Master Gardeners Plant Faire happens this weekend, Saturday May 22nd

The annual Master Gardener Plant Fair happens this weekend! In an earlier post I talked about the benefits of including locally grown plants in your garden, and this event is the perfect opportunity to buy some if you’re not inclined to grow your own.

This is the time of year Northern Nevada gardeners really start getting geared up to plant. Even if the sunny places in our houses are already filled with starts, we still feel the need to buy other varieties. Those of us who plant strictly purchased plants flock to the nurseries and hardware stores, and impulse-buy tomatoes at the supermarket. But going to the Plant Fair is way more fun than that!

If you’ve never been, it’s a hoot. Devotees start lining up early and come prepared with everything they need to play what is essentially a scavenger hunt. Here are some of things I find useful.

• Sturdy carrying boxes to hold the plants while searching, and then while standing in line to pay
• Invite a partner or bring a wagon to help you carry those boxes just in case you want too many to carry by yourself
• The plant list marked clearly with the plants I’m most interested in – I head for these first
• Cash—it’s so much easier than a check, but check work
• Arriving at 7:00 will still get you into the garden but the earlier you come the better the selection
• Come early to mingle with experienced Nevada gardeners and newbies. I always learn something and sometimes help someone else!

Here are the event details:

Saturday, May 22nd from 7:00 am - 11:30 am
The sale is located at the UNR Cooperative Extension Office, 5305 Mill St., between Rock and McCarran.

Most plants are in 4" pots and are $1.50. We also have one gallon pots and grape vines for $3.00. There are quite a few new varieties of plants in every category, some of which are hard to find in our area.

New this year, and I think very exciting, are buckets of red worms for vermicomposting. Each "bucket" will contain 1-1 1/2 pounds of worms and vermicompost. You will also receive an information sheet which details how to create a worm box from readily available supplies, what they prefer to eat, and troubleshooting tips, if things don't seem quite right. All of this for only $10.00!

As always, there will be plenty of Master Gardener volunteers on hand to answer your questions and help you with your selections. If you have a little red wagon or something akin, it is usually handy to have along.