Just as local fauna prepare for the winter by storing food and hibernating, Burley residents have the opportunity to do the same at this year’s fifth annual University of Idaho Extension South Idaho Gardening Symposium Saturday.
“The Master Gardeners Association put on a symposium every other year for the public and themselves,” said Jo Robbins, University of Idaho extension educator in crops and horticulture at the Jerome County Extension Office. “Mostly this year it’s centered on food crops, so it’s called, ‘A Garden for Everyone: Food and Fun.'”
Robbins said a booth fair will attract master gardeners, people who have taken a four-credit class at a reduced rate and are asked to donate 40 to 50 hours of their time.
“Jo Robbins and other extension members are providing grade-A information to folks at the Garden Symposium,” said Bill Loftus, science writer for the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
Terri McAffee, a master gardener will give a talk on how to garden “cheap and dirty.”
“Terri will give homespun ideas on how to use what people have around the house in their gardens,” Robbins said.
Other lecture topics include edible flowers, preserving summer’s harvest, seeds used in Idaho, how to garden in raised beds and patio containers, and the storage of garden vegetables, which will be presented by Robbins.
Loftus said events like the Garden Symposium are made possible by the University of Idaho Extension, where professionals work with the Idaho community to address youth, community, family, environmental, natural resource and agricultural issues.
“This is really what the University of Idaho extension does,” Loftus said. “It takes information that our researches and other researches around the county find and makes it accessible to the public.”
Loftus said the Garden Symposium is continuing the tradition of a land grant-based university in the community, which goes back more than 100 years. Members of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences provided information to farmers and home economics experts talked to farmers’ wives about preserving garden vegetables.
“Here we are 100 years later, still helping farmers and gardeners,” Loftus said. “It’s still relevant today because people are trying to stretch our food dollars.”
Robbins and Loftus said the increasing popularity of local food growth and consumption has created a huge increase in gardening.
Loftus said the symposium is about giving back to the community.
“It’s not about our experts, but it’s about the people in the community who have been trained and are giving back to the public,” he said.