Registration is open for the “Ready, Set, Grow” Winter Garden Seminar, a day-long event scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 3 at Chippewa Valley Technical College (CVTC) in Eau Claire.
The seminar is sponsored by the Eau Claire Area Master Gardener Association.
Heather Holm will give the keynote speech, on “Selecting Native Trees and Shrubs that Support Birds and Pollinators.” Holm, a Minneapolis-based landscape designer, is the author of Pollinators of Native Plants.
There will be three breakout sessions in the morning and another six in the afternoon. They will feature speakers on topics ranging from starting a community garden and cacao to beekeeping, renewable energy and new plant trends. There will also be a workshop on making herbal teas.
The event includes lunch and snacks, door prizes and displays by local vendors.
On-site registration starts at 8 a.m. and the program gets underway at 8:45 a.m. Holm’s keynote talk is scheduled for 9 a.m. with breakout sessions at 10:30 a.m. and 12:45 and 2:15 p.m.
The registration fee is $40 per person either online or at the door, plus $15 for the herbal tea workshop. Registration information is available at eauclairemastergardeners.weebly.com.
Breakout session speakers will include Holm, Rachel Hart-Brinson, Ellen Terwilliger, Kerri Kiernan, Matt Staudenmaier, Drew Kaiser, Adam Wehling and Patty Marten. Erin LaFaive will lead the herbal tea workshop.
Hart-Brinson’s presentation on starting a community garden will draw on lessons learned for the Southside Neighborhood Garden. Wehling will explore the benefits of solar, wind and geothermal energy and will discuss the possible costs and Wisconsin programs for cost sharing.
The seminar will be based in Room 103 at CVTC’s main Clairemont campus building, 620 W. Clairemont Ave. in Eau Claire. Attendees should park south of Clairemont Avenue in student lot P3 and use the footbridge to cross over to the main building.
The complete seminar brochure can be found at https://eauclairemastergardeners.weebly.com/uploads/2/4/2/4/24242524/wgs2018brochureregistration.pdf.