Classes are categorized by theme, and full descriptions of each class can be found below. Click on the theme to explore the available options. A calendar view of classes can be found here.
Classes are appropriate for adults 18+. Members receive 10% off registration.
All in-person classes include admission to The Gardens, including the Butterfly House.
Online registration is open until 24 hours before the class. Within 24 hours, please call our Guest Services team to register 970.416.2486.
Garden to Fork classes are back this summer! Come cook with the professional chefs from The Cooking Studio Fort Collins, sip wine and share a meal in the twilight. All classes are hands-on and everyone works together to complete the recipes. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and all materials will be provided.
Garden to Fork classes are sold out. To be placed on a waitlist, please email: GardensEducation@fcgov.com.
Cooking with The Three Sisters
Aug. 13 & 14 | 5:30 – 8 p.m. | $75
Sip on wine and garden-infused water as we introduce you to our three sisters: corn, squash, and beans. This magical trio will shine as we prepare Frybread with Strawberry-Zucchini Conserva, Pinto Bean and Hominy Pozole and Farro with Grilled Sweet Corn, Delicata Squash, Sage, and Pepitas followed by a cold sweet treat. This class is hands-on, all participants will help create the meal and savor the flavors under the setting sun. Menu is Vegan and can be made GF.
Berries and Stone Fruit: Bursting with Flavor
Aug. 20 & 21 | 5:30 – 8 p.m. | $75
Sip on wine and garden-infused water as we savor the sweet berry and stone fruit harvest. These treasures of summer will be the star of the show as we create Shaved Fennel Salad with Apricot, Chili Oil, Parsley, Mint, and Poached Salmon with Grilled Melon, Peach, Strawberry, with Curried Candied Almonds and Whipped Mascarpone followed by a cold sweet treat. This class is hands-on, all participants will help create the meal and savor the flavors under the setting sun. Menu can be made GF and Vegetarian upon request.
Chilies: Sweet and Spicy
Aug. 27 & 28 | 5:30 – 8 p.m. | $75
Sip on wine and garden-infused water as we meet new sweet and spicy chilies from Mexico and learn how to incorporate their flavors into our dinner for the evening. We will cook Rajas con Crema, Empanadas with Mole Amarillo, and Spicy Nectarine and Avocado Salad followed by a cold sweet treat. This class is hands-on, all participants will help create the meal and savor the flavors under the setting sun. Menu can be GF or Vegan upon request.
Tomatoes: Sweet and Savory
Sept. 3 & 4 | 5:30 – 8 p.m. | $75
Sip on wine and garden-infused water as we celebrate summer’s sweet bounty, tomatoes. We will explore different shapes, colors and flavors of tomatoes as we relish an Eastern European plate of Radish and Tomato Salad and Cheese and Potato Pierogies with Brown Butter, and Cinnamon-Clove Spiced Tomato Sauce followed by a cold sweet treat. This class is hands-on, all participants will help create the meal and savor the flavors under the setting sun. Menu can be GF or Vegan upon request.
Rich and Robust Roots
Sept. 10 & 11 | 5:30 – 8 p.m. | $75
Sip on wine and garden-infused water as we discover the sweet flavors hidden beneath the soil. We will explore the unique personalities of root vegetables as we cook Harissa Seared Shrimp, Preserved Lemon, Buttered Panko Crumbs, Celery Root Purée, Shaved Carrot Salad with Yogurt, Pickled Raisins, and Pistachios, and Pureed Beets with Yogurt, Naan, and Dukkah followed by a cold sweet treat. This class is hands-on, all participants will help create the meal and savor the flavors under the setting sun. Menu can be GF or Vegan upon request.
Brassicas: Brilliant and Bright
Sept. 17 & 18 | 5:30 – 8 p.m. | $75
Sip on wine and garden-infused water as we explore the beautiful colors, textures and flavors of the brassica family. Packed with flavor this delicious menu will feature Seared Sesame Crusted Feta with Broccolini , Ricotta and Roasted Cauliflower Gnocchi with Kale and Lemon Cream Sauce and Crudités with Grilled Turnip Bagna Cauda followed by a cold sweet treat. This class is hands-on, all participants will help create the meal and savor the flavors under the setting sun. Menu can be GF or Vegan upon request.
Preparation: Bring your journal or something to write on/with. Be prepared to explore outside in all weather conditions and temperatures - jackets, lap blankets and whatever allows you to be as close to nature as possible.
Note to participants: These workshops are containers to process, share, and witness individual and collective climate grief and emotions. These are not substitutes for therapy. They are not debates about climate crisis cause or existence or to develop agree upon collective action.
Embodied Climate Action Workshop: Gathering the Seeds of Critical Hope
Tamara Yakaboski, PhD
Saturday, Sept. 28 | 1–3 p.m. | $10 In–person
Autumn is the time that garden plants prepare their seeds for dispersal. Seeds represent critical hope. By taking action to disperse seeds, there is trust that seeds will find grounding and spring will come again. In playing with this metaphor, this workshop will explore how we gather our own seeds of critical hope in the face of eco-anxiety and ecological grief so that we can then grow our climate action. We will explore how it is critical to pair emotions with action.
Embodied Climate Action Workshop: Gratitude for Grieving
Tamara Yakaboski, PhD
Saturday, Nov. 9 | 1–3 p.m. | $10 In–person
Ecological grief is the most natural response to the destruction of our collective home and Earth mother. We will explore what you love enough to grieve and how to use that grief to empower your climate action. This workshop will explore how to feel gratitude for a grief that has no closure and is often disenfranchised grief, where there is not general societal or cultural support for grief’s emotions.
