MCC’s Gardenfest for newbies and experts alike

Gardener Kelly Dostal had been telling herself ever since she moved to Woodstock more than a dozen years ago that she should attend Gardenfest, the yearly gardening extravaganza held at McHenry County College.

This year Dostal finally made it happen, and said she really enjoyed the variety among the more than 30 classes offered at Saturday’s event.

“My first class was on shade plants, and it was very current, it was about what is popular right now,” said Dostal, who calls gardening “dirt therapy.” “The second (class) was on backyard fruit trees and it was much more technical.”

About 250 people attended the 20th edition of Gardenfest, taking classes from basic gardening and floral arrangements to beekeeping and growing mushrooms.

The event is cooperative effort between McHenry County College and the master gardener program run by the University of Illinois Extension — McHenry County, said master gardener program coordinator Rich Tobiasz.

New this year was a class on miniature train gardens and advanced classes on topics such as insect management and plant nutrition, said Tobiasz, who works full time as the Spring Grove fire chief. “This is my relaxation from the politics and stress of a fire chief,” he said.

Keynote speaker Terra Brockman gave an opening morning talk on supporting local farmers, eating on a budget and making overall sound food choices. She is the author of “The Seasons on Henry’s Farm: A Year of Food and Life on a Sustainable Farm” and the founder of the nonprofit The Land Connection.

Bull Valley resident Patti Castle said she wanted to branch out from her passion for potted plants to planting directly in soil. “I am learning a lot of new things and new words,” she said. “All the speakers are basically saying, ‘It’s not that hard. You just have to enjoy it.’”

About 20 vendors also took part in the event, selling plants, flowers, nature-based jewelry, vegetable oil candles, garden decorations and more.