Join us on a video hike through a protected conservation property to learn about lichens! Do you know the difference between mosses and lichens? AmeriCorps Project Conserve member Shay “Sarge” Sargent leads a virtual adventure to answer this question and more.

Blue Ridge Eco-Gardener Certificate of Merit

Ecological gardening is a way of thinking about gardens and landscapes in which gardens are no longer seen as a collection of plants, but a community with complex interdependencies between plants, animals, soils and the environment. This certificate program explores ecological principles for creating and managing a healthy, self-sustaining garden and landscape in a changing climate. Students enrolling in the Certificate of Merit program will work to complete 120 hours in core classes on topics including principles of ecological gardening, seasonal plants and tasks and sustainable landscape design along with electives on hardscape, edibles, seed saving and other subjects of interest to participants. View current class offerings for credit in the Blue Ridge Eco-Gardener program here.

To begin your program, complete an application and return it to the Education Center along with a one-time, non-refundable $55 application fee.

Join over one hundred students on a quest to deepen understanding of the natural sciences through the Blue Ridge Naturalist Certificate of Merit. The program offers adult learners a comprehensive curriculum of study about the natural world of Western North Carolina. Classes meet year round and students work to complete 240 hours in core courses on ecology, botany, geology and plant identification as well as electives on animals, lichens, insects and more. View current class offerings for credit in the Blue Ridge Naturalist program here. All students must complete and present a final project prior to graduation.

To begin your program complete an application and return it to the Education Center along with a a one-time, non-refundable $55 application fee.

Earn your Permaculture Design Certificate and transform your life! This class meets one 3-day weekend a month, from April-November 2020, at the Wild Abundance campus based near Asheville, NC.

Are you ready to…

– Move toward the lifestyle that you yearn for in your bones?
– Dive deep into the world of permaculture and sustainable living?
– Meet like-minded people who share your passion for living close to the Earth?
– Become initiated into the world of Earthskills?
– Learn how to create a food forest?
– Take time out of your life to feed your connection with the Earth?
– Learn to become more self-sufficient?

Then head on over to our website to learn more about our Earthskills & Permaculture Immersion: https://www.wildabundance.net/classes/earthskills-and-permaculture/

Getting started gardening can be exciting, and it can feel daunting.

Your teachers, Natalie Bogwalker and Chloe Lieberman share experience-based, practical instruction for growing their top ten vegetables to really fill your plate, belly, and larder. We put together this class so that you can begin with the crops that are most likely to be successful and rewarding. Or, if you’ve got some experience gardening but want to expand your repertoire, this course will help you do so in a way that makes sense and yields abundantly.

Get to know the nature near you! This year, as part of the City Nature Challenge, the Arboretum’s ecoEXPLORE program has launched a special BioBlitz Bonus Badge. Children in grades K-8 who complete six “challenges” will earn the BioBlitz Bonus Badge and their adult helpers will also receive a North Carolina BioBlitz patch. ecoEXPLORE is an initiative of The North Carolina Arboretum and is free to all North Carolina residents due to the generous support from the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation and the Duke Energy Foundation.

Be an ecoEXPLORER!

Are you a group or classroom? Choose the “Group” option on the signup form.

How it works:

1. Sign up to be an ecoEXPLORER using the form on this page. Then have your parent check their email for an email where they can click a link to give permission for your participation.
2. Go outside in your own backyard or at a designated ecoEXPLORE HotSpot to find wildlife species, including plants, reptiles, amphibians, insects and birds.
3. Use your own device — or check out an iPod Touch at any LoanSpot location — and photograph your wildlife observation, noting the data, location, time, size, and species observed.
4. Login to your ecoEXPLORE profile online and submit your observation.
5. Arboretum staff will then review your observation and submit all approved submissions to the iNaturalist Network , which is used by real scientists!

NEW! North Carolina BioBlitz Patch

For adults looking for an extra challenge this spring, the Arboretum has created the North Carolina BioBlitz patch in conjunction with the 2020 City Nature Challenge (April 24 – 27). To earn the patch, participants will need to create a free iNaturalist account; attend the “Intro to iNaturalist” class on April 9 (or watch the recorded version later); make 50 nature observations during the City Nature Challenge; and help identify 50 species during the Challenge’s “identifying” stage (April 28 – May 3). Students in the Arboretum’s Blue Ridge Naturalist and Blue Ridge Eco-Gardener certificate programs can earn three elective credits if they complete the North Carolina BioBlitz program and one credit if they only take the “Into to iNaturalist” class.

Healthy Rivers equal Healthy Communities. RiverLink’s Watershed Resources program works to improve water quality in the French Broad River and its tributaries. These waterways support critical wildlife habitat for many species, such as the hellbender salamander and rainbow trout. Our local economies thrive on water-based recreational tourism. The French Broad River watershed also provides drinking water for many communities. These things are true only if the water is clean. Our Watershed Resources program uses a combination of initiatives, including on the ground projects and community outreach to improve and protect water quality.

Stream Restorations

Stormwater Control

WaterRICH, Water Conservation Program

Watershed Planning

Name That Creek

Join us on a video hike through a protected conservation property to learn about lichens! Do you know the difference between mosses and lichens? AmeriCorps Project Conserve member Shay “Sarge” Sargent leads a virtual adventure to answer this question and more.

