Native Plant Nursery and Garden Center in Franklin, NC

Learn to collect and process wild, native seed by hand, in home garden quantities, with no special tools required. Skye Cahoon, Conservation Outreach Director at Mainspring Conservation Trust, covers ethical collection methods that won't harm the plants or their habitat, along with an introduction to the WNC Wildseed Library program. The workshop runs Thursday, September 3rd from 5pm to 7pm in our covered outdoor learning pavilion, so dress for the weather and bring water and something to take notes with. This event is free and open to the public, though donations to support the Wildseed Library are appreciated.

Pawpaws are the largest edible fruit native to North America, and they grow wild in these mountains, yet most people have never tasted one. They land somewhere between banana, mango, and melon, with a texture closer to custard than anything you'd expect from a tree in Macon County. They bruise easily and don't keep, so grocery stores never carry them. Growing your own is the only reliable way to get them. Join Craig Mauney, 25 years with the NC Cooperative Extension and known around here as the Pawpaw King, as he covers siting and care, the strange truth about pawpaw pollination, harvest, and cooking. Fresh pawpaw to sample in class. Attendees get 10% off any pawpaw tree purchased the same day.

This class is for anyone who has been curious about backyard beekeeping and will help answer questions about the time, effort and costs associated with it. You’ll learn how a queen differs from a worker, why the drones get shown the door every fall, and how an egg becomes a foraging bee in about three weeks. You’ll discover honeybee biology and the life cycle, from egg to adult, the equipment you need to start, and what a first year beehive realistically costs. No experience needed!