Stillwaters Environmental Education Center offers an after-school Nature Club for fourth- and fifth-graders. Participants will explore wetlands, forest and ponds, get dirty and play in the mud, and have fun outside exploring regardless of weather.

The club meets 3:45-5:15 p.m. on five Mondays, May 5 through June 9 (no class on Memorial Day, May 26). Nature Club will be led by Kari Golden, who has been teaching nature lessons to elementary students for several years. The club first meets at Gordon Elementary School and walks down to Stillwaters with an adult. Students should be picked up at Stillwaters at 5:15 pm.

Cost for all five sessions is $50 per student. Register by May 2 at (360) 297-2876 or info@stillwatersenvironmentalcenter.org.

Rain gardens in

your landscape

Learn how to design and install a rain garden with Kinley Deller of the Solid Waste Division of Metro King County in a program 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. May 3 at Stillwaters. Participants receive a Rain Garden Handbook describing how to design, build, plant and maintain a rain garden. Cost is $30 per person or $45 per couple. Pre-register at (360) 297-2876.

Menu for the future

“Menu for the Future: Exploring the Connection Between Food and Sustainability” is a six-session course, designed by the Northwest Earth Institute, describing personal responses to the complexities of producing food and the relationship to the sustainability of the planet. Classes will be held 7-9 p.m. at Stillwaters on six Thursday evenings, May 8-June 12. Cost is $30 per person or $40per household.

Make a rain barrel

Learn to create a rain barrel for water conservation at a Stillwaters class 10 a.m. to noon May 17 at Stillwaters. Learn ways to install a rain barrel and how to make the best use of it. The class is taught by Debbie Thomas of Kitsap County Public Utility District. Cost is $45, which includes materials for one barrel produced in class. Pre-register at (360) 297-2876.

Compost with class

Learn the basics of home composting and turn yard and food waste into black gold for the garden in a class supported by the Washington State Department of Ecology. The class takes place 10 a.m.-noon May 31 at Stillwaters and will be taught by Bobbie Morgan of the Natural Landscapes Project. Cost is $10 suggested donation. Pre-register at (360) 297-2876.

Stillwaters is located at 26059 Barber Cut Off Road in Kingston. For more information e-mail joleen@stillwatersenvironmentalcenter.org or go to www.stillwatersenvironmentalcenter.org.