Speaking and Vending in Iowa....

April 14th found Peggy and I vending at the Garden Gala in Knoxville, Iowa. The annual event is organized and offered to area gardeners by the local Federated Garden Club. The registration is limited to two hundred and sells out early each year with little or no advertising. This year was our first invitation to the gathering and did we have fun.

I along with Mike Gooder, of the Plant Peddler and Marcia Leeper, Corporate Gardener for August Home Publishing Company were the featured speakers for the event. It was a real treat to hear both Mike and Marcia share their years of gardening knowledge with the group. If you grow any kind of bedding plants it is likely that at least a few of them were trialed at Mike's operation in Cresco, IA. If you have read a copy of the Garden Gate Magazine you have seen examples of Marcia's gardening ability. I was able to share a little bit about growing Japanese Maples in an Iowa environment.

I must have been well received as I was invited back to vend at the Federated Garden Clubs of Iowa State Conference in June. I relish the opportunity!

Miniature Landscapes.......

 First you build some papercrete containers.....then you fill them up..........

These are the first of many that I will make for sale at the events I attend this year. You can see our vending schedule here.

2012 Vending Agenda....

Each year in March the Great Lakes Region Hosta Society hosts a gathering of approximately five hundred enthusiastic gardeners from across the United States, Canada, and Europe called the "Hosta College". The Gathering happens at the Upper Valley Joint Vocational School in Piqua Ohio.

Friday night finds participants touring through the vending room, enjoying a rare and specialty plant auction, and socializing. Saturday is full of classes taught by volunteers on a wide variety of gardening subjects. You can find more information here.

April 14, 2012 you will find me vending and speaking to a great group of avid gardeners from Knoxville, Iowa and beyond. This event is organized by the Knoxville Federated Garden Club and is filled to capacity every year. The day will be filled with good food, good speakers, and plenty of vendors offering the different and unusual. You can find more information about the Garden Gala here.

 The 2012 Southern Region Master Gardener Conference is hosted as a partnership between the Mississippi Master Gardener Association and the Mississippi State University Extension Service. This Conference will be held in Natchez, Mississippi on May 1-4, 2012.  Join along with Master Gardeners from several states, vendors, horticultural experts, and garden writers to enjoy this experience. This will be our first opportunity to vend in this region and we are excited. Conference information is available here.

We will again be vending at the Arkansas State Master Gardener Conference. This year's conference will be held in Monticello, Arkansas on the campus of the University of Arkansas/Monticello.  We were invited to speak and vend at the 2011 conference held in Harrison, Arkansas. Peggy and I had such a wonderful time comparing notes with some of the best gardeners in the State of Arkansas so we are very pleased to have the opportunity to revisit their organization. Details about the conference are being finalized and I will provide a link to more information as it becomes available. Vending will be open to the public. Mark these dates May 17th-19th, 2012.

Hostapalooza!!!

On May 26th I will be vending and speaking at an event being organized by the Wichita Hosta Society at the Sedgwick County Extension Building.   7001 w 21st N   Wichita, Kansas. It will be an all day event and will feature both speakers and vendors.  Download pdf. flyer here

The 40th anniversary of Gypsy Caravan, the annual Memorial Day shopping fair, is presented by the St. Louis Symphony Volunteer Association! One of the Midwest’s largest antique, craft, and flea markets, the Gypsy Caravan will take over the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Peggy and I along with vendors from more than 20 states will set up shop at the North County campus. The Gypsy Caravan is a fundraiser for the St. Louis Symphony and we are proud to support their efforts. Come see us on Memorial Day, May 28, 2012. You can find more information about the event here

I speak and vend at many events throughout the country every year. I will be adding to this list as invitations and event information finalizes. I sell Japanese maples, dwarf & miniature conifers, miniature plant material, along with my papercrete containers and fairy garden/miniature landscaping supplies. 

Warm January Day.....

January 15th and it is over fifty degrees outside. With those conditions I needed to play with something green and alive so I grabbed four Aloes off the bench and potted them in a papercrete trough. I think most gardeners get the itch this time of year. Most are tired of being inside just reading about gardening and having plans that will be fun to get started on as soon as the weather becomes agreeable. We all treasure those days when the weather moderates and we can get out and at least accomplish something in the garden even if it is only potting a plant or two.

My wife took the opportunity to take all her house plants outside and watered them with the hose. I'm sure the plants shivered as the cool water hit but appreciated having half a winter's dust rinsed from their leaves. With the nighttime temperature forecast to be forty plus they had to spend the night outside to drip dry. They certainly looked perky this morning as she carried them back into this low humidity environment.

December Production.......

Here at the nursery the winter months are filled with getting everything cleaned up and ready for Spring. It is during the winter that I have time to produce enough surplus papercrete pieces to keep me supplied while vending at events across the U.S. December is cluttered with so many other things to do like Christmas ;>) to really get into production mode. The good news is that the cold days of January and February are usually reserved for inside work.

I will be working on making some new molds and experimenting with new shapes and textures. Many of the folks that have taken my classes share their ideas and experiments with me and I am always amazed at their ideas and ingenuity.  I have taken others ideas and put my twist on them or have adapted their idea to my process with great success.

One of my students created these simple papercrete sculptures she calls "Bottom of the Bucket Snowmen". Simple yet elegant and easy enough for anyone from 8 to 80 and beyond to create. This lady lives in the Northwestern Illinois area and is available to teach papercrete classes in that area. Contact me here to get more information about her papercrete classes.

A mold in a mold......

Every once in a while I get an idea! Actually it was someone who sent a picture of their work in hypertufa and I adapted it to my process. I call it a mold in a mold. It gives me a chance to mold the inside and outside at the same time. 

I have simply taken a dollar store three compartment party tray and taped it to a base then built a simple box to surround it. All the wood is put together with screws and can be disassembled to remove the completed project from the mold. As usual I coat the inside of the mold with vegetable oil applied with a small paint brush which keeps everything from sticking together as it dries.

You can see the finished project is multidimensional and could be used many different ways. My original idea was to include three assorted bags of bird feed and sell it as a bird feeder. With the addition of drainage holes for each compartment it would make a nice container to display an assortment of succulents. The finished project is 16 by 8 with compartments that are 2 inches deep.

Pots with Feet.....

Folks who stop to look at our products are always interested in the footed pots. Here are a few ideas on how we make them happen.

I first begin by creating an insert to place in the bottom of whatever I'm using for a mold. Many things can be used for this purpose but I use OSB available at any building supply store. I have also used insulation foam board, flat sheet styrofoam but since I like to make the same pot many times my personal favorite is OSB.

Place the insert into your mold. The insert will create voids which will become feet when you fill your mold.

Once you have your mold filled and had been allowed to dry a day or two you can remove the pot from the mold and carefully remove the insert which leaves molded feet on your container.

Once the insert is removed make sure to clean it before moving on to another project. Leave your pot to dry thoroughly then you will be able to finish the feet with a piece of course sandpaper. A little practice will make the task much simpler and you can develop your own style.