Farm Show Exhibit

Eileen Stroup, chair of the Farm Show Committee, claims it “one of the coolest things we get to do as Master Gardeners”. In discussing what people like to talk about at the Farm Show exhibit, she says, “One thing is consistent, by the second week of August, 80% of our questions are about tomatoes—tomato bugs and blights and varieties and old wives’ tales about planting tomatoes.”

The 2009 Farm Show exhibit was about tomatoes. As the late blight destroyed many tomato crops this year, it and related problems were chief discussion topics. There were tomato plants in large pots and information about tomato pests, diseases and solutions was displayed.

Stroup once again put her design background to work for the benefit of farm show visitors. For the 2009 exhibit, in addition to gathering and displaying images of tomato diseases, she put together a new backdrop for the Master Gardener booth.  Stroup says, “Our goal is to pass along sound gardening advice to the public, but we can’t talk to visitors if they walk past our booth.  My personal goal is to make the display visually exciting and entertaining as well as educational.”