First List Of Classes !

We’re starting to post our class offerings and schedule for the 2019 season here at Fernwood Nursery. Today I’ll share with you what has been slated so far for the month of April, but be sure to visit our classes and more page for additional summer classes and newly posted opportunities ( some are already up!). We are so looking forward to the upcoming season, potting up new plants as well continuing with the old favorites. Lots of great natives for those who are devoted to restoring ecological habitats or for those who simply see the beauty and importance of growing native plants within the landscape. Of course, being ‘plantaholics’ we also carry an extensive collection of unusual plants and rarities from around the globe. Come see! We know spring is coming, the squishy ground beneath our feet and the deep muddy ruts on all of our dirt roads are obvious indicators!
And now, two classes in April that may interest you…

Dull As A Hoe!
Saturday, April 20th, 2019 from 1:00 -3:00
Get those garden tools ready for the season! Join us here at Fernwood Nursery to learn how to sharpen and maintain your garden tools. Whether it’s a trusty hoe, your essential digging spade, or those favorite pruners, come learn how to keep them sharp and at their best. Feel free to bring along your own gardening tools ( limit three, please) to get that hands-on opportunity to sharpen their edges. Sharpening materials will be on-site for your use and instruction will be provided. Complimentary scones and tea will also be available!
Class size is limited to 10, pre-registration and pre-payment required. Visit our classes and more for details.
Please call (207) 589-4726 or email us at fernwoodnursery@fairpoint.net to register

Erythronium ‘ Rose Queen’
Trout Lily

‘Ephemerals and Early Risers’
On Saturday, April 27th, 2019 from 10:00a.m. to noon
Rick and Denise Sawyer of Fernwood Nursery will give a presentation on ‘Ephemerals and Early Risers’. The talk will focus on those plants which are first to emerge in spring within the woodland garden. Come join us for a walk and talk as we identify and enjoy the earliest of plants to bloom and learn how to incorporate them into your own landscape. Discover some of the woodland gems we grow and offer here at Fernwood Nursery…bloodroot, Hepatica, Anemones, and Dutchman’s britches, to name a few!
The program will take place in the gardens and studio of Fernwood Nursery from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon. Space is limited to 10, so pre-registration and pre-payment are required. Also, dress for the weather…it’s spring and it could be showery. Tea and a light lunch will be served. Visit our classes and more page for details. Sign up by phone or email. Happy Spring! (207)589-4726 or email us at fernwoodnursery@fairpoint.net

Hypertufa Class this Coming Weekend!

Feel like joining us? Here’s the information, still a few spots left! Check out our classes and more page for an updated list of classes for the season. We’ll be adding more as the season progresses, so check back often, you may find a class that is just what you’re looking for!

Mother’s Day Build A Hypertufa Planter
Sunday,May 13th, 2018 , 1:00-3:00 Cost: $45.00, materials included

Mothers, daughters, and sons join us here at Fernwood Nursery for a class on designing and constructing your own hypertufa vessel. Hypertufa is a lightweight medium often used in molding pots, troughs, and planters. Learn the basic ingredients for a hypertufa mix and about the various forms that can be used to create unique and natural looking outdoor planters.
Come build your own, then take it home for planting!
Tea and freshly baked scones will be served.
Class limit 12 and preregistration required. Please call us at (207) 589-4726 or email us at fernwoodnursery@fairpoint.net. You may also contact us here.

Felting Workshop At Fernwood!

Saturday, July 23rd, noon to 4:00
Join fiber artists Jessica Peill Meininghaus and Denise Sawyer for an afternoon of felting. Come learn the basic techniques for wet felting wool, then move on to create a beautiful needle felted wool painting! Roam the gardens for inspiration, chat with fellow fiber enthusiasts, and learn a new skill! Materials and supplies included…..plus teas and scones will be served!
If you’d like to join us, email at fernwoodnursery@fairpoint.net or call (207) 589-4726
You can check out our ‘classes and more’ page for specifics.

Still Time To Start Writing!

There are still three spots open for our writing class in May, check out the info and dates below….

