Join us for a volunteer work party in the garden to celebrate Orca Recovery Day.  The Weed Warriors Nature Stewards will be leading volunteers for projects in the garden, weeding, mulching, and more! Join us! Sign in with Grace when you arrive. If you’re one of our p-patch folks who needs more volunteer hours, this is a great opportunity.

Join us to shop with local artists and listen to live music in the garden! There will also be art activities for kids and the Shark Garden will have things for sale to fundraise for our programs. If you’re an artists who wants to participate the booth fee to participate is $50. Contact Grace Stiller for questions or more information: Email: burienarts@gmail.com or gracestiller@gmail.com

Join us for our fall fundraiser sale! We're raising money to keep the Shark Garden going next year with more free programs for you. Funding is extra tight these days! We could really use your support! We have tons of great gift ideas too!
Come shop for gourmet goodies made from the garden produce and by our dedicated volunteers. Sale items include: jams, jellies, sauces, herb salts, pickles, honey, baked goods, jewelry, and more! We'll have a raffle with cool prizes, the Master Gardeners on site to answer questions, ice cream, vendors for plants and garden items, local nonprofits, and fun for the whole family.
City Fruit will be there to give away free fruit and to do apple cider pressing, so bring a container for cider and help out cranking the press! (You're also welcome to bring apples from home to press if you want.) Our friends from Wanderlust Nursery and Nobody Nursery will also be there to sell plants. Join us! Lots of Free Parking!
To donate items to the sale or raffle, bake for us, help make things, or volunteer, email us: info@sharkgarden.org

THIS IS THE RESCHEDULED CLASS FROM 8/16/23 Chef David Glass (chef for the Seattle Sounders) returns to teach us all about knife skills from which knives are used for which tasks to how to cut up a wide variety of produce. This class is really fun and helpful for home cooks! Impress your friends with some new moves in the kitchen. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-knife-skills-101-with-chef-david-glass-tickets-1596560688999?aff=oddtdtcreator

Curious about all those interesting Asian vegetables that you see at the store or in your favorite dishes? Learn about a bunch of them and how they are used in various Asian cultures with our instructors Dao and Alex. Get to taste some of the veggies too! Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-intro-to-asian-vegetables-tickets-1545771657639?aff=oddtdtcreator

CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER In this family friendly art class, our instructor Gabee will show us how to trace the shadows of plants and then paint them in. If the sun isn’t out, we’ll have an art collage activity instead with seed catalogs. This class is sponsored by Burien Arts Association, 4Culture, and Arts Washington. Please register your kids too, so that we know how many supplies to bring. :)

Interested in foraging in the PNW? Join us for this intro to foraging class with Jo Stormer from Nobody Nursery (rare native plants) in Des Moines. Jo will walk us through the Native Plant Garden in the Shark Garden and discuss some of the edible plants in our collection. Our collection has over 50 species, so we’ll just cover some of the more common ones. Jo “Cirque” Stormer (they/them) is a local native plant horticulturalist whose obsession with our region’s flora began as a forager with a particular focus on backcountry survival sustenance. Today, Cirque runs Nobody Nursery in Des Moines, promoting biodiversity by specializing in Washington natives that are otherwise commercially-unavailable. Cirque is an enthusiastic nerd for parsing out the science of foraging from the pseudoscience.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-foraging-for-native-plants-tickets-1545731046169?aff=oddtdtcreator

In this kids’ art class, our instructor Gabee will show us how to make bird feeders out of pine cones! It could be messy, but the birds don’t mind! We'll coat pinecones with peanut butter, seeds, and suet to help attract birds to your garden! Get creative as we decorate our feeders! Our instructor is Gabee Rafert, thanks to the support of Burien Arts Association, 4Culture, and ArtsWA. Sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-make-a-pinecone-bird-feeder-tickets-1468016539989?aff=oddtdtcreator

Curious about how to make your own herbal skin care products? Six weeks ago, our concoctions began infusing, using the freshest herbs and wild plants from the Shark Garden & the woods of Westcrest Park. Join us for a repeat of one of last year's most popular classes, Making your own Herbal Skincare. We will talk about plants that are known for positive health impacts to our skin. Discuss making balms, extracts, and tinctures used for treating skin ailments including rosacea & eczema. Then we'll produce 3 sets of skincare products. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-make-your-own-herbal-skincare-products-tickets-1467961043999?aff=oddtdtcreator

