Master Gardeners Sharing Date With Expo

Thu., March 23, 2000

By Mike Prager mikeprager15@gmail.com (509) 459-5454

The first-ever Country Life and Farm Expo at the fairgrounds this weekend will coincide with an open house at the Master Gardener office next door on Saturday.

Between the two events, residents can learn more about how to raise plants and animals and how to make the most of their property.

The expo at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds runs from Friday through Sunday and is sponsored by the Ag Bureau of the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce.

It will include demonstrations by various businesses and more than 60 free seminars. The show also will have a youth safety camp to teach children how to live safely in a rural environment.

Seminar topics include timber marketing, backyard forestry, farm finances, water rights, protecting wetlands, wildlife habitat, livestock production and herb farming.

Experts will give talks at six locations during the three-day event.

The expo hours are Friday from noon to 8 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The cost is $5, but discount coupons are available.

While the expo is in its first year, the Master Gardener open house is now going into its fourth year. The open house will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and is free.

Tonie Fitzgerald, county horticultural extension agent, said the Master Gardener open house was scheduled for Saturday to match up with the expo.

Last year, about 300 people attended the open house.

This year, Fitzgerald said, she expects greater attendance because of the dual draw.

A horse and carriage will ferry people between the expo and the open house at the extension office at 222 N. Havana.

Coupons for $1 off the expo entry fee will be available at the open house.

“We have all of these demonstrations and displays on all kinds of gardening concepts,” Fitzgerald said.

People can learn about gardening for the disabled. There will be a children’s plant learning room.

Other displays will include organic gardening, native plants, container gardening and ornamental grasses.

The Master Gardener plant clinic will be open so local gardeners can get advice on problems such as how to fight off plant pests or get rid of noxious weeds.

The Master Gardener program was formed in Spokane in 1973 to provide resources and expert advice to the public. It is largely run by volunteers who have at least 50 hours of training.

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