Master Gardeners Plant Fair: more than garden variety

By ROBERT VILLANUEVA

Jill Pickett

Amy Aldenderfer, county extension agent for horticulture, prunes a shrub in the garden at the Hardin County Cooperative Extension Service office. The Master Gardeners Plant Fair is Saturday, May 17 at the extension office.

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Jill Pickett

Master Gardener Carl Gammon weeds his Adopt-A-Spot in the garden at the Hardin County Cooperative Extension Service office in Elizabethtown. The Master Gardeners Plant Fair is on Saturday May 17th at the extension office.

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rvillanueva@thenewsenterprise.com

ELIZABETHTOWN — Rain or shine, the Master Gardener plant fair will be in full bloom from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Hardin County Cooperative Extension Service grounds, and lots of good things will be on sale for just a little green.

“It’s the best prices in town,” Angela Jenkins, advanced master gardener, said of the plants the master gardeners will sell.

Master gardeners grow plants — either from seedlings or seeds — to sell at the annual outdoor event.

“We literally sell off two hay wagons,” Jenkins said.

The plant fair also offers a variety of events and attractions, including vendors, demonstrations and a silent auction. Food, such as ice cream and kettle corn, will be sold at the fair.

Visitors seem to look forward to the vendor who sells kettle corn — Grandma’s Kettle Korn out of Rineyville.

“She’s a regular every year,” Jenkins said.

Among the demonstrations and classes will be instruction on how to make hypertufa plant containers, how to show vegetables and win at the county fair and how to do verdigris painting on concrete lawn ornaments. Hypertufa is a mixture of cement and other materials used to form planting containers. Verdigris painting is a technique used to simulate a green finish similar to aged copper.

A schedule of demonstrations will be posted at the fair. Visitors also will see displays with gardening-related information. One of those displays will address the topic of the 17-year cicada.

“Because this is the year,” Jenkins said.

The silent auction features gardening or gardening-related items donated from local businesses.

“That always brings in a lot of money,” Jenkins said.

About 30 master gardeners will be on hand and readily identifiable.

“If anyone needs any help, they can just ask anyone in a green apron,” Jenkins said.

Master gardeners take classes through the county extension office in which they learn everything from sowing seeds to pruning trees. They are trained in botany, entomology, fruit and vegetable gardening, flower gardening, pesticide use and safety and plant pathology, among other things.

The plant fair is a way for master gardeners to use these skills to benefit the community.

“That’s kind of our gift back to them,” Jenkins said.

IF YOU GO

The Master Gardener Plant Fair will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the grounds of the Hardin County Cooperative Extension Service, 201 Peterson Drive, Elizabethtown. Admission is free. For more information, call (270) 765-4121.

Robert Villanueva can be reached at (270) 505-1743.