Weed Wars – Winning the Battle Without Chemical Warfare

During this entertaining class, you will learn that there are many ways to control unwanted plants in your garden without resorting to herbicide sprays. Mulches, ground covers, hand tools, and native plants are just some of the ideas that will be covered in a lighthearted and fun way of looking at volunteer plants. You’ll learn about plants that you shouldn’t plant, weeds you should learn to love, and weeds that are so noxious they need to be removed immediately.  The goal is to arm the gardener with different ideas, tools, and attitudes about those unwanted weeds in your outdoor space. Our instructor is author and garden columnist, Marianne Binetti thanks to the support of the Saving Water Partnership and Water District 20. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-weed-wars-winning-the-battle-without-chemical-warfare-tickets-1468010682469?aff=oddtdtcreator

Join us for a family friendly art class with Adam New-Waterson as we paint rocks with mandalas and other fun designs! Take your rock home or hide it in the Shark Garden! Please register your kids too, so we know how many supplies to bring. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-painting-rock-mandalas-tickets-1467941736249?aff=oddtdtcreator

Learn how to make your own garden mocktails with Angel from Eden Hill Restaurant. She’ll show us a few fun recipes and how to make your own flavored syrups and shrubs to design your own flavors. *No alcohol will be served during this class. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-diy-garden-mocktails-tickets-1467923993179?aff=oddtdtcreator

Learn how to make botanical sun prints with special cyano-type paper. In this family friendly class, we’ll be making sun prints with plants. Make a permanent piece of art using the fleeting beauty of nature. Invented in 1842, cyanotype is one of the oldest photography methods, but simple and accessible for anyone to do today. Be sure to bring along your favorite dried flowers, trinkets, special jewelry, or anything else you want to use in your art. Each participant will be given a 6x8 cyano-type. We’ll have supplies for 20 people in this class, so please register your kids too. Our instructor Gabee will help guide the process. If the sun isn’t out, we’ll have an art collage activity instead with seed catalogs.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-making-sun-prints-tickets-1425022894839?aff=oddtdtcreator

This class is sponsored by Burien Arts Association through a 4Culture grant.

Inspired by our new Mediterranean Foods Garden, Chef Joe Baley will come and teach us how to make paella and a Spanish salad from the garden in this cooking demonstration and tasting.

Formally trained in NYC, followed by working under a Michelin star in San Sebastián Spain, Joe followed his desire to learn more about Spanish and North African cuisine around the world and the Seattle restaurant scene. Joe is currently the chef at The Table for 12 in Edmonds. We're excited to have him join or team of chef instructors this season!

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-spanish-cooking-with-chef-joe-bayley-tickets-1425019093469?aff=oddtdtcreator

We are hosting the first annual Washington Bonsai Swap Meet in the garden! It is free to the public, though vendors will be encouraged to make a donation to the garden for hosting. It’ll be BUY, SELL, & TRADE at this event. We have 30+ folks signed up to swap and sell and there will be a live bonsai demonstration starting a 2pm. Join us to check out the bonsai hobby in this family friendly event.

This is our new Bug Bio-Blast event! During this event, we will be trying to document as many insect species (and birds etc.) as possible in the garden. We will start with a little talk and training to explain how to photograph and upload photos to the iNaturalist app for our location. Experts will be on hand to also help identify cool bugs we find. We are partnering with the Washington Native Bee Association and other local bug enthusiasts for this family friendly event. No registration required. Just bring a smart phone along, so you can install the iNaturalist app. Please come for the intro training session at the beginning to get started. Join us for some citizen science! Questions? info@sharkgarden.org

Curious if beekeeping is right for you? What all is involved? Come and find out with the Shark Garden beekeepers Gabby and Devon of Above & Below Bee & Garden Services. They’ll go over all the considerations, costs, gear, and time requirements to get started. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-intro-to-beekeeping-tickets-1382697408169?aff=oddtdtcreator

Stick around after this class for our Bug BioBlitz event (1-4 PM) when we’ll be learning about and photographing native pollinators as well!

Learn how to make Vietnamese fresh rolls with home cook, Tam Nguyen. Make fresh, healthy rolls with garden fresh ingredients. This is a cooking demonstration with tasting and hopefully time for you to try your hand and making some too. Tam will go over ingredients and where to find them too. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-make-your-own-vietnamese-fresh-rolls-tickets-1382713606619?aff=oddtdtcreator

Native Plants: Combining Beauty with Water Conservation

Enjoy beauty sustainably with Northwest natives. Naturally suited to our wet winter/dry summer climate, discover these low-maintenance, water-saving wonders. Peggy Campbell shares sun-loving and shad-preferring favorites, how to match them to your garden spots, and tips for fuss-free gardening. We’ll be seeing examples of the plants in the Shark Garden Native Plant Garden along the way. This class is made possible by the Saving Water Partnership and Water District 20. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-native-plants-combining-beauty-with-water-conservation-tickets-1382683265869?aff=oddtdtcreator

