Request a Wylde Center representative to come to your location and give a presentation on selected topics. The standard fee is $75 for a presentation that is up to 1 hour. If your group would like to come to the Oakhurst Garden, the fee is $50 for a presentation. We currently have presenters who may be available to speak to your garden club or group on several topics.
To book a speaker please email stephanie@wyldecenter.org. We recommend requesting a speaker three weeks or more in advance.
Past speaking engagements from the Wylde Center include:
- Oakhurst Neighborhood Association – History of the organization, name change from Oakhurst Community Garden Project to Wylde Center, and the future plans.
- USDA NRCS Field Planning Day – Garden-based presentation about building better soil.
- CDC Community Garden Presentation – Serving as the MC.
- Rotary Club Decatur – Presenting about the Wylde Center
- Kiwanis Club of Decatur – Presenting about the Wylde Center with a focus on our youth programming.
Speakers and Topics
Stephanie Van Parys
Stephanie Van Parys has served as the Executive Director of the Wylde Center, formerly the Oakhurst CommunityGarden Project since March 2005. She lives in Decatur with her husband, three kids, chickens, dog, and a large garden. Stephanie shares what she knows about vegetable gardening with garden clubs, company lunch and learns, church groups, and civic groups. She has taught classes at the Atlanta Botanical Garden for over 17 years.
Stephanie’s speaking topics:
- What vegetables to plant for your spring garden.
- What vegetables to plant for your fall garden.
- What vegetables to plant for your summer garden.
- Sowing vegetables from seed all year long.
- Lasagna Bed Gardening – Never till again!
- Cover Crops
“Hi Stephanie, Thank you for that thorough class on Monday at the library! I was affirmed in some of my practices and learned as well. My son and I are raising tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers that volunteered and blueberries. I had been planning to use crimson clover on some of my space and now definitely will. You gave an impressive presentation. I am loving being more involved in nature! Thank you for the helpfulness you offered!“
Anne-Marie Anderson, GCLP
Geographical Preference: 15 mile radius around Decatur 
Anne-Marie Anderson is a firm believer in fresh air, urban farming and the power of Mother Nature. Her Decatur-based business, The Celtic Gardener, promotes responsible stewardship of the earth’s precious resources through sustainable landscaping practices such as rainwater harvesting, composting and the use of Southern natives and heirloom plants that actually like it here. She specializes in edible landscaping and urban animal husbandry, particularly chickens and bees. Anne-Marie is a graduate of the University of Cambridge, England. She has lived in Atlanta for 17 years, growing to know and love our climate and native vegetation as a Master Gardener and Georgia Certified Landscape Professional. She teaches ‘Chickens are Easy’ and various edible landscaping classes at the Wylde Center for The Homestead Atlanta, and has been Chair of the 2012-2015 Atlanta Urban Coop Tours. She is also a Certified Beekeeper.
Anne-Marie’s speaking topics:
- Urban homesteading (edible landscaping, food gardens, chickens, bees)
- Chickens
- Bees
- The sustainable garden (natives, Southern heirlooms, rainwater harvesting, composting, mulch)