Moya Andrews, an advanced master gardener at the highest gold level, said the fair was a taste of what gardeners could look forward to when the weather warmed up.
“People are itching to get out in their gardens,” Andrews said. “It’s still early yet. We’re still likely to get frost, but it makes people excited.”
The fair featured booths selling garden art, prints of photographs and paintings, small planters of herbs, and other edible plants and wildflowers.
As the planting season hasn’t quite arrived, Andrews said the master gardeners emphasized frost-resistant flowers, like pansies, for eager-to-plant visitors.
“At the moment, pansies are being planted everywhere,” she said. “Many of them will go home with a container.”
The Master Gardener Association offers collective experience to the community, Andrews said — mostly practical knowledge, like how to control pesky wildlife or what grows best in local soil.
“New gardeners need to have experienced gardeners to help them grow,” Andrews said.
There are between 65 and 70 master gardeners programs spread between the 92 counties in Indiana, county extension director Amy Thompson said.
The next training session for Monroe County will take place in fall 2017 and will educate would-be master gardeners through 14 weeks of classes, a final exam and 35 hours of volunteer work helping other gardeners or groups plan their own projects, she said.
Thompson said the master gardeners receive training in soil science, tree care, fruit growing, herbs and other gardening elements, all with a background in peer-vetted science.
“Lots of people have home remedies and that kind of thing,” Thompson said. “We want to be sure that the advice we’re offering are things that are repeatable and reliable — not the thing your Aunt Edna got to work once.”
Salem Willard, the co-owner of Bread and Roses Gardens, sold leafy greens, wildflowers and fruit shrubs from his nursery, which sells multi-function edible, ornamental or otherwise useful plants.
“We try to produce food and flowers,” Willard said. “We’re trying to nurture people’s stomachs and their souls. We think they go hand in hand, that food and function meet.”
Willard, whose nursery and landscaping business are based in Bloomington, said he’s participated in the Garden Fair twice, as it sometimes takes place too early in the season for his plants to be ready to sell.
Jackie Gilkey and Nancy Miller, advanced master gardeners, manned the Thyme Cafe, where the fair sold fruit pies, some made with the frozen or canned remains of last year’s produce.
Gilkey said the recent sunny weather and clear skies put visitors in a gardening mood — even if the temperature hadn’t caught up with them.
“They have to get their plants,” she said. “If you’re a gardener, you just know.”
Miller said she liked that the profits from the Master Gardener Fair went toward community grants that help fund school programs.
“It’s a great program,” Miller said. “It’s a way to educate the community, then they go out and educate others.”
