BELFAST — Back by popular demand, the Belfast free library, in collaboration with the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and the Belfast Coop, will once again host two free workshops on organic gardening. Both of the workshops will be held in the Abbott Room of the Belfast Free Library, are free and open to the public and no registration is required.

The first, on Tuesday, March 8, from 6-8 p.m., C.J. Walke, MOFGA's orchardist will offer an Organic Orcharding workshop. C.J. will present different organic orcharding techniques to help you grow apples, pears, plums and peaches, focusing on soil requirements and methods of tracking and trapping out different fruit pests. He will discuss no-spray pest management approaches, and will explain how various materials help boost the health of fruit trees. There will be plenty of time for discussion.

Then on Wednesday, April 6 from 6-8 p.m. Walke will present MOFGA's statewide, "Grow Your Own Organic Garden", a program for anyone concerned about the rising cost of food, unsure what the term "certified organic" means and interested in learning how to grow your own vegetables in a sustainable manner.

About the speaker, C.J.Walke began working for MOFGA in 2006 as the Landscape Coordinator for MOFGA's Common Ground Education Center. He received a B.A. in Park Management from Unity College in 1997 and a Masters of Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina in 2008. He is also MOFGA's Librarian, Computer-Fix-It-Guy as well as their Organic Orchardist. In addition to his work for MOFGA, C.J. is the Farm Manager at College of the Atlantic's Peggy Rockefeller Farms of the College on Mount Desert Island.

For more information please call the Belfast Free Library at 338-3884 ext.10.