OSU-OKC Hosts Farmers Market Garden Celebration, All-America Showcase

From staff reports

OSU-Oklahoma City will host the Farmers Market Garden Celebration and All-America Showcase from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 15 at the Agriculture Resource Center located at 400 N. Portland Ave.

The Farmers Market Garden Celebration will include a planter chair display and competition with market visitors voting for the best chair. Anyone who wants to enter the contest can get more information at www.osuokc.edu/farmersmarket. Members of the Traditional Music Association will play during the market, and KTOK will broadcast “Home Improvement” and “The Garden Show” with an on-location live remote.

The OSU-OKC Farmers Market is an opportunity for shoppers to fill their kitchens with the freshest food in Oklahoma. Featuring Oklahoma Grown and made products from more than 30 vendors, the market offers the best the state has to offer including seasonal produce, meat, dairy, certified organic products, a variety of plants and starts, skincare items and artisan items.

Shoppers and visitors are also invited to tour the annual All-America Selections (AAS) Trial and Display Gardens. As the only AAS Trial Gardens featuring both flower and vegetable entries in Oklahoma, the trials are in the running for the coveted title of “2014 All-America Selections Winner.” Combined with trials for seed companies as well as the AAS Display Gardens featuring winners from the past five years of competitions, garden enthusiasts have the chance to see the best plants from the past and future.

“This will be a great day for the entire family to celebrate gardening by coming to the OSU-OKC Farmers Market, touring the AAS Trial and Display gardens, visiting the butterfly garden and getting to vote not only on the best planter chair at the market, but also getting to vote on the plant that could win the American Garden Award,” said Cheryl Camp, coordinator for the Farmers Market.

For the fifth consecutive year, OSU-OKC is one of only 31 select gardens across the nation to be invited to participate in the American Garden Award (AGA), a national competition designed to enable Americans to vote on the flower or plant they think has the most appealing garden characteristics. Everyone is invited to visit the AGA garden just outside of the Farmers Market and cast a vote.

In addition, there will be children’s activities, OSU Extension Master Gardeners will be on hand to answer visitors’ gardening questions and photography buffs are encouraged to bring their cameras. There is no cost for parking or admission. For more information about the event, call 405.945.3358 or 405.945.3326.