Eco-Friendly Wines!

On February 29, come participate in a fun and informative guided tasting of some delicious eco-friendly wines. This class will be led by the talented staff at Whole Foods Market, the nation’s first Certified Organic grocer and Wine Enthusiast’s 2007 Wine Retailer of the Year. Topics covered will include the basics of wine making, organic wine production as well as a brief introduction to sustainable and biodynamic wines. A variety of red and white wines will be tasted to supplement the class. Space is limited so sign up now.

Dan Forbes graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York in December of 2005. During his time at the CIA, Dan tutored for an intensive class in world-wide wine production and also earned a certification from the Court of Master Sommeliers. Dan has been working in the wine industry since his graduation and has traveled throughout the USA and abroad to visit some of the world’s greatest wine destinations. Since June of 2008, Dan has been a Wine Specialist at Whole Foods Market in Houston.

Nature Journaling Class

Just finalized: Introduction to Nature Journaling.

Learn a variety of mixed-media techniques including photo transfers, silk screen, block printing and collage to create a one of a kind garden journal. The journal could highlight your vegetable or flower garden, gardens that you have visited, the Houston Arboretum, bird watching or any natural area. We will use a short walk at the Arboretum as well as the library to inspire our creations.

April 25, 9:00am - 3:00pm

Holiday Cooking

Still seven spaces left for Dec. 18 Monica Pope holiday cooking class. These classes always fill quickly. Save your spot now...

More Interesting New Programs

Monica Pope has generously agreed to do a holiday cooking class at the Arboretum on December 18. Her classes are extremely popular - sign up soon to secure a place.

Our wine and cheese hike will probably be on Friday, Feb. 13, a perfect prelude to Valentine's Day. Final details will be announced soon.

Glenn Olsen will teach Landscaping for Birds and Butterflies on March 4,5 and 7 (field trip). This will be a daytime class and will be indispensible for any gardener who wants to attract wildlife to his or her yard.

Joe Blanton, the Arboretum's Conservation Director, will again teach his Rain Gardens and Nature Ponds class in March (dates TBA). This class will include the actual construction of a rain garden at the Arboretum!

Professional nature photographer Kathy Adams Clark will share her expertise in a class on Critiquing Nature Photographs on March 13. This is a unique opportunity to learn from one of the best.

Finally, we are pleased to partner with Baylor College of Medicine, and physicians Jane Corboy and John Rogers, to offer a certification workshop in Wilderness Life Support. Successful completion of this hands-on workshop will earn the participant certification in Basic Wilderness Life Support.

Again, things change here daily. Please check back - I hope to have news about our new cellphone audio tour coming soon.

Bill

1st Quarter 2009

Black-throated Blue Warbler painting by John O'Neill

Now that we're back on track after the craziness of the fall, I can give you a preview of some of the upcoming classes for early 2009. Most of these have not been finalized, but see if something strikes your fancy:

• Nature Photography Field Trip - Most of our class participants enjoy the field trip portions of their classes the most. For our photography classes, why not do a class completely in the field?


• Student Photography Contest - Our first contest last winter was a big hit - over 80 students submitted photographs. This year, we'll concentrate on spring at the Arboretum.


• Arborist MC Swearengine is presenting a class on tree pruning January 13. Don't let the next hurricane cause unwanted damage to your trees.


• I will be teaching two bird classes - An intro to common bird identification, and an advanced birding class with emphasis on shorebirds.


• We're also planning a wine and cheese night hike around valentine's day. Looking for something different to surprise your partner?
  

This is just a sampling of some of the goings-on here. Please stay tuned for a big announcement about a once-in-a-lifetime bird painting class with Dr. John P. O'Neill in late spring. As always, contact me at 713.366.0379 with any questions.





Bill

Chinese Brush Painting

Date: November 12,13. 7:00-9:00pm

Chinese brush painting is one of the world's oldest continuous art forms. This tradition begain several thousand years ago in China, and continues today. This technique differs from traditional western art in that the painter must conceive and mentally design a draft of his or her work before actually putting brush to paper. Using imagination and experience, the painter expresses his vision without correcting the painting. Below is an interesting example of how a bee might be illustrated:

We are fortunate to have Peihong Dong as the instructor for our class. Her work has been displayed all over the world, and has been featured in several prestigious publications. My favorite painting of hers is entitled "Full Moon":

Peihong's first class with us sold out quickly last summer. Get registered early for this rare opportunity to learn from a master.

