Do you enjoy gardening? Are you interested in new ideas and innovative techniques in horticulture? Then don’t miss out on Garden Visions 2019! REGISTER TODAY!!

Registration information for 2019 coming soon.

Join us at Northcentral Technical College for this year’s conference:

Friday, January 25, 2019 –  *Slow Food Dinner

**** Dinner Friday night will be in the Center for Health Sciences building ****

KEYNOTE SPEAKER – Mike Perry

Michael Perry is a New York Times best-selling author, humorist, playwright, and radio show host from New Auburn, Wisconsin. Perry’s books include Population 485, The Jesus Cow, Montaigne in Barn Boots, and the (non)gardening book Truck: A Love Story. His “Roughneck Grace” column appears weekly in the Wisconsin State Journal and he can be found online at www.sneezingcow.com.

Drawing on his best-selling memoirs and his experiences as a failed gardener, Michael Perry provides a humorous, heartfelt look into his relationship with food of all sorts, from gas station jerky to organic asparagus truffle foam.

Michael Perry’s books will be available for purchase on Friday along with a meet-and-greet from 5:00 to 5:45 pm. Dinner begins at 6:00 pm.

Saturday, January 26, 2019

KEYNOTE SPEAKER – Joel Karsten

As a Horticulture Science undergrad at the University of Minnesota, he started a small business planting flowers for his professors and their neighbors. That little business evolved into a full-scale design and landscape contracting company serving all areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Born and raised on a tree nursery and crop farm in Southwestern Minnesota, Joel has a foundation in horticulture and an entrepreneurial spirit. He earned a bachelor’s degree and ten years ago became a garden book author and winner of the 2014 P.J. Redouté award for practical horticulture for his best-selling book Straw Bale Gardens. Now an award-winning author of four best sellers on Cool Springs Press for Quarto Publishing, Karsten is working on future projects and speaking regularly around the world. His recent TEDx talk, “Let’s end world hunger with the STRAW BALE GARDENS® method,” has shattered records for downloads and received praise from many of the world’s leaders in the fight to end hunger.

Audience feedback from his appearances attests that whether they are avid gardeners or novices they are impressed with his revolutionary new ideas, humor, inspiring stories and general knowledge of horticulture. His presentations are always fun, very educational, and will inspire the audience to go home, grab a shovel, and change their backyard, making it the envy of the neighborhood!

Building an Outdoor Room

Get a new perspective from an experienced Landscape Design specialist and gather some practical advice on how to turn your backyard into the dream space you have always envisioned.  Joel will guide you on how to efficiently plan and create an extension of your home, a new “room” where you can get away, relax, entertain guests or dine al fresco.  You will gather dozens of design ideas and fundamental principles to make your Do-It-Yourself project (or professional installation) successful, and insure you get the results you really want.   He will discuss plans for creating outdoor focal points including fireplaces, water features, specialty lighting, art and sculpture applications.  It’s not always necessary to spend more money, but instead spend it more effectively. Take home a few tips on how to prioritize your objectives, and your new outdoor room will be affordable, functional, and it just may become your favorite new room to hang out!

BONUS SPEAKER – Bernie Williams

Bernie Williams has been with the Wisconsin DNR for 10 years as a Plant Pest and Disease specialist in Forest Health.  She went to the University of Pittsburgh for undergrad and grad school and bumped into a badger after graduation and has been in Wisconsin ever since.  She loves science and particularly invasive species with her favorite being worms.

Jumping Worms

Charles Darwin loved worms because he knew their tenacity to survive, spread, adapt and prosper was unrelenting. Gardeners and everyone else love worms because they simply don’t know any better. Earthworms are a lot like a loving relationship: you can’t live with them, can’t live without them. Though is that really true? In Wisconsin we’ve got worms, all sorts, and none of them are native. We knew we had European species but the discovery of Jumping worms in 2013, an Asian species, was a complete surprise.

Now if you’re like most people, the arrival of another invasive species is far from a good thing but sometimes it can really motivate people to get involved, or in this case, JUMP!

For more information:
www.gardenvisions.info
http://marathon.uwex.edu/
212 River Drive, Suite 3, Wausau, WI
email: Carol at cbray@mtc.net
Phone: Carol at (715)693-6446