Gardeners recruited to conduct vegetable trials
April 25, 2018
Gardeners interested in testing vegetable varieties as a citizen scientist may find out more at a free Extension workshop April 30 in Fairbanks.
Heidi Rader will provide an update on vegetable variety trials conducted at the Georgeson Botanical Garden and will demonstrate the Grow&Tell mobile app that gardeners may use for home variety trials. The workshop will meet from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in Room 158 of the University Park Building at 1000 University Ave.
Rader teaches gardening and farming as the tribes Extension educator for the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service and the Tanana Chiefs Conference. She conducted vegetable variety trials at the botanical garden last year and will continue with trials this summer to determine which vegetables grow and taste the best.
Workshop participants will have the opportunity to take home seeds of some of the same varieties used in the trials, test them at home and then enter information about the vegetables into the mobile app that Rader developed. The Grow&Tell app allows gardeners to see what vegetable varies grow best in their area based on what other gardeners say. It also invites gardeners to rate the varieties they have grown for taste, yield and reliability.
Participants are asked to download the free app on Apple or Android mobile devices before coming to class. To rate varieties, individuals need to create a profile on the app. Because of limited space, gardeners are asked to preregister by contacting Extension at 907-474-1530 or at jariley@alaska.edu. For more about the project, contact Rader at hbrader@alaska.edu.
DC/4-25-2018/243-18