St. Louis County Extension experts have scheduled a one-day conference on home fruit and vegetable production as a part of their Healthy Foods Initiative.
The seminar, set for March 17 at the Clinton Community Center on the Iron Range, is part of the Extension's effort to improve access to healthier food as a means of improving the health of individuals and communities.
Topics include information on vegetable varieties, small space gardening, growing hardy fruiting shrubs, small fruits and fruit trees and success secrets for the northern gardener.
The program will feature David Wildung, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota, Bob Olen and Kendall Dykhuis of the county's Extension program, and several experienced local gardeners. Wildung developed the Minnesota half-high blueberries and co-introduced several other fruit cultivars, including Snowsweet and Honeycrisp apples and Mesabi Strawberries. He'll talk about tree fruits, small fruits and fruiting shrubs including the recently introduced "Honeyberries."
Olen will present recent research on vegetable and tomato varieties for northern Minnesota as well as information on container and small space gardening. The program also will feature a gardeners' round table discussion and "Secrets to Success: What Every Gardener Should Know."
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The conference starts at 8:30 a.m. at the community center, in Iron at 8907 Minnesota Highway 37 (just west of U.S. Highway 53, or about an hour north of Duluth). The cost of the program is $40, which includes lunch, refreshments and a 2012 reference book developed specifically for the program. For more information, call (218) 733-2870 or go to www.stlouiscounty.org/ext .
