DANVILLE – Does the frozen landscape make you daydream about spring flowers and bountiful harvests? It’s time to shake off those winter blues with Illinois Extension and Danville Area Community College.
The Vermilion County Master Gardeners are holding their annual Garden Day festival on Saturday, March 9, from 8 am to 4 pm at the Bremer Conference Center at Danville Area Community College, 2000 E. Main St., Danville. An annual tradition for over 25 years, this year’s Garden Day will bring you entertaining speakers, unique vendors, a silent auction, donation baskets and door prizes.
The full day costs $30, and your ticket will include access to all four of the day’s speakers, lunch from the DACC School of Culinary Arts, a goody bag full of speaker giveaways, and more. All proceeds go to help fund the Master Gardener Projects in Vermilion County. Can’t commit all day? The spring festival, featuring garden-themed baskets, vendors, and a silent auction, is open to the public throughout the day.
The event features four speakers from Illinois Extension and local and national businesses to help you gain inspiration for your own garden!
Illinois Extension Educator Chris Enroth will present “Building a Healthy Soil for Your Landscape.” Enroth will explain why soil is the foundation of any garden and it starts with good management practices. He will discuss soil testing, the best way to mulch, compost, and soil amendment.
Extension Educator Jennifer Fishburn presents “Culinary Herbs and Pollinating Insects.” Gardening with culinary herbs is a great way to add interest and fragrance to the garden, with the added benefit of using herbs for cooking and attracting pollinating insects.
Marshall Dirks, Vice President of Marketing for Proven Winners, will help gardeners create their spring shopping lists with “What’s New with Proven Winners?” Prior to joining Proven Winners in February 2000, Dirks worked as a product manager for Ball Seed Company, where he handled several vegetative product lines, including Proven Winners.
Toby Brown of Lingley Brothers Sweetcorn will present “What’s Wrong with My Tomatoes?” In addition to his famous sweet corn and beekeeping business, Toby grew and sold tomatoes for many years at local Farmers Markets. He will cover the principles learned from his own experience: Sanitation, Irrigation, Soil, Crop Rotation, Spacing, Diseases, and Pruning and will have some nice visual aids.
To reserve your seat, visit go.illinois.edu/GardenDay2024. Your ticket will be reserved after receiving the payment. This event has sold out in the past, so be sure to purchase your ticket early.
Learn more about Vermilion County Master Gardeners at go.illinois.edu/VCMG or contact Jenney Hanrahan at jhanraha@illinois.edu. You can also visit our office at 3164 N. Vermilion, Danville. If you need a reasonable accommodation to attend, please contact our office at 217-442-8615.
Illinois Extension leads public outreach for the University of Illinois by translating research into action plans that enable Illinois families, businesses and community leaders to solve problems, make decisions inform, and adapt to changes and opportunities. Illinois Extension is part of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences.
