Denver Urban Gardens offers expertly-facilitated, 60-minute workshops for your community group or non-profit organization. Workshops can be requested virtually or in person.
Facilitator’s Fee | $250
To learn more about requesting a community workshop for your group, please contact Community Events Manager Caroline Sprague at caroline@dug.org.
Avoiding food waste + composting 101
This workshop sets the scene with a current snapshot of food waste statistics nationally and locally. We’ll discuss strategies for change at a household level as well as composting as a last resort and how even an apartment dweller can compost and make an impact. Other topics include the science behind a backyard compost pile and other options that are budget and earth-friendly.
Basics of Organic Gardening
This workshop will explore the most important aspects of organic gardening in Colorado, and you’ll learn how to plan your garden so that you can make the most of your growing space throughout the season. Other topics include soil preparation, water conservation, planting from seed, transplanting seedlings, harvesting, and an overview of cool and warm-season crops.
Community Gardens as Spaces of Impact
Community Gardens are places of impact. Deceptively simple, this form of urban agriculture delivers outsized ROI in the form of strong communities, healthy soil and ecosystems, and individual food sovereignty. Go deep with DUG’s theory of change and learn why community gardens are moving from a nice-to-have to a must-have in thriving cities across the country.
Indoor Seed Starting
This workshop will guide you through the process of seed starting and set you up for success. Learn when to start different seeds, how to plant, water, thin, maintain and provide correct lighting for your newly-growing seedlings.
Intro to Xeriscaping
Did you know Denver coined the term Xeriscaping in the 1980s? In this informative workshop, you’ll learn about what xeriscaping is, its history, the 7 Principles for the Home Gardener, and why conserving our precious water resources matter so much in a time of climate crisis.
The Local Food System
This workshop discusses the history of our current food system – including many overlapping systems of oppression that have brought us to the present day. We discuss what the climate change crisis is asking of us and re-imagine what a modern and localized food system could look like. Finally, we discuss several direct actions and how there’s space for everyone to be more involved in solutions.
Pests and Diseases
You’ve planned and planted your plot — now what? This workshop explores the organic principles of integrated pest management as well as prevention and remedy for common diseases and weather challenges. Learn to recognize common garden helpers + hindrances in their various life stages, and leave with strategies for a resilient garden.
Regenerative Agriculture Techniques: Working in Harmony with the Earth
Regenerative agriculture is a fairly new term that utilizes the age-old principles of earth stewardship & holistic concern for plants, microorganisms, and soil. This workshop will cover the importance of composting, mulching, an introduction to using water-wise landscape plantings, water conservation techniques, and the wonders of vermicomposting (composting with worms).
The focus will be on practices we can all use to create a rich blanket to cover our soils and provide strategies for small steps towards mitigating climate change.
Meet your facilitators
‘Jungle Judy’ Elliott
Community Education Cultivator
Judy has spent a lifetime implementing strategies that connect youth and adults to the experiential teachings inherent in garden-based learning environments. With a background in horticultural and social work, she utilizes an asset-based approach, passionately believing that every child and adult has the capacity to be a leader in their community when provided with the seeds for success. Judy leads the Denver Master Composter Training and Outreach Program and teaches practical horticulture classes for youth educators, community gardeners and the general public, and firmly believes that gardens are the ideal backdrop to bring together the wisdom of diverse cultures and generations.
Brit Pimentel
Director of Operations
Brit is passionate about creating a more just and equitable food system for all. For the past 10 years, she’s worked in a variety of agriculture, education and food access programming settings. She has worked with DUG since 2018 and oversees the metro-wide food access program, Grow a Garden, which connects individuals, families, seniors and groups to affordable seeds, seedlings and education to grow a thriving vegetable garden.
Kristi Hatakka
Compost Coordinator
Bio coming soon!
