Nashua, IA – If you have a green thumb, no doubt this year’s dry weather has been tough on your produce. But this weekend, local gardeners got tips from horticulture experts.
Iowa State University’s County Extensions hosted the Summer Horticulture Showcase. Gardeners of all skill levels learned from experts about everything from growing the perfect apple to landscaping ideas.
For some, it’s the visual appeal. For others, it’s a way to put fresh food on the table. But no matter what the reason, gardening is a popular pasttime for many people.
“As a kid I always had a garden, and I like trees and plants and growing fruit,” said Patrick O’Malley.
Now, O’Malley has made a career out of helping others get the most out of their gardens. As a Commericial Horticulture Specialist for ISU Extension, he was one of the featured speakers at the summer showcase.
“There’s a lot of people here learning about edible vine crops and new favorite plants,” said Lesley Mehmen of ISU Extension.
It was chance for area growers to get together and learn more about the science of gardening.
“It gives the general person the opportunity to find something that might be interesting to them, or interesting to others, in addition to provide themselves with a healthy diet,” Mehmen said.
And this year, even those with the greenest of thumbs may need a little extra help.
“The biggest problem we had this year was we had this hard freeze back in April that wiped out a good share of the fruit crop. That was really devastating to a lot of growers,” said O’Malley.
And while the recent weather has been taking it’s toll on crops and vegetation, there is a bright side to the drought
“There was less disease and insect problems than usual. Especially disease was down due to the drier weather,” O’Malley said.
Those were just a few of the insights the showcase had to offer. There were also seminars on food preservation, strawberry renovation and even gourd painting.
For more information, click here: http://www.hort.iastate.edu/about
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