a bulb garden, an herb garden, a pantry garden, a vineyard, an orchard, and more.
Gateway Greening
3871 Bell, 314-588-9600 x104, gatewaygreening.org
Gateway Greening’s Bell Demonstration Garden is an outdoor classroom with free workshops every Saturday from March through October. Previous class offerings have included The Secrets to Growing Tomatoes, Vegetable Container Gardening, and a series of Kids Garden Fresh workshops with titles such as Eat Green Things and Good Smells in the Great Outdoors.
Bowood Farms
4605 Olive, 314-454-6868, bowoodfarms.com
The Central West End’s Bowood Farms not only serves fresh vegetables and herbs grown on-site at its restaurant, Café Osage, but also offers free inventive classes. Titles have included Find a Thrill on Your Own Blueberry Hill (about growing berries and small fruits) and Are You a D.I.Y. Foodie? (about recipe prep using garden veggies).
Greenscape Gardens & Gifts
2832 Barrett Station, Manchester, 314-821-2440, greenscapegardens.com
This 9-acre garden center and nursery is surrounded by demonstration gardens and hosts a variety of free gardening classes every month. Offerings have included Know to Grow: Top 10 Ways to Ensure a Successful Edible Garden; Permaculture; and Preserving the Garden Bounty: Food Preservation.
Missouri Botanical Garden
4344 Shaw, 314-577-5100, missouribotanicalgarden.org
Taking a stroll through the Family Vegetable Garden, with its dozens of fruit and vegetable varieties and information about growing them, serves as both inspiration and an education in and of itself. But if you’d like to get some hands-on tips from the pros, check out classes such as Microgreens–Grow Some Superfoods, Grow Your Own Mushrooms, and Organic Summer Vegetables. Classes start at $28 for garden members and $34 for nonmembers.
Sandy’s Back Porch
2004 West, Belleville, Ill., 618-235-2004, sandysbackporch.com
Avid gardener Sandy Richter and her staff at this sweet Metro East nursery share their passion with tried-and-true recommendations such as using mushroom compost. Classes—some of which are part of Southwestern Illinois College’s Community Education series—are taught by staff and local experts, covering topics such as growing and cooking with herbs and
the recent square-foot gardening trend.
Sappington Garden Shop
11530 Gravois, 314-843-4700, sappingtongardenshop.com
This South County nursery’s free gardening classes, held on Thursdays at 2 and 7 p.m., are taught by horticulture experts and instructors from a number of local universities. Previous classes at Sappington Garden Shop have included Veggie 101: Natural and Organic Way of Growing and Herbs: Those Glorious Flavors and Scents.
St. Louis Community College
Multiple locations, 314-984-7777, stlcc.edu
This June, the continuing-education department of St. Louis Community College is set to host classes covering helpful topics such as herb gardening, keeping your garden alive during the summer, soil and composting, and vegetable gardening. Classes start at $19 and are taught by master gardeners Michelle Ochonicky and Naturescapes nursery owner Nancee Kruescheck.
University of Illinois Extension–Madison, Monroe & St. Clair Counties
901 Illinois, Waterloo, Ill., 618-939-3434, extension.illinois.edu/madisonstclair
Apart from offering an extensive list of classes for local farmers, this extension office also offers robust free programming for home gardeners. The classes are taught by horticulture educators and include titles such as Master Gardener Class–Fruits and The Basics of Growing Herbs.
