BY OLIVIA DORFMAN
A short drive up West Ind. 46 in Ellettsville, The Endwright Center offers educational programs for active adults, including many on gardening. “We’ve had classes in bonsai and houseplant care,” says Director Rebecca Ball. “And we’re considering programs on container gardening and small gardens.”
Winter programs included Planning Your Spring Garden, Natural Herbal Medicines, and Mulching Your Beds for Gardening Ease. “We’ve built raised garden beds and involved Ellettsville kids in starting seedlings,” Ball says. “The vegetables we grew went to the food pantry. The gardening program has been evolving.”
Open to the public as well as to members of the center, upcoming 90-minute Saturday gardening classes include:
• April 20: Better Preparation = Better Results, which will cover starting plants indoors, soil testing, pest prevention, companion plantings, and plant care.
• May 18: Vertical Gardening, which will explore the use of trellises, stakes, tepees, hanging pots, pyramids, and walls in small space gardens.
• June 22: The Gardening Whodunit: Inspector Green Thumb at Your Service! focusing on identifying causes of garden problems and fixing the damage.
Each program runs from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and is conducted by organic gardening educator Steven Stewart. The classes cost $10 for non-members and $5 for members. Different classes are presented each quarter.
The Endwright Center also offers half-day outings via Rural Transit. The group visits farms, gardens, and wineries across south-central Indiana. “And if the location doesn’t charge, we don’t charge,” Ball says, saying the only cost in those instances is the $6 fee for the bus ride. She suggests those interested check the Area 10 Agency on Aging website for upcoming trips.
Built in 1997 thanks to a $500,000 Community Focus Fund grant, and named for Maurice Endwright, a journalist and community leader known as “Mr. Ellettsville,” The Endwright Center is an expansion of the Area 10 Agency on Aging and focuses on programming for seniors.
The center has about 370 members, plus hundreds of non-members who participate in classes and activities. Most participants drive to the center, but Rural Transit offers low-cost rides to and from programs. Membership is $45 a year for those 50 and older, and free for those over 85.
Visit area10agency.org for more information.
