Old Sturbridge Village to Host Gardening Workshop

Friday, March 15, 2013

Jeffrey Starr, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

OSV interpreters demonstrate gardening 1830s style

Home vegetable gardeners and expert horticulturists will gather at Old Sturbridge Village on March 23 for the Village's fifth annual garden workshop, "So You Want to Have a Vegetable Garden!"

The Workshop will cover topics including: when to plant; how to start seeds indoors; how to establish garden beds; how to compost with kitchen waste' and how to select vegetables for the beginning garden.

The ultimate goal of the full-day symposium is to share practical knowledge to assist the home gardener. Botanist Judith Sumner will deliver the keynote address, "Botanical Mysteries." Sumner, who has appeared on the Martha Stewart Show, teaches medicinal botany at Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum and is the author of The Natural History of Medicinal Plants.

Other speakers will include Old Sturbridge Village garden researcher Christie Higginbottom, soil expert Dawn Pettinelli, and master composter and recycler Mary Jane Tynan.

"Part of Old Sturbridge Village’s mission is to make the past relevant to our lives today and this is one great way to do that. We have several gardens at the Village, both practical and decorative, plus a working farm and a very large herb garden. So visitors can come to the Village and see how vegetables, herbs, and flowers were grown in the 19th-century, but workshops and hands-on programs like the March 23 Garden Workshop really allow them to learn practical skills that they can take home," says Kate Brandt, Marketing & Communications Coordinator at Old Sturbridge Village.

Gardeners attending will receive a free packet of Old Sturbridge Village heirloom seeds. Cost of the day-long workshop, sponsored by Southbridge Savings Bank, is $35 per person; $30 for OSV members. Attendees may also register for a "Local Harvest Luncheon" on the day of the workshop.

Old Sturbridge Village horticulturists note that backyard vegetable gardening is on the rise today, as more and more people choose to grow their own vegetables and eat non-processed "real" food or "slow food." Demand for heirloom seeds is also growing, and each year OSV gardeners save seeds from historical plant varieties and make them available through the museum gift shop.

"This is a great opportunity for us to marry the 19th and 21st centuries, for example, we’ll be talking about modern day techniques, but also providing participants with seeds for heirloom variety vegetables. The home gardeners can then enter their heirloom harvest into our old-fashioned Agricultural Exhibition in September," says brandt.

Workshop participants are also invited to attend four free follow-up gardening demonstrations during the spring and summer on April 27, May 25, June 22 and August 22.

For more information please visit the Old Sturbridge Village website.