The Master Gardener Education Day for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Erie County will again be open to the public. Register early; last year the event was open to the public for the first time and it sold out.
The Education Day will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 18 at Classics V Banquet & Conference Center, 2425 Niagara Falls Blvd., Amherst.
The deadline to register is March 14.
Two nationally renowned speakers will give presentations.
Ellen Ecker Ogden, a well-known author on garden design and kitchen gardens, will give two presentations.
The first will be “The Art of Growing Food,” in which she will take the mystery out of growing an edible garden and show how to simplify the garden design process and organize for beauty and productivity. The second presentation will be “Growing Herbs,” which will cover greens and aromatics in small spaces and containers.
Ogden is the co-founder of The Cook’s Garden Seed Catalog and the author of five books on food and gardens including The Complete Kitchen Garden, The Vermont Country Store Cookbook and Growing and Using Basil.
Dr. Antonio DiTommaso, a professor at the Weed Ecology and Management Lab at Cornell University, will speak on “Identifying and Controlling Weeds.”
DiTommaso is a nationally recognized expert on weeds, weed management and the impact of invasive species. He works on identifying and controlling weeds and invasive species and is one of the authors involved in the new edition of Weeds of the Northeast.
The day begins with registration from 8:30 – 9 a.m. There will be a full hot buffet lunch.
Registration information is available through the Cornell Cooperative Extension, 652-5400, ext.177 or through their website.
The cost for the day, including buffet lunch, is $50 for the public and $45 for out-of-county Master Gardeners.
Registrants will be able to order up to two books from Timber Press at a 25 percent discount. More information on the book order is in the registration information.