If you recall, we offered a writing workshop here at the studio this past February. It was great! The class was taught by Linda Buckmaster, who is an amazing writer and teacher…you can read more about Linda’s credentials below. Everyone who took the class really enjoyed it. There were all levels of writers, some who were interested in writing memoirs, some who wanted to get started on writing a children’s book, and others who simply wanted to improve on their own personal journaling. At the end of the two sessions, each participant agreed that Linda had helped them to improve on their own style of writing. And, everyone was inspired to write more!
This class was such a success that we’ve invited Linda back to teach another class this May. We’ll be gathering in the studio, this time in the early evening. Hopefully, we’ll also have an opportunity to engage in some plein-air writing if the blackflies don’t drive us back indoors. The dates for this class are Tuesday, May 17th and Thursday, May 19th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Of course, tea and scones will be available for refreshment. Any additional information can be found on our ‘classes and more’ page. Linda Buckmaster calls this class:

Writing About Place:

Writing about place includes any of the elements that make a specific place what it is. It can include the layers of history, the natural world, human culture, and the built environment across time to bring us to this present moment. We can be advocates, critics, or lovers. By developing our craft, we can better understand and present our world and experiences.

We will take advantage of the May weather and the beautiful setting of Fernwood for inspiration.

· Open to writers or aspiring writers of any level who will write new poetry, prose, or beyond genre.

· We will discuss readings on craft and the work of other writers for inspiration.

· Through writing exercises and prompts, we will practice the writer’s toolkit of image, voice, language, structure, and more.

We’ll maintain a safe, supportive environment that recognizes there is no such thing as a mistake in writing, just the next draft.

Instructor Linda Buckmaster has taught this popular course in multiple community venues in Maine. She has over thirty publications in regional and national journals and three poetry chapbooks. One of her pieces was named a Notable Essay in “Best American Essays 2013.” Former Belfast, Maine Poet Laureate, she has taught in the University of Maine system for twenty years. She holds an MFA from the Stonecoast writing program at the University of Southern Maine and an MA in Communication from the University of Maine. She was awarded writing residencies in Newfoundland, Oregon, Vermont, Portugal, Florida, and on Kezar Lake in Maine.

Writing In The Studio!

We are offering our first workshop in the studio at the end of this month. A writing workshop, lead by Linda Buckmaster, called the Winter Toolkit. Here’s how Linda describes the class:
The Writer’s Toolkit
Most writers, no matter what their style, topic, or genre, pull from a similar box of tools for their writing. These include image, language, voice, structure, character, time, and narrative. The unique possibilities are endless. Language itself includes word choice, diction, rhythm, metaphor, and even silence.
We will spend time looking at some of these tools and how other writers have used them. Writing prompts and exercises will give you the opportunity to practice what you learn. You will be writing in either prose or poetry, and you will get a start on material you may develop beyond the class. There will be a homework assignment after the first class. You will be writing!

Linda has a remarkable reputation as a writer and poet. She lives fairly close, in the small coastal town of Belfast. She has taught and helped many folks to improve their writing. We’re thrilled to have her! I’ll include a profile from her website, http://lsbuck1.blogspot.com/
‘She’s been a national magazine editor, window washer, waitress, day care teacher, chambermaid, hippie homesteader, journalist, meat wrapper, sales clerk, dance teacher, horse logger, and Belfast Poet Laureate.Now she works for a nonprofit and teaches in the University of Maine System. And . . . she’s writing, working on a collection of essays called “Hullabaloo on the Space Coast: A Memoir of Place’.
I’m really excited about this opportunity. The studio will not be absolutely complete, but the woodstove will be making heat, the lights will be bright, and tea and scones will be available to refresh us. At the moment, we have one spot open if anyone wants to put pen to paper and join us.The workshop consists of two 2 1/2 hour classes. The first class is Saturday, January 30th from 10:00- 12:30, the second is February 5th, 10:00-12:30. (February 12th, snow date). If you are interested, call us at (207) 589-4726 or email us at fernwoodnursery@fairpoint.net, we’ll be happy to provide more detail.
I’ve already begun thinking about the stories I’d like to get started on, and I’m looking forward to having someone like Linda here to guide us in the craft of writing. Winter provides just the right mental landscape for reflection and storytelling……can’t wait!