Known as ‘The Garden Mama’ to her radio audiences, Nellie Neal writes and speaks from a solid educational background coupled with a lifetime of gardening successes and failures. She learned to garden from her grandfather in Monroe, LA, and went on to major in English and Horticulture at LSU in Baton Rouge (B.S., 1975). Neal has grown plants, bought and sold plants, tested new varieties and helped sustain old ones. She has planted and maintained landscapes and movie sets, mowed lawns, watered greenhouses, waited on customers in garden retail, and taught gardening to students of every age. More than anything else, she loves to grow plants and encourage others to grow, too.

Neal began writing about gardening from her home office in 1990 so she could be home when the school bus arrived, and began her radio programs in 1994. Such longevity in onair media depends on loyal listeners and they seek out GardenMama because of her passion and articulate, friendly presence. Her favorite calls come from gardeners who use her advice and find that it works.

You’ll find Neal’s regular columns online at www.nationalgardening.com, www.msdigitaldaily.com, in the Clarion Ledger newspaper, State-by-State gardening magazines, and at her website, www.gardenmama.com. The owner of GardenMama, Inc., Neal is a member of the Garden Writers Association. She is the author of several books including Questions and Answers for Deep South Gardeners, 1^st and 2^nd Editions, Getting Started in Southern Gardening, Ortho’s All About Greenhouses, All About Houseplants, and Organic Gardening Down South.

Bill Herndon has been employed at Mississippi State University for more than 27 years conducting research, extension, and teaching activities in the general areas of agricultural marketing, international trade and policy, and agribusiness development.  Since 1992, Herndon has provided support to farmers, cooperatives, organizations and policy makers providing agricultural market situation and outlook, analyses of farm programs and policies, and investigating impacts of various issues of producers, processors and others in the agribusiness sectors.  Primary outreach emphasis has been in the area of dairy economics provided dairy policy analysis, price risk management strategies, market situation and outlook, cost and return analysis through enterprise budgets and records, marketing alternatives and feasibility analysis. Herndon has published more than 350 research and extension publications and conducted 500-plus outreach educational programs.

 

In November 2008, Herndon assumed the duties as Head of the North Mississippi Research and Extension Center (NMREC) located in Verona (near Tupelo).  The NMREC manages four agricultural experiment stations and 22 County Extension offices with a combined county-state-federal appropriated budget of nearly $8.7 million.  Prior to his NMREC appointment, Herndon led a team of economists researching various aspects of biofuel production and its impacts on economic development and the environment almost four years.  Additionally, Herndon has more than 18 years of international professional experience in the field of agricultural development and during 1999-2002 served as Director of the Office of International Programs and Manager of the University’s training activities for the USDA’s Cochran Fellowship Program.  Herndon has traveled extensively in Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America providing business and agricultural policy analysis and technical economic training.

 

Collegiate and Professional Education:

Degree             Year                Institution                                           Field                           

B.S.                 1975                Texas A&M University                       Agricultural Economics

M.Agr.                        1977                Texas A&M University                       Agricultural Economics

Ph.D.               1984                Oklahoma State University                 Agricultural Economics

Sherra Owen lives in New Albany and gardens on the Pontotoc Ridge Clay.  She and husband Ken maintain a native woodland garden in the backyard amd a mile trail through the woods for the purpose of educating about the plants of North Mississippi.

Sherra has been a native plant educator since the early 80's giving presentations and tours of her garden.After retiring from the New Albany school system as a home economics teacher, Sherra has taken up volunteer education as her passion.

Sherra is an Audobon Master Naturalist, Mississippi Master Gardener, member of The New Albany Garden Club, Mississippi Native Plant Society, and Curator of the Faulkner Garden located at the Union County Heritage Museum.

Sherra will give a presentation on "Gardening on the Wild Side with the Most Important Plant in the Garden." 

John Hickey resides in New Albany along with his wife Annette McCommon Hickey and their two children Jack and Sam.  John is a graduate of Mississippi State University with a B.S. in Science and Retail Floristry.  John began his career in Houston, Texas at the Empty Vase floral shop.  John then came home to work for Jody's Flowers of Tupelo, Bab's here in New Albany, and then spent the next 16 1/2 years at Oxford Floral.  John has now opened a new shop here in New Albany, which is called "In Bloom".  John came home to New Albany with a desire to open his own floral design shop and to be close to his family.  John told me that one of the best things about being in New Albany, was that he could now have lunch with his wife every day and that he could attend all events that his children were involved in.  John and his family  are active members of Hillcrest Baptisit Church.    

Carl Wayne Hardeman is a Master Gardener whose interests lie in eating well and doing so from his own sustainable gardens with as little work and expense as possible.  Carl is the leader of the 4500 square foot Victory Garden in Collierville, TN, which donated 3,566 pounds of fresh produce to the local food pantry for the needy this year.  Carl works in the information technology department for FedEx and also teaches classes in the local universities around Memphis, TN.  Carl's dream is to promote a large network of small entreprenurial farms in North Mississippi growing fresh produce and selling it in a large regional Farmer's Market specializing in local sustainable produce including some organics and heirloom varieties.  Carl and his wife and her pom-a-poo "Belle" live in Collierville, TN, but call the Pontotoc County community of Hurricane, MS home.  Carl is also known for his partnership as co-editor of the popular ezine "The Bodock Post" of which he is also a regular contributor as one of the writers.  Carl is also been dubbed as our own "Redneck Poet Laureate" for his witty sense of humor and his regular contribution of poems on southern humor.  You can follow this humor on his facebook page and also on the facebook page "Southren Livin". 

Please note and say thanks to our Partners in this endeavor

Gary Bachman is currently the Assisstant Extension/Research Professor of Horticulture at the Coastal Research and Extension Center for Mississippi State University.  The goal of this program is to develop an aggressive horticulture program relevant to Missisippi and targeted to both youth and adult audiences.  Gary is the host of the Southern Gardener TV , Radio, and Newspaper columns.  Gary and his wife Katie live in Ocean Springs, MS and also own and operate the Heritage Cottage Urban Nano Farm, where they grow specialty vegetables and produce for the local farmers market and restaurants.  Gary has worked as Assisstant Professor of Horticulture at the Illinois State University for five and one half years, Assisstant Professor of Ornamental Horticulture for four yearsat Tennessee Tech University as their University Nursery Specialist at their Research and Service Center.  He has also spent one year at the Carolina Nurseries  in Moncks, SC as their on-site researcher.  He was also employed by GTE Corporation in Detroit, MI and Westminster, SC for thirteen years.  Gary's received a BS and MS from Clemson University and a PhD from Ohio State University

Union County Master Gardeners Association

New Albany Home and Garden Show

Friday March 25, 2011

 

 

 

8:00-11:00 AM - Vendor Set-Up

 

11:45  - Welcome - Sherra Owen, Union & Lee County Master Gardener

 

12:00 PM     - Lunch & Learn—$10.00 includes lunch

Celebrating Art in the     Garden”

 John Hickey,        Floral Designer and Owner of “In Bloom”

 

2:00-Gardening on the Wild Side with Natures Most Important Plant

  Sherra Owen, MG

 

3:30-Visit Vendors

 

4:30-Farming by the Square Foot (Nano Farming)

Gary Bachman, The Southern Gardener

 

5:30-Grill Out (Hamburger Dinner)-$5.00-includes chips, drink, and dessert

 

6:00-NE Master Gardener Update & District Meeting

 

7:00-Master Gardener Quiz Bowl Contest