PULLMAN, Wash. – More than 200 Master Gardeners from throughout the state will gather on the Pullman campus of Washington State University later this week for three days of workshops on topics ranging from sustainable food systems and drought resistant lawns to the psychological benefits of plants and building strong communities through gardening.
“This is an opportunity for our Master Gardeners, all of whom volunteer in their own communities, to receive some advanced training as well as network with each other,” said Tonie Fitzgerald, statewide program leader for Master Gardeners, which is a program of WSU Extension.
The WSU Extension Master Gardener of the Year also will be announced at the conference.
Teacher and naturalist Jack Nisbet of Spokane will deliver the conference keynote address at 9:15 a.m., Friday, in the Compton Union Building. He is the author of “Purple Flat Top”; “Singing Grass, Burning Sage”; “Visible Bones”; and two books about fur trader David Thompson: “Sources of the River” and “The Mapmaker’s Eye.” His teaching, presentations, writing and museum work all involve going outside and watching things grow. Nisbet’s current project, “The Collector: David Douglas and the Natural History of the Northwest,” explores the interactions of Scottish naturalist David Douglas with the landscape and culture of our region. It will appear from Sasquatch Books in fall 2009.
A full agenda of conference workshops is available at http://mastergardener.wsu.edu/mgconfagenda.html.
-30-