Learn how to have a homegrown lifestyle in 12-week Extension course

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach is offering a course for folks who want to reconnect with the land, grow food and create a sustainable landscape. Homegrown Lifestyle will be offered by ISU Extension at Linn County on Thursday evenings from 6-9 p.m. beginning March 14 and ending May 30.

Extension's Homegrown Lifestyle is a 12-week spring short course for people living on a large lot, small acreage, or in an urban setting who want to take full advantage of their space to collect rainwater, make compost and learn how to grow small fruits and vegetables. Topics covered during the course include edible landscape design; soil and water conservation; growing and preserving vegetables, fruits, and wild crops; dried herbs & tea; mushrooms; beekeeping; grazing and ruminants; wildlife management; and backyard poultry.

Homegrown Lifestyle focuses on fundamental, scale-appropriate food production techniques and conservation strategies that smallholders and modern homesteaders can quickly put to use. It is not a farm business planning class for commercial growers, but rather for homeowners with space to play with.

Each weekly class includes an educational session taught by extension educators from the ISU Horticulture and Ag & Natural Resources departments through a live-stream webinar, plus locally organized activities including these live speakers:

Zora Ronan, Linn County Master Gardener: Starting Garden Transplants at Home

Jason Grimm, Iowa Valley RC&D: Local Foods & Iowa Valley Food Coop

Phil Pfister, Linn County Master Gardener: Home Greenhouses

Patrick O'Malley ISU Commercial Horticultural Specialist: Fruit Crops

Kathleen Delate, ISU Organic Agriculture Specialist: Organic Gardening

Judy Bemer, Linn County Master Gardener: Dried Herbs & Tea

June Crow Shrader & 4-H Youth: Raising Goats

Scott Koepke, Soilmates: Composting

Todd Mills, Mushroom Mills: Growing Mushrooms

Jean Wiedenheft, Indian Creek Nature Center: Raising Bees for Honey

Jackie Bohlken & 4-H Family: Backyard Chickens

In addition to weekly Thursday sessions, three half-day local tours give course participants the opportunity to experience small–scale food production and resource conservation practices first hand. Linn County participants will be invited to visit Matthew 25 Urban Farm, see how a local family practices homesteading, and experience foraging for wild edible plants at Indian Creek Nature Center! Linn County offers participants the added benefit of membership in the Homegrown Lifestyle Network. This network offers members continuing education through monthly events, tours, networking, online resources, and access to the local speakers during future courses.

“Increasing interest in local foods has some folks wondering if they could grow their own food,” said Michelle Kenyon Brown, Linn County Homegrown Lifestyle Coordinator. “The Homegrown Lifestyle course combines basic information on a wide range of topics with practical application, local tours and workshops for a complete educational experience. Rain water harvesting, growing small fruits, and tree pruning are other topics to be covered.”

The course fee is $179. Register by March 7 online at www.homegrownlifestyle.org. Linn County Extension and other sites throughout the state are listed on its website. For more information about Homegrown Lifestyle, contact Michelle Kenyon Brown at (319) 377-9839 or mkenyonb@iastate.edu or visit www.homegrownlifestyle.org.

“This course gives hands-on experience in a wide range of topics. I know my garden will thank me this year because of the tips and new ideas I picked up from the course!” – Phil Shaff, a 2012 participant.