By Andrea Izzo

The State Fair of West Virginia is just around the corner. That means food and fun for everyone. There will be animals, exhibits, rides, and shows. One exhibit, in particular, should not be missed, the Demonstration Garden which is brought to life every year by the Greenbrier Valley Master Gardeners. The Demonstration Garden was established in 2003 through a partnership with the State Fair which donated 2500 square feet of land for the project. Who are the Master Gardeners, you ask? They are a group of dedicated gardeners whose goals are to learn, educate, and volunteer. One of the newer Master Gardeners, Celeste Filiatrault says, “It is refreshing to be around so many members with a wealth of knowledge and patience, I learn something new every time I volunteer”. The Demonstration Garden is part of the Greenbrier Valley Master Gardener program, which was established in collaboration with the West Virginia University Extension Office. Each volunteer receives training and certification and go on to complete a minimum of 30 hours per year volunteering and providing education.

This year 36 volunteers have been toiling away in that garden—planting, weeding, digging, deadheading, and watering, watering, watering. Collectively, they have put in over 1000 hours since March. Since its inception, the garden has grown from 2500 to 8000 square feet. It features eight separate gardens including perennial, annual, vegetable, herb, orchard, children’s, memorial, and native. The perennials, of course, come back every year while the annuals must be replaced. Some annual varieties are brought back each year and others are switched up if a volunteer wants to plant something new and different. The children’s garden is brimming with brightly colored annuals and perennials and has a lovely pathway through it. It also has the Bug Dig activity, which is a sandbox filled with plastic snakes and insects for the kids to “dig up”. They love it! The herb garden has 25 different herbs. The fruit and vegetable gardens have apples, grapes, peaches, blackberries, and tomatoes. Some of the tomatoes are regular plants and some are growing in straw bales. There are also beans, squash, peppers, and more. These delicious and healthy plant-based foods are donated to the Food Locker and the Committee on Aging when the State Fair is over. The native plants section is new this year and features New England Aster and Cardinal Flower among others. All the plants in this garden are native to our region, thus the name. The memorial garden is planted in honor of master gardeners who have passed.

None of the plants in the Demonstration Garden are exotic or extremely difficult to grow and they each have a name tag. If you desire, you can grow any of them at home. Volunteers are there to answer any questions you might have about the varieties of plants, and they can give you gardening tips too! Celeste explains, “It is an oasis”. To get to the garden oasis, head to the north end of the fairgrounds near the show barns and next to the West Virginia University building. It is the first stop for many fairgoers. Perhaps it will be your first stop too.