Tag Archives: classes

Clean and Green, Education, Food and Drink

Learn to grow your own food

Figs. Photo by Rubber Slippers in Italy via Creative Commons/Flickr.

Summer is moving rapidly toward its end, but it’s not too late to learn to grow your own food. This Saturday, August 11, from 10-11:30 a.m., is another in a series of free “Grow Your Own Groceries” classes at El Centro de la Raza.

This month’s topics include:

  • What to plant Now?
  • Figs and Kiwi
  • Seed Saving

The class is led by Master Gardener Mick Duggan. The location is El Centro de la Raza room 310, 2524 16th Ave. S. Mark your calendar: next month’s class, the last of the year, is scheduled for September 8.

Local Events

Shredding, gardening, and fighting foreclosures this Saturday

Saturday, July 14, is a busy day. Along with the Jefferson Park Jubilee, there are three other events on the Hill you should know about.

From 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., Verity Credit Union is hosting its annual community Shred-a-Thon on at their Beacon Hill location, 1660 S. Columbian Way on the VA hospital campus. All are welcome to bring sensitive documents such as old checks or pay stubs to be shredded on site as you watch. A minimum $10 donation of money or nonperishable food items is suggested, to benefit the Beacon Avenue Food Bank. If you need to shred more than six grocery-size bags of documents, please consider an additional donation.

Also starting at 10 a.m. is the third in a series of “Growing Your Own Groceries” gardening classes at El Centro de la Raza. Topics of this month’s class include:

  • What to plant now?
  • Powder mildew
  • When and how to water
  • Internet information
  • Home orchard and berries
  • Herbs

The class is led by Master Gardener Mick Duggan, in El Centro’s room 310 at 2524 16th Ave. S. Mark your calendar for next month’s class on August 11.

The last event is at 3 p.m. on Saturday, when SAFE (Standing Against Foreclosure and Eviction) hosts a community meeting of “Neighbors Fed Up with the Banks and the Foreclosure Crisis!” at Bethany United Church. There will be testimonials, referrals for free legal counseling, help with foreclosure resistance, and food.

Bethany United Church is located at 6230 Beacon Ave. S.

Arts, Education

Pottery classes underway at Jefferson Community Center

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These cute pottery critters were made by students in a previous class at Jefferson Community Center. Photo courtesy of Molly Hueffed.
It’s summer, which means that Jefferson Community Center is again offering pottery classes to teach the skills of potter’s wheel throwing and handbuilding. Classes will include basic understanding and techniques of centering and throwing, as well as advanced 1-on-1 instruction.

Enrollment is open now for classes that start next week. Call 206-684-7481 for more information and to register, or register online by going to this website, clicking “Arts: Visual/Crafts,” and then “Pottery – Adult/Teen.” Classes are listed there for all community centers, not just Jefferson.

Thanks to Molly Hueffed for the info, and I apologize for the delay.

Education, Food and Drink

Learn how to cook carnitas, pozole, and ceviche at El Centro

Pork carnitas, pozole, and halibut ceviche are on the menu May 20 for a cooking demo at El Centro de la Raza with local chef Vincent Rivera of Jazz Alley. Cost to attend is $40, and for that fee, you’ll observe and learn how to cook a three-course meal along with side dishes. Recipes will be provided.

The demo will include hands-on cooking opportunities, so wear an apron if possible. Be prepared to observe, learn, and take notes.

Tickets are available here. The event is Sunday, May 20, from 1-2:30 p.m. at El Centro’s kitchen, 2524 16th Ave. S. Proceeds from the demo will benefit the El Centro de la Raza Senior Nutrition and Wellness program.

Pork carnitas. Photo by Mike McCune via Creative Commons/Flickr.
Clean and Green, Education

Learn to can food from your own garden

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Photo by thebittenword.com via Creative Commons/Flickr.
Have you always wanted a cupboard full of homemade jam or pickles from your own garden? This could be your year to learn how. Rainier Valley Eats and the Beacon Hill Garden Club are hosting a basic canning class next Tuesday, April 24, from 6:30-9:00pm at the Garden House (2336 15th Ave. S.).

The class will cover the essentials of safe preserving, the equipment needed, how to gather recipes and resources, local fruit trees, and what you can find at farmers’ markets. The class costs $10. To register, email ankataa@yahoo.com and put “Canning Class” in the subject line. Please include your name and a phone number.

Education

Computer classes coming back to Beacon Hill library

Photo by go-team in the Beacon Hill Blog Photo Pool on Flickr.
The Seattle Public Library is bringing another series of free beginning computer classes to the Beacon Hill Library (2821 Beacon Ave. S.).

All classes are free and open to the public. Registration is not required, but seating may be limited. For more information, call 206-386-4636 or Ask A Librarian.

