Flower show fans, want to know more about Mike? Mike McGrath, that is, who’ll be speaking from the Home Depot stage on the opening day of the show. At 11 A.M. on Wed., Jan. 28, Mike will tell us all about his passion for organic gardening, and share “Seven Secrets of Successful Organic Gardeners.”  Here’s a quick preview:

“Want to grow twice as much in half the space, and half the time? Utilize these secrets that every good organic gardener knows to greatly increase your chance of success while dramatically decreasing the amount of work you have to do. Workshop leader Mike McGrath will walk you through those easy-to-learn tips, including:

• feeding the soil instead of your plants
• inviting beneficial life into your garden to devour insect pests before they can devour your precious plants
• preventing weeds by using a rich organic mulch rather than fighting them toe-to-toe all summer
• the overwhelming importance of utilizing water as a weapon
• and much more.”

Later that day, at 2 P.M., Mike will discuss “Ornamental AND Edible:   Kitchen Gardening A to Z.”   Here’s a “taste,” if you’ll excuse the pun, of what you’ll learn:

“The best ‘kitchen gardens’ really are located right outside everyone’s favorite room in the house.  Join Mike McGrath for a lively discussion on how to grow great tasting edibles right close to where you’ll enjoy them, including varieties so ornamental, you’ll be tempted to put them front and center in the flower garden!  We’ll delve into the secrets of successfully growing:

• true ‘vegetables’ like broccoli
• fruits we use as vegetables, like tomatoes,the single vegetable we use like a fruit
• fruits we use like…well, like fruits!
• AND the edible flowers of vegetables, like squash
• the edible flowers of FLOWERS—like pansies and nasturtiums
• the giant grass we enjoy with salt and butter every summer   (Lynn’s note: guess what this grass is??)
• and, of course, those absolutely essential herbs.

Mike grows to cook and cooks to grow.   So join us as we kick off a season of great eating with tips on how to enjoy your tastiest garden ever.  Oh, and start saving your eggshells now—you’ll never grow tomatoes without them after Mike reveals how they’re the secret to both great taste and defeat of the dreaded blossom end rot!”

Starting today, I’m saving those eggshells.  (I also save banana peels.  Has anyone else heard that they’re beneficial when planted around your roses?  Gotta ask Mike about that.)

Remember, I’ll be blogging LIVE from the show, so look for me when you visit.  I’ll post the times that I’ll be there as the opening day gets closer.  Also, I’ll have free bookmarkers to give out, along with small packets of mustard seeds for your kitchen garden.  They’re give-aways for my new book, Mustard Seeds: Thoughts on the Nature of God and Faith.

See you at the show!

Lynn

Tags: kitchen gardens, Mike McGrath, organic gardening

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 18th, 2009 at 12:07 PM and is filed under Gardening Tips, Vegetables. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.