Horticulture Industry Show 2016

Goodness! Here we are in 2016 already. When did that happen? The past few weeks have been a whirlwind with family coming in for the holidays and a birthday for Tom thrown in there as well.  

However, we have one more activity to get out of the way this month before I feel like the gardening season can truly begin.   The Horticulture Industry Show is an annual event that is a joint meeting of growers in Arkansas and Oklahoma.   Each year the location alternates between Tulsa, OK, and Ft. Smith, AR.  Oklahoma State University bears a lot of the responsibility for organizing the event.

Here is a link to this year's event:  HIS meeting  

The theme this year is "Building Soils for a Secure Future" and the keynote speaker is Jeff Moyer from Rodale Institute.  He is a world renowned expert in organic agriculture.  

Rodale Institute was founded in 1947 by organic pioneer J.I. Rodale to study the link between healthy soil, healthy food and healthy people. He moved from New York City to rural Pennsylvania in the late 1930's where he was able to put his ideas and principles into action.

He learned about organic food-growing concepts and theorized that to preserve and improve our health we must restore and protect the natural health of the soil.  When World War II caused a sudden shortage of nitrogen fertilizer because it was diverted to making munitions, the natural nutrient poverty of the nation's soil was revealed.  Developing and demonstrating practical, non-chemical methods of rebuilding natural soil fertility became Mr.  Rodale's primary goal during World War II.

Rodale Instutite's website contains a wealth of information on topics ranging from herbal gardening and apple tree pruning to organic gardening and maple sugaring.  I hope you will check out their website below.

Rodale Institute