Oregon Food Bank will offer Gardening in the Pacific Northwest: A workshop series for beginning gardeners every Wednesday in March from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The series will help beginning gardeners plan, plant and care for a garden. OFB encourages participants to attend the whole series, but each workshop is also designed to stand alone.

* Garden planning: Wednesday, March 1

Create a garden plan that will guide your planting and harvesting throughout spring, summer and fall.

* Planting: Wednesday, March 8

Learn direct seeding, transplanting, how to grow your own transplants and other common propagation methods that will help you plant a variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs.

* Creating healthy garden soil: Wednesday, March 15

Learn how crop rotation, composting, cover crops and organic fertilizers can help maintain soil fertility.

* Garden maintenance: Wednesday, March 22

Maximize your harvest by using thinning, weeding and watering strategies. This workshop will also cover tips to help you care for specific plants.

* Organic pest management: Wednesday, March 29

Learn organic ways to control pests in your garden including beneficial insects and simple pest control concoctions.

In addition to the beginning gardener series, Oregon Food Bank will offer more workshops for beginners, including its popular basic gardening and container gardening workshops.

* Basic Gardening: Wednesdays, April 5, May 3 and June 7, 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Learn how and when to plant vegetables that will flourish in the Pacific Northwest. Topics include planning a garden, bed preparation, successful garden maintenance strategies and water conservation tips.

* Container Gardening: Wednesdays, April 19, May 17 and June 21, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Learn how to establish a bountiful garden in a small space at Oregon Food Bank's

container gardening workshop. You'll learn which plant varieties are best for containers, what size containers to use and where to locate them for best results.

To register, contact 503-282-0555, Ext. 268, or sfarris@oregonfoodbank.org.

Oregon Food Bank's Learning Garden teaches people to grow nutritious food and to take harvest to the table. OFB hosts gardening and cooking workshops. Volunteers learn about gardening, nutrition and hunger. OFB also offers low-income volunteers a share of the harvest and access to plants, containers, seeds and soil nutrients at minimal cost.

Oregon Food Bank is a nonprofit, charitable organization. It is the hub of a statewide network of a statewide network of more than 894 hunger-relief agencies serving Oregon and Clark County, Wash. Oregon Food Bank recovers food from farmers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, individuals and government sources. It then distributes that food to 20 regional food banks across Oregon. Sixteen are independent charitable organizations. OFB directly operates the four regional food banks serving Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, Malheur, Harney and Tillamook counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington.

# # #