MAKE YOUR OWN RAIN BARREL WORKSHOP

Sunday, April 13, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. 

The Garden Club of Kent

480 Ravenna Rd., Streetsboro OH 44241

COST: $20

REGISTRATION REQUIRED BY APRIL 7  Email BackyardPest@gmail.com

The Garden Club of Kent and Kent Community TimeBank will co-host a Make Your Own Rain Barrel Workshop on Sunday, April 13, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. in the Ode to Joy building on The Garden Club of Kent property.  

The cost is $20 per rain barrel and includes the following materials: one 55-gallon plastic barrel; one spigot (1/2” brass, lead-free); 3/4” garden hose connection; and tools needed to make your barrel. If you are able (not required), bring a drill, ½” hole saw and saws-all.

RSVP DEADLINE IS APRIL 7  You must make your reservation and payment (cash, check or electronic) by April 7. Email BackyardPest@gmail.com to register and to get payment options.

If you are unable to transport your rain barrel from the workshop site, a delivery service to your home within Kent, Ravenna and Stow is available for a $10 cash donation to the driver. At the site on which you plan to place your rain barrel you will need to set up a raised platform to hold the barrel (cement blocks work well) located near a downspout, gutter downspout and/or a downspout rainwater diverter (optional).

If you need a diverter to connect your rain barrel to a downspout, you can find out how they work at  https://www.primalsurvivor.net/rain-barrel-diverter. Karen recommends the Oatey Mystic Rainwater Downspout Diverter, available from Home Depot for $56.61.  

COST  It's free! (You'll even get 4 plants!)

DATES  Saturdays, April 12-May 17, 2025

LOCATION  The Garden Club of Kent, 480 Ravenna Rd., Streetsboro

REGISTRATION REQUIRED BY APRIL 10 

Limited to 15 participants

Registration covers the entire series

Email BackyardPest@gmail.com  

Join The Garden Club of Kent for a free instructional series called The Seed Starting Workshop. Taking place over a six-week period from April 12 through May 17, the workshop will be led by instructor Rick Strebler, a veteran gardener and vice president of the club. He has been seed starting for decades and maintains a veritable wonderland of plants at his home. 

The workshop will include five two-hour sessions over the six week period. Additionally, each participant will be asked to take two shifts to water and care for plants, for a commitment of no more than an hour each time. We will pass around a schedule for you to sign up for your days and times.  

The workshop is limited to 15 people. Each participant will receive four plants of their choice from the plants started for this project. The remaining plants 

will be sold at the club’s Annual Plant Sale, May 23-25. Proceeds from the sale benefit our scholarship program and other activities of the organization.

THE SEED STARTING WORKSHOP  

Sessions will be held in the Ode to Joy building, greenhouse and hoop house. Bring gardening gloves and your own notebook and pen. Please allow for some flexibility in the curriculum as the weeks pass. Nature can be a little unpredictable – that’s part of the seed-starting process.

SESSION 1: GERMINATING SEEDS 

Saturday, April 12, 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon 

Rick introduces the basics of seed starting — sterilizing your pots and flats, preparing a growing medium and germinating seeds. You'll be working with a variety of heirloom tomato seeds. 

SESSION 2: ATTENTION MUST BE PAID  

Saturday, April 19, 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon

Emerging plants need tender loving care. Are they getting enough water and light? When should you thin and pinch seedlings and how? What are the options to manage overcrowding? How do you know it's time to let a plant go into the great compost pile in the sky?

No session Saturday, April 26 (but watering and other care will be needed)

SESSION 3: THE DOWN-LOW ON UP-POTTING 

Saturday, May 3, 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon

Plants grow. How do you up-pot and when? Do you change up your growing medium? What can you do to prevent “leggy” plants? 

SESSION 4: LAST-MINUTE SEEDS TO PLANT

Saturday, May 10, 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon

Some seeds germinate fast. Now’s the time for a second phase of planting. You’ll review the basics addressed in Session 1 and seed-start squashes and other vegetables that require less time to get going. 

SESSION 5: FINAL STEPS BEFORE PLANTING  

Saturday, May 17, 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon 

The greenhouse looks a lot different than it did in Session 1. Now you need to start the “hardening-off” process; possibly up-pot some plants again; and prepare your vegetables for the long haul when they go into the ground. Rick will also provide suggestions for prepping your ground soil and share best practices in planting methods.