NeighborWorks Green Bay's free community event on Wednesday, June 12, from 5:00–7:00 PM in our parking lot at 437 S. Jackson Street—we’d love for you to be part of it!

This event is all about celebrating community, building connections, and listening to our neighbors. We’re especially eager to gather feedback and ideas about the future of our nearby property at 815 Chicago Street, and we know that strong community voices are essential to that conversation.

If you’re planning to stop by NWTC to pick up your Bountiful Branches plants, stop by the NWTC Garden Club Plant Sale! The sale is in the same garage as the Bountiful Branches sale, off of parking lot 5 of the Green Bay Botanical Garden. Potatoes, peppers, cucumbers, flowers, and more are available for purchase. These plants can make a wonderful Mother’s Day gift!

Join us for the much-anticipated Brown County Seed Library Launch! Come to the Brown County Central Library for featured speakers and demonstrations related to growing and gardening. Partners of the Seed Library and other community organizations will have engaging, educational activities for attendees. Don’t miss making Seed Art with Mother Nature! In the basement of the library there will be a seed swap for community members to exchange their own seeds.The launch marks the debut of the 2025 seed selection, so be sure to take some FREE seeds on your way out!

Garden Explorer Passport:

Make sure to grab your passport on the way in! Check off stations with stamps or stickers from each activity and turn it in for a chance to win a garden-related prize!

Activities:

• Meet Mother Nature, Seed Art, learn about Food Forests and the Bountiful Branches Project

• Learn about Seed Stewardship, make seed tape and seed bombs, seed harvesting, get tips and tricks for gardening/seed starting

• Enjoy stories, investigate under a microscope, and color sheets

• Seed Swap

• Master Gardeners Q&A

• Much more!

30-minute Workshops by Gardening Experts 

12:15-12-45 pm: Controlling Invasive Plants. Learn to identify common non-native plants that can take over your yard and garden, how they are harmful, and the best methods and times of the year to prevent and control them.  

Presenter: Maria Otto, Conservation Corps Coordinator, City of Green Bay

Contact:  Maria Otto Maria.Otto@greenbaywi.gov

1:00-1:30 pm: Successful Seed Starting.  Learn the basics of starting seed indoors, including simple germination testing, basics of stratifying, when to plant, choosing growing mediums, creating the best conditions, and more.  

Presenter: Brittany Arnold, Farm to School Program, De Pere Unified School District Nutrition Dept.

Contact: Brittany Arnold barnold@depere.k12.wi.us

1:45-2:15 pm: Keeping Fresh Produce Fresh. Learn the best storage practices to prolong the shelf life and tastiness of different types of fresh produce, whether you grow it yourself or buy it at a store or farmers market.  

Presenter: Liliana Ramirez Gonzalez, FoodWIse Nutrition Administrator, UW-Madison Extension Brown County.

Contact: Liliana Ramirez Gonzalez liliana.ramirezgonzalez@wisc.edu

2:30-3:00 pm: Composting Your Food Waste. Learn the whys and hows of turning food waste into rich compost from a former Master Gardener with 50 years of residential composting practice, including tips for small yards and year-round composting.

Presenter: John Hermanson, Compost Educator, Clean Water Action Council of Northeast Wisconsin.

            Contact: John Hermanson gliding99@gmail.com

Join us for the FINAL seed packing & sorting event before the Brown County Seed Library launch in March! Help us guarantee our community members’ access to a bountiful selection of seeds at the launch, and for months to come.

We’ll be meeting in the Conerstone room at the Green Bay Botanical Garden. Sign up for a morning or afternoon session.

Chase away the winter blues by coming together to sort and package seeds for the planting season! The weather outside is frightful, but springtime blooms will be so delightful! Join us at the Brown County STEM Center on UW-Green Bay’s campus.

Help provide our community with a bountiful variety of FREE locally-grown seeds. Sign up for a morning or afternoon session.

