For all your rain barrel, kombucha, beer-making needs

Awesome farmer’s market Bad Seed is now registering people for spring and summer workshops. From practical to whimsical, there’s something for everybody this year, but the emphasis is definitely on sustained and organic living.

Bad Seed offers a dozen courses over several months. Owner Brooke Salvaggio teaches the first one March 15, on how to start your own organic garden. She promises to cover many seeds for herbs, tomatoes and eggplants.

From there, the schedule just heats up. In April, UMKC’s Beau

Baker teaches attendees how to make rain barrels. Later in April there’s a class on building a solar dehydrator, which is great for things like sun-dried tomatoes.  

The one I’m most looking forward to is on April 29. When I first wrote about kombucha tea, I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not but the stuff has grown on me. Like, I’m drinking it nearly every day, which can be a very expensive habit. I’ve tried growing my own, but my results have been less than spectacular (which is why I’ve yet to put them on the blog). Hopefully with Salvaggio’s guiding hand in the kombucha class, I’ll not only learn what the hell I’m doing wrong but also get some fresh cultures, as I’m pretty sure I’ve somehow ruined mine.

In May, classes on green parenting will touch on subjects such as reusable diapers, circumcision and backyard gardening. Other interesting classes include a two-part beer-brewing class taught by KC Beirmeister champion Steve Mann (no date on that one yet) and “humanure” or building your own composting toilet. That will be in June, as soon as the class finds a qualified instructor.

If you’ve got excellent humanure skills and want to teach the class, or if you want to sign up for any of the other classes, Bad Seed has most of the information on its Web site. Workshop fees vary, but they’re never more than $50 and most are cheaper.