In Surry Community College’s “Planting with Purpose” series, students will learn all the steps necessary to plant, grow and harvest popular produce such as tomatoes, peppers, onions and tomatillos along with a few common herbs like cilantro, garlic and basil.

The series won’t end at harvest though; participants will also receive culinary instruction on how to turn the ingredients into a delicious salsa or spaghetti sauce.

The multi-workshop series is for beginner gardeners and will be held at The Pilot Center, 612 E. Main St., Pilot Mountain, N.C., and will be taught by Jamie Renzi who graduated from Surry Community College in May 2016 with a certificate in Sustainable Horticulture. She and husband Augusto operate a fresh produce business, RomaReady.

The first workshop in the series will focus on starting the garden and will be held Monday, April 17 from 5 to 8 p.m. Students will learn planting techniques through hands-on experience in the greenhouse onsite.

Part II of the series will continue the hands-on instruction from Part I. Renzi will focus on the care of young plants by providing details on fertilization, pruning, soil management and other related topics while students tend to those planted during the first workshop. Part II will be held Monday, May 15 from 5 to 8 p.m.

The third part of the series will bring the idea of farm to table full circle as students learn harvest techniques and then head to the kitchen to cook their salsas and spaghetti sauces using the produce they planted and tended during the previous workshops in the series. It will be held Monday, June 12 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Participants are not required to enroll in all three sections of the series, but are encouraged to do so. The cost of each workshop is $20. Pre-registration and pre-payment are required. Tuition may be waived for those who qualify through the Surry Skill-UP program; call to apply. Contact (336) 386-3618 for registration and additional information.