RSVP for Community Garden Summit

media release: Rooted and UW Extension are hosting our annual Community Garden Summit on February 21 at the Badger Rock Neighborhood Center in South Madison. There will be presentations and discussions on soil fertility, weed control, donating food, new garden development, and more. The summit is open to all, non-gardeners and current community gardeners alike.

$60 per attendee, but to make the event accessible to all, we ask attendees to pay on a sliding scale. Snacks and lunch are included in price of registration, which closes at midnight on Feb. 15.

Community Garden Summit Timeline: 

• 8:30 Arrival

• Registration and Coffee

• 9:00-10:30 session:  

• Roundtable self-guided discussions

• 10:45 sessions:

• Donating food: How to donate produce to food pantries, how to get food, how to get involved with food pantry gardens.
• Soil chemistry: pH, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, and what fertilizers actually do, with an emphasis on organic practices

• 11:45-12:30 Lunch
• 12:45 sessions:

• Food forests: Perennial fruit planting and edible landscaping around Madison
• Options for beginning farmers: Efforts to help gardeners wanting to expand beyond their garden plot, including large plots, land access, markets
• Soil safety: understanding risks and methods of limiting exposure to lead, PCBs, microplastics, and more

• 1:45 sessions:

• Weed control: challenges of different weeds, pros and cons of different methods of control
• Compost: the composting process, soil biology, the environment, and how Dane County residents can contribute

• 2:40-4:00pm session:

• Tour of Badger Rock and Fruit Pruning workshop