How Does Your Garden Grow?

Maybe for the first time in a few years you are enjoying a bumper crop in your garden – beans, melons, tomatoes, zucchini, berries and more. We certainly hope so! If your garden harvest is good this year, you’ll want to know about two events happening at the State Botanical Garden this month that will give you ideas on what to do with all that healthy, fresh produce.
Brenda and BJ will teach a class on canning beans and tomatoes on July 16 - they have a lot of experience growing and canning both. The relaxed class setting allows for lots of comments and questions.
Twilight Toasts in the Garden is a popular quarterly wine tasting that includes live music and light hors d’oeuvres, plus Master Gardeners on hand to explain Plant a Row for the Hungry, a people-helping-people program that encourages gardeners to grow a little extra to donate to food pantries. Take home a row marker for your garden and information on where to take that extra zucchini.

Canning the Summer Garden
Brenda Beckham & BJ Garrett, Athens Area Master Gardeners
Thursday, July 16 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Callaway Building Auditorium members $12; nonmembers $14
Beans and tomatoes coming out your ears? Freezer full and neighbors no longer answering the door? Join Brenda and BJ for an introduction to the pressure cooker method of home canning. Learn the basic tools and techniques used for canning fruits and vegetables from your garden. Sterilizing jars, peeling tomatoes, and assuring jars are sealed correctly will be covered. This marvelous teaching team will also cover how to make jams and jellies. Pre-registration required.

Twilight Toasts in the Garden
Thursday, July 23, 2009 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Visitor Center & Conservatory $10 Friends members/ $15 non-members
What a combination: a warm summer evening in the Garden, live music that suits the weather, light hors d’oeuvres, and new wines to sample. Our horticultural segment will be information about Plant a Row for the Hungry, a small idea that has grown into a nationwide movement where community groups and backyard gardeners help their neighbors. Wine tasting by The Healthy Gourmet in Athens. Light hors d’oeuvres by Trumps Catering. Live music by Geoffrey Garland, a talented classical guitarist. Come join the many that have found out that this eclectic after-work event is the place to gather, relax and enjoy the Garden.
Presented by Athens First Bank & Trust and Athens Area Health Plan Select in cooperation with FRIENDS of the Garden, The Healthy Gourmet and Trumps Catering.