Many seeds need a cold period to germinate, and gardeners can reuse plastic containers to create a protected environment ideal for sowing seeds outdoors in winter that will germinate as the weather warms. Learn what kinds of seeds can be winter sown (natives and veggies), when, and how to sow them, including seed stratification and scarification. Following a presentation and demonstration, create your own mini greenhouses using 2-quart juice bottles.
Some juice bottles as well as select seeds and soil will be provided.

Presented by Claudia Schultz, Master Gardener Lead for the Native Locktenders Garden in De Pere, along with Peggy Loritz, Annette Weissbach and Kathy Amenson, also from Northeastern Wisconsin Master Gardener Association.

SNOW DATE: In case of extreme winter weather, this workshop may be rescheduled to Saturday, January 25, 1:00-3:00 pm. Call the Kress Branch Library to confirm.

This workshop is part of a monthly series organized by the Brown County Seed Library. The BCSL is a collaboration of Brown County Community Gardens Program; Brown County Library; Green Bay Botanical Garden; New Leaf Foods, Inc.; NEW Master Gardeners Association; UW-Green Bay and UW-Madison Extension Brown County.

Chase away the winter blues by coming together to sort and package seeds for the planting season! As the temperatures start to drop, look forward to springtime blooms with us at the Brown County Central Library in the lower level meeting rooms.

Help provide our community with a bountiful variety of FREE locally-grown seeds. Sign up for a morning or afternoon session.

Get cozy with us to celebrate the holiday season and the conclusion of our SeedMoney Campaign! Find out who the lucky winner of the Ooni Pizza Oven is at the end of the night. New Leaf Foods will also present our first ever Good Food Hero award to an individual or organization who has dedicated significant time and effort to support our mission and goals.

Be sure to bring your thinking cap for trivia, and wear your ugliest sweater for our ugly sweater contest. There will be prizes for trivia and ugly sweater contest winners including a gift certificate to All Shook Up Tavern and Voyageurs Bakehouse sourdough loaves! We’ll have FREE pizza and sweet treats. (You do not have to donate to attend.)

Guests are encouraged to bring a snack to contribute.

Learn why invasive plants cause harm, how they spread, and what you can do to help control them at this FREE workshop lead by City of Green Bay Conservation Corp. Coordinator Maria Otto.

Start in the park’s heated shelter with a 30 minute presentation and a guided walk through areas where invasive plants like buckthorn are being managed.

Stay for an optional hands-on volunteer experience removing invasive plants from 11am - 12pm.

Brown County Seed Library Event

Chase away the winter blues by coming together to sort and package seeds for the planting season! As the snow starts to fall, look forward to springtime blooms with us at the Brown County Central Library in the second floor boardroom. Help provide our community with a bountiful variety of FREE locally-grown seeds. Seeds are a valuable food-bearing resource and our volunteers make our mission of empowering individuals to grow their own food possible!

Register for the 9:30am - 12pm session or the 12:30 - 3pm session

UW Extension Event

Good soils are vital to growing healthy plants. This class will review physical and chemical structure of soils, pH, organic matter and techniques for improving the soil you have. We will also cover soil testing and test results and address selecting fertilizer products (both organic and traditional,) reading labels and calculating application rates. (This class has a fee of $12).

UW Extension event. Did you know you can keep citrus in containers indoors in Wisconsin? In this program, we’ll cover everything you need to be successful including light and soil, temperature, and fertilizer needs. We’ll also cover potential pitfalls, like pests you need to look out for. We’ll even cover cultivars to ensure your success!

Event hosted by the Green Bay Botanical Garden:

“Join Rob for a look at some of our beautiful mushrooms of the fall season. September, October, and November are all great for enjoying the beauty and diversity of fall mushrooms.

Rob will also talk about ethical foraging guidelines and give edibility of many species, covering edible and inedible mushrooms.

Maxiumum Number of Participants: 30”

Green Bay Conservation Corps Event

Join the Green Bay Conservation Corps for the 3rd annual celebration of National Make a Difference Day. Volunteers will assist in cutting and removing invasive species from this important woodland.

We ask that volunteers wear sturdy shoes, bring gloves, and water. All volunteers can meet at the Park Shelter for check-in, instructions, and refreshments.

This event is open for all ages and abilities.