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April 26, 2025:  Hoots, Croaks, Warbles and Whistles – The Basics of Birding by Ear
11 am – Noon

Learning to recognize bird songs and calls helps you to develop a new connection to the outdoors, and increases your appreciation of the diverse bird species that reside in and travel through our area. In this introductory class, Matt will cover many of the basic categories of bird vocalizations, and introduce the songs and calls of a number of common Oklahoma bird species.

Instructor: Matthew Parks is an Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Central Oklahoma and has been a birding enthusiast for over 30 years. He rarely leaves home without a pair of binoculars, and never leaves home without his ears.

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May 10, 2025:  Home Brews: Making Liquid Fertilizers
11am to Noon

This class covers the basics of creating liquid fertilizer using food waste and includes methods for watering and foliar feeding techniques.

Instructor: Travis Andrews is the founder of Native Farming Solutions OKC, a local non-profit organization committed to preserving American Indian seeds and cultivation techniques. He is also passionate about educating the public on the significance of food sovereignty and the diversion of food waste. Additionally, Travis serves as a board member for the Oklahoma Compost and Sustainability Association.

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May 24th: Raising Backyard Hens
11am to Noon

Have you ever considered keeping chickens in your backyard? Hens can be fun and easy pets, and they also lay eggs! Come meet a few local hens and discover everything you need to know about raising and caring for your flock.

Instructor: Sara Braden has been raising chickens in her backyard since 2009.

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June 14, 2025: Gardening for Oklahoma’s Native Bees
11am to Noon

Native bees are among the most important pollinators in the world. While most species are not currently facing existential threats, studies have shown that habitat loss can significantly harm their populations. Urban gardens offer excellent opportunities for nature advocates to help protect these vital ecosystem service providers. Dr. James Hung will discuss the natural history of native bees and share his experiences in gardening with their needs in mind.

Instructor: James Hung was born in Taiwan and raised in Vancouver, BC. He pursued his education in New Hampshire and San Diego before settling in Columbus and Toronto. Currently, he is an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma, where he is an active member of the Oklahoma Biological Survey. His research program focuses on pollinator conservation both in Oklahoma and beyond. James is passionate about transforming students and community members into advocates for conservation through outreach education. In his free time, he enjoys spending time outdoors with his children, cooking with his wife, growing vegetables (although he finds it challenging in Oklahoma’s sweltering summers), photographing wildlife, and playing the violin in his church band.

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June 21, 2025: Monarchs – A Call to Action
11am to Noon

With our monarch butterflies potentially being classified as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and their overwintering numbers not meeting our expectations, we need your help more than ever. Join us to learn how to prepare your yard to become a welcoming and resilient recharge station for migrating butterflies this fall. Additionally, you’ll discover how to attract other fluttering friends, create mini carbon sinks, and improve the health of your soil.

Instructor: Stephanie Jordan is the Pollinator Educator and Outreach Coordinator for the Oklahoma Monarch Society. In this role, she leads educational outreach activities for the Okies for Monarchs program. She has inspired communities across Oklahoma to participate in pollinator conservation and to create habitats for monarchs and other pollinators. Additionally, she is a Certified Pollinator Steward through Pollinator Partnership. When she isn’t involved in community outreach, Stephanie enjoys exploring the extensive pollinator gardens in her urban farming neighborhood, where she looks for interesting insects.

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July 19, 2025: Moth Night
8:30 pm followed by come-and-go moth-viewing

Enter the world of moths! During the first part of the class, Zach will give an introduction to moths. Learn about what a moth is and how moths are different from butterflies, their lifecycle, their functions and importance in an ecosystem, the many niches that moths fill, their broad diversity, and moth conservation. 

After-dark will be moth-viewing time! By hanging a white sheet and shining a light directly on it, we’ll attract moths and give them a place to land. Zach will lead the group in observing and identifying the moths and other nocturnal insects that come to visit.

Instructor: Zach DuFran is a naturalist living in central Oklahoma. He is a software engineer for the National Weather Service by day and enjoys spending as much time outdoors as possible. Zach is crazy about moths and has been working to expand knowledge of moth species and distributions in the state of Oklahoma. During the warm season he hosts public “Moth Nights” near his home and around the state. He also enjoys birding and tending to his native pollinator garden. He loves traveling to state parks with his wife and two kids on weekends and much father abroad during extended vacations.

