New Thing: Attend the Penn State Berks' 16th Annual Home Gardeners' School
Inspiration: Randall, Connie, a Love of Gardening
Cost: $0 (Thanks to my very generous in-laws)
Time: About 8 hours.
Bottom Line: My backyard = all possibility.
Reflection: As some of you may know, I grew up in a very pretty little town in rural PA--true farm country. Right outside the treeline that surrounded my backyard grew the corn and wheat fields of my farming neighbor, as well as the adjoining farms of his sons. For years, they also raised cows, chickens, and other livestock. My sister and I and our best friends (the granddaughters of said farmer) would spend hours out in those fields and woods planning forts, trails, and exploring. On top of all that agriculture on the borders of our property, my parents had a spectacular garden in our own yard. We raised vegetables, fruit (including several fruiting trees), flowers, and even honey. (We kept bees and my Dad called the honey we harvested "Hilly Honey".) Thanks to this upbringing, I am a true believe in home farming and gardening. When we moved into our house a few years ago, I put in two gardens which I have been loving! However, there is still a lot about gardening that I don't yet know.
Thankfully, I have wonderful in-laws who are also gardeners. In fact, they have what looks like a small plantation in their backyard! Since he knows how much I share his passion for gardening, Randall, my father-in-law who is a teacher at Penn State Berks, signed me up for their 16th Annual Home Gardener's School.
This was such a great day! There were hundreds of people there--several of them master gardeners. The Keynote Address was given by Bill Cullina, Director of Horticulture and Plant Curator for the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. The catchy title was: "Sugar, Sex & Poison: Shocking Plant Secrets Caught on Camera". Through his wonderful pictures and his vast knowledge of plants, he taught us how the world of pollen, poisons, pigments, pheromones, sugars and sex in plants translates to sound organic practices we all can benefit from. It is fascinating to see the way plants use the simple proteins that they produce.
After the Keynote, I attended equally interesting and helpful classes including: "Understanding Perennials: A User's Guide", "Seed Starting", "Beginner Vegetables", and "Edible Landscapes". It was not easy choosing which classes to attend since there were over 15 to chose from, but I walked away with wonderful ideas and such an appreciation for the science behind gardening. And I had a lovely box-lunch, which I always like!
Randall and I had such a great time that we immediately mad a trip to the garden center to pick up a few things. ;)
Lenten Meditation-
Prayed for LL the birthday girl!
Prayer Walk- All over the Penn State Berk's campus and had prayers in the sun.
Journal with Ken- Favorite Memories
Music-30 mins. with the piano.
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