Saturday, June 5, 2010
9:00 am No Space? Gardening Everywhere – local food for global survival presents the challenge of finding space to grow free food in the most unthinkable places. This presents the ideas of observation and local focus used in deciding where to find a planting area in limited space. This will be an interactive session.
Nad Geraldson, Master Gardener Volunteer and Permaculturist, has been gardening for over 30 years. Initially trained by her grandfather in the ways of the garden, Ned has furthered her education through achieving her Master Gardener certificate, and Perm culture Basic and Advanced certificates. Currently she is studying how soil health affects our own health. In her ‘free’ time, Ned is pursuing a Fitness degree at the University of Wisconsin- La Crosse.
11:00 am Vermicomposting: Want to turn your food scraps into black gold? Need a way to recycle all that junk mail finding its way into your mailbox? Join me for an exciting look at vermicomposting. Worms can eat your garbage and turn it into something delectable for your plants. It’s easy to do. Come see how to get started.
Cheri Schuyler is a Master Gardener Volunteer. She has worked as an intern in the Children’s Discovery Garden at Brooklyn Botanic Garden in Brooklyn, New York and Hillview Greenhouse Life Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. After completing the Urban Agriculture course at Growing Power in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Cheri expanded the compost program at HGLC by collecting coffee grounds and food scraps from local stores and restaurants. She also found a passion for vermicomposting while at Growing Power. She is working to be the “Worm Lady of La Crosse”.
1:00pm Gardening Tools, Tricks and Tips to Help Gardeners with Physical Limitations – as we age, in difficult surroundings, or if access or disabilities are interfering, gardening can be a challenge. Learn some things that can help you or others you know garden with these challenges. Bring your ideas to share! Learn about volunteer opportunities you can participate in the community that will help others.
Ellen Rosborough, Master Gardener Volunteer, with a love of gardening and a hillside to work with, Ellen has been gardening for over 30 years, and actually started with her Mother, mostly eating ripe strawberries from their garden. Current interest is in learning tricks and finding tools to help gardeners as they age, or with physical challenges. Important when you turn 60!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
9:30 am Growing Grapes for the Home Gardener – varieties, culture, and maintenance
Steve Huntzicker, LaCrosse County Ag. Agent, Extension Expertise in Programming in dairy, crops and horticulture;• General responsibility to all areas of agriculture. Research Interests in dairy and crops-fungicide use; other professional Experience High School Agriculture Teacher and FFA Advisor;Education Bachelors Degree: Agriculture Education- UW River Falls and Masters Degree: Masters of Professional Development (Education)--UW La Crosse.
11:00 am Terrariums...Bringing a little bit of Victorian history to your house. No space? no time? like exotic plants? A terrarium is what you need, learn the history of the terrarium and what it takes to make one with very little effort. Great project for everyone from kids to experienced gardeners alike
Leigh Frisk – ...Master Gardener Volunteer, Leigh has taken her love of History and gardening and combined it to help restore the Hixon House gardens to the 1910 period. She also enjoys working with kids at the Lakeview Montassori School in Sparta where she lives with her husband and son.
1:00 pm Sustainable Floral Container Gardens: Urban agriculture is energy efficient local food production, urban and peri-urban agriculture is sustainable practices that can be practiced on any scale. Many homeowners have limited space available for a garden. Some gardeners have no home garden space at all. Because of this gardens are springing up in back yards and front yards, on balconies, and in container-planters, as well as in rental plots in urban areas and on sites surrounding factories. (Gorilla Urban Agriculture) Although space may limit the amount you can grow, you can stretch the space you do have with intensive gardening techniques.
Tenja Daniels – Master Gardener Volunteer, Tenja and her husband have a small organic sheep and apple farm. http://danielsfarmwisconsin.com/ They seem to raise more children than produce but are aiming for sustainable with a surplus. She has been studying with Midwest Permiculture as well as organic transition farming for several years.
2:30 pm Rain Gardens – Karl will illustrate the amount of rain water captured at his house over the course of a year, then discuss how to build a rain garden, to capture this water and therefore decrease the amount of water going into the storm water system. This is an important topic as many local communities are setting up processes to have home owners pay for the water that goes through the storm water system. Rain gardens and rain barrels are options to help the homeowner.
Karl Green, UW-Extension, Community Natural Resource Economic Development Agent, with programs in the areas of: Government Education - Provide advice and educational programs on local government issues, develop leadership skills of local officials and encourage public involvement in government decision making; Water Quality - Work with local, state, and federal interests to implement water quality improvement projects; Community Needs Assessment - Assist communities and organizations in building working relationships and evaluating strengths and weaknesses to achieve their goals and objectives; Natural Resources Public Policy - Provide objective science-based educational programs to communities, and community-based educational programs to agencies on natural resource issues; Land Use Decisions - Provide educational programs in support of local land use planning efforts in La Crosse County; Natural Resource User Ethics - Conduct user-based educational programs in a collaborative effort with local, state, and federal natural resource management agencies; and Economic Development - Provide educational support for county-based economic development organizations.
If you have an idea or suggestion for a seminar topic and/or speaker, please send us an email and we will see if we can arrange it.
