This free, public event is designed to give visitors practical information on how to design, build, plant and maintain a successful vegetable garden.
Master Gardeners will be on hand to give informal mini-talks on such topics as irrigation, soil preparation, proper tools, seed starting, organic growing practices, pest and disease controls, proper harvesting and growing methods including container gardening.
Four chefs, including professionals Normand J. Leclair and Bruce MacDonald, will also give demonstrations using fresh produce. A Master Gardener kiosk will be set up to provide answers to specific gardening questions. In addition, free pH soil testing will be offered (bring about a cup of soil taken from various parts of your garden or lawn).
This event is one of several free educational outreach programs provided by the Master Gardener Program, which is funded largely through plant sales in the spring and fall. However, there will be no plant sales at this open house.
East Farm is a 70-acre experimental research facility located off Route 108, half a mile south of the main traffic light in Kingston.