Sarah Jones
Educational Program coordinator, 308.865.8284
The Soil Sisters Garden Club will present “Flowers of the 19thCentury and Heirloom Vegetable Gardening” during the Saturdays at the Frank House event on Saturday, April 2.
Dale Hemsath, president of the Soil Sisters Garden Club, and his wife Alice, both of Kearney, will share information on gardening of the 19th century and today. Alice will present flowers that were common in the 19th century gardens and are still planted today. Dale will lecture on heirloom vegetables, a popular trend in gardening during the last 10 years. An heirloom vegetable is a plant that was grown during the early periods in human history, but is not used in modern large-scale agriculture.
According to Sarah Jones, Frank House director, many heirloom gardeners plant crops from the 1920s-40s, and some recreate World War II Victory Gardens. In addition, according to Jones’ research, many varieties of heirloom vegetables are 100-150 years old, and some date to traditional Native American crops that are pre-Columbian.
The program will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the UNK Frank House, which is located on the UNK West Campus. The program is free and open to the public; however, donations to the Frank House are always accepted.
Members of the Soil Sisters Garden Club volunteer to take care of the gardens at the Frank House with the support of the grounds crews of the UNK Facilities Department.
The Soil Sisters Garden Club presentation is one in a series of Saturdays at the Frank House. For more information on Saturdays at the Frank House events, visit: www.unk.edu/offices/frankhouse.
