GardenFest coming Saturday

By DANA SAPP/Correspondent

Ah, spring…the time of year to get outside and enjoy nature’s rebirth and renewal. Everyone looks forward to this season, especially after the long, cold winter months, and maybe no one more so than the members of the Wythe-Bland Region Master Gardeners Association. An extension of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, the Master Gardeners enjoy horticultural projects that help to educate the public.
One of these projects is planting and maintaining the beautiful herb garden at the Rock House Museum in Wytheville. Choosing the plants that go into the garden may take as much time and patience as actually planting the seeds. Heritage plants are chosen that would have been grown at the time the Rock House was built and occupied. Care was taken to choose plants that would have been used for their medicinal value and for kitchen flavoring by cooks and doctors during the Civil War period. All plants are native to the area, and the educational herb garden bed is open to the community and tour groups.
Weeding and maintaining the beds and the collection of seeds at the end of the season are only a few of the Master Gardeners tasks.
Another one of the association’s major projects is taking place this weekend.
GardenFest is being held at the Wytheville Meeting Center on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is open to the public.
“GardenFest is an educational program about horticulture,” said David Danner, chairman of the event. “We want to get our youth as well as adults involved in learning how to plant and harvest, or to just how get out and enjoy nature and the outdoors.”
Seminars and workshops will be going on all day on Saturday.
Workshops include beekeeping, rain gardens, a nature walk and backyard bird habitat.
A hands-on workshop for youth will also be available. Kids will learn how to start plants by planting seeds in eggshells placed in egg cartons. They can take their egg cartons home and watch their plants grow.
Vendors will also be available at the event as well as local school groups selling greenhouse plants to help get everyone starting with their spring planting.
For more information call 699-1842.
Dana Sapp is a freelance writer who lives in Grayson County.