Garden School 2025

Gardening Class

A holistic journey into the world of plants

LOCATION:
Muddy River Herbals
2468 Washington Street
Canton, MA

DATES:
Each class day is 5 hours long, including a lunch break. Spring and Summer classes (May, June, July and August) will be from 9 am to 2 pm. Fall classes will run from 10 am to 3:00 pm.

May 17
June 21
July 19
August 23
September 20
October 25

overview

Join us in the living laboratory that is Muddy River Herbals as we guide you through the ebbs and flows of the growing season. You’ll learn about key aspects of growing, maintaining, and using plants. We hope that our classes will set you off on your own lifelong journey of creating and appreciating beautiful, healthy gardens.

Lessons will take place once a month and cover the tasks that should be understood, planned, and carried out during that time frame. You’ll get your hands dirty as we take on projects which will develop and mature throughout the season. Ultimately, the fruits of your labor will be realized and we’ll cover how we harvest, process, store, and use what we grow. All of this will be done with an eye towards how our gardens fit into the wild world around us and we’ll be incorporating not just growing herbs and vegetables but also growing native plants to help support the non-human friends that we share this world with.

Classes will move forward rain, snow, wind, or shine. If the weather is poor to the point of not being able to work outside, the class will be moved to the next day, which will be a Sunday, as the classes are scheduled for Saturdays.

What We Expect to Cover

MAY
Seeding
Sheet Mulching
Transplanting
Potting On
Herb Spiral
Mulching
Soil Work
Wildcrafting

JUNE
Pollinator Strip
Planting
Fencing
Tool Maintenance
Chelsea Chop

JULY
Harvest
Irrigation
Warm Season Grasses
Dehydration
Composting
Fertilization

AUGUST
Succession Planting
Lawn Work
Gathering and Processing
Tinctures and Vinegars
Weeding

SEPTEMBER
Harvest
Potting On
Transplanting and Dividing
Cover Cropping

OCTOBER
Putting Garden to Bed
Bulbs
Harvesting & Processing Roots
Check Sheet Mulching

YOUR GUIDES

JENNY HAUF
Jenny is a teacher, grower, and writer. She was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the wild shades of green found in her father's and grandparents' beloved gardens. After formally studying creative writing she embarked on a study of plants that took her from an urban farm in Milwaukee to the sandhill crane's mating grounds of northern Wisconsin; the sheep and goat pastures of Italy's Piemonte to the technicolor fields of County Cork; a suburban French herb farm to an apple paradise on the back roads of central Maine.

In 2015 she created Muddy River Herbals, a farm devoted to bringing a wealth of herbs, biodiversity, and community to the Boston area. Now in its eighth season, Muddy River has unfurled into a hub of vibrant plants and the humans, pollinators, and other wild lives that love them. Jenny also works extensively with native plants as a landscaper, helping people reclaim their yards so that they can be transformed into ecologically rich gardens that delight the senses and provide habitat for creatures such as butterflies, salamanders, and dragonflies. Empowering people to live in engaged reciprocity with their environments is among her greatest passions.

Matthew Warren
Matt grew up in Hyde Park, not far from where the farm is now. His parents instilled in him a love for nature with frequent trips to the Blue Hills Reservation to hike and appreciate the animals, insects, and plants that inhabit the forests and meadows of Eastern Massachusetts.

In 2008, Matt decided to explore the food system we rely on for food, drink, and more by working and living at Overlook Farm in Rutland, MA. There he had his first experiences with agricultural production while working in the land’s organic fields. Overlook was also where Matt and Jenny met, forming a partnership that would bring them from the fields of Massachusetts to Europe, where they would explore European culture and farming methods, and back again.

Upon returning from Europe, Matt worked as a cook and then achieved his Masters in Dietetics from Framingham State before realizing his place was out in the fields and gardens of Massachusetts. Working for a fine gardening company introduced him to the world of garden design and prodded his aesthetic sensibilities into gear before he decided to join Muddy River Herbals full time. He runs the Muddy River Herbals landscaping division in addition to helping out at the farm.