Spring Garden Day, March 7 

 

For Rensselaer County's Master Gardeners, spring  actually starts on March 7 with their annual “Spring Garden Day,” a program of gardening classes, good food and fun for all  backyard gardeners in the Capital District, held at Tamarac High School in Brunswick.  

Attendees can choose from ten classes covering pollinator gardens, perennials, vegetable growing in small spaces, hydrangeas, container gardening, birding basics, creating garden art, flowering trees and shrubs, avoiding ticks, making a cutting garden and more.  

This year's featured speaker is Lorraine Ballato who  will encourage re-thinking garden maintenance in her keynote presentation, “Smarter Gardening:  Let’s Talk!”  Other highlights of the day include a plant sale, garden book sale, a Pick-A-Prize Auction, and fabulous door prizes.      Attendees  also receive a delicious homemade lunch featuring soups, Stromboli and desserts.  

The program fee is $30 per person and pre-registration is required because attendance is limited to 220. To register complete the form available form Rensselaer County's   Cooperative Extension's website and send it along with your check to the address noted on the form. 

If you are unable to print the registration form or have other questions about Spring Garden Day, please call the Rensselaer County Cornell Cooperative Extension  Office (518) 272-4210 and ask for Marcie.  Don't delay; the Spring Garden Day is always a sellout!

Book Recommendation:  Rodale's Basic Organic Gardening

Do you have a friend who may not like to read much, but who thinks they may like to start a vegetable garden this year?

Deborah Martin's guide to basic organic gardening (Rodale Press, 2014) might just be a good fit for those prospective gardeners.  This book is really for people who are  completely lacking any experience with plants as well as  those who maybe  a little short on self confidence.  

Martin does not try to overwhelm the reader with too much detail, but she does sneak  a lot of important information onto every page.  There are no big glossy photos of perfect gardens or plants to distract one from that message. The accompanying illustrations are simple hand drawn works  reinforcing the idea that gardening can be simple.

The opening section quickly reviews the principles of organic gardening and the Rodale family's continuing effort to promote an organic approach.  The book then launches into the basics covering  such topics as tools, the spacing of plants,  plant containers for small spaces, how to construct planting beds, plant care, pest control, and the essentials of composting.  Finally, Martin identifies 30 popular vegetables and herbs that any beginning gardener should be able to grow successfully.  In short, this is  a very useful book; and like most gardening books, you should be able to  find a used copy for your  friend to get them off to a good start.