Winter work party: 10 a.m. Dec. 3, Edmonds Wildlife Habitat Native Plant Demonstration Garden at Willow Creek Hatchery, 95 Pine St., Edmonds. Winter gardening activities such as mulching, weeding, transplanting, trimming and general clean up. No experience necessary. Upcoming events: Holiday gift-making for the birds is 9 to 11 a.m. Dec. 10. Making pinecone bird feeders is 1 to 3 p.m. Dec. 11, with artist naturalist April Richardson. For more, visit garden@pilchuckaudubon.org.
Winter walk: Guided community walk by Friends of Camano Island Parks at Elger Bay Preserve on Dec. 3. Meet at 9:50 a.m. at the junction of Elger Bay Road and Dry Lake Road, just north of the Elger Bay Elementary School and Elger Bay Store. This is a fairly level trail with one 50-foot gain. The walk includes the interpretive Elger Bay Nature Tail, a demonstration area of the Camano Wildlife Habitat project, with a side trip to the beaver marsh platform. The two-hour walk is 2.5 miles, rain or shine. No dogs allowed. Trail booklets and maps are a suggested $1 donation. For more, go to www.friendsofcamanoislandparks.org.
Cool flick: Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, a program of The Banff Centre, shows at 7 p.m. Dec. 6, Historic Everett Theater, 2911 Colby Ave., Everett. Tickets are $20 at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2582504.
Garden variety
Field sketchers group: Sessions are 6 to 8 p.m. at Edmonds Library, 650 Main St., Edmonds. Dec. 28: colored pencil techniques. Bring your pencils if you want to try out a few tips. Bring a few leaves or whatever you wish. Jan. 25: make leaf print cards, suitable for Valentine’s Day. For more, visit garden@pilchuckaudubon.org.
Forest steward: Want to learn how to lead your own forest restoration project, get other volunteers involved and bring some much-needed TLC to a park you love? Become a forest steward. More at greeneverett@forterra.org or 425-238-0065.
Trees
Holiday Trees for Salmon: by Adopt A Stream Foundation, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 10 at Northwest Stream Center, McCollum Park, 600 128th St. SE, Everett. Potted trees, $35 to $50, are 3 to 5 feet and include Sitka spruce, Western red cedar and Douglas fir. After the holidays, trees that are returned to the Northwest Stream Center will be planted next to local streams to help salmon runs. Everyone who purchases a tree gets an annual Adopt A Stream Foundation membership, $25 value. Visitors can walk on the new half-mile elevated nature trail. For more call 425-316-8592 or go to www.streamkeeper.org.
Christmas tree permits for kids: All fourth graders are eligible for a free holiday tree permit through Jan. 6 for the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest as part of the national Every Kid in a Park program. Go to www.everykidinapark.gov for a voucher and details.
Long Family Christmas Tree Farm: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday through Dec. 18, 5001 Riverview Road, Snohomish; 425-330-7835; www.snohomishchristmastrees.com. U-cut and pre-cut trees. Noble, grand and Frasier firs, priced by the foot, $35 to 85. All Douglas firs and pre-cut trees are $35. Bonfire, hot chocolate and cider available. Free candy canes and baling.
Classes
Be a master: The master gardener program is accepting applications for 2017 training. Classes start in January. Training focuses on learning how to use resources to research, educate, mentor and answer horticulture questions for the general public in a collaborative environment. All training is open book and no memorization is expected. Training involves about 80 hours of classroom and workshop instruction once a week on Thursdays, from Jan. 12 through March 30. Tuition is $275 plus a volunteer commitment of 40 hours each year for two years with other volunteers on a variety of horticultural and environmental educational projects. Without the volunteer commitment, tuition is $775. For more information and an application, go to extension.wsu.edu/snohomish and look under “Calendar” or call the Extension Office at 425-338-2400.
Winter Speaker Series: The Snohomish County Master Gardener Foundation annual series features Northwest garden personalities in eight sessions Friday mornings from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. beginning Jan 6. Lectures are held in the Social Hall of the Mukilteo Presbyterian Church, 4515 84th St. SW, Mukilteo. A pass for the complete series is $85; single sessions are $20 at the door. More at www. garden lectures.com for a listing of dates, speakers, topics and how to register.
Growing Groceries Education Series: Classes designed to help you learn how to grow your own food. Classes are Wednesday evenings from 7 to 9:30 at WSU Snohomish County Extension’s Cougar Auditorium, 600 128th St. SE, Everett. Cost is $20 per class. Register online at growinggroceries.eventbrite.com. For more, go to snohomish.wsu.edu/growing-groceries, call 425-357-6024 or email kate.ryan@wsu.edu. Jan. 18: Planning Your Garden for Success: Success starts with good planning including site selection.
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