By Wil Crews
sportscrews@opelikaobserver.com
Cyndi Czerkawski is an experienced gardener and educator. She has spent years accumulating knowledge about gardening and is ready to pass it on to Lee County residents through the The Kreher Preserve and Nature Center’s newest workshop series, “In the Garden with Cyndi”.
“My dream has always been to be a garden educator,” Cyndi said. “We are not going to have a paper plate garden party. For those people who are coming, I’m just going to spoil them rotten.”
In the Garden with Cyndi is a fun, causal chance for adults to gather and learn cheap tricks, get their hands dirty and receive expert advice on a myriad of gardening techniques and best practices.
Happening monthly through the end of 2021, Cyndi will teach participants all about plants and how to keep a garden up.
“There is no wrong way [to garden],” Cyndni said. “It’s just, what is your passion? What do you love about it? What makes you feel happy and good? What foods do you like to eat? I try to teach it in a friendly way so people aren’t intimidated.”
The next In the Garden with Cyndi is scheduled for Aug. 8 from 1 to 4 p.m. This month, participants will learn how to create a backyard filled with ferns for the fairy folk, a children’s garden with a pole bean teepee or a sunflower play house and a recycled art garden.
AO Tourism describes the class by saying, “Cyndi believes that gardening should be all about the enjoyment of your gardens. So, in this workshop series, it is through fun and interesting lessons that her classes will teach you everything you need to know to install and maintain beautiful gardens that you love.”
Tickets can be purchased for $20 here: www.secure.touchnet.net/C20021_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=4502.
All attendees must wear a face covering and temperatures will be checked upon arrival.
“My happiness is gardening,” Cyndi said. “[The class] is out there and a lot of people don’t know about it. I think if people do come they would enjoy it.”
The rest of the workshop series’ schedule is as follows:
Sept. 19 – Gardening for Wildlife: Discover shrubs, flowers and trees that support wildlife; and make your own rustic bird feeder.
Oct. 3 – Spiders, Snakes and Scarecrows: Learn who might be visiting your garden, and if they are friend or foe. Come and discover what might be making holes in the leaves of your lettuce — and get to know some beneficial insects too.
Nov. 7 – Fall Crops & Garden Art: What can you plant in cooler temperatures? Learn how to keep your garden going through the winter. And as you are cutting back those summer plants, don’t let that plant material go to waste. Get some great ideas for projects you can make.
Dec. 5 – Topiaries and Evergreen in the Garden: Discover some great plants that provide sculpture in the garden. Then, sip hot chocolate while you and your fellow students get a virtual tour of a winter botanical garden.