Today I'm sharing some cool events around town and some helpful garden tips.

Did You Know?
You can recycle your used gardening pots at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market. Bring your leftover plastic trays, cell packs, and plant pots to the nonprofit booth, Peace, Love, and Planet. The group collects and sorts plastic garden waste, and takes it to appropriate recycling facilities. Through July 31, Saturdays only.

You can get free coffee grounds from Whole Foods and Starbucks. You can use these as nitrogen materials ("greens") in your compost bin -- in fact, coffee grounds are so high in nitrogen, they can be used a compost starter to quick-start the decomposition process. You can also use the grounds as top dressing/mulch around acid-loving plants such as azaleas. (Just don't touch the base of the plant with the grounds.) The nitrogen also helps vegetables like tomatoes grow. The rough texture also repels slugs and snails, so some people use it around hostas. Many swear by using it around their roses. The Whole Foods on Washtenaw has the grounds in plastic bags available near the cafe entrance, in a plastic container near the garbage cans.

We're spoiled for choice for farmers markets. Check out the Downtown Ypsilanti Farmers' Market at Ferris and Hamilton Streets on Tuesdays from 2-6 p.m. More than 32 vendors offer all kinds of food and non-food items.

You can tour a dairy farm and learn about farming. On June 26, the 2010 MSU Dairy Farmers of the Year, Earl and Diane Horning, will host Breakfast on the Farm at their six-generation dairy farm in Manchester (11855 E. Pleasant Lake Road, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.). Tickets are free and required for breakfast, available at Downtown Home & Garden; Washtenaw County Extension; the libraries in Chelsea, Manchester, and Ypsilanti; Dexter Mill; and Wackers.

You can see gardens, urban farms, chickens, bees, and more on July 20 at Growing Hope's Tour de Fresh. The evening tour highlights local sustainable urban agriculture and healthy food systems, and ends in a potluck.

Garden Tips
Sprinkle the inside of your garden gloves with a little powder and they will come off a lot easier.

If you need to clean small metal surfaces (such as scissors or knives) of rust, simply crumple up a small bit of aluminum foil, add a tiny bit of water and rub. It really works!

Create your own mini watering can with a very fine nozzle to water tiny, delicate seedlings without damaging them. Just poke tiny holes in the cap of a used water bottle and hold it upside down. The water flow is more direct than using a spray bottle.

Use a tarp or old plastic sled, with a rope tied to it, to lug heavy or cumbersome things easily around your garden. This is especially useful when trying to transplant shrubs as there's no need to first lift the shrub up into, and then down out of, a wheelbarrow. The photo shows a vintage aluminum sled I found at a yard sale, holding free coffee grounds that I was pulling from my car to my compost bin.

Monica Milla, the Garden Faerie, is a master gardener volunteer, garden speaker, garden coach, and author of "Fun with Winter Seed Sowing."