For all of you who have not yet experienced trough making and the like we are offering these classes again this fall. And I’m sure there are those of you wanting to take the classes for a second or third time. Teachers and students alike seem to love getting their hands dirty while creating a unique and special piece for their garden.

A quick reminder – we are always willing to schedule a class for you and your friends or garden club. (Minimum of five people attending) You just need to call and speak with Peggy and set up a time that works for both you and us.

English Trough Workshop

August 7th (fri. 10am) or 8th (sat. 2pm), September 11th (fri. 10am) or 12th (sat. 2pm)

One of our most popular classes – make a rustic hypertufa planter from cement, peat moss, perlite and water. All materials are supplied – and the best thing is that we’ll clean up! Be sure to wear old clothes since this is definitely a “hands-on” workshop. $30.00 fee, advance registration is required.

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Casting Leaves in Concrete

August 14th (fri 10am) or 15th (sat. 2pm)

Learn to make impressions of real leaves in cement, to use as a small bird bath, garden ornament, or coffee-table conversation piece. All materials supplied, but participants are encouraged to bring leaves. Possible options would be a large hosta or canna leaf. Once again, be sure to wear old clothes, just in case! $30.00 fee, advance registration is required.

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Make a Stepping Stone

September 18th (fri 10am) or 19th (sat. 2pm)

Make your own work of garden art – a concrete stepping stone, finished with white cement and embellished with real leaves, stones, shells, or anything else to hand! All materials supplied, but you can bring your own embellishments if you’d like. $30.00 fee, advance registration is required.

To register:

* Call (502)296-1499 or (502)491-6305
* Visit www.thienemans.com (go to Coconuts Corner, click on “Classes” for a printable registration form.)
* or sign up when you come in and visit us

P.S. – Got any ideas for a class you would like to take? Let us know and we might just offer it, maybe even this fall.

I can’t believe it! We are right around the corner from the longest day of the year – June 21st. Do you know what that means? From then until December 21st every day of this year gets a little bit shorter. It feels as if someone turned up the treadmill speed while I wasn’t looking. And it’s times like these that I understand the value of ‘living in the moment’ so again I make that mid-year resolution to do just that.

Which brings us to our Summer Solstice Celebration – the 8th one so far. It’s a fair amount of work for our small crew particularly after a very busy Spring but we want to celebrate the year. We also want to show everyone how to stop and smell the roses as well as thank our customers for their continued support. It’s nice that we have a farm to do this on. It might help call to mind a simpler life style.

This year our focus is on food – preferably the home-grown or locally grown variety. Don’t confuse the term ‘simpler’ with the word ‘easier’. Growing your own food makes your life simpler because all the work involved in planting, sowing, watering, de-bugging, weeding, harvesting, and preserving eliminates all those other consumer focused activities that currently fill up our days. But on Friday night the l9th of this month we will make it easier and simpler to enjoy that harvest.

We have invited Mark Williams, the Spirited Chef and organizer of Slow Food Bluegrass, to come and offer picnic style fare with the emphasis on locally grown. He will be serving grass-fed beef burgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs and locally grown salads along with fresh cobbler, Elmwood Inn iced tea and organic lemonade. Come and support Mark and Slow Food Blugrass. The price is right, the food is great and it’s the green thing to do.

New this year! A Garden Hat Contest! Thieneman’s encourages creativity and we will be rewarding that effort with a $50.00 gift certificate. Be a horticultural fashionista and come strut your stuff. Judging takes place at 8 p.m. (Judges names will not be released prior to contest to prevent lobbying efforts.)

For the Next Generation of Gardeners we will have veggie coloring books, we’ll be planting seeds and Bernheim Park representatives will be there offering encouragement to kids to Get Outside! A bedtime story, “What the Wind Told” will be read at 9 o’clock and a bedtime snack – smores could also be found around the fire-pit.

Entertainment will be provided by the String Chickens and they are promising a new twist to their musical endeavors this year.

As always this will be the first big SALE of the year so come prepared to find some bargains.

Come and have some fun. Stuff gets crackin about 6pm and we won’t stop until midnight. Whew!

