Garden Fest

The Garden was busy today, with Garden Fest, the Unity Project, and a regional Girl Scout Council Brownies activity this morning, not to mention a large afternoon wedding in the amphitheater.

And there were lots of 'regular' visitors.

This was the second year of Garden Fest.

Master Gardeners John Lander, Sue Ercolini, and Talley Parker with advice about planning a garden

Supported by a network of groups from SC Master Gardener volunteers, Clemson University's Home and Garden Information Center, (CU) Students for Environmental Awareness, Upstate Locavores, CU Dirt to Food, a troop of middle-school Girl Scouts, and SCBG and Bob Campbell Geology Museum staff, it was a rewarding event.

Ellie Taylor of Upstate Locavores sharing ideas about container gardening

We're basically encouraging folks to grow more of their own vegetables, and providing information about how to do it.

At the introduction table, I talked to young families, retirees, and mid-life folks, all who were interesting in growing more of their own food. It was a nice event.

Joey Williamson and Janet Scott, from CU's Home and Garden Information Center providing advice

Vegetable transplants (a variety of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, tomatillos, and herbs) went off to new gardens (I donated the seeds so I feel a lovely sense of potential bounty shared).

Garden Fest: Building Community, Growing Vegetables

What an excellent gathering we had on Saturday!

Information table (thanks, Celia, for a wonderful vegetable display)

Planning a Garden information table: Sue Ercolini,
John Landers, Corrie Norman, Celia Melville and
Chuck Cruickshank (not in this photo).

Improving your soil (Karen Terry, Martha Duke and CU Student Organic Farm staff)

A first community event organized under the 'umbrella' of the Garden to promote growing your own food and finding locally-grown food and reaching out to folks of all ages and neighborhoods had literally hundreds of people at the tents at the far end of the Discovery Center parking area. The parking lot was almost continuously full for the 3 hour event, not a common occurrence.

Vegetable transplants were a hit, along with expert advice provided by CU Home and Garden Information Center staff Joey Williamson and Janet Scott along with Geoff Zehnder of CU Sustainable Agricultrue.

Kids had fun with Vegetable Twister,
coordinated by Sprouting Wings staff members
Allison O'Dell and Kendra Vincent,
along with SCBG volunteer Fred Mettlach


A planted Earth Box (check out the size of the chard!) - thanks to Upstate Locavores Ellie and Ted Taylor (and the donated Earth Box project)

The volunteer staff numbered over fifty dedicated folks from SC Master Gardeners, CU Home and Garden Information Center, CU Food Science , CU Sustainable Ag. Program, CU Student Organic Farm, Upstate Locavores, Students for Environmental Awareness, SCBG volunteers and staff, and dedicated 'independent' volunteers. Clemson Area Transit (CAT) provided free transportation from Clemson Community Care and Littlejohn Community Center, and an opportunity to find out about CAT.

Container Vegetable Gardening (Debra Strange, Dee Person, Linda Alston-Binic)

Planting in hay bales attracted a lot of attention, thanks to Dee Person's demo.

Information tables spanned 'Planning a Garden,' 'Improving your Soil,' 'Keeping Things Growing' to 'Container Vegetable Gardening'. Demo edible containers brought by Linda Alston-Binic and Debra Strange were always surrounded by a crowd.

The Heirloom Seeds table offered heirloom vegetable seeds collected by Dr. David Bradshaw ('graduated' CU professor of Horticulture) now maintained and sold by South Carolina Foundation Seed, through the Heirloom Vegetable Garden at SCBG. 'Preserving the Harvest' - staffed by CU faculty members from the Department of Food Science) encouraged folks to safely can, freeze, and dry vegetables and fruits, extending the season throughout the year.

The Upstate Locavores, who initiated this event (thanks, Ellie, Catherine, and Steve!), provided information about local farmers' markets, how to find local food, crop sharing, and regional resources.Students for Environmental Awareness helped with set-up.

The Garden unveiled our new gift shop offerings and promoted supporting the Garden (anyone who follows the state budget will realize how vital our outside support is to our continued survival and growth, and how much we depend and appreciate the support of our visitors, members, and donors).