Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardeners Association to host annual GardenFest at Belle Grove Plantation

The Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardeners Association will hold its 16th annual GardenFest on Saturday, June 1, 2019, at Belle Grove Plantation in Middletown, Virginia. The event will be from 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. and admission and parking are free. Tours of Belle Grove’s historic Manor House will be $5 for visitors 12 and older and offered from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Master Gardeners will also give free guided tours of Belle Grove’s Teaching Garden.

The key feature of Garden Fest is the Master Gardeners’ Plant Sale. This annual fundraiser supports all the educational programs offered by the Master Gardeners throughout the year. There will be more than 3,000 plants for sale, all at great prices, most $5 or less. Cash and credit cards are accepted. They will include Shenandoah Valley & Virginia native plants, plants for beneficial pollinators, unique trees and shrubs, some vegetables and herbs. Garden wagons will be available to transport purchased plants to vehicles and Master Gardeners will answer plant and gardening questions.

Throughout the day, a garden tool sharpening booth will be offered, and visitors may visit educational displays by Beekeepers of the Northern Shenandoah BONS, Front Royal Warren County Tree Stewards, North Mountain Wildlife Rescue, Valley Wildlife Care, Inc. of Virginia, and Virginia Master Naturalists-Shenandoah Chapter.

There will be garden and plant vendors Hill House Farm and Nursery, Native Perennials (KPhillips Enterprises), Seven Bends Nursery, Spring Thyme Nursery, and Poverty Ridge Greenhouse & Farm. Specialty vendors include Birdhouse Engineering, Carolyn G. Findler Art Studio, Claylick Brooms, Living in Abundance, My Glass Garden NoVa, and Olive Oil Soap Company. The Belle Grove Museum Shop located in the newly opened Beverley B. Shoemaker Welcome Center also has locally made items for sale. In addition, gently used gardening and household items will be for sale, at bargain prices at the “Second Hand Rose” area. The festival will also include great raffles that will be at the Master Gardener Information Booth.

Food and beverage vendors include 0-60 Energy Cafe, C & C Frozen Treats, and Frederick County 4-H Eggs n’ Ears.

This is a great family-friendly event, with a petting zoo, including therapy ponies, an alpaca, and farm animals like a donkey, goats, and chickens. Special kids activities will focus on worm appreciation and will feature how to make an earthworm observation jar—or wormery, (humane) worm races, worm stories, lessons about vermicomposting and making a worm bin, plus an opportunity to interview a worm! Kids can also sit for free face painting in the Gartenhaus Area.

For adults, there will be Gartenhaus workshops starting at 10 a.m. These are hands-on workshops where guests can make garden art, create pressed flower art, and make a Kokadama or a Tussie Mussie. There will be flower pounding on muslin and a table on Habitat Gardens where you can learn about native bees, pollinators and how to a make you garden eco-friendly.

New this year, attendees at the festival can meet and observe some very special law enforcement officers in action. At 10:00 a.m. Fire Marshall Lt. Billy Pifer of the Frederick County Fire & Rescue Department will execute a bomb explosives search demo with his K-9 partner Heide. At 12:30 p.m., Deputy Jason Walther of the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office will conduct a narcotics “find” demo with his K-9 partner Heppy.

Also new this year, is a Bird House Decorating Contest. Prizes will be awarded in the categories of: Gourd birdhouses, Other Materials–Realistic House, and Other Materials–Fantastical Design for age groups of Adults (ages 16 and older), Children Aged 12 to 15, Children Ages Age 8 to 11, and Children Ages 4 to 7. There will also be special recognition for Community Choice (voted on by attendees), Best Use of Recycled Materials, Best Shenandoah Valley Theme, Best Gardening Theme, and Most Artistic. Entries may be constructed from scratch, or be store bought undecorated birdhouses that have been decorated at home and submitted. The “Other Materials” category can be any birdhouse-suitable material and may be new or reused/recycled. Entrants must decorate their own entries, though guardians may help children use tools. Entrants may enter as many birdhouses as they’d like, and each entry is $2, due at drop off. Entrants may elect to pre-register online at bit.ly/birdhouse-contest or they may bring registration form(s) at time of drop off which is 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. during GardenFest.

ABOUT NORTHERN SHENANDOAH VALLEY MASTER GARDENER ASSOCIATION (NSVMGA)

The Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardener Association supports its members—Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Volunteers serving the counties of Clarke, Frederick, Page, Shenandoah, and Warren. VCE Master Gardener Volunteers are educators who work within their communities to encourage and promote environmentally sound horticulture practices through sustainable landscape management, education, and training. They continue their education each year to stay up to date on current issues and recommendations for home gardeners. Since 1993, they have coordinated educational events, projects, help desks and info booths, and gardening speakers throughout NSVMGA’s five-county area. They also teach horticulture to children, offering a Junior Master Gardener Program and offering a memorial scholarship each year to area high-school students. GardenFest is the major fundraiser for NSVMGA. More information is available at nsvmga.org or facebook.com/NSVMGA/.

ABOUT BELLE GROVE

Belle Grove Plantation is a non-profit historic house museum that is a National Trust for Historic Preservation site and a partner in Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park. Its grounds and gardens were designed and donated by The Garden Club of Virginia and are tended by dedicated volunteers with guidance from the Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardeners. Belle Grove’s Teaching Garden contains useful and beautiful plants typical of those used by the Hite family in the early 19th century and it will be available for touring during GardenFest. Belle Grove is located off Route 11 at 336 Belle Grove Road south of Middletown, Virginia (exit 302 on I-81, one exit north of the I-66 interchange). More information is available at bellegrove.org or facebook.com/bellegrove/.