Growing for 37 Seasons in Northern Colorado

2012 Dates: Saturdays, May 19 to October 27

Time: 8 a.m. to noon

Location: 200 W. Oak Street, Old Town Fort Collins

More info: http://www.larimercountyfarmersmarket.org/

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Your Edible Backyard Gardening Workshop: January 22, 2011

(Special thanks to Carol O'Meara for writing this blog)

What: Your Edible Garden Workshop
Where: The Ranch, Larimer County Fairgrounds and Events Complex, 5280 Arena Circle, Loveland.
When: 9 a.m.- 4 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 22; registration from 8-8:45 a.m.Cost: $65 early bird, $75 after Jan. 14
Information and registration: Contact Weld County Extension at 970-304-6535.

Ask a gardener what they’d love for a gift, and they might look uncomfortable before responding vaguely “oh, I don’t know, anything’s wonderful.” Don’t be frustrated. It’s not that we don’t want to answer you; it’s just hard to explain that the things we cherish are likely to make you avoid us.

Even gardener to gardener, we don’t always know how our gifts will go over. One, regaling me with the tale of how she first got her green thumb, hesitated when it came to describing her dirt-loving mother’s gift for her first garden. “Guess what mom sent,” she said, a little self consciously. “Manure – she mailed a big box of chicken manure!”

Now there’s a memorable gift. Such treasure is what many gardening moms have given, and will continue to give for generations. But the gift of dung isn’t covered by the Dictionary of Etiquette, so if you’re searching for something different to wrap up this year, give the next best thing: knowledge.

Sign up your loved one for Your Edible Garden Workshop, a one-day immersion into food gardening offered by Colorado State University Extension offices in Larimer, Boulder, Weld, and Adams counties. This all-day workshop is Saturday, January 22, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ranch in Loveland, and costs only $65.

The event, held at the Ranch in Loveland just off I25, features a variety of seminars to suit everyone, from beginners to seasoned gardeners. Here’s a sampling of what’s in store for your gardener:

Successful gardens start from the ground up, and Dr. Jean Reeder will take participants on an exploration how to build great garden soil. “Soil is a living system, providing the fundamental support for all terrestrial life,” says the retired soil scientist, “we need to feed and nurture our soils so they can feed and nurture the plants, animals, and us.”

Other basics to help the novice gardener include demystifying irrigation, with Extension Agent Joel Reich, who will help participants save water while getting tender, sweet vegetables.

Tips for growing vegetables in Colorado will fill one seminar, but if your gardener wants to delve into specialty topics, they can choose from tomato selection, vegetable disease control, strawberries tips, how to grow raspberries and blackberries, or starting vegetables from seed.

If developing skills tops the list for your gardener, enroll them in Fruit Tree Pruning with David Whiting, Professor with Colorado State University. For high yields of quality fruit, fruit trees need care while young and annual pruning to keep them producing for years. Whiting will review the unique needs of each tree type, including apples, peaches, and other tree fruits.

Anyone feeling the pull of the earth while living without a place to garden will love Alison O’Connor’s workshop on vegetable container gardening. Patios, porches, balconies – any place with sun can be converted into an oasis of edibles. The seminar covers space requirements, plant needs, and recommended varieties.

January, says O’Connor, the CSU Horticulture Extension Agent in Larimer County, is the ideal time for this kind of event. With March around the corner, gardeners start planning early. Wrap their registration form with a pair of gardening gloves, trowel, and seed packets to make a gift they’ll remember almost as long as a box of manure.