Ploughshares Nursery will offer a series of workshops for gardeners to get a jump on their springtime planting. The workshops will run from March through May and will include hands-on sessions on container gardening, creating gardens for birds and butterflies, and a workshop on basket-making using native plants. The basket-making workshop is a repeat of a very popular workshop held last year. The workshops and dates they will be offered are as follows.

March 16, 10 a.m. to noon

Bird Language with Rachel Harris: Begin to learn which birds are visiting your backyard and what information they broadcast about the landscape through their vocal and body language. Movement and listening activities will be interspersed with interactive lecture and question and answer periods. Bring a journal and pen.

March 29, 10 - 11 a.m.

Container Gardening with Andrea Parker: This workshop is great for renters, people with limited space or anybody who has tried to grow plants in a container and ended up with yellow leaves and a guilty conscious. Our nursery manager will walk you though everything you need to know to grow just about any plant in a container.

April 10, 6 - 8 p.m.

Tomato Night with Michael Anderson and Peggy Kass: Peggy Kass from Kassenhoff Growers will be describing some of the 60 varieties of tomatoes that they are growing and Ploughshares is selling this spring. Nursery Manager Michael Anderson will teach us how to help these tomatoes succeed in your backyard. This event is sponsored by Slow Food Alameda. To find out more, visit www.slowfoodalameda.org.

April 12, noon - 1:30 p.m.

Herbs for Holistic Health with Theresa Elander: More and more we are learning that it is important to take responsibility for our own health. Come and learn about some simple herbs that can enhance your health and help you through some typical ailments we all face.

April 19

Year-round Edible Gardening Workshop: This hands-on workshop will offer vegetable gardening basics including: soil preparation, when and what to plant for our local climate, companion planting and pest control, plus creative ways to use your bountiful harvest. Seeds, catalogs, regional food source information and other handouts will be provided. Visit www.stopwaste.org to sign up for this event.

April 20, noon - 3 p.m.

Bay Friendly Advisors: Some of our friends from Bay Friendly Gardening and Landscaping project will be at the nursery to answer all of your gardening question and to hand out some literature.

Bay Friendly Garden Tour: featuring a talk by Terrel Brand on "Creating Backyard Habitat for Birds and Butterflies" (tour is all day, talk is from 10 a.m. to noon).

Learn about choosing plants that offer berries, nectar and other delectable treats for local wildlife. This event is part of the Bay Friendly Garden tour. To find out more about this wonderful event please visit www.stopwaste.org. Brand is a co-owner of Oaktown Natives. Learn about more about them, visit www.oaktownnativenursery.info.

May 3 and 4

Bringing Back the Native Tour: In celebration of the Bringing Back the Native Tour returning to Ploughshares Nursery, the Growing Youth Project will be serving food and beverages. The first 50 people on each day will get a free California poppy plant with any purchase. To learn more about the Bringing Back the Native Tour, visit www.bringingbackthenatives.net.

May 18, 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Basic Basket Making with Rachel and Emily Harris: Back by popular demand, the Harris sisters will once again teach how to make harvest baskets using native tully grass. There is a $30 material fee for this class and space is limited. RSVP by May 9.

May 24, 10 - 11 a.m.

Kids' Day: Children will have the opportunity to complete several hands-on activities including making their own soap, creating a flower using their handprint, make their own ecological footprint to grow at home, constructing a potato vase for flowers, and more. Children will also be able to discover materials for their artwork throughout the nursery through a small scavenger hunt. Bring your creative ideas and be ready to explore the nursery and garden through art.

Light snacks and refreshments provided.

Directions to the nursery are available online at www.ploughsharesnursery.com or by calling 898-7811. Ploughshares Nursery is an environmentally sustainable business run by and for formerly homeless residents of the Alameda Point Collaborative.

The nursery specializes in California native, edible and climate-appropriate plants. Many of the plants sold at Ploughshares Nursery are difficult to find at other retail nurseries. Ploughshares Nursery is open to the public every week, Wednesday though Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Alameda Point Collaborative is a supportive housing program serving 500 formerly homeless families and individuals on the converted Naval Air Station. Residents are provided with the safety and stability of a place to live combined with life skills and job skills training, advocacy to connect with services, and emotional support all with the ultimate goal of breaking the cycle of homelessness and getting the support needed to be able to lead a stable, productive life.