Blue Ridge Eco-Gardener Certificate of Merit

Ecological gardening is a way of thinking about gardens and landscapes in which gardens are no longer seen as a collection of plants, but a community with complex interdependencies between plants, animals, soils and the environment. This certificate program explores ecological principles for creating and managing a healthy, self-sustaining garden and landscape in a changing climate. Students enrolling in the Certificate of Merit program will work to complete 120 hours in core classes on topics including principles of ecological gardening, seasonal plants and tasks and sustainable landscape design along with electives on hardscape, edibles, seed saving and other subjects of interest to participants. View current class offerings for credit in the Blue Ridge Eco-Gardener program here.

To begin your program, complete an application and return it to the Education Center along with a one-time, non-refundable $55 application fee.

Join over one hundred students on a quest to deepen understanding of the natural sciences through the Blue Ridge Naturalist Certificate of Merit. The program offers adult learners a comprehensive curriculum of study about the natural world of Western North Carolina. Classes meet year round and students work to complete 240 hours in core courses on ecology, botany, geology and plant identification as well as electives on animals, lichens, insects and more. View current class offerings for credit in the Blue Ridge Naturalist program here. All students must complete and present a final project prior to graduation.

To begin your program complete an application and return it to the Education Center along with a a one-time, non-refundable $55 application fee.

If you are reading this, you are most likely a landowner in western North Carolina who is concerned about the future of your land along the French Broad River or one of its tributaries. Perhaps you have a farm or cattle ranch that has been in your family for generations, or maybe you recently purchased your second home in an idyllic rural area. Whatever your situation, many North Carolina landowners face the same dilemma: how do you ensure that the land you love looks the way that it does forever?

Conserving Land

Protected Properties

Parks, Greenways & Blueways

Forest Floor is offering sixteen different week-long camp options for ages ranging from K-10. Camps begin with the first week June 15-19 and end with the week of August 10-14. The program is structured to get kids out in the forest, exercising and playing, sharing stories and songs, solving challenges, and learning traditional crafts, wilderness skills, survival skills, and martial arts. Forest Floor programs are unique in the Asheville area because of the focus on Nature Connection Mentoring and helping children reach and exceed their potential.

Parents can drop their children off at Haw Creek Commons in Asheville between 8:30 – 9:00 AM daily, and then pick them up there between 3:00 – 3:30 PM. Camp staff will transport the children via passenger van to the forest location and back each day. An “After Camp” option with games and nature activities is available for parents who choose to pickup as late as 5:30 PM. After Camp can be reserved for specific days or the entire camp week.

The standard pricing for the camps is $295 per week including transportation. The Blacksmithing and Knife-making camps for Grades 6-10 only are priced at $384 per week. After Camp adds $15-30 per afternoon depending on the specific reservations. A payment plan and sibling discount are offered as well. A limited number of partial scholarships are also available. Registrations are taken online in advance at the company website www.OnTheForestFloor.org.

About Forest Floor Wilderness Programs – Forest Floor Wilderness Programs (FFWP) is a unique Asheville provider of Nature-Connection Mentoring programs. FFWP was founded in 2011 by Executive Director Clint Corley to bring a nationally-proven youth mentoring model to the Asheville area. The group offers summer camps, and a wide variety of other programs including weekly programs for homeschool families, bi-weekly programs for teens & public school children, Saturday programs, family campouts, and workshops for adults.

Getting started gardening can be exciting, and it can feel daunting.

Your teachers, Natalie Bogwalker and Chloe Lieberman share experience-based, practical instruction for growing their top ten vegetables to really fill your plate, belly, and larder. We put together this class so that you can begin with the crops that are most likely to be successful and rewarding. Or, if you’ve got some experience gardening but want to expand your repertoire, this course will help you do so in a way that makes sense and yields abundantly.

Get to know the nature near you! This year, as part of the City Nature Challenge, the Arboretum’s ecoEXPLORE program has launched a special BioBlitz Bonus Badge. Children in grades K-8 who complete six “challenges” will earn the BioBlitz Bonus Badge and their adult helpers will also receive a North Carolina BioBlitz patch. ecoEXPLORE is an initiative of The North Carolina Arboretum and is free to all North Carolina residents due to the generous support from the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation and the Duke Energy Foundation.

Be an ecoEXPLORER!

Are you a group or classroom? Choose the “Group” option on the signup form.

How it works:

1. Sign up to be an ecoEXPLORER using the form on this page. Then have your parent check their email for an email where they can click a link to give permission for your participation.
2. Go outside in your own backyard or at a designated ecoEXPLORE HotSpot to find wildlife species, including plants, reptiles, amphibians, insects and birds.
3. Use your own device — or check out an iPod Touch at any LoanSpot location — and photograph your wildlife observation, noting the data, location, time, size, and species observed.
4. Login to your ecoEXPLORE profile online and submit your observation.
5. Arboretum staff will then review your observation and submit all approved submissions to the iNaturalist Network , which is used by real scientists!

NEW! North Carolina BioBlitz Patch

For adults looking for an extra challenge this spring, the Arboretum has created the North Carolina BioBlitz patch in conjunction with the 2020 City Nature Challenge (April 24 – 27). To earn the patch, participants will need to create a free iNaturalist account; attend the “Intro to iNaturalist” class on April 9 (or watch the recorded version later); make 50 nature observations during the City Nature Challenge; and help identify 50 species during the Challenge’s “identifying” stage (April 28 – May 3). Students in the Arboretum’s Blue Ridge Naturalist and Blue Ridge Eco-Gardener certificate programs can earn three elective credits if they complete the North Carolina BioBlitz program and one credit if they only take the “Into to iNaturalist” class.