UPDATED Workshop and Class Schedule for The Fall

UPDATED September, October and November Inspiration Workshops and Classes

All of our workshops and classes are held at The Simple Farm - 9080 E. Cactus Rd in Scottsdale. Most are held at our Inspiration Patio, some in the farm library,

others at the farm arbor or some in and amongst any garden area.

When arriving for your workshop - please park in the general market parking.

Walk toward the farm house and meet at the Inspiration Patio.


                                        

                                          Links below are to register for the workshop or class. 

For Garden Workshop descriptions go HERE.

For Domestic Arts Workshop descriptions go HERE. 

For Back Yard Livestock Workshop descriptions go HERE.

September - Workshops and Classes
September 15 - 3 pm - Lasagne Gardening Register HERE
September 19 - 9 am - Growing Herbs - Register HERE
September 19 - 10:15 am - Refreshing Your Garden AND What to Plant Now - Register HERE
September 22nd - 1:15 pm - Raising Backyard Chickens - Register HERE  
** This is the only class we will have baby chicks for sale - hens. 
September 22nd - 3:30 pm - The Art of Homemade Vinegar  - Register HERE
September 26th - 9 am - Beginning Gardening - Register HERE
September 26th -10:15 am - Growing Herbs - Register HERE

October Workshops and Classes 
October 3 - 9 am-  Container Gardening - HERE
October 3 - 10:15 - Sprouting - How To and Why You Should - HERE
October 6 - 2 pm - Taking the Mystery Out of Indian Cooking - HERE
October 6 - 1:15 pm - Raising Back Yard Chickens - HERE
October 10 - 9 am - Growing Herbs - Register HERE
October 10 - 10:15 - Gardening in Difficult Areas - Register HERE.
October 13 - 3 pm - Basic Cheese -Making - HERE
October 17 - 9 am - Composting - HERE
October 17 - 9 am - How to Feed (Fertilize) Your Garden HERE
October 20 - 1:15 pm - Preserving The Harvest - HERE
October 24 - 9 am - Seeds or Starts? HERE
October 24 - 9 am - Natural Pest Control HERE
October 27 - 3 pm - Basic Cheese-Making - HERE

November Workshops and Classes - More Workshops TBA for Thursdays
November 3 - 2 pm - How To Make Milk Kefir - HERE
November 3 - 3 - 4 - The Art of Homemade Vinegar  - Register HERE
November 10 - 3 pm - Advanced Cheese-Making - HERE
November 17 - 2 pm - Easy Steps to Making Yummy Bread - HERE
November 17 - 2 pm - Solar Cooking - HERE


Workshops and Classes To Be Scheduled
The Art of Fermenting
Gathering Around The Meal Table
Nourishing Butters - Making Meals Amazing
How To Make Kombucha
4-5 Ingredient Main Dishes
Shopping The Market
Basic Goat Raising
Jam Making

Sprouting and Why It's Good For You and Your Animals

photo courtesy of web logos baltimore sun

We started sprouting a few years ago and know the benefits are incredible. About a year ago, I'd seen some blogs that showed farmers sprouting for their livestock. That got my attention - again - about the value of sprouting.

We have another amazing workshop for you - 

Sprouting and Why It's for You You and Your Animals and How To Do It.

This workshop is 1.5 hours and 

will be held on Thursday morning, October 3rd at 10:15. 

The fee is $20.

The workshop description is HERE.

Register HERE for this workshop.

Cooking With The Sun

I started using a solar oven about four years ago and have to say cooking with the sun made some of the most moist chicken ever!

With a solar oven I can:
#1 Save Money - You use no electricity!
#2 Have A Back Up If Electricity Is Not Available




The workshop description is HERE.
This workshop is scheduled for Sunday, November 17th at 3 pm.
The workshop is 1.5 hours and the fee is $25

Register for this workshop HERE.

How To Feed (Fertilize) and Water Your Garden

It can be thoroughly confusing when reading a box or bottle of plant/flower/vegetable fertilizer. How do you know which one is for which garden issue and how do you know when to apply what to "feed" your vegetables? 

Our How To Feed (Fertilize) and Water Your Garden workshop will help take out some mystery!  

Workshop date is October 17th at 9 am.

Workshop description HERE

Workshop fee is $15

Register for this workshop HERE.

Workshop: Natural Pest Control

A lovely tomato horn worm - disgusting!

How do you safely and naturally combat pests in your garden? This farm/garden workshop will give you some great "how to" in your arsenal.

October 24th - 9 am

This workshop is 1 hour and 

to learn more about it - go HERE.

The workshop fee is $15. 

To register for this workshop go HERE.

Sunday Inspiration...ONLY ONE Workshop - Lasagne Gardening

Due to scheduling conflicts, the Pickling Workshop scheduled for THIS Sunday - September 15th will be rescheduled. We apologize for any and all inconveniences and will post a NEW class date for this as soon as it's scheduled!

HOWEVER, the Lasagne Gardening Style is going to be great it's 

Sunday, September 15th from 3- 4 pma and you'll also learn how to build a raised bed! 

Hands-on Workshop description HERE.

Register HERE.

Easy Steps to Making Yummy Bread

The summer of 1971 I traveled to Bavaria where I experienced life in the village of my Grandfather. I have wonderful memories of those three months there but on in particular stands out.

Those three months have such wonderful memories and one in particular was the early morning clipity clop of the bread wagon coming to the center of the village. At the time, I thought it strange that this bread was not in a plastic bag and wasn't white and soft.

Different seasons of my life, I've made bread. At one time, I made and sold bread to generate revenue for my family. 

We want you to inspire you to capture the joys of making bread 

and so we're having a hands-on bread making 

workshop on Sunday, November 17th, 3 - 5 pm

This adults only workshop is 2 hours and the fee is $30.

