Garden Shows Arrive; Can Spring Be Far Behind?
It may be difficult to believe but springtime and a new growing season are just around the corner and a sure sign of that is the arrival of the various local garden shows and expos!
If you need a break from all of the snow and cold that is probably still lingering outside your door, then a trip to explore the exhibits, workshops, and lectures at your own nearby garden expo may be the perfect way to spend a weekend afternoon.
2008 Mid-Atlantic Garden Show
Opening today is the Mid-Atlantic Garden Show in York PA at the Toyota Arena on the York Fairgrounds. This garden show runs from February 28 – March 2, 2008. Hours are 12 noon to 8 pm today, 10 am to 8 pm on Friday and Saturday, and 10 am to 5 pm when the show closes on Sunday.
Gardening workshops will offer the following topics and more:
- Hi Tech Flowers from South of the Border
- Honey Bees in the Garden
- Tree Care for the
- Bonsai, the Living Art
- The Way to a Clear Healthy Pond
- Bay Laurel Kitchen Wreath
- Great Plants For Your Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary
Also on hand this Saturday will be Rebecca Kolls of “Rebecca’s Garden” serving as the featured speaker and providing a lecture about organic gardening and a separate workshop on designing containers.
Jazzin It Up in Philadelphia
If you’re seeking a grander scale and want orchestras, brass bands, parades, and jazz as part of your gardening event then just head over to the Pennsylvania Convention Center and enjoy the 2008 Philadelphia Flower Show taking place from March 2nd through the 9th.
This event is one of the leading gardening shows in the entire country and dates back to 1829. The theme of this year’s show is “Jazz It Up” and promises to add some excitement with the music and gardening styles from the “Big Easy,” New Orleans.
In addition to the entertainment there will be plenty of great gardening ideas of interest to the vegetable gardener including: composting, bee keeping, container gardening, mulching tips, tree care, and information on growing herbs. There’s also a full line-up of All-Star Culinary Demonstrations that I’m sure will provide new ideas for using those fresh herbs.
Interesting gardening presentations will include the following subjects:
- Cooking with Herbs in the Louisiana Kitchen
- Attracting Birds to Your Backyard
- Vegetables, Fruits and a Touch of Flowers
- Who Goes There; Bugs in Your Garden, Friend or Foe?
- Seed Starting for Great Vegetables
- Beauty and Bounty in a Cook’s Garden
- Incredible Edibles
2008 Pennsylvania Garden Expo
Special events include Family Night on Saturday evening, and the benefit auction which will be held on Sunday afternoon. The auction will benefit the Future Farmers of America (FFA) Horticulture Programs in Central PA.
Scheduled gardening lectures that caught my eye included:
- Spare the Spray: Let Bugs Do Your Garden Pest Control
- Bonsai: A New Look for an Old Tree
- Soft/Biorational Pest Control
- A Green Way to Solving Your Garden Problems
- Organic Lawn Care
- Edible Herbal Bonsai Miniature Landscape
- Trade Secrets to Eco-Friendly Water Gardening
As usual, Roger Swain of the “Victory Garden” and Horticulture magazine will share his humor and extensive gardening expertise to keep you both informed and entertained on a variety of gardening topics.
So even if you can’t get out into the garden yet there may be a gardening show in your area that will help pass the time until spring arrives in your particular growing region.
Other Related Vegetable Gardening Posts:
- Garden Log 3-10-08: The Robins Return!
- PA Herb Festival 2007
- Signs of Spring 3-13-06
- 2006 Herb & Garden Faire
- Garden Log 12-8-05
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February 29th, 2008 at 12:37 am
Yeah I know I am sick of winter and glad that spring is drawing near. Yeah we actually have a home show going on next weekend in which I might plan on attending if I’m not too busy. Great way to go and plan for the summer and look forward to seeing some nice weather finally drawing near.
Great blog with tons of great gardening advice. Will stop by again and again.
Sincerely,
Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
March 4th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
How to kill pests without killing yourself or the earth……
There are about 50 to 60 million insect species on earth - we have named only about 1 million and there are only about 1 thousand pest species - already over 50% of these thousand pests are already resistant to our volatile, dangerous, synthetic pesticide POISONS. We accidentally lose about 25,000 to 100,000 species of insects, plants and animals every year due to “man’s footprint”. But, after poisoning the entire world and contaminating every living thing for over 60 years with these dangerous and ineffective pesticide POISONS we have not even controlled much less eliminated even one pest species and every year we use/misuse more and more pesticide POISONS to try to “keep up”! Even with all of this expensive and unnecessary pollution - we lose more and more crops and lives to these thousand pests every year.
We are losing the war against these thousand pests mainly because we insist on using only synthetic pesticide POISONS and fertilizers There has been a severe “knowledge drought” - a worldwide decline in agricultural R&D, especially in production research and safe, more effective pest control since the advent of synthetic pesticide POISONS and fertilizers. Today we are like lemmings running to the sea insisting that is the “right way”. The greatest challenge facing humanity this century is the necessity for us to double our global food production with less land, less water, less nutrients, less science, frequent droughts, more and more contamination and ever-increasing pest damage.
National Poison Prevention Week, March 18-24,2007 was created to highlight the dangers of poisoning and how to prevent it. One study shows that about 70,000 children in the USA were involved in common household pesticide-related (acute) poisonings or exposures in 2004. At least two peer-reviewed studies have described associations between autism rates and pesticides (D’Amelio et al 2005; Roberts EM et al 2007 in EHP). It is estimated that 300,000 farm workers suffer acute pesticide poisoning each year just in the United States - No one is checking chronic contamination.
In order to try to help “stem the tide”, I have just finished re-writing my IPM encyclopedia entitled: THE BEST CONTROL II, that contains over 2,800 safe and far more effective alternatives to pesticide POISONS. This latest copyrighted work is about 1,800 pages in length and is now being updated at my new website at http://www.thebestcontrol2.com .
This new website at http://www.thebestcontrol2.com has been basically updated; all we have left to update is Chapter 39 and to renumber the pages. All of these copyrighted items are free for you to read and/or download. There is simply no need to POISON yourself or your family or to have any pest problems.
Stephen L. Tvedten
2530 Hayes Street
Marne, Michigan 49435
1-616-677-1261
“An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.” –Victor Hugo
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” — Martin Luther King Jr.