Day On The Farm Project

Organic Farming Sparks Local Interest

by Barbara Kay Carlisle

The experts teaching casual outdoor courses, during the four-hour event, included several master gardeners, a horticulturalist, Minnesota’s Clay County Extension Office educators, conservation and soil experts, NASA-funded researchers, and an entomologist. Young and old alike learned how to do the following through various informative and fun sessions: make and tend to a backyard compost heap, plant perennials, create unique garden containers, put “good” garden bugs to work, and plant trees to save money and the environment.

Children learned a lot of things, too, but not the dull schoolbook way. Swarms of boys dashed about in the fresh country air behind a silo and around stationary tractors waving large nets, similar to butterfly nets with long handles, occasionally sweeping their nets downward on the ground along the grass to discover what types of bugs were virtually invisible to passersby. One adventurous boy, 13-year-old Peter Totten of Moorhead , said he was trying to catch a bee! Little girls (and big ones, too!) seemed to prefer watching Amber Nord as she showed gardeners how to plant herbs, flowers, and ornamental grasses in unusual garden containers. Nord also discussed various decorative gardening ideas and tips, and how to grow perennials.