Intro to Watercolor: Beginning Watercolor
Karen Ramsay, Watercolor Artist and Instructor
Saturday, Sept. 7 | 9:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. | $85 In–person
This one-day workshop will kickstart your watercolor journey. You will learn the fundamentals of the watercolor medium and explore exciting ways to apply paint freshly and vibrantly. The day will be spent setting up your palette of paints, learning and practicing various techniques, and applying them to create a simple painting. This information will give you the jump-start you need to become a watercolor artist, both indoors and outdoors in nature!
Note to students: Students will need to provide their own supplies; the supply list will be provided upon registration.
Travel Writing in the Gardens
Instructor: Tobi Jacobi, CSU Professor of English and Gardens Volunteer
Saturday, Sept. 7 | 1 – 3 p.m. | $35 In-Person
We will travel with bees, emerging tendrils in the vegetable gardens and water drops as they make their way through living spaces. This workshop will ask participants to flex their creative muscles as we use words to transport ourselves (and potential readers) into new itineraries and destinations as we write the garden. Participants will leave with practice with several techniques—sensory/textural writing, perspective reorientation/flipping, detail development—and a tipsheet on how to continue writing for enjoyment in outdoor spaces.
Watercolor Journaling Series: Holiday Inspiration
Karen Ramsay, Watercolor Artist and Instructor
During this class, students will focus on holiday artwork
Saturday, Nov. 9 | 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. | $65 In–person
Yoga and Tai Chi in The Gardens
Embrace the natural setting of our botanical gardens with weekly tai chi and yoga classes.
Goat Yoga
Sept. 7 | Sept. 28 | 9:15–10 a.m.
Goat yoga is a playful and unique fitness experience that combines traditional yoga practices with the delightful presence of friendly goats. During a goat yoga session, participants engage in a series of yoga poses, stretches, and breathing exercises while goats freely roam around, interact, and occasionally climb on or nuzzle the practitioners.
Autumn Reflections Insight + Sound Workshop
Instructors: Cate Jones, Claircognizant + Sound Healer of Violet Feather Alchemy
Saturday, Sept. 7 | 9:30 a.m.–12 p.m. | $55 In–person
Join us for a reflective and transformational morning at the Gardens. We will start the morning with an intuitive reading, intention-setting meditation and journaling, and then take a journey of sound healing using your set intention. Crystal singing bowls and various other instruments will be used. Previous meditation experience is not required.
Note to Students: Please bring your yoga mat, blanket, journal & pen, water bottle and anything else needed to be comfortable in both seated and lying positions.
Exploring the Seasons with Yoga & Breathwork: Fall Equinox Workshop
Instructors: Amanda Shannon and Celine Burgett
Saturday, Sept. 28 | 9:30 a.m.–12 p.m. | $55 In–person
In this series, we will dive into the highest potential for healing and growth as it pertains to each season. This Yoga and Radical Breathwork workshop is designed with themes around the seasons to enlighten, heal, and connect you to who you truly are.
Mindful Birding
Instructor: Barb Patterson, Fort Collins Audubon
Oct. 12 | 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | $25
Fall is a beautiful time of year to slow down and enjoy the wonders of nature. There is no better mindfulness teacher than the birds. Come join us for a morning observing birds in the gardens while incorporating mindfulness techniques. You will learn new bird species while receiving the amazing health benefits spending time in nature can give you.
Note to Students: This class will be taught both inside and outdoors. Please dress for the weather. Paths used for this program are ADA-accessible.
Mindfulness - An Approach to Life
Instructor: Nancy Behney, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction trained instructor
Nov. 9 | 1 – 3 p.m. | $25
This experiential class will focus on mindfulness as a practice, through meditations, teachings and discussions. Participants will learn some of the benefits of mindfulness practices, how to strengthen their ability to cope with short and long-term stress and how mindfulness can reconnect us to our strengths and joys. Students will leave with a deeper understanding of the positive role mindfulness can play in daily life. Open to all - those new to meditation and mindfulness, as well as those who have a continuing practice.
Full Moon Release Insight + Sound Workshop
Instructors: Cate Jones, Claircognizant + Sound Healer of Violet Feather Alchemy
Saturday, Nov. 16 | 9:30 a.m.–12 p.m. | $55 In–person
We will start the morning with an intuitive reading, intention-setting meditation + journaling, and guided release practices. We will then take a sound journey in support of letting go of what no longer serves us. Crystal singing bowls and various other instruments will be used.
Note to Students: Please bring your yoga mat, blanket, journal & pen, water bottle and anything else needed to be comfortable in both seated and lying positions.
Exploring the Seasons with Yoga & Breathwork: Fall Equinox Workshop
Instructors: Amanda Shannon and Celine Burgett
Saturday, Dec. 28 | 9:30 a.m.–12 p.m. | $55 In–person
In this series, we will dive into the highest potential for healing and growth as it pertains to each season. This Yoga and Radical Breathwork workshop is designed with themes around the seasons to enlighten, heal, and connect you to who you truly are.
The Gardens hosts a variety of wellness classes. Explore our offerings; from mindfulness classes to forest bathing, there's something for everyone!
The Gardens on Spring Creek requires 72 hours for a full refund of class fees. If you are unable to attend, please consider your class payment as a tax-deductible donation. If class is cancelled by The Gardens on Spring Creek for any reason, a full refund will be issued. If you do need to cancel your registration, please contact the Education Team at gardenseducation@fcgov.com.