Plus $15 required textbook fee payable to instructor at class

This Heartsaver two evening course covers CPR and AED training for adults, infants and children as well as basic first aid including medical emergencies, injury emergencies, and environmental emergencies. Ideal for personal trainers, gym employees, baby sitters, day care workers, scout leaders, restaurant employees or anyone who needs certification. Minimum age 14 years. Students pay for and take home instructional textbook. Certification valid for 2 years. Kathy is the American Heart Association Training Center Coordinator for Maine Medical Center and is a certified AHA instructor.

Tuesday, 04/04, 5:30 to 8:30 pm (changed to one-night format)

$50, plus $15 required textbook fee payable to instructor at first class

Instructor: Kathy Meserve

What defines the “perfect Maine lawn”? One that’s safe for Maine kids, pets, wildlife and environment. Join the healthy lawn care movement. Learn ways to minimize or eliminate synthetic fertilizers, weed and bug killers; save money, time and effort; yet have a lush, beautiful lawn that’s “bare-foot safe” for kids and pets. Overview strategies to address fertilization, weed and thatch control, renovation of poor lawns, transitions to organic care and more. Whether you maintain your lawn or contract with professionals, round up neighbors and join. Teachings compatible with Town of Scarborough’s organic pest management (OPM) policy for school and town properties, as well as South Portland’s new ordinance. Kat implements community education and outreach programs for Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District, holds a degree in environmental education and communications from Green Mountain College, and offers this as a free community service.

Thursday, 03/30/2017, 6:00 to 8:00 pm

$5 adult ed processing fee

Instructor: Kat Munson

New! Where do your trash and recyclables go, once you’ve set them out to curb? Watch this fascinating virtual tour of ecomaine’s recycling, and trash-to-energy plants. You’ll be surprised at the journey your soup can, yogurt container and paper products take: Tide containers shipped to China, that become your polar fleece jacket; recyclables sorted on a conveyor belt using laser beam technology; non-recyclable waste incinerated and turned into electricity; plus how all this helps take a bite out of climate change. Learn convenient ways to sort waste, make a positive impact on the environment, and lower trash outputs and costs. Bring your questions: Do I rinse out cans and bottles first? What about pizza boxes and liners covered in cheese? What if a bag’s marked recyclable, but there’s no triangle? Can I recycle Styrofoam? ecomaine is your community-owned nonprofit waste management company, providing comprehensive long-term solid waste solutions in a safe, environmentally-responsible, economically-sound manner; they’re leaders in raising public awareness of sustainable waste management strategies and offer this as a free community service.

 Wednesday, 04/12/2017, 6:30 to 8:30 pm

$5 adult ed administrative fee

Instructor: Katrina Venhuizen, ecomaine Environmental Educator

New! Come learn to create a landscape around your home that’s not only aesthetically beautiful, but produces delicious fruits and vegetables too! Discuss the selection and planning process, and enjoy a PowerPoint showcasing images of formal to informal styles of landscaping, and the variety of species possible. Consider edible trees, shrubs, flowers, herbs and perennial vegetables, such as sea kale, mulberry, and even a variety of peach that can thrive in our zone. Students will go home with seeds of several rare edible landscape plants. See instructor bio on page 9.

Monday, 02/27/2017, 6:30 to 8:30 pm, $20

Instructor: Aaron Parker

New! Sound has been used in cultures for thousands of years as a tool to promotephysical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. Whether using tuning forks, rhythmic drumming, crystal bowls, mediation bells, chanting, or one’s own voice mantras – sounds can have relaxing and restorative effects. Learn a little about the history of sound healing and its wide range of therapeutic benefits. Receive a brief introduction to the chakra system, and how it corresponds to certain sounds and parts of the body. Learn simple ways you can use sound to restore balance and create relaxation in your everyday life. This workshop will be an opportunity for attendees to experience the soothing and healing sounds of crystal singing bowls to promote deep relaxation. Bring: a pillow and reclining beach or camp chair for added comfort. Deborah is a spiritual psychotherapist, past-life regression therapist, and crystal, sound healer with a Bachelor of Social Work and a Master’s Degree in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology; she is co-director at the Spiritual Renaissance Center. 

Tuesday, 04/25/2017, 7:00 to 9:00 pm

$35

Instructor: 

Deborah Knighton Tallarico, MA, LCPC

New! Trees provide us with much - beauty, shade, oxygen, means for shelter. But many species also provide delicious harvests of fruit, nuts or edible leaves. Learn about many often neglected species of tree crops suitable for our climate and how to care for them. Class one will cover different species of tree crops, along with some vines and shrubs, and how to choose the right ones for your space. Consider schisandra, hazelnut, mulberry, paw paw, peach, butternut and more. Class two will cover sourcing trees, proper planting and long term care. Students will take home seeds to grow their own trees and companion plants. 

Aaron is owner of Edgewood Nursery, specializing in unusual edibles, including uncommon fruits, medicinal herbs, perennial vegetables and permaculture plants; and also Edgewood Landscapes, focusing on edible landscapes and sustainable practices.

 Two Tuesdays, 03/21 and 03/28/2017

6:30 to 8:30 pm, $40

Instructor: Aaron Parker

New! Did you know that in North America, an estimated 40% of waste in landfills is organic material? That’s a huge portion of food and compostable material that could be pulled out of the waste stream and put to better economic and ecological use. Scarborough just signed on one of its neighborhoods to be a pilot program for curbside food waste pickup through ecomaine, starting in Spring 2017. Maybe your neighborhood’s next! The result would be your food waste being collected, processed and repurposed into energy, animal bedding and fertilizer – right here in Maine - while also reducing carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Listen, learn and ask questions about this new cutting-edge method of food waste recovery.

ecomaine is your community-owned nonprofit waste management company, providing comprehensive long-term solid waste solutions in a safe, environmentally-responsible, economically-sound manner; they’re leaders in raising public awareness of sustainable waste management strategies and offer this as a free community service.

Wednesday, 04/26/2017, 6:30 to 8:30 pm

$5 adult ed administrative fee

Instructor: Katrina Venhuizen, ecomaine Environmental Educator

Our most popular course ever! Eating the organic way, with a garden of your own, yields powerful benefits to both health and environment. This class covers: basics of soil science, how to enrich soil to produce healthy high-yielding plants, making and using compost, principles of crop rotation, incorporating green manures and managing nutrients, differences between cultivated plants and weeds, weed control strategies, and natural insect control. First time gardeners, more experienced, and high schoolers welcome.

Instructor: Lisa Fernandes is the volunteer instructor asssigned by MOFGA for our location. We are so excited to host Lisa who is Founder and Executive Director of The Resilience Hub/Portland Permaculture, the largest permaculture meetup on the planet!

Wednesday, 04/05/2017, 6:00 to 9:00 pm

$2 registration, plus separate $5 material fee payable at door to MOFGA 

Please pre-register to facilitate proper venue size