2023 Schedule
Friday, March 10
10:15 - 11:15 am
Make and Take Flower Arrangement
Callie Lueking, Flower Girls, Woodlawn, IL - Learn about flower arranging. Bring a container and Callie will guide you through making a beautiful and unique arrangement to take home for $10. Limit 30 people to create an arrangement.
11:30 - 12:30 pm
What Good are Bees?
Crystal Hemby, Hembeez Honey Farms, Mt. Vernon, IL - Crystal and her husband have bee hives and formulates many products out of honey. There is probably much you do not know about bees, so come to this workshop and be educated about honeybees.
12:45 -
1:45 pm
Great Foods with a Twist
Keynote Speaker - Chef Robert Rhymes, Kaskaskia College, Centralia, IL - Robert will share is expertise in creating some culinary delights.
2:00 -
3:00 pm
Healing with Traditional Herbal Remedies
This class will teach about plant-based medicine and how to cultivate, harvest, make and use herbal remedies.
3:15 - 4:15 pm
Make and Take Mosaic Workshop
David Mason, New Creation, Texico, IL - Create a small glass mosaic panel with flower design to take home. Cost $10
4:30-
5:30 pm
Wildflower Farm
Jim Barker, McLeansboro, IL - Jim will show photos of the beautiful wildflowers he grows on his farm near McLeansboro, IL. He will explain how he started and expanded his wildflower farm.
Saturday, March 11
10:15 - 11:15 am
Cardinals: Everyone's Favorite Bird
Steve & Regina Garr, Birds-I-View, Jefferson City, MO - The Northern Cardinal is the state bird of seven states, including Illinois! Cardinals are the bestselling "bird motif" on retail products and merchandise and are often the "gateway bird" for many people to begin a lifetime of enjoying backyard birds. Come learn about their special courtship behavior, nesting and feeding habits, and more!
11:30 - 12:30 pm
Saving and Sharing Seeds
Keynote Speaker - Bevin Cohen, Small House Farms, Sanford, MI - Learn how to save seeds from your flowers and vegetables to use them for next year in this informative program. Bevin will use a combination of engaging demonstrations, discussions, and lecture to guide you through seed saving techniques, so you are able to use your harvest each fall to have seeds for the upcoming spring.
12:45 -
1:45 pm
Butterfly Host Plants
Christopher Benda, Illinois Botanizer, Carbondale, IL. Learn how to attract butterflies to your home garden by providing food sources and breeding grounds for our native butterflies and other pollinators. Chris will inspire you to incorporate beautiful, native plant species in the home landscape and will discuss which host plants are specific to certain butterflies and other insects.
2:00 -
3:00 pm
Making Teas, Tinctures, and Oils
Bevin Cohen, Small House Farm, Sanford, MI - Learn how to create salves, balms and tinctures using herbs you can grow in your backyard. Bevin will share decades of experience as an herbalist guiding participants through many processes involved in crafting a wide range of herbal products for health, wellness, and beauty.
3:15 - 4:15 pm
Rare Plants of Southern Illinois
Christopher Benda, Illinois Botanizer, Carbondale, IL There is tremendous biodiversity in Southern Illinois. And much of that biodiversity is rare, especially when it comes to plants, as an estimated 20% of plant species that occur in Southern Illinois are at the edge of their range. Join botanist Chris Benda for a program featuring photos of rare plants and interesting information about their ecology, distribution, and status on the Illinois Threatened and Endangered Species list.
4:30-
5:30 pm
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Lavender
Richard and Kay Dorris, Lavender Falls, Mt. Vernon, IL Richard will share how their lavender business started and how to grow and distill lavender.