The Master Gardener Foundation of Clark County will hold its monthly meeting Tues., Feb. 4, 7 p.m., at the CASEE Center, Building B, Room 202/205, 11104 NE 149th St., Brush Prairie.
These meetings are free to the public and members, no registration is required. This month’s meeting will include two programs: “Thomas Jefferson, Farmer,” with presenter Joseph Ziemba, and “Flowers, Fjords & Friends,” a report on the 2013 International Master Gardener Conference by Diana Chernofsky.
Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, President of the U.S., and Ambassador to France, architect and book collector, was most of all a man of the earth and wanted to be known as a farmer above all. He wrote to painter Charles Willson Peale: “I have thought that if heaven had given me a choice, it should have been on a rich spot of earth, and near good market for the productions of the garden. No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden.”
Through his meticulous record keeping, the staff at Monticello was able to recreate a 1,000-foot garden and orchard he designed and planted. He nurtured 330 varieties of 99 species of vegetable and herbs and was a pioneer in the garden-to-table movement. The garden will be the focus of the presentation. A 15-minute DVD on Monticello will also be shown.
“Flowers, Fjords & Friends” is an armchair travelogue about the 2013 International Master Gardener Conference, which took place aboard the Holland America “Westerdam” cruise ship, Sept. 7-14, while visiting various ports of call in Alaska.
Master Gardener, gardening and traveling enthusiast Diana Chernofsky will show slides of special sights from the trip and provide information about each port. She will present highlights from her three favorite conference classes that she attended during the week long cruise. She will also provide information regarding the next International Master Gardener Conference being held in September 2015.
