Hardin County – This winter’s mild weather and lack of snow might have several people thinking if it will soon be time to work in the garden. If your thoughts have been wondering about this and you have been looking through garden catalogs, you are not alone. Spring is around the corner and so is the OSU Extension spring garden seminar. “Designing Your Garden” is the planned program being offered by the Hardin County OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteers this year. Get your seat reserved while you can. Plenty of topics are on the agenda for this event which will get your thoughts turned to gardening and away from the cold weather that has reminded us on occasion that it is still winter.
This year’s spring garden seminar will feature four expert speakers. ‘Grow and Use Herbs to Enhance Your Life’ will be the topic of speaker Ann E. Boyd. Culinary? Medicinal? Pollinators? Patio containers, raised beds, or full-scale historical gardens, there are many ways to bring herbs into your life. Recipes and reasons, growing tips and tricks, Ann will share useful information to help you fall in love with some of the oldest and most useful plants on the planet. She is the sole proprietor of My Own Backyard Herbs & Flowers – a private garden, studio, and greenhouse in Findlay, Ohio started in 1988. Studying herbs since the age of 19, she welcomes the opportunity to share her experience.
Presenter Joe Alger’s passion is ‘Inclusive Gardening’. Seminar participants will be able to take a look at how he has created gardens to get children with special needs as well as typical children interested in gardening at school and in the community; a hobby that can become a lifetime interest. Joe earned his master’s degree in education from Bowling Green State University. He has been an avid gardener for many years and has taught children with special needs in several counties.
‘Small Space Gardening’ is something that John King is known for in the gardening community. John’s talk will be about vegetable gardening in small spaces, focusing on growbags and the Square Foot gardening method. He will include a discussion on the soil medium, benefits, and downfalls of the different types of containers used to grow vegetables and the ones that he has found to be the best producers in a small space. John King has been vegetable gardening for over 30 years in several states. He is currently the president of the Hancock County Master Gardener Volunteers.
Merry Tapp’s area of expertise includes ‘Seed Saving’, which will be the final topic of the day. She will present tips and tricks for gathering, cleaning, and saving seeds of perennials, annuals, vegetables, and woodies so you can utilize them in the seasons to come. Merry Tapp has been a Master Gardener Volunteer in Morrow County. She teaches many MGV classes for the program and for the public. She has a degree in Horticulture from The Ohio State University.
This year’s event “Designing Your Garden” will be held March 7 at the Mid-Ohio Energy Cooperative Community Room, 1210 W Lima Street in Kenton. The seminar is open to the public, no matter how much gardening experience you have. The cost is $50, which includes a continental breakfast, box lunch, handouts, and door prizes. A reduced fee of $40 is offered for both interns and active OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteers.
Doors will open on the day of the event at 8:30 am, the program starts at 9:00 am and ends at 3:30 pm. Parking will be across the road behind Hardin Hills Health Center. Shuttles will take you to the Mid-Ohio Energy Cooperative building as there are limited parking spaces for persons with mobility issues and speakers at the location. The registration deadline is February 29 with a limited class size. For more information about this event, call Kim Thomas 419-674-8012.
