As the last frost date in Newark passed on May 5, it’s all hands on deck for the Master Gardener Volunteers in the Learning Gardens at the Licking County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) and Ohio State University Extension Land Lab. In the polyhouse — a structure similar to a greenhouse used for growing plants — 60 Master Gardeners have been growing various plants from seeds for months.
Now, it’s time to transplant the herbs, veggie plants and perennials from the greenhouse to the garden beds before the upcoming plant sale on Saturday, May 10.
The plant sale is held in conjunction with the conservation district’s fifth annual Backyard Conservation Day event, and will be held at the Land Lab at 771 E. Main Street in Newark from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. On the day before Mother’s Day, visitors of all ages are invited to buy a plant and learn about how to make a difference from their own backyards.
“You don’t need acres to contribute,” said Briana Hodgson, SWCD Program Coordinator. “You can do it in your backyard.”
Visitors can explore the rain gardens, make conservation-based crafts, purchase conservation materials including rain barrels and native seeds, and learn from the Master Gardener Volunteers’ demo garden.
With a focus on native Ohio perennial plants, the Master Gardener Volunteers will instruct visitors on how to care for native landscapes. In partnership with the Licking County Pollinator Pathway Meadows for Monarchs project, SWCD aims to instruct the community on the importance of preserving biodiverse wildflower fields for pollinators.
Read more: Licking County Pollinator Pathway to host workshop series about new “pocket prairies” initiative
“I think people are really waking up to how critically important native perennial plants are in the landscape, and the things that people used to think of as a weed, we’re learning have a place in the ecosystem and they just can’t be replaced,” said Jean Backs, master gardener coordinator.
Plus, native plants are easier to care for.
“[Native plants] are already adjusted to the rainfall, to the weather, frost and all that stuff. And you buy them now, and they come back generally for a very long time,” Backs said.
Demonstrations will include four methods of transforming a grass lawn into a native wildflower landscape, both to attract more pollinators and maintain a healthy ecosystem. Among these, there will be a demonstration on a unique way to clear invasive plants with special guests: goats.
In collaboration with Goats on the Go, SWCD will host grazing goats to show the power of hungry goats on an overgrown patch of land. Goats on the Go is a network of goat herds across the United States which uses goat grazing to clear invasive plant species from its clients’ properties.
Lauren Cain is one of three farmers in central Ohio affiliated with Goats on the Go. Cain operates out of Find Hope Farm in Pataskala and works with a herd of 150 goats.
The goats aren’t picky. They will graze deep in the weeds, or venture high up to patches of vegetation which would otherwise be a hassle to control, Cain said.
“Deer will eat the best stuff and move on, and that’s how you end up with an overload of invasives. When we put the goats in that small area, they eat everything,” Cain added. “They happen to really like the invasives, so they love multiflora rose, honeysuckle, poison ivy, burdock, grape vine… that is their jam.”
On Friday, the goats will be set inside a fence to chow down on the invasive plants along the hillside. By Saturday morning, that section will be cleared and they’ll be moved to a new patch.
There will also be demonstrations in a number of themed gardens including the sun garden for sun-loving plants, hops garden, pizza garden for herbs, and the pantry garden. Last year, Linda Bishop, Master Gardener Volunteer’s president said, about 3,500 pounds of vegetables were grown in the pantry garden and donated to the Licking County Food Pantry.
SWCD continues to look for new ways to make gardening and conservation accessible and affordable.
“Gardening is a great stress reliever, but in these economic times, it’s really important for people to learn to grow their own vegetables, so we want to be able to give them that chance to learn,” Bishop said.
This story was updated at 3:50 p.m. on Wednesday, May 7 to clarify the location of the Land Lab space.
Mia Fischel writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.