Four New Classes by We Can Grow and The Hack Factory

Four great classes at the Hack Factory with We Can Grow. The Hack Factory is a space for people to prototype, invent, share, learn, teach, and improve upon our community by empowering people. Together we are offering some classes at the Hack Factory. These are hands on classes so be prepared to get a little dusty.

Build Your Own Raised Bed Garden

After this class you will go home with raised bed garden built by your very own hands and the knowledge to use it. We use all natural cedar because it has such a resilience to the elements, lasts for years to come, and it smells great. Along with building your garden the instructor will present a basic small space gardening class. This class is for all skill levels.

You’ll be building a sub-irrigated raised bed garden. Sub-irrigation is a source of water stored below the soil. This is a great way to conserve water and shorten the amount of watering time you'll have to put in. Soil is not included.


You will have a couple options for soil. We will have bags of soil available for purchase. If you live in Minneapolis or St. Paul We Can Grow can deliver soil in a few weeks. Or you can provide you own.Whatever your choice, we can make arrangements the day of the class.

Cost $125
For more information or to register click HERE

Build Your Own Potato Tower

Wanna grow your own potatoes for the year, but don't have a lot of space? This class will provide the simple solution of a potato tower. Is a space as small as 3'x3' you can grow up to 60 pounds of potatoes.

At the end of this class you will own your very own potato tower built with your very own hands, and an understanding of how to be successful with it. We use all natural cedar because it has such a resilience to the elements, lasts for years to come, and it smells great. This class is for all skill levels. Soil is not included.

You will have a couple options for soil. We will have bags of soil available for purchase. If you live in Minneapolis or St. Paul We Can Grow can deliver soil in a few weeks. Or you can provide you own.Whatever your choice, we can make arrangements the day of the class.

Cost $125
For more information or to register click HERE

Build Your Own Backyard Compost Bin

Nothing aids in success in your gardening efforts more that great soil. We have a growing need to reduce the waste that is put into our landfills. We all moan and groan about bagging out leaves every fall. We have a solution that addresses all those problems, it’s simple, backyard composting.

After you complete this class you will have the knowledge to build and have built your very own backyard compost bin. We are using long lasting cedar and using a design that is easy yo use and produces great results quickly.

Cost $125
For more information or to register click HERE

 

Build Your Own Kitchen Window Herb Garden

Nothing is quite as rewarding as growing and using your very own herbs. In this class we use a simple, attractive design that is very low maintenance. We will be using cedar because it is attractive and lasts for a long time.

After completing this class you will have the knowledge and have built your very own complete kitchen window herb garden. We provide all the soil and plants you provide the love.

Cost $60

For more information or to register click HERE

About the instructor.

Mike Smieja is the Director of We Can Grow, a nonprofit that provides raised bed gardens to low income families in the Twin Cities. Last season Mike owned and operated Buchanan Street Farms, an urban farm in Northeast Minneapolis. Currently attending the University of Minnesota for Agriculture and Horticulture. Mike has been through the Master Gardener and Master Composter Recycler courses. Along with empowering others, Mike has a passion for food, rebuilding community, and environmental stewardship.

Special offer!

April 27-28 2013 Mike Smieja will be teaching four different projects at the Hack Factory, including raised bed garden building, potato tower building, compost bin building, and kitchen window herb garden building. Attend the whole series and receive the May Rain Barrel building class for free! ($75 value)

Scholarships

We Can Grow and the Hack Factory have partnered to provide a select amount of scholarships for low income families and individuals for each project. If you would like to apply for one please email the instructor Mike for more information HERE

Time Banking comes to Northeast Minneapolis

  So, last night I attended the organizational meeting for the Northeast Time Bank. I was very excited about the idea of trading time rather than money with people in my neighborhood. There were about a dozen people there that were also very excited.

  So the concept is that everybody's hour is worth just as much as everybody else'. Hour for hour? No once you work for someone they register the hours that you gave and they go into a bank. Now you can use them with other people. You receive banked time when you go through the required orientation. You receive banked time for going to time bank events. We Can Grow can even participate in the program to give and get time for volunteers.

  I am looking forward to this getting off the ground and getting out there and earning some hours!

For more information visit the Northeast Timebank's Facebook page HERE

Hack Factory Visit

A few weeks back Mike and I made our way over to South Minneapolis' Hack Factory to see if we could make some raised bed gardens there. What we found thoroughly shocked and awed us both. 

Tools, machines and quirky projects littered the warehouse space where members had convened for their Wednesday evening open hours to chat and build some amazing stuff. We sat down with Dave the president of the organization, which by the way is 501(c)3 nonprofit cooperative, to discuss the logistics of making our gardens there. After a brief chat, we had hammered out a deal whereby We Can Grow will rent out space in the Hack Factory to make and store our 150 garden boxes free of cost.

 We had discovered that the intent and missions of our organizations fit together really well. We're both trying to make and provide the tools and services our communities can use to grow. We plan to teach raised-bed garden building classes, compost bin making classes, and basic gardening informational classes through the Hack Factory to further our community education effort. The Hack Factory already hosts tons classes and exhibitions where people can learn about all manner of DIY (do-it-yourself) projects ranging from work with metal, wood and fabric to bikes, electronics and guitars. 

This place really does it all. We are so excited to have teamed up with the Hack Factory to start doing goof work in our community and inciting positive change. We want to extend a gracious thank you to them for being so awesome and doing what they do. Hey look! They're even sponsoring Farm Hack this weekend.

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