The workshop description is HERE

Register for this workshop HERE.

Come and Cut The Cheese!

Come, learn to make cheese! 

Beginning Cheese-Making workshop description HERE.

We have two basic cheese-making workshops scheduled on 

Sunday, October 13th from 3 - 5 pm - Register HERE 

and 

Sunday, October 27th from 3 - 5 pm - Register HERE

Advanced Cheese-Making workshop description HERE

 advanced cheese-making workshop is on

Sunday, November 10th from 3 - 5 pm - Register HERE

The basic cheese-making workshop is a prerequisite to the advanced workshop.

Workshop fees are $30

The Art of Homemade Vinegars - For Your Health and Gifts

Photo courtesy of mountainroseblog.com

We're all about teaching you the different fermentation arts: pickling, cheese-making (October 13), kefir (in November sometime) and now we've added a workshop to inspire you to make your own vinegars. Vinegar is a pantry staple and this workshop will help you conjure up a delicious homemade vinegar.

Domestic Arts - Simple Inspiration

The Art of Homemade Vinegars

Sunday, September 22nd - 3:30 - 5:30

The workshop fee is $30

See workshop description HERE

Register HERE

Taking The Mystery Out of Indian Style Cooking

photo courtesy of www.newsgd.com

When Vicki Mayo comes to shop our market, she's always describing the ways she's going to prepare what it is she's buying.  If that's not enough to make you stop and listen - she THEN she talks about the spices and the herbs and a bit of this and a bit of that and how beneficial those spices and those herbs are.

So, one day, I came to my culinary senses and said, "Vicki - would you please consider teaching a workshop on India cooking/food/spices, etc."

Being the gracious woman that she is - said yes and the added spice to this is that HER MOM is teaching with her.

Simple Inspiration 

Taking The Mystery Out of Indian Style Cooking

Sunday, October 6th, 2-4 pm
The workshop fee is $25.  

See workshop description HERE

Register HERE.

Lasagne Gardening

Simple Inspiration 

Lasagne Gardening Hands - On Workshop AND 

How To Build A Raised Bed

Sunday, September 15th 3 - 4 pm   

Workshop fee is $15

See workshop description HERE

Register HERE

I Wrote This A Few Years Ago: The Best Mother in Love a Girl Could Have

Today, my mother in love is in the hospital, she had a heart attack last week and today we are just waiting and praying that God would do a miracle only He can do in sustaining her life. We'd love a lot more years with this precious gift. 

Would you be so kind and pray with Michael and I and the family. Those of you who have met her know the jewel she is. 

Mother-in-laws sometimes don't make it into the mother-in-love relationship department , but mine did.

In the beginning of my marriage to her son, we had some rocky years of learning who each other was and who each other wasn't.

It wasn't until we worked through some good relationship speed bumps of acceptance, understanding and forgiveness that love - sweet love started to knit my heart to hers and hers to mine.

Today, I would truly give my life for this woman.

A few weeks ago, I told her that I wanted for our home to be on the "top of her list" as the place to come to - should she need to shift gears and not live alone anymore. It's not because she comes for little visits, is this huge help by tenderly waters the garden and helping nail together old vintage fences - but it's because I love her deeply, want her to feel wanted and cared for - not because of what she can or can't do, but because of who she is.

And, because it's a good, honoring thing to do and because I love God.

Raising BackYard Chickens - TWO Workshops

Often, Michael and I get asked about "having a chicken class" and so now we are having 

TWO Raising Backyard Chicken workshops on 

Register HERE for September 22nd workshop - 1:15 - 2:45 pm.

The September 22nd class is the ONLY class we will be selling baby chicks at.

Register HERE for Sunday, October 6th workshop - 1:15 - 2:45 pm

Workshop description here

Workshop fee is $25.

Organic feed resource:

Azure Standard - go HERE

Phoenix Organic Feed - go HERE

The Simple Home: Nourishing Tradition - The Beauty of Fermentation and Cultures

Years ago, while living in a run down farm house in North Texas surrounded by golden wheat fields, a copy of Mother Earth News ended up in my mail box. I dog-eared that copy like a second Bible. It was my only resource and 'how to' for farm style hand ground bread (very European) goat milk yogurt and this a feta-like cheese I'd make for lasagna.

At the time, I had a small herd of dairy goats, a flock of hens and I use a cast iron stove in the middle of the living room to cook red beans for days (the best beans you'd ever eat).

As a single mother, I would make and sell the yogurt, the farm bread, eggs and the raw goat's milk (legal at that time).  Along with working at a little grocery story a few hours a week - selling my farm goods - made it enough to sustain us with a simple life.

Life then was just enough. It was good enough. It was simple. It was healthy for the body and the soul.

Fast forward: eight years ago, our youngest daughter introduced me to Sally Fallon's book - Nourishing Traditions.   A large group of her friends (now all in their later thirties) would get together with an older woman and learn the art of culturing milk, making kefir, creme fresh and kombucha. I was smitten.

Life often leads you on interesting paths where you want to make it "simple" by not doing food the long way - but the processed way. . . the quick way . . . because other things seem more important. I went that "simple" way because I was busy with other things.

Moving to 9080, growing a bit of food for ourselves and some for others (that was the idea of this farming adventure) led me back to those roots (actually half my family were European farmers) of taking the time to prepare food, experience with cultures and fermented food.  I now want to share that with you . . . and Simple Inspiration will soon be offering a variety of classes to inspire you to experience what is really good. . . for you . . . for your health . . . for your family.

The interest is there and the inspiration will continue. We know this to be true because our first two pickling classes filled the limited seating within several days.

The Art of Fermentation