EVERY TIME I LOOK AT GAYLA TRAIL’s (a.k.a. You Grow Girl’s) latest book, “Easy Growing,” I want to infuse vinegars and oils and liqueurs with garden-fresh tastes, or hang herbs to dry and prep others to freeze for a wintry day when the garden can’t provide.  So I’ve invited the master of all such things—and an expert seed-saver, too, who even packs them in little handmade origami envelopes—to come visit in September and teach me her tricks for saving the harvest, and storing next year’s seed. Want to join us? Win a copy of her book if you can’t make it—or better yet, sign up for the September 8 daylong workshop with Gayla Trail here at my place. Space is very limited!

TO ENTER the giveaway, scroll down to the bottom. To learn more about Gayla, visit her website, You Grow Girl (now in its 13th year!), or read this Q&A I did with her last year. Better yet, think about coming to meet her here in my garden on September 8. Details:

Banking the Bounty Workshop, With Gayla Trail: Saving Seed and Preserving the Harvest

COME OUT FOR a full day of hands-on learning with Gayla Trail of You Grow Girl, in my garden, in the Hudson Valley, NY-Berkshires, MA area of the Northeast, about an hour from Albany, NY, and just over two hours from New York City. The focus is on preserving the garden’s bounty for the future, and our day will be broken up into two, 2½-hour workshops, plus light breakfast and full lunch:

• 9:30 to 10:00 – greeting and light breakfast
• 10-12:30 – first session: Seed Saving
• 12:30-1:30 – lunch with Q&A/discussion
• 1:30 to 4 – second workshop: Preserving Garden Bounty
• 4:00 – book signing, etc. (departure by 4:30)

Each jam-packed, 2½-hour learning session will cover everything you need to know with lots of thrifty tips and inspiring ideas pertinent to both large and small-scale gardens.

• $165 for the day, including breakfast and lunch; limited to 15 students. Tickets can be purchased here, but will sell out fast as space is very limited. Event details:
  

AM Session: Seed Saving

WHETHER YOUR GOAL is to save money or preserve our botanical heritage, the morning’s workshop will cover everything you need to know about harvesting and storing seeds from your own garden. This session will begin with a romp through Margaret’s garden, identifying and collecting seed from a variety of sources – tomatoes, squash, herbs, flowers, and more – followed by hands-on demonstrations and discussion of a variety of simple methods, no specialized equipment required. We’ll even make colorful origami seed packets, perfect for gifting.

PM Session: Preserving the Garden’s Bounty

WE’LL SPEND THE AFTERNOON learning how to harvest, preserve, and store delicious, in-season delights that can be enjoyed now and straight through until next year. We’ll cover herbs, edible flowers, vegetables, and fruits, including a range of methods from drying, to pickling, making herbal vinegars and oils, freezing, vodka and honey infusions, and more. This course is designed for a small group with emphasis on one-on-one support and interaction. Leave with the know-how and confidence to start preserving at home.

About the Presenter

GAYLA TRAIL is a nationally recognized garden authority and the author of three books on growing in difficult spaces: You Grow Girl: The Groundbreaking Guide to Gardening; Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces, and Easy Growing: Organic Herbs and Edible Flowers from Small Spaces. Gayla’s work as a writer and photographer has appeared in top publications, and in 2008 she was featured on the award-winning documentary program,Recreating Eden, and is currently in development to host a new series celebrating urban food production. Toronto-based Gayla travels around North America as a speaker and spokesperson on the topics of urban gardening, ecology, and community. She has been blogging about gardening for 13 years, on You Grow Girl.

How to Win Gayla’s Book (or Buy a Sept. 8 Workshop Ticket)

BUYING A TICKET FOR THIS day in my garden with Gayla is easy–if you hurry. Just click to the ticketing site here.

Can’t join us Sept. 8? Next best would be to enjoy time with Gayla in the pages of her latest book, “Easy Growing,” and you can win a copy by commenting below, answering the question:

What do you grow “extra” of for offseason use–whether a vegetable, herb or seed crop–and how do you save it?

Too shy to tell us? OK, just say, “Count me in” or some such, and your entry will be included in the drawing. But an answer would be even better.

Two winners will be drawn at random after entries close at midnight Sunday, July 29. Good luck to all.

(All photos copyright Gayla Trail of You Grow Girl.)