Are you ready to start digging in the dirt? If you have garden fever, the Enfield Shaker Museum has two upcoming classes to help you deal with it!

 First, on May 13, is the Preparing Your Garden class. This is the perfect one for beginners or any gardener wanting to get ready for the growing season. You will learn all about creating healthy beds for your plants, including how to compost, mulch, and fertilize. The Museum’s garden experts will talk about soil testing and how to add nutrients to soil. Then, you’ll get your hands dirty in the Shaker Museum Herb Garden as you dig and prepare a planting bed.

Meet up first at the Great Stone Dwelling at 2pm, with the class finishing around 4pm. Be sure to wear gardening clothes and bring along your tools—but not the entire tool shed! Just bring what you expect to need for the afternoon.

The cost is $20 per person and $17 for Museum members. The class size is limited, so sign up as soon as possible. Also, the class is dependent on the weather.

Next, on May 16 there is an Introduction to Bees and Beekeeping class. George Grama, the Museum Village Garden’s beekeeper, will teach you about the practice of beekeeping and the biology of bees. He’ll give you all the information you need to start your own hives.

Why should a gardener think about keeping bees? According to findings from a White House task force charged with creating a national strategy to promote the health of honeybees and other pollinators, the honeybee population is responsible for adding more than $15 billion to the value of agricultural crops each year. (https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/images/Blog/PPAP_2016.pdf).

When it comes to honeybees, the more the merrier!

The cost for this class is $20 per person or $17 for Museum members. Meet up with Beekeeper Grama at the Great Stone Dwelling at 1pm. The class runs until 4pm.

To register for either class, call the Museum at (603) 632-4346 or email [email protected]. To check out other upcoming classes, visit the Museum’s website at www.shakermuseum.org.