Bright Ideas On A Gloomy Day

Although it was gloomy today with sporadic rain and drizzle, the Therapeutic Horticulture symposium has gone very well. Dr. Larson (University of Minnesota) did a great job talking about intergenerational gardening programs and brought lots of enthusiasm and ideas to a group of about 70 or so attendees. I helped facilitate a "sensory station" (smell) out in the gardens with Elsa R. (left side of the top photo) and we sampled various herbs specifically for scent. The attendees seemed pleased with the content, interactions and seemed to enjoy the gardens as well. Lots of questions about the 'Hot Biscuits' amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus) seen to the left and mentioned in previous blogs. To the right is the marbled nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus 'Alaska Mixed') that was along our ornamental edible wall and was utilized as part of the "taste" portion of our break out sessions (both leaves and flowers of nasturtium are edible). Hopefully we will be able to host something very similar to this symposium in the future.


Terry, Little Jerry, Dr. Gredler and Kay held down the fort this morning while Janice and I helped with the symposium. Jerry and Doc mowed as did Terry. Terry also watered (before it rained) and was very flexible in helping put out "brush fires" today. Kay was a weeding whirlwind in the gazebo garden and continues to be so effective in dealing with problem areas. We also saw Bob T., Steve and Dr. Yahr today. Forgot to mention the weeding help of Sue and Kelley yesterday in the shade garden. Our team is so effective and the results show! Nice shot of arched bridge with a portion of the observation pier in the foreground. The new paint job on both of these sure looks nice.