Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at any of the gardens the day of the show or in advance at the UT Extension office at 95 Church St. S.E. Children under the age of 12 are free.
Gardens and sites to be featured include the following:
• Bob and Susan Card at 3264 Chestnut Circle N.W. — This beautiful garden features a large lake(s), manicured and beautiful views.
The many plantings provide a tranquil setting for visitors. More than 7,000 new plants have been added to the garden with both woodland and meadow settings, two stone bridges and numerous annuals.
• Steve and Wanda Green at 262 Northwest Circle — This three-acre garden is a love of the Greens. The garden features more than 400 azaleas and numerous cherry and dogwood trees with a spectacular splash of color in April.
In June the garden is transformed into a summer garden with many roses, hostas, annuals, perennials as well as potted plants. This garden is surely a garden that only time, toil and a deep love of gardening could produce.
• William “Bubba” and Kaye Smith at 378 Bell Crest Drive — A specialty of the Smith garden is a visit to the Valley View Southern Railroad, a G-scale garden railroad display in the backyard. This railroad is built around numerous plants including roses, hostas, ferns, perennials, annuals and potted plants. Special features are the water gardens with many multi-colored fish and a vegetable garden in raised beds and pots.
With the celebration of UT Extension’s “Our Past Your Future — Transforming Tennessee a Century (100 years)” of providing information on gardening, be sure to visit the following locations to learn more about vegetable gardens grown locally.
• The Lamon Farm at 3175 Michigan Avenue Road — Franklin and Sue Taylor and Randall Lamon have planted numerous plants (potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, greens, corn, cabbage, cucumbers, green beans, onions squash, peppers, watermelon, and cantaloupe for the summer and popcorn, pumpkin, and gourds for the fall) for you to enjoy. They have even provided a hay wagon for you to visit specific areas of the farm.
• The Greenway Table — Is an educational garden that uses hands-on experience to teach sustainable, organic agriculture to students, farmers and the community.
Jennifer Norton serves as director for this exciting project. Look for a wide variety of vegetables (tomatoes, herbs, peppers, squash and cucumbers and some old fashion varieties as well). They use very few energetic inputs ensuring that they adhere to the Certified Naturally Grown method. The produce is sold at the Peerless Road Farmer’s Market and the Main Street Farmers’ Market during the summer months.
• Bradley County Cannery and Farmers Market at William M. Hale Agricultural Center, Peerless Road — The Bradley County Cannery originally opened in June 1977. The original site was the old county workhouse. Open to the public, the Bradley County Cannery is unique in that Bradley County residents can bring their produce, prepare it and then use the steamers and pressure cookers to can their home grown food.
Users do their own work and provide their own containers (jars, lids, etc.) and food to be processed. Much of the food processed at the Cannery is purchased at the adjoining Farmer’s Market prior to its preparation.
More than 35,188 jars were purchased at the Cannery by 356 individuals in 2008. This included 23,577 quarts, 9191 pints and 2420 half pints.
There are usually more than 60 new customers for each season which means the processing time at the Cannery is by appointment only. The 2009 numbers were down slightly due to the heavy rains and the negative impact on gardens. There were a total of 20,624 jars canned on 2009 (14,752 quarts, 5749 pints and 123 half pints canned) by 233 people.
Call the UT Extension office for canning time appointments (728-7001).
The Cannery usually opens by mid-June. Retha Odom, cannery manager, and a host of dedicated volunteers are always on hand to provide assistance.
The Bradley County Cannery has been featured in local newspapers and the TV show, “Southern Accents.” Many county leaders from Tennessee and Georgia counties have visited the site to learn how to provide a cannery in their own county.
The Farmer’s Market has continued to operate successfully each summer since it first opened. It is normally open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays during the summer and early fall. Bill Maupin serves as manager for the local market.
Proceeds from the Spring Tour of Gardens will benefit the UT Extension-Bradley County 4-H Program where more than 3263 youth from grades 4-12 are enrolled in 155 4-H clubs and to the Kiwanis Club of Cleveland Youth Scholarship Program which provides college scholarships for local youth.
The calendar year 2010 marks a century of University of Tennessee Extension and 4-H programs in Tennessee. UT Extension-Bradley County has provided a number of educational programs to farmers, families, and youth during that time period. Programs include those in Agriculture and Natural Resources, Family and Consumer Sciences, and 4-H Youth Development. The local office is located at 95 Church St.
The office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The office phone number is 423-728-7001 or on the Web at www.bradley.tennessee.edu