It’s time to look beyond the cold – a little bit of dirt in your hands, the green smells of growing plants, and some planning for your upcoming gardening year can help chase the winter grays for sure. Thieneman’s can help you turn winter into spring with our Late Winter Classes – and be advised that these classes can fill up quickly, so advance registration and payment is required. For registration or for more information, you can call Peggy at (502)640-2039 or visit www.thienemans.com (go to coconut’s corner, and then the classes button in the top right of the page) for a printable registration form.

Friday Feb. 6th, Saturday Feb. 7th, Friday Feb. 20th, Saturday Feb. 21st Sowing Seeds & Taking Cuttings, 10:00 a.m.
Once again, we’re sharing our green space with you! Peggy and Thieneman’s staffers will show you how to sow seed and take cuttings from our stock plants, and you’ll keep what you plant. We’ll even grow your baby plants till April in one of our greenhouses. Single session class; $30.00 fee includes all materials.

Friday Feb. 13th , Saturday Feb. 14th Planting Your Trough Garden, 10:00 a.m.
Learn to design a miniature, movable landscape for your hypertufa trough or other favorite container. We’ll show you how to use different succulents, miniature plants, alpines, and dwarf conifers in to make a little “world in miniature.” Single session class is free – plants and containers will be available for purchase.

Friday Feb. 27th, Saturday Feb. 28th Gardens that Multitask, 10:00 a.m.
The garden word we’ve been hearing this year is veggies! But, not all of us have room for a traditional vegetable garden. In this class, we’ll discuss ways to make a garden work harder, mixing vegetables and herbs in with the perennials and annuals. Plus, we’ll include a coupon to get you started. Single session class, $30.00 fee includes a coupon for six free plants – your choice of any combination of 4” perennials, herbs, or vegetables.

Friday March 6th, Saturday March 7th Sow Your Own Salad, 10:00 a.m.
Springtime means “green”, and what better way to celebrate the new season than with fresh, home-grown salad? We’ll show you how to grow container greens at home, and different ways to use them for the table. Single session class, $30.00 fee includes all materials, including a 12” planter that you will plant and take home, plus samples of and recipes for spring salads and dressings.

Saturday March 7th Preview of Coming Attractions, 1:00 p.m.
What’s new this year? Come on back to the farm, and we’ll show you what! This preview will give you an opportunity to see the new and unusual plant varieties that will be available this season, and think about how they might work in your garden. (Some varieties may be available for purchase, if they’re ready!)
Free, no registration necessary.

And don’t forget – our retail garden center opens for the season on March 15th – hope to see you here!

Greetings All. The cold crisp air and brilliant leaves scattered across the ground have got us thinking of the holidays. All those box stores are certainly rushing us into Christmas with all their santas and stockings. Let’s slow down a bit, enjoy the fall color and look forward to a warm thanksgiving meal. Join us just before Thanksgiving if you would like to make a tabletop tree, we will be offering this class only one weekend. Bundle up, come on out, get a bit dirty and create beautiful holiday decorations for your home. Whether it’s November or December we hope to see you soon.

To sign up call (502)640-2039 or print a registration form and mail it in with payment.

Make a Fresh Greenery Wreath

November 21st or 22nd, 10:00 a.m.

A wreath-making workshop will be offered on Friday Nov. 21st and repeated on Saturday Nov. 22nd at 10:00 a.m., at Thieneman’s Herbs and Perennials, 9120 Blowing Tree Road in Louisville. Participants will learn to make an outdoor wreath from evergreen boughs. Wreath forms, wire, and base greenery will be supplied, and participants should bring work gloves, clippers, and accent greenery (boxwood, holly, pine, juniper, etc.). Single session class, $25.00 fee; advance registration is required.

Make a Tabletop Christmas Tree

November 28th or 29th, 10:00 a.m.

A “Tabletop Christmas Tree” class will be held on Friday Nov. 28th and repeated on Saturday Nov. 29th at 10:00 a.m., at Thieneman’s Herbs and Perennials, 9120 Blowing Tree Road in Louisville. Participants will use fresh evergreen boughs to make a small tree, suitable for tabletop or outdoor use. Base greenery and tree form will be supplied, and participants should bring work gloves, clippers, and accent greenery if desired. Single session class, $28.00 fee; advance registration is required.