Bill

Edible Plants - The Real Organic Food

Not from the grocery store. Edible wild plants are everywhere, but identifying them is another matter. Elderberries, Yaupon tea, wild grapes, and wood sorrel are but a few of the treats that grow at the Arboretum. Join us and learn how to find, indentify, and prepare wild foods. Our instructor, Dr. Mark Vorderbruggen, is a research chemist, and also one of the Houston area’s most intrepid explorers. Mark spends every free moment on adventures, including canoeing, hiking, exploring, camping, eating wild things, and sleeping under the stars. His popular blog is Merriwether the Adventurer.

More Postponements

The trickledown effect of the storm continues. The following classes have been postponed:

• Eco-friendly wine - will be rescheduled in January.
• Identifying Mushrooms - Now November 4,5.
• Viol da Gamba Concert - Now November 9
• Chinese Brush Painting - Now November 12,13
• Photographing Butterflies - will be rescheduled in the spring.
• Night Sounds hike - Now November 7.

We appreciate your patience. I am currently working on the schedule for spring. So far, we have tentative plans for:

Tree pruning for hurricane preparedness.

Gardening for birds and butterflies.

Texas wines.

Invasive plants.

Please stay tuned. I'll post news as soon as our spring schedule is confirmed.

Fall Programs, Redux

Hopefully we're all recovering from the storm that I will not name. Fortunately, the Arboretum did not suffer any damage to the building (even with glass ceilings!). The grounds and trails were not so fortunate. It was hard to actually find the trails - almost all were covered with downed trees and brush. After two and a half weeks on chain saw and brush removal crews, I can promise that the staff is ready for normal operations to resume. And our faithful volunteers have once again stepped up and helped where we needed it most. And, oh yea, the power finally came on today...

Since this blog is primarily about our adult programs, I would like to share some ideas on how we plan to restart our fall program offerings. The storm and its physical and psychological effects, combined with this country's current economic crisis has certainly focused the attention of Houstonians on home and personal matters, and away from extracurricular activities. Our goal is to offer some interesting and affordable classes to help our friends refocus on the beauty of nature, and find constructive distractions from our everyday problems.

We've had to cancel six classes (with others delayed) as a result of the "adventure". Hopefully we can reschedule some of those, instructor schedules permitting. Our first class after we resume normal hours will be the popular Leaf Art class with Owen Mortensen. Owen is a favorite exhibitor at the Bayou City Art Fest, and we're pleased to have him back on October 16 to illustrate how he does his unique artwork. November is full of interesting and affordable classes - please check the website for details. And look for another post soon on these offerings. And look for additional details on discounts and incentives. As always, check our website.

Bill

Smith Point Hawkwatch - October 4

Our first field trip will be one you'll never forget. The upper Texas coast is a waypoint for hawks, eagles, and falcons from all over North America that migrate to the tropics to spend the winter. Since hawks do not migrate over large bodies of water, they are funneled through this area before heading south around the Gulf. Each fall Hawkwatch International and the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory conduct a 3-month daily count of raptors passing over Smith Point, a peninsula that extends into Galveston Bay. A large hawkwatch tower has been built there to observe the birds that congregate overhead. It can be a sight to behold on a given fall day. Join us - you won't regret it.

Welcome!

Thanks for visiting our new program and class information blog. We hope this blog will help you keep track of our program offerings, and also give you some insight into how and why we offer certain programs. Background information on given programs will also hopefully be of interest. Our plan is to update this blog at least weekly - please check back and find the program that interests you most.

We are offering five catagories of programs: exploring our natural world, gardening, natural crafts and food, health+wellness, and nature photography. All our programs will touch on some aspect of the appreciation of our natural world. Providing a quality nature experience for adults as well as children is a large part of our mission. We will publish a new catalog each quarter . Our class offerings will vary - some new and some repeats, according to demand. Fall classes begin in October.

All photos in this blog are by Greg Lavaty, who teaches various nature photography classes here. More details about Greg's work to come.