The class list:

  • Computer Basics 1: Learn how to use a computer keyboard and mouse.
    4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 16
  • Computer Basics 2: Learn how to use basic features of the Windows software operating system. The session will cover using the toolbars, scroll bar, and text boxes.
    4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 30
  • Email 1: Get a free email account and learn how to use it.
    10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, June 30
  • Internet Basics 1: Learn about Web browsers and how to navigate a Web page.
    4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday, May 14
  • Internet Basics 2: Learn how to use search engines, evaluate websites, and print from the Web.
    4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday, May 21
  • Microsoft Word: Learn how to create, edit, format, open, save and print documents using Microsoft Word 2007.
    6 p.m. to 7:30 pm. Monday, April 30
  • Downloading E-books & Audiobooks: Learn how to download e-books and audiobooks from the Library’s website.
    10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 23
Clean and Green, Education

Grow your own groceries with free gardening classes this summer at El Centro

A Beacon Hill roadside veggie garden. Photo by Wendi Dunlap.
Did the warm weather this weekend make you think about gardening? You may be interested in a series of free gardening classes that will be held through September at El Centro de la Raza, 2524 16th Ave. S. Master Gardener Mick Duggan is teaching the “Growing Your Own Groceries” series on the second Saturday of each month, from 10-11:30 a.m.

Each class will include free information handouts to take home. All are welcome to “join when you can, for as long as you can.”

The first class is on April 14 in room 310 and covers:

  • Climate zones and frost
  • Soil and fertilizers
  • Crop rotation
  • Site selection and bed preparation
  • Botany basics
  • What to plant: Now, soon, and later
  • Seed starting and spacing
  • Organic pest control

Here are the agendas for the rest of the classes this summer:

May 12, Room 106:

  • What to plant now? Inside, outside, and under cover
  • Crop rotation
  • Planting and spacing
  • Vegetable specifics
  • Containers and small space
  • Weeding and slugs
  • Water smarts
  • Pest management

June 9, Room 310:

  • What to plant now?
  • Tomatoes
  • Melons in the NW
  • Flowers in the vegetable garden
  • Harvesting

July 14, Room 310:

  • What to plant now?
  • Powder mildew
  • When and how to water
  • Internet information
  • Home orchard and berries
  • Herbs

August 11, Room 310:

  • What to plant now?
  • Figs and kiwi?
  • Seed saving

September 8, Room 310:

  • What to plant now?
  • Green manure
  • Site selection and bed preparation
  • Getting ready for next year
  • Water quality
  • Leaves and the wait
Education, Recreation

Spring classes offered at Jefferson, Van Asselt community centers

Piano is just one of the class topics you can take at our local community centers. Photo by rok1966 via Creative Commons/Flickr.
Spring is here, and with it, registration for spring classes at our local community centers. You can read the spring activity brochure for all Southeast Seattle community centers online, including Jefferson and Van Asselt.

Classes offered include pottery, Zumba fitness, toddler “Precasso” arts, a community kitchen project, Shaolin kung fu, voiceover work, ballet, piano, Chinese, rugby, and many more.

Registration for most classes can be done online through the SPARC registration system.

Education

Hablemos Español: Spanish classes starting up at El Centro

It’s time for a new quarter of Spanish classes at El Centro de la Raza, for adults at the beginner to intermediate levels. Winter quarter classes start on Tuesday, January 17, and run on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:00 p.m., through March 22.

Classes are taught by native Spanish speakers in an interactive, community-based setting. The class fee is $300, and fees are used to help support El Centro’s human service and community-building programs. For more information, please call (206) 957-4605 or email execasst@elcentrodelaraza.org.

City Services, Education

Library to offer free computer classes

Photo by go-team in the Beacon Hill Blog Photo Pool on Flickr.
Need to learn computer skills? The Seattle Public Library will offer free computer classes at the Beacon Hill Library (2821 Beacon Ave. S.) during January and February. These courses include a series of classes for people who have little or no experience with computers, as well as a few more advanced classes.

All classes are free and open to the public. Registration is not required, but seating may be limited. For more information, call 206-386-4636.

The class list:

  • Computer Basics 1: Learn how to use a computer keyboard and mouse.
    6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday, January 2
  • Computer Basics 2: Learn how to use basic features of the Windows software operating system. The session will cover using the toolbars, scroll bar, and text boxes.
    6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday, January 9
  • Email Basics: Get a free email account and learn how to use it, including how to send email, send attachments, and use the address book.
    6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday, February 6
  • Internet Basics 1: Learn about Web browsers and how to navigate a Web page.
    6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday, January 23
  • Internet Basics 2: Learn how to use search engines, evaluate websites, and print from the Web.
    6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday, January 30
  • Library Catalog Basics: Learn how to search the Library’s catalog to find DVDs, CDs, books, and other materials, and how to reserve and renew items.
    10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, January 7
  • Downloading E-books & Audiobooks: Learn how to download e-books and audiobooks from the Library’s website.
    6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday, February 13
  • Web 2.0 Basics: Learn about blogs, wikis, Facebook, and more.
    6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday, February 27