Looking for something garden related to do this Weekend?

Look no further!  From The West Madison Agricultural Research Station:

Great garden ideas on display at UW Family Horticulture Day on May 14

Grab a notebook, camera and tote bag before you head to Family Horticulture Day on May 14 at the University of Wisconsin’s West Madison Agricultural Research Station. That will make it easier to carry home the bounty of ideas and samples offered by the station’s staff, Extension specialists, Master Gardeners, and other volunteers at the many indoor and outdoor displays.

In addition to helping you grow your greatest garden ever, this annual event is great for finding new ways to add color to your backyard and your plate. For example, a Beauty and the Beet display will show an underappreciated vegetable in new hues and offer samples of organic golden beet seed. The Popcorn Challenge will let you compare the textures of red, yellow and black kernels. You’ll also have a chance to sample red, white and yellow carrots, and afterwards, you can clear you palate with ice cream made with Wisconsin strawberries and raspberries.

You can also learn how to grow purple, red and yellow potatoes in a pot or garbage can—one of several demonstrations focused on planting and maintaining a kitchen garden in a small space—and take home seeds and seedlings to grow the potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, squash and pumpkins.
Experts will also show how to create inexpensive, attractive  “island gardens” to attract native pollinators that can give a big boost to vegetables, flowers and fruit trees.

West Madison Master Gardeners will be selling late blight-resistant tomatoes seedlings and unique peppers will be available for sale. And the Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society will be holding their annual sale during the field day.

There will be many activities geared to kids. To name a few: They can take home herbs to plant a “fragrance garden,” get close to hissing cockroaches and other intriguing bugs in the Wisconsin Insect Ambassadors collection, extract DNA glop from wheat and create a seed-filled shaken drum.
Admission and parking are free. A small donation will be requested for plants and seeds to cover costs. Don’t be discouraged by roadwork near the station; it’s easy to get through.

Family Horticulture Day runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The West Madison Agricultural Research Station is located about a mile west of the Beltline at 8502 Mineral Point Road.
More information and directions to the gardens are available at www.cals.wisc.edu/westmad/garden/.