Our Urban Farming 101 series of workshops is designed for those newer to farming and gardening, though the information may prove useful to those with more experience as well. The content focuses on urban environments, but many of the concepts are applicable to gardens anywhere. Children ages 13 and up are welcome to participate with an adult chaperone.

Tickets are free but required. Some tickets are reserved for NYC DOE teachers and NYCHA residents; please select the appropriate ticket group when registering (on the Monday before a workshop, any unclaimed tickets remaining in reserve will be released to the general public). We offer multiple events of the same workshop each month, so if one is full please check for other available dates. If you are a DOE teacher or NYCHA resident and can't find available tickets, please reach out to us at education@thebattery.org so we can work with you to find a solution. If you don't have a ticket but would still like to attend, you're welcome to drop in at the start of the workshop and if we have space we will include you; however, space is not guaranteed.

Native Plants and Forest Gardens for Food, Medicine, Crafts, and Habitat

This workshop will offer frameworks and resources to help you select native plants for your garden site, both at a small scale and if planning a larger forest garden. We'll explore the concepts of niches, functional diversity, plant guilds, and succession, and we'll highlight particular northeast native plants that can provide multiple benefits for wildlife and people. A guided tour through our Forest Farm will demonstrate some of the concepts in action.

The Native Plants and Forest Gardens workshop will help you to:

Differentiate between native, endemic, naturalized, and invasive species
Navigate native plant resources to select plants that will provide year-long support for wildlife in your area, as well as other benefits
Create multi-level perennial planting plans to maximize use of space
Practice ecological horticulture to support full plant and animal life cycles

Location: Meet at the entrance to the Labyrinth & Forest Farm, marked on this map. Please note that Maps applications often misplace the entrance as in the tunnel below the park, so you should use these coordinates to help bring you to the meeting spot. Please also note that the northern side of the park is currently under construction, so you will need to enter the park along State Street (the map linked above outlines areas blocked off by construction).

What to bring: Please note that this is an outdoor workshop in our park site. Wear closed-toe shoes and any layers and sun protection you will need to be comfortable outside for the event.

Foul weather plan: This is an entirely outdoor program. It will occur light rain or shine; in the event of inclement weather, participants will be e-mailed in advance with notice of any changes and we will update this section of the event page with information about cancelation or rescheduling. If the weather looks less than clear on the day of the event, please check your email and also this page for updates before making your way to the park.

COVID-19 Policy for Events:

We encourage any event participants that are not vaccinated against COVID-19 to please wear a mask while participating in our public programs.
We ask that participants stay home if feeling sick or if they've had a known COVID-19 exposure in the last 5 days.

Our Urban Farming 101 series of workshops features virtual and in-person offerings each month throughout the season, covering the following topics:

February: Crop Planning
March: Seed Starting & Seedling Care
April: Soil & Compost
May: Plant Biology & Propagation
June: Supporting Student Learning in the Garden
July: Integrated Pest Management
August: Native Plants and Wildlife Habitats
September: Season Extension & Winter Growing
October: Seed Saving

You can follow our account here on Eventbrite to receive an update each time a new workshop is available for registration.

This event and all other free programming is funded by donations to The Battery Conservancy. Donate here!

Urban Farming 101 Workshop: Native Plants and Forest Gardens