— Submitted by the San Juan County Master Gardeners
The San Juan County Master Gardeners have changed their popular biennial gardening workshop from spring to fall. The Inaugural 2015 Fall Gardening Workshop, The Healthful Garden, will be held in Friday Harbor on Saturday, Oct. 10, and will include many science-based gardening topics.
A popular and dynamic speaker, Dr. Linda Chalker Scott will present “Horticultural Myths: Separating Fact from Fiction.” She is one of the many Seattle based scientists who teach in the San Juan County Master Gardener training.
Chalker-Scott is an associate professor in the department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Washington State University. She is also an Extension Specialist in Urban Horticulture, meaning she has a global classroom rather than one physically located on a college campus. She also maintains an affiliate associate professor status at the University of Washington.
She has a doctorate in Horticulture from Oregon State University and is a certified arborist. She is trained as a woody plant physiologist and applies this knowledge to understanding how trees and shrubs function in urban environments.
She says “this is a fancy way of saying that she enjoys diagnosing landscape failures – sort of a Horticultural CSI thing.” Chalker-Scott is co-chairman of the Garden Team at WSU, an interdisciplinary group that produces science-based Extension publications for home gardeners. She is a member of a three person academic team who host the “Garden Professors“ blog and Facebook pages.
The “Garden Professors” educate and entertain an international audience about gardening. She is also the author of four books: the horticultural myth-busting “The Informed Gardener” and “The Informed Gardener Blooms Again,” “Sustainable Landscapes and Gardens: good science – practical application, a comprehensive approach to the science behind urban horticulture and arboriculture” and the recently published “How Plants Work: The science behind the amazing things plants do.” She has published in the scientific literature as well as in popular magazines such as American Nurseryman, Organic Gardening, and Fine Gardening.
Another issue to be covered in this year’s workshop is soil, a hot topic this year since 2015 is the International Year of Soil.
Globally its health is an issue. In your garden, it should be a priority.
Dr. Craig Cogger is on the slate of experts presenting at the San Juan County Master Gardeners Fall Gardening Workshop in Friday Harbor, on Oct. 10. Dr. Cogger will share his recipe for healthy soil with us: how to build a soil rich in nutrients, microbes and earthworms.
Dr. Cogger received a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Bowdoin College, and a Masters in Organic Chemistry as well as a Phd in Soil Science from Cornell University. He has been a soil scientist at WSU Puyallup since 1984, and has done research on organic farming systems since 2002. Dr Cogger has just retired from his position as the WSU Extension Soil Scientist and Research Soil Scientist.
Currently Dr. Cogger teaches soils classes to Master Gardeners for WSU Extension, and makes presentations on soils, biosolids, nutrient management, soils amendments, water quality, climate change, and food safety to many agricultural, professional, volunteer and student groups. He is, not surprisingly, a life-long gardener.
All garden enthusiasts are welcome at this workshop. For tickets, workshop and presenter descriptions, visit Brown Paper Tickets website here, or call WSU Extension office at 360-370-7663. Tickets are $35 pre-purchase, $40 at the door.
