On March 18, Ohio State University Extension, Clark County, is hosting a Backyard Vegetable Garden Workshop in Springfield from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. The event will be held at Springfield High School, 710 E. Home Road.
Growing your own vegetables continues to grow in popularity for a variety of reasons. One reason is that people want to know where their food is coming from and of course, another reason is that fresh off the plant always tastes better. This workshop will help you to be successful in your own garden.
I will start off the morning with a very hot topic: “Bee-friending Pollinators for Your Vegetable Garden.”
Learn about the basics for attracting pollinators to the garden including pollinator needs and the types of habitat to create. I’ll also discuss the plants that are great for attracting pollinators as well as how to protect pollinators from pesticides.
A colleague of mine, Erik Draper from Geauga County, is a specialist when it comes to vegetables. He works with a lot of the Amish farmers in northeast Ohio and has a lot of knowledge in this area.
His topics include “Dealing with Diseases” and “Soiled by the Garden!”
He will give you practical usable information regarding how to recognize vegetable garden diseases as well as how to manage them. In addition, healthy soil is the basic starting point for growing vegetables, and he will discuss how to get healthy soils.
Clark County Master Gardener Volunteer Carolyn Allen will present ideas on “Growing Vegetables in Containers for Small-Space Gardeners.”
Just because you have a condominium or small backyard doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a fresh tomato off the vine.
To end the day, Susie Broidy and Beth Bridgeman will talk about “Saving Seeds from the Past for the Future.” Susie is a Clark County MGV and has taken an extensive seed-saving course and Beth is an instructor at Antioch and taught the course “Seed Saving as Community Building.”
This is another hot topic as many today are looking for heirloom seeds and others are developing seed libraries or places where people can exchange open-pollinated seeds.
The cost for the program is $30 and includes a great lunch of local foods prepared by the chef from Seasons Bistro.
You must register for this event. The deadline is March 13. Go to www.go.osu.edu/vegetablegarden for registration details and more information.
About the Author