Gardening Fair Saturday at Fairgrounds

Gardeners --- from first-time beginners to long-time experts -- should plan to attend the upcoming Gardening Fair on Saturday, March 19 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Everyone is invited to come to the Community Building on the Putnam County Fairgrounds in Greencastle to hear speakers, see demonstrations, visit with FFA students from Cloverdale and South Putnam high schools and shop.

All day long, there will be expert speakers talking about all kinds of gardening-related subjects. And for folks who love to shop, there will be several vendors selling garden-related items. There will even be a shed sale -- the gardener's version of a garage sale.

The Putnam County Master Gardener event is raising money for its scholarship program. This year's "Gardening Fair -- Something for Everyone" is open to the public. Folks are invited to come when they can, and stay as long as they like.

Admission is free. Children are welcome, too. The Cloverdale FFA chapter will have a booth for children where they can visit with high school students do a hands-on learning project about plant propagation. Several members of South Putnam's FFA will be on hand, demonstrating their aeroponics system of raising plants without soil.

Door prizes will be drawn throughout the day. Free baby trees and goodie bags will be given to the first 200 attendees.

Speakers will be making presentations all day. Everyone is invited to come and listen.

The schedule includes:

9 a.m. -- "Aquaponics." Steve and Missy Carrell, owners of Ponderosa Aqua Farms, will discuss innovative, eco-friendly gardening. Aquaponics combines both aquaculture and hydroponics to produce clean, fresh, vegetables, herbs, fruits and fish, all free of GMO's and harmful chemicals. You can grow year round in your own home or as large as a commercial operation.

10 a.m. -- "How to Paint Flowers." Donna Harcourt, teacher, artist and owner of DJ Creations, will discuss and demonstrate the painting of realistic flowers and greenery. She will also show how to attain different values of color and dimensions by the layering of paint, what kind of paint and paint brushes to use.

11 a.m. -- "Continuity of Color." Moya Andrews, author and radio host of WFIU's "Focus on Flowers," will discuss strategies for having color in the garden from earliest spring through the end of fall. By carefully choosing perennials and shrubs, and supplementing with annuals, Hoosiers can enjoy continual beauty in the garden while providing nourishment to native wildlife.

Noon -- "Butterfly Gardening." Tavia Pigg will give a general talk on gardening with butterflies (understanding life cycle, types of butterflies in our area, what to put in home gardens) and will include information on the Monarch Watch project (which provided free milkweed last summer at the farmer's market) and its success. Pigg will also talk about pollinators in general -- honeybees and solitary bees.

1 p.m. -- "Grafting and Pruning Fruit Trees." Matt Chandler of Chandler's Farm in Fillmore will discuss pruning fruit trees -- mainly apple trees. He will also discuss grafting and why it's done.

2 p.m. -- "Lesser-Known Backyard Edibles." Sam Erwin, owner of Indiana Berry and Plant Co. in Plymouth, will speak about what is needed to successfully grow and harvest currants and gooseberries. His company, which specializes in small fruits, services the needs of the home gardener as well as big commercial growers.

3 p.m. -- "Gardeners and Self-Sufficiency: Past, Present and Future." Damaris Zehner will look at the environmental, economic and social advantages of communities that can produce much of their own food, while considering some historical examples of disasters and successes. He also will look at what can be done to move toward greater self-sufficiency within our own communities.