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Â鶹ÊÓƵ and Healthy Franklin County are co-sponsoring a free community garden workshop to be held Saturday, Feb. 1, in Warfield Hall's Allen Auditorium. The theme of the workshop Â鶹ÊÓƵ ‘s theme is permaculture, a design system for ecological and sustainable living that integrates plants, animals, buildings, people and community.

Lincoln Smith, founder of Forested LLC, will be the keynote speaker for the workshop, which will also feature a panel discussion on land restoration and breakout sessions on:

•     Seasonal planting/winter sowing
•     Composting
•     Pollinator gardens

Healthy Franklin County started a Community Garden Work Group in 2016 to address nutrition, which is identified in the 2018-2019 Community Health Needs Assessment as a priority. The work group brings neighborhoods together to provide a sustainable food source for easy access to fresh fruits and vegetables, with the goal of expanding community engagement, strengthening economic development and using collective resources to help sustain existing community gardens and assess the potential to develop new gardens.

Smith teaches and trains people interested in forest-agriculture and permaculture, and creates and designs forest gardens for homes, commercial properties and public spaces. Smith, who started Forested to develop and share research in forest gardening, is a regular speaker on forest gardening at venues such as the University of Maryland, the U.S. Botanic Garden and the Maryland Master Gardeners Â鶹ÊÓƵ ’ Conference.