|
Spring Gardening School: It's Cold, It's Raining - It Must Be Spring
Start the season off right by spending a day, Saturday March 15 - 9am to 4pm, with noted garden and natural resources professionals, Extension educators and the Master Gardener volunteers of Putnam County.
These classes, held at the Putnam County Emergency Training and Operations Center, 112 Old Route 6 Carmel, will help you grow vegetables the organic way; attract birds to your garden and make it a Certified Wildlife Habitat; use native plants to improve our environment; and learn how your lawn can protect water quality.
The guest speakers are sure to make your day even more exciting: Mike Ruggiero, senior curator at NY Botanical Garden and Matterhorn Nurseries, will talk about how to make bold, eye-catching containers and how to keep them beautiful all season long. Marc Palmer, president of the Connecticut Westchester Mycological Association, will share the fascinating life of our area's mushrooms. Choose any four of the eight classes offered during the day. Each class has a suggested experience level: Advanced, Intermediate, Beginner. Everyone is invited to the end-of-day Question-Answer Panel. This full-day event is a powerful way to start your gardening season. Everyone attends Mike Ruggiero's Keynote Class from 9-10.
Then choose any 4 of the day's 8 classes:
1/ 10:10 11:10am Native Plants as Ecological Partners (A) Dianne Olsen, Environmental Horticulture Educator Learn how native plants can attract wildlife, help soil erosion and contribute to your beautiful landscape.
2/ 10:10 11:10am Environmental Lawn Care (B) Jennifer Stengle, Environmental Horticulture Educator Protect water quality and ecosystems take care of your lawn with the environment in mind.
3/ 11:15 12:15am Mushrooms Exciting Discoveries in the Woods (B) Marc Palmer Learn to recognize common mushrooms of the Putnam area from a true expert.
4/ 11:15 12:15am Propagation, Division: Making More Plants (A) Master Gardener Learn hands-on techniques of dividing perennials and tubers, tissue culture and other ways to share.
12:15-12:45pm Lunch
5/ 12:50-1:50pm Compost: Environmental Bonanza in Your Kitchen (B) Zshawn Sullivan, Master Gardener You can increase your contribution to the environment by using food scraps and garden waste. It's easy!
6/ 12:50-1:50pm Tomatoes and Other Vegetables (B) Sue Douglas and Al Lotrecchiano, Master Gardeners How to grow tomatoes in every size, shape and color and a few other vegetables to go with them.
7/ 2-3pm Attracting Birds to Your Garden (I) Anita Malpica, Master Gardener You can make yours a haven for finches, nuthatches, thrushes and bluebirds, and help pollinators, too.
8/ 2-3pm Perennial Gardens (I) Master Gardener How to use beds, borders and islands, the classic shapes for perennials and what plants thrive in Putnam.
Everyone attends the Question & Answer Panel from 3- 4.
There is a $25 registration fee. A gourmet box lunch is available for an additional $10 per person or brown-bag it. Registration forms are available at www.cce.cornell.edu/ putnam or by calling Cornell Cooperative Extension at 845- 278-6738
| 
