Home and Garden calendar for Snohomish County and beyond

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. More at garden@pilchuckaudubon.org.

Eagle watch: See hundreds of eagles in the winter salmon runs. For six consecutive weekends, from Dec. 17 to Jan. 22, trained volunteers with the Eagle Watchers program will be posted along the upper Skagit River to help visitors learn more about the wintering bald eagle population. Volunteers will be available to answer questions about bald eagles, salmon and the Skagit watershed at Howard Miller Steelhead Park, 52804 Rockport Park Road, Rockport, and the Marblemount Fish Hatchery, 8319 Fish Hatchery Road, Marblemount, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Binoculars and spotting scopes available for visitor use. For more information, go to www.fs.usda.gov/mbs.

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. Find more at greeneverett@forterra.org or 425-238-0065.

Trees

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.

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. Go to 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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