“Simple Gifts”, Thieneman’s 8th Annual Holiday Open House

November 29th, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Thieneman’s Herbs and Perennials will host a Holiday Open House on Saturday Nov. 29th from 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., featuring wreathmaking demonstrations, free refreshments, and a miniature Christmas Tree Village. There will be fresh greenery wreaths and tabletop Christmas trees available for purchase, and a sale in The Finch House garden gift shop.

Make a Fresh Greenery Wreath

December 3rd, 10:00am

A wreath-making workshop will be offered on December 3rd at 10:00 a.m., at Thieneman’s Herbs and Perennials, 9120 Blowing Tree Road in Louisville. Participants will learn to make an outdoor wreath from evergreen boughs. Wreath forms, wire, and base greenery will be supplied, and participants should bring work gloves, clippers, and accent greenery (boxwood, holly, pine, juniper, etc.). Single session class, $25.00 fee; advance registration is required.

Make a Boxwood Topiary

December 5th or 6th, 10:00am

A boxwood topiary class will be held on Friday Dec. 5th and repeated on Saturday Dec. 6th at 10:00am at Thieneman’s Herbs and Perennials, 9120 Blowing Tree Rd. Participants will use cut boxwood branches to make a round “lollipop” style topiary. All materials provided, please bring clippers and work gloves. Single session class, fee is $20.00 for one topiary or $35.00 for two. Advance registration required.

Mini-Tree Workshop

December 10th, 10:00am

A Mini-Tree Workshop will be held on Wednesday Dec. 10th at 10:00am at Thieneman’s Herbs and Perennials, 9120 Blowing Tree Rd. Participants will create a little fantasy tree from fresh greenery, herbs sprigs and other fresh cut material. All materials provided, please bring clippers and work gloves. $20.00 fee, advance registration required.

Well late summer is upon us again, and every year about this time we love to get our hands dirty creating some wonderful garden art. Join us again or for the first time and make a hypertufa english trough, some cast leaves or a colorful stepping stone. Be prepared to get dirty. Classes usually last about two hours and are tremendous fun. And don’t forget, if you would like to hold a class for just you and your friends we would love to make that happen. We would need 5 or more participants, just give Peggy a call to set up a date and time.

August 7th & 9th , September 5th and 6th – English Trough Workshop, 10:00 a.m.

An “English Trough Workshop” will be presented at 10 a.m. on Thursday August 7th , repeated at 10 a.m. on Saturday August 9th , Friday September 5th, and Saturday September 6th, at Thieneman’s Herbs & Perennials, 9120 Blowing Tree Road. Participants will make a rustic hypertufa planter from cement, peat moss, perlite and water. All materials are supplied – participants should be prepared to get a little dirty! $30.00 fee, advance registration is required. To register, call (502)640-2039 or visit www.thienemans.com for a printable registration form.

September 19th & 20th – Casting Leaves in Concrete, 10:00 a.m.

A class on leaf casting will be offered at 10:00 a.m. on Friday September 19th and repeated at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 20th at Thieneman’s Herbs & Perennials, 9120 Blowing Tree Road. Participant will make impressions of real leaves in cement, to use as a small bird bath, garden ornament, or coffee-table conversation piece. All materials supplied, but participants are encouraged to bring leaves (the larger, the better). $30.00 fee, advance registration is required. Call (502)640-2039 or visit www.thienemans.com for a printable registration form.

October 10th & 11th – Make a Stepping Stone, 10:00 a.m.

The workshop “Make a Stepping Stone” will be presented at 10 a.m. Friday October 10th and repeated Saturday October 11th at Thieneman’s Herbs & Perennials, 9120 Blowing Tree Road. Participants will learn how to make and embellish a concrete stepping stone. All class materials will be provided, but participants may bring their own embellishments if they wish. Fee is $30.00; advance registration is required. To register, call (502)640-2039 or visit www.thienemans.com for a printable registration form.