The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service for Gillespie County and Hill Country Master Gardeners will present the Plantastic! Vegetable Gardening Seminar Feb. 7 in Fredericksburg.
The program will be from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Gillespie County Farm Bureau Building, 237 Equestrian Drive, Fredericksburg.
“Dr. Joe Masabni, AgriLife Extension horticulturist and assistant professor at Texas A&M, will be our special guest speaker, addressing organic gardening, weed management and cover crops for gardens,” said Beth McMahon, AgriLife Extension agent for horticulture, Gillespie County.
Registration will be from 8:30-9 a.m., and the program will run until 3:30 p.m. There will be a 45-minute break for lunch, with an optional box lunch provided through Clear River Catering.
Preregistration is preferred with paid preregistrations and lunch orders due by Feb. 4. The cost for the program alone is $30, and $40 with the box lunch. At-the-door registration will be $40 and will not include the box lunch.
The program will be divided into three separate breakout sessions with session topics addressing tomatoes, installing drip irrigation, beans and legumes, growing herbs, basic gardening, heat- and cold-tolerant vegetables and vegetable pickling.
“Due to popular request, we will have a special session focusing just on organic gardening this year,” McMahon said. “We also wanted to incorporate information about growing cover crops in a home vegetable garden.”
She said it is difficult for home and other small-plot gardeners in the Hill County to predict the challenges that the gardening year will bring.
“Challenges we face can include drought and summer heat,” she said. “And occasionally we can have a frost as late as April, which can catch many gardeners by surprise. My hope is this gardening program will prepare Hill Country and surrounding area vegetable gardeners for growing vegetables so they can get an excellent crop despite adverse conditions.”
Go to https://tinyurl.com/PlantasticForm for a preregistration form. Payment is due at time of registration and can be mailed to the AgriLife Extension office for Gillespie County at 95 Frederick Rd., Fredericksburg, TX 78624. Credit cards will not be accepted, and checks should be made to Gillespie County ANR Committee.
Full refunds will be given until Feb 4.
For more information, contact McMahon at 830-997-3452.
