The Denton County Master Gardener Association will host the annual Fall Garden Festival from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4, in the Family Life Center at Trietsch Memorial United Methodist Church, 6101 Morris Road, in Flower Mound.
With a “Texas Gardening – You can do it!” theme, the free festival features seminars on successful gardening in Texas, master gardener information booths and items available for purchase. Visitors can chat with master gardeners about growing fall vegetables and creating a raised bed garden, water conservation techniques, worm composting, creating hypertufa containers, setting up drip irrigation systems and more
For more than a decade, the Denton County Master Gardener Association has offered residents an annual festival to share information on successful gardening and conservation practices for North Texas.
Although the festival has been hosted in several locations in Denton County, the 2014 festival will be the first one located indoors. The venue change was chosen to protect attendees from the unpredictable Texas weather in early October, according to an association spokesperson.
State Rep. Myra Crownover, District 64, will be given a special award by Dr. Douglas Steele, director of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service at 10 a.m. The Extension in the City award being presented to Crownover recognizes her leadership and support for the extension service in its mission to provide gardening, nutrition and conservation education to the rapidly growing urban population, according to a news release.
In classrooms near the main event area, hour-long seminars are set for such topics as perennial gardening, fall gardening, and converting sprinklers to drip irrigation.
Marilyn Simmons will speak at 11 a.m. on perennial gardening in the Texas heat. Simmons and her daughter teach gardening classes and grow vegetables for sale at their location in Waxahachie. They are active participants in the local food movement and host a weekly radio show, FarmGirls, which offers advice on applying organic growing methods to vegetables gardening.
Local environmental education specialist, Dottie Woodson, a water resource program specialist at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Dallas, will speak at noon. She will offer information and suggestions on creating a successful fall vegetable garden.
Patrick Dickinson, a program coordinator for the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, will speak at 1 p.m. on converting sprinklers to drip irrigation. He has a bachelor’s of science in horticulture and is an ISA Certified Arborist with extensive experience in the Texas horticulture industry.
Local vendors who will offer products and information to attendees include: CrossRoad Farm, Designed by Us, DL Building Solutions, Expressive Creations, Garden Stones by Angee and Teresa, Irma Murray Art, MeMom’s Basket Jackets, Purple Ranch Lavender Farm, Round Rock Honey Co. Dallas, Salted Sanctuary, Tea Hurrah, Tina Alvarez & Associates, TLC Landscapes, and Whole food works. Painted Flower Farm will be selling perennial plants just outside the event location.
Officials with the Denton Dyno Dirt program and Flower Mound will host information booths along with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Trinity Forks Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas. An antique tractor display will be outside near the Painted Flower Farm plant sale.
The festival also will feature live entertainment from the Flower Mound Community Orchestra, Voices of Flower Mound, Studio B Performing Arts Center, Texas Harmony Chorus (Sweet Adelines) and Dallas Tap Dazzlers. Vendors will offer hand-crafted items and information about maintaining a sustainable environment.
The Denton County Master Gardener Association website has the most current information on education booths and vendors at http://dcmga.com/events/.
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