Although the winter season meant the end of gardening and other outdoor activities, there has been no shortage of things to do. We are making slow progress on getting the basement organized and the basement bathroom remodeled. The past two weekends however, we took a little break from work for some fun.
Two weekends ago, we visited the Wisconsin Garden and Landscape Expo. This is one of our favorite events. Last year, it was virtual (thank you, COVID). This year it was a masked event, but at least it was live. Most home and garden expos consist solely of exhibitors. This one is unique as seminars and demonstrations are offered over the 3-day event. Going in, I was not as excited for this year's expo, as I did not see a lot of seminar topics that were of interest to me. As it turned out, we found plenty to do and see.
We started out watching a food preservation demonstration, and immediately learned something new. Until recently, canning fell into two categories - water bath canning and pressure canning. 50+ years ago atmospheric steam canning was popular. The process used steam to heat the jars, rather than submerging the jars in water. The USDA and other extension services did not recommend steam canning, until now. The University of Wisconsin conducted research and found that steam canning was just as effective as water bath canning. Steam canning pots have a lot of advantages, as they use a lot less water, come to temperature quickly, and are lighter. Maggie immediately bought a steam canner, which I plan to use soon for sterilizing jars for maple syrup.
I went to a seminar on extending gardens into the spring and summer seasons, while Maggie stayed at the demonstration areas to watch one of her favorite PBS hosts, Inga Witcher, lead a cooking demonstration. Inga is host of Around the Farm Table, visiting small farms and food producers each week. Maggie and I then toured the exhibit hall, bought a few packets of seeds, and finished with a seminar on growing microgreens. There were fewer exhibitors and attendees this year, but that only made it easier to get around to see things.
Last weekend we attended a meeting of the Southwest Chapter of the Wisconsin Honey Producers Association. Maggie learned about the meeting while attending a meeting of our local bee club, the Ridge & Valley Beekeepers. They had a couple of speakers, served a pizza lunch, and raffled off door prizes. One of the speakers manages 11,000 hives and the other about 3,000 hives, which put our one hive in perspective. We won a hat from Mann Lake, which Maggie looks cute wearing.
In a couple of weeks, we will start to shift our attention outside again for maple syrup season. From there the weather will warm, and thoughts will turn to the garden. And some bees.
Comments