Registration is now open for the 18th annual Linn County Master Gardener’s Winter Gardening Fair which will be held Saturday, Feb. 18, at the Kirkwood Regional Center, located at 1770 Boyson Road in Hiawatha. Tuition is $59 for the all-day event and student rate is $30 for high school or college students. Lunch is included.
Over 70 gardening workshops will be presented by Iowa gardening experts and talented local Master Gardeners. Fifty of the 70 sessions will be brand new topics. The Linn County Master Gardeners are proud to present expert speakers, including Aaron Steil, the Consumer Horticulture Extension Specialist at Iowa State University. He’s also the host of “Gardening with Steil” on PBS and a regular guest on Iowa Public Radio’s weekly “Hort Friday” segment. Aaron will be teaching classes on “Waking the Garden in Spring” and “Water-Wise Gardening in Iowa.”
Scott Koepke is the founder of Garden Bridge Outreach, an interactive garden life skill education program serving primarily social service agencies and correctional facilities in the corridor. He also co-founded the hunger relief farm Grow Johnson County. Scott will be teaching a class called “From Soil to Soul: The Healing of Gardening.”
Other top-notch speakers include Nick McGrath, a field coordinator at Trees Forever. He has assisted Iowans in replanting efforts after the August 2020 derecho. Nick will be teaching “Planting Trees for Tomorrow.”
Kacie Waters is a Natural Resources Field Specialist for ISU Extension. She works to create natural resources education programs and also assists in the coordination of the Iowa Master Conservationist Program. She will be teaching “Gardening and Wildlife” and “Edible Ground Cover Lawn Alternatives.”
Kristine Nemec is a program director at the UNI Tallgrass Prairie Center. Kristine’s class is “Add Balance to Your Blooms: Why Native Plants, including Native Grasses, Matter.”
An Assistant Professor in the Department of Horticulture at ISU, Dr. Suzanne Slack will teach “Unusual Berries for Iowa” and “How to Fight Fire (blight) in Apple and Pear Trees.”
Emelia Sautter is a Certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide. She will be presenting a class on “Nature and Forest Therapy.”
Emmaly Renshaw’s passion for growing local food systems and improving food access for all families led her to be the Executive Director of Feed Iowa First. Emmaly will be talking about “Regenerative Gardening – Retire the Tiller for Better Soil Health.”
A Question and Answer session will be offered with Aaron Steil, Kaycie Waters, and Dr. Suzanne Slack. And new this year is a Seed Swap. Bring your extra seeds and swap them for different ones. We’ll accept seeds from your garden or labeled packages of seeds three years old or less.
Workshop topics range from Apartment Agriculture, Designing a Natural Garden, Pollinator Magnets, and Vermicomposting: Let the Worms Do the Work. Hands-on classes include how to propagate houseplants, how to make a rustic tower terrace, and making a succulent dish garden. For complete class descriptions and registration, go to https://www.extension.iastate.edu/linn/winter-gardening-fair..
There will be numerous horticultural related gardening vendors and non-profit organizations to visit before, during and after the classes as well.
Registration includes your choice of five classes, and a box lunch. Kirkwood Linn County Regional Center is located at 1770 Boyson Road in Hiawatha, Iowa. This location is completely handicap accessible, and parking is on the north side of the building. Registration fills up quickly, so don’t delay. Deadline is Feb. 10.
The Iowa State Extension and Outreach carries Iowa State’s land-grant mission throughout all 99 counties of Iowa. They provide education and partnerships designed to solve today’s problems and prepare for the future by feeding people, keeping them healthy, helping their communities to prosper and thrive, and turning the world over to the next generation better than we found it. Master Gardeners are passionate about serving their communities and sharing gardening best practices. It is the acquisition of knowledge, the skill in gardening, and giving back to the community that distinguishes a Master Gardener from other gardeners.