Spring is almost here and it will soon be time to plant gardens again. Whether you are an experienced or a novice gardener, sharpen your tools and your pencils. The Henderson County Master Gardeners are gearing up to help area gardeners by presenting educational sessions on various aspects of gardening. HCMG’s first educational program for the year, a workshop on vegetable production, will be held in conjunction with the Keep Athens Beautiful Home and Garden show, an event that is also free to the public.
The free workshop will be held on Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Cain Center located at 915 South Palestine Street in Athens. There will be morning and afternoon sessions to begin at 9 a.m. and at 1 p.m. that will include classes on soil preparation and composting led by Bob Erickson and Margaret Rands, both HCMG master gardeners.
The morning session of the HCMG workshop will feature Dave Whitinger, the founder of two popular garden websites, “All Things Plants” and “Dave’s Gardens”. Whitinger’s topic for the Feb. 22 workshop will focus on ways to add food crops to the landscape and will begin at 10 a.m.
Dave Whitinger and his family keep a homestead near Jacksonville, Texas, where they raise all kinds of food crops as well as cows, chickens and other domestic animals. In addition to being a member of the Cherokee County Master Gardeners, Whitinger’s passion, as a software programmer, is to bring gardeners together online. He frequently lectures about gardening, permaculture and other gardening innovations to gardening groups throughout Texas.
The afternoon sessions will begin at noon and will feature Barbara Gosnell, a local Athens gardener who offers her produce for sale at the Athens Farmers Market throughout the summer. Gosnell will inform attendees on what can be planted right now and offer advice on how to plan the planting season to keep your table full throughout the growing season.
The master gardeners will distribute free handouts on vegetable gardening including recommended varieties, planting dates and soil test kits during the event. Additional master gardeners will be on hand from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.to offer advice and answer individual questions.
The general public will be able to purchase tickets to the HCMG Spring Conference to be held Thursday, March 27. The conference includes dinner and featured speaker, Dr. Steve George, from the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Dallas. His topic will be “From Roses to Vegetables to Shade Trees: Creating a truly Earth-Kind Landscape.”
