My good friend Karen Schwartz of Calendula Garden Design is involved yet again in a big way in this year's Yard, Garden & Patio Show at the Oregon Convention Center February 17-19. She and her friend Carol Senna of Melingo Studio Landscape Design are the coordinators/organizers of the Incredible Edible Garden which includes espaliered fruit trees, a preserving station, dining area, stacked stone beds and much more. Here's the scoop straight from the YGP website:
You are in for a very special treat. This year's Incredible Edible Garden is being transformed by garden designers Karen Schwartz and Carol Senna into a lovely French jardin potager. The goal of the potager, an ornamental vegetable or kitchen garden, is to make the function of providing food aesthetically pleasing. Plants and garden structures are chosen as much for their functionality as for their color and form to offer year round interest.
Raised beds, charming wattle fencing, tucked away dining spaces and creative, edible screening options will be on display. We hope you'll be enticed into the growing garden-to-table movement. Experts will be on hand to provide bed preparation, planting, plant selection, preserving and other food and gardening-related tips and information. Even if food gardening isn't in your future, you'll be inspired by the design elements the garden offers. We're very excited for you to see it.
It's a very elaborate and time consuming project and I can't wait to walk through Karen and Carol's Garden along with the other several other life-sized gardens fully decked out and on display for the show. General all ages admission to the show is $10 and you can purchase tickets in advance or at the door.
Here's a little more info. from the website:
Enjoy daily performances by Ahmed Hassan host of DIY Network's Yard Crashers, the spectacular 7 Gardens of the World, Outdoor Cooking Classes, and fun for all ages. Experience our Garden to Table – Incredible Edible Garden, Free Garden Seminars & Demonstrations, the Remarkable Green Market and more.
I'm really happy that Karen invited me and many other local folks to attend for hour to two hour slots to answer edible gardening questions. The programming that I'm involved in is called Meet the Experts! and you can check out the schedule here. I'll be hanging out and answering questions about new harvest extension techniques and food and drink fermentation from 2-3pm on Saturday, February 18th at the Incredible Edible Garden. I wouldn't call myself an expert, I'd call myself an enthusiast but there are folks participating in Meet the Experts! who are indeed experts who you might be interested in checking out including Vern Nelson, Linda Ziedrich and many others.
Please stop by and say hello. Hope to see you there!
Portland's 2012 Yard, Garden & Patio Show February 17-19, 2012 at the Oregon Convention Center www.ygpshow.com Tickets are $10 all ages and available at the door. Or you can... Buy tickets in advance