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Date: 6/15/2022
CHESTER – Friends of the Southern Hilltowns Adult Education Center (SHAEC) is offering a series of Saturday evening gardening classes with the “Green Thumb Guru” Ed Sourdiffe of Chester, who has appeared on the local lifestyle show Mass Appeal on Channel 22.
Sourdiffe, who has attained the status of Master Gardener, graduated from Western New England College with a bachelor’s degree in biology, and continued to pursue his interest in biology with graduate courses at Oxford University. He has worked as a National Park Service ranger and as head of historic gardens at Hancock Shaker Village, a living history museum. There he planned, planted and maintained gardens consistent with Shaker tradition, widely making use of organic gardening techniques while nurturing a variety of heirloom flower, herb and vegetable strains, according to his website at www.GreenThumbGuru.com.
Sourdiffe will now offer his expertise to southern Hilltown residents beginning with “Easy Organic Gardening: Good for you, good for the garden, good for the planet,” 6-7:30 p.m. on June 25 at the Village Enterprise Center, 26 Main St., Chester.
Future classes in the series will include “Water Gardens and Features” on July 23 and “Heirloom Gardening” on Aug. 27, both from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Classes on “Seasonal Change in the Garden,” “Indoor Plants and Tropicals” and “Simple Bonsai” will continue through the fall.
“I’m very happy that Ed is able to do this series for us, because gardening-related classes are the most requested and he is a wealth of knowledge,” said Michele Kenny, program director for SHAEC.
There is no cost to attend the classes, which are being sponsored by the Friends of SHAEC, but donations are welcome. The suggested donation is $20 per class, or $10 for seniors and students. Seating is limited, and advance registration is required. To register, visit SHAEC.org/foshaec. For more information, email SouthernhilltownsAEC@gmail.com or call 354-1055.
SHAEC is a program of the UMass Labor-Management Workplace Education Program, and is funded by a Community Development Block Grant from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, through the lead town of Chester, in partnership with Middlefield and Huntington.