Drip Irrigation for Home Gardeners 

Learn how easy it is to water your garden with water-efficient drip irrigation!  Even though our Pacific Northwest maritime climate is known for its rain, our summers are not. We still need to water our crops, thirsty ornamentals, and container gardens.  Be smart with your resources and learn how to maximize the water you use in your landscape. Instructor Chris Hoffer from Seattle Tilth Alliance will take us through how to get started. This class is made possible by the Saving Water Partnership and Water District 20. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-drip-irrigation-made-easy-tickets-1382680337109?aff=oddtdtcreator

This year, we will be a stop on the new Burien Garden Tour! If you have tickets to the tour, we will be one of the stops on the tour. If you just want to come by to visit us this day, we will also have our summer plant sale going on and other interesting booths to visit. Our summer plant sale will include summer crop veggie starts like: beans, corn, cucumbers, eggplants, flowers, gourds, herbs, kale, okra, peppers, perennial vegetables, squash, squash, and tomatoes. Nobody Nursery will also be there selling interesting native plants. The Master Gardeners and the Garden Hotline will also be on site to answer your gardening questions. For tickets to the tour click here: https://www.discoverburien.org/events-calendar/2025/5/31/burien-garden-tour or scan the QR code in this event’s listing here, the tour is $20 for advanced tickets and $25 the week before. Proceeds go towards botanical beautification projects in downtown Burien. If you just want to visit us, swing by, do some plant shopping, and join the fun. If you’d like to volunteer with us, you can get a free garden tour ticket, so contact Taryn at info@sharkgarden.org to sign up for that.

Did you know that netting your fruit trees can prevent your fruit from getting worms and pest damage? Thinning your fruit before you net them can also improve the quality of your harvest! Join us for a free workshop to learn about doing this with our friends from City Fruit. We'll be thinning fruit in the Shark Garden orchard and then adding nets to the apple & pear trees. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-workshop-thinning-netting-fruit-trees-tickets-1348861845089?aff=oddtdtcreator

Notes:

1. The ground in the orchard is uneven, so those with accessibility concerns may have difficulty participating in this class.

2. Our p-patch gardeners can count this class towards their volunteer hours.

(Family Friendly) Paint in the garden while learning the fundamentals of painting, color theory, basic bumble bee biology! Our beekeeper, Gabee, will be showing us how to paint bumblebees while she teaches us about their biology and importance to gardens. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-painting-bumblebees-tickets-1357842506489?aff=oddtdtcreator

Did you know that you can grow your own herbal medicines? Nicole Telkes runs the medicinal plants garden at Bastyr University and she’s returning to talk about the plants we’ll have in our new First Aid Garden. Learn how to grow your own first aid garden with perennial medicinal herbs. We’ll look at around ten great plants to build your own backyard pharmacy.. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-first-aid-garden-plants-tickets-1357828645029?aff=oddtdtcreator

Did you know that a lot of the “weeds” in your garden are edible and even tasty? Instructor Cheryl Wheeler will teach us all about them an you’ll get to taste a few recipes too! Cheryl is an expert forager who works at the University of Washington as their Director of International Specialized Programs and also helps UW students in urban agriculture programs like the UW Farm. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-froaging-cooking-weeds-with-cheryl-wheeler-tickets-1357783710629?aff=oddtdtcreator

Small Space Food Gardening

Grow your own healthy, organic food in small spaces suited to your landscape. Container gardening is great for beginners, apartment dwellers, and anyone looking to add extra space or variety to their garden. You will learn how to grow herbs, small fruits, and summer veggies. This class also reviews how to choose the right container, where to put it, soil preparation, and maintenance. Our instructor is Marni Sorin from Seattle Tilth Alliance. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-small-space-food-gardening-tickets-1349050669869?aff=oddtdtcreator

Each Thursday evening from 5:30 til 7:30, we have a Pollinator Program run by our beekeepers Gabby & Devin. Volunteers can learn beekeeping while checking on our hive and then they will be working on other pollinator projects, tending our Pollinator Garden, and documenting native pollinators. They may also start propagating pollinator plants.

To join, just drop by and sign in. Please note: calm children only, so as not to upset the bees with loud noises and movements. Bees are Zen.

Incredible Edibles: Grow Your Own!

Growing your own food is fun and delicious! It can be a great way to connect with nature and enjoy healthy, organic produce that is good for you and the environment. In this class, we’ll go over the basics of organic vegetable gardening and share tips for how to get an abundant harvest while also conserving water. Our instructor is Alex Soleil from Seattle Tilth Alliance. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1326123132989?aff=oddtdtcreator