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August 9, 2025: Plant a Fall Salad Garden 

Fall is a wonderful time to garden in Oklahoma. Vegetables and gardeners alike love the cooler weather, and we (usually!) get rain. Greens and roots grow well at this time of year in Oklahoma and will provide you with delicious salads all through the fall. Knowing what and when to plant is critical to success. Elia will share her fall planting calendar along with tips for veggies best suited for fall & winter gardening. 

Fall vegetable seedlings will be available for sale.

Instructor: Elia Woods is a co-founder and partner-farmer at CommonWealth Urban Farms. She has been gardening and farming for over 30 years, and loves to help home gardeners become more successful in growing their own food. 

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August 23, 2025: Canning Decoded — Preserving Abundance with Canning at Home with Red

Come learn in community about the foundational terms, techniques, and tricks for preserving abundance through canning. You will be able to lay eyes and hands on basic equipment, ask questions about specific fruits and vegetables, and leave with knowledge that can be applied to a wide range of home preservation projects and recipes. 

Instructor: Red is an ex-bartender, former wine-snob, and present menace to society who still enjoys making tasty things for their community, but also going to bed by midnight. They would like you to know that yes, you can probably pickle that.

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September 6, 2025: Seed Saving with Debbie St. John

More information coming soon!

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September 20, 2025: Black Gold — Making Your Own Compost

Do you want to learn how to make that beautiful, rich, black substance we call “gardener’s gold”? David and Allen have been building compost piles for many years, and have a profound appreciation for rot! David will show participants the composting operation at CommonWealth, and the elements that make it a success. Allen will demonstrate different methods for building a successful home compost pile.

Instructors: David Braden, compost master and co-founder of CommonWealth Urban Farms and Allen Parleir, coordinator of Closer To Earth and co-founder of CommonWealth Urban Farms

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 October 11, 2025: Planting Native Perennials from Seed — Cold Stratification & Other Mysteries Unveiled

Many native perennials need specific conditions in order for their seeds to germinate. Warm or cold stratification, scarification, and other techniques can seem intimidating, but they are simply ways to imitate natural cycles, and will greatly increase success in getting those tiny seeds to sprout! Elia will demonstrate each of these methods, and share how to figure out what to use and when. Participants will have the opportunity to prepare a sample of perennial seeds to take home and plant.

Instructor: Elia Woods is the happy proprietor of a small native plant nursery. She plants thousands of perennials from seed every year. She loves spending winter days in her greenhouse, surrounded by tiny seedlings and sleeping cats. 

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October 18, 2025:  Field Trip to David Rushton’s Micro-Farm in Bethany
1:00 pm

Join us to tour David’s extensive vegetable garden and initial food forest plantings.

David says “I’ve begun the journey of developing an intensive micro-farming project on my half-acre lot in Bethany. I started with 30 raised beds of annual vegetables, and plan to develop an orchard and a food forest to grow alongside them. I will be building a mushroom house, a greenhouse, and an aquaponics system. Eventually I hope to be growing and selling mushrooms, vegetables, plants, and fish.”

This class requires pre-registration. Email us at info@CommonwealthUrbanFarms.com to register and for location details.

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October 26, 2025: Potluck in the Garden
Noon to 2 pm 

This celebration of life in community at an urban farm is one of our favorite events of the year. Homemade music, tours of the farm, great food and hanging out with the community. Bring your favorite potluck dish and join us noon to 2 p.m.

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November 29, 2025: The Great Pumpkin Send-Off
9 am to Noon

This family-friendly event is free. Drop in between 9 am and noon.

What to do with all those pumpkins, once Thanksgiving is over and cold weather sets in? Bring them and the kids to CommonWealth for a celebration of all things pumpkin! Pumpkins are an ancient source of nourishment, cultivated by Indigenous people for thousands of years. Pumpkins are a reminder of the earth’s generosity and our connection and responsibility to the land and each other. CommonWealth volunteers will be sharing pumpkin stew and pumpkin bread made in our new cob oven, a portable rocket stove and a solar oven. Leftover pumpkins will find a new life in the compost bin in our compost-heated greenhouse. You can bring your leftover hay bales, too, and we’ll add them to the compost mix as well. 

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