Free virtual gardening and cooking series

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board will offer free virtual gardening and cooking classes this summer for ages 18 and up from its Creekview Recreation Center. Courtney Tchida with the Minnesota Horticulture Society will share gardening tips and plans for the early, middle, and late parts of the season. Beth Jones, co-owner of Cooking With the Jones Sisters, and Campus Club executive chef, will offer recipes and kitchen techniques to show off your produce at its peak. You are welcome to cook along in real time or watch and recreate the recipes later.

Classes are free for Minneapolis residents ($15, non-residents) and include

The Spring Garden, Saturday, May 8, 10-11:30 am

Get an overview of how to choose which vegetables to grow throughout the whole season. Courtney will explain how and when to plant certain vegetables and will give extra attention to those foods that you will harvest in the late spring and early summer. Beth will show you how to put those vegetables to good use in her Rabbit Patch Salad, (gluten-free, dairy-free, can be made vegan) which will feature lettuces, spinach, beet-dyed eggs, radishes, asparagus, peapods, fresh herbs and spring onions, with a delicious lemon vinaigrette. Lots of healthy veggies and filling enough for a full meal!

The Summer Garden, Saturday, July 10, 10-11:30 am

Courtney will discuss how to continue caring for kale, beets, tomatoes, eggplant, garlic, peppers, zucchini, summer squash, chard, and other vegetables that come into their prime in July through mid-August. You will also learn when to start planting cold-hardy veggies for harvest in the fall. Beth will show you a delicious ratatouille (gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan), and teach you to love beets with her Beet, Chard and Bacon salad (gluten-free, dairy-free, can be made vegan) which features all of these beautiful summer vegetables in their prime!

The Fall Garden Saturday, Sept. 11, 10-11:30 am

Courtney will discuss caring for and harvesting kale, onions, beets, potatoes, winter squash, and other storage crops, as well as how and when to put your garden to bed for the winter. Beth will teach you a delicious recipe for Roasted Squash with Kale, Onions and Maple Pepitas with Spiced Yogurt Dressing (gluten-free, can be made dairy free and vegan).

Register online via the Activities tab at https://apm.activecommunities.com/minneapolisparks/Activity/.