2025 Spring Event
- Information
- Registration
- Schedule/Sessions
- Presenters
- Breakout Sessions
- Informational Tables
- Directions
Registration
**Note that all attendees must register for the event through Eventbrite. Tickets will not be sold at the door on the day of the event
Registration Steps
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- Go to https://2025-mmg-spring-event.eventbrite.com
- Click "Get Tickets" button on right
- Select number of tickets and click "Checkout" at the bottom of the page
- Complete payment information and click "Place Order"
- Complete additional information for all tickets purchase and click "Complete Order" at the bottom of the page
- Note that the additional information including lunch selection must be completed to receive tickets.
Admission Price
Price for full day is $35. Tickets purchased through March 11 include lunch. Due to catering deadlines, tickets purchased March 12 or later do not include lunch. However, The Grille food court will be open for your convenience.
Lunch
Options are:
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- 6” Turkey/Ham Sub Sandwich with American cheese and lettuce. Includes potato chips and cookie.
- 6” Sub Italian Sub Sandwich with salami, pepperoni, American cheese and lettuce. Includes potato chips and cookie.
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap with chicken, bacon, shredded cheese, lettuce, and ranch dressing. Includes potato chips and cookie.
- Vegetarian Salad with lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, and optional shredded cheese cup. Choice of dressings. Includes potato chips and cookie.
- Gluten Free Salad with lettuce, turkey, ham, shredded cheese, tomatoes, and black olives. Choice of dressings. Includes potato chips, no cookie.
Door Prizes
Door prize drawings throughout the day – must be present to win!
Continuing Education Credits
SDSU Extension Master Gardeners may earn 5.5 hours continuing education credit for attending all sessions of this event!
Refunds
Email MinnehahaMGReg@gmail.com for refund requests. $4.10 will be deducted from refunds to cover non-refundable on-line processing fees. No refunds can be given after March 17.
Questions
Email MinnehahaMGReg@gmail.com.
Transfers
You may transfer your registration to another person if you are unable to attend. Contact MinnehahaMGReg@gmail.comto change the name on the registration.
Printer Friendly Schedule
| 8:30 - 9:00 | Registration |
| 9:00 – 10:00 |
Session 1 – 50 Ways to Make Us All Better Gardeners
presented by Don Kinzler, Keynote Speaker, NDSU Extension Horticulture Agent for Cass County
We’ll take a virtual trip around the yard and garden while discussing 50 tips to make our perennial gardens bloom more profusely, our vegetable gardens to be more productive, our apples to be insect-free, our houseplants to thrive, and our lawns to be lush and environmentally friendly with less work and less input. There will be a little something for everyone, including gardeners of all experience levels and interests. |
| 10:00 - 10:30 | Break, Breakout Sessions |
| 10:30 - 11:30 |
Session 2 – Balancing Bugs and Blooms: Tips for Managing Insects and Enjoying Your Garden
presented by Amanda Bachmann, PhD, SDSU Urban Entomology Field Specialist
Insects get blamed for a lot of garden issues, but spraying first and asking questions later isn’t the best way to go. We’ll cover some common garden insects (friends and foes), as well as strategies to manage damage while still maintaining beneficial insects. |
| 11:30 – 12:30 | Lunch, Breakout Sessions |
| 12:30 – 1:30 |
Session 3 – How to Create Beautiful Flowerbeds and Landscapes Good Enough to Eat
presented by Don Kinzler, NDSU Extension Horticulture Agent for Cass County
Vegetable gardening and fruit growing are more popular than ever, especially with today’s high grocery prices. Space is tight, though, in many home yards. We’ll discuss practical methods for incorporating vegetables and fruits into the home landscape, creating spaces that are both beautiful and edible, whether it’s the flower garden, backyard, or the home’s shrub plantings. |
| 1:30 – 2:00 | Break, Breakout Sessions |
| 2:00 – 3:00 |
Session 4 – Getting Started with Regenerative Gardening: The Basics of Composting
presented by Chris Goldade, Soil Health Technician with the South Dakota Soil Health Coalition
Tired of tossing out food scraps and garden waste? Learn how to transform kitchen and yard waste into a nutrient-rich soil amendment that can be used in your garden. This introductory talk on regenerative gardening will delve into the fascinating and useful world of composting. Discover simple techniques for creating your own compost pile, understand the key ingredients and how to read what your pile is doing. Learn how to use compost in your garden to maintain healthy plants and improve your overall soil health. Join Chris in this beginner’s level talk on composting. |
| 3:00 |
Optional Tour of Southeast Technical College Horticulture Dept & Greenhouses |
Don Kinzler
Don Kinzler, a lifelong gardener, is a native of Lisbon, ND, and graduated from NDSU in Horticulture. He was then employed with the University in fruit and woody plants research before accepting a position with statewide Extension Horticulture. He then left NDSU to own and operate a retail garden center for the next 25 years with his wife, Mary. Don then became the newspaper garden columnist with Forum Communications, before once again joining NDSU as Extension Horticulture Agent for Cass County, the positions he now holds. Besides writing two weekly gardening columns that appear in 26 newspapers, Don hosts weekly radio programs on four radio stations during the growing season, presents numerous online webinars, maintains a blogsite, and hosts a weekly gardening podcast. Don and his wife reside in south Fargo.
Amanda Bachmann, PhD
Amanda Bachmann is the Urban Entomology Field Specialist with SDSU Extension and is based in Pierre. She has a PhD in Entomology from Penn State. As an urban entomologist, she works not only with the ‘traditional’ urban pests like bed bugs and mosquitoes but also urban pollinators and other beneficial insects as well as helping specialty crop producers with insect issues. She is an executive committee member for the South Dakota Volunteer Naturalists and serves as Past-President of the American Association of Pesticide Safety Educators.
Chris Goldade
Chris Goldade is a Soil Health Technician with the South Dakota Soil Health Coalition. He grew up in Aberdeen but spent most of his free time either hunting or fishing or in a garden. He graduated from Northern State University with a degree in Environmental Science with a minor emphasis in studio art. After graduation he went to work as a Biological Science Technician at Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center in Jamestown, ND
In 2003 he took a position with Pheasants Forever in Aberdeen as one of the first Farm Bill Biologists where he helped private landowners implement habitat projects. In 2006 he started a 17 year long career with the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks in Aberdeen where he managed the state owned public lands in northeast South Dakota for 15 years and helped private landowners with habitat projects for the final two years. In December of 2023 he left GFP and became the first Small Scale and Urban Ag technician for the South Dakota Soil Health Coalition. In his new position, he helps small scale producers with their soil health and plant questions.
Chris and his wife Lori and their 3 dogs live on a small acreage just north of Westport, SD. They grow produce on just over an acre of land and sell more than 45 different crops at local farmers markets and to local restaurants. He is very passionate about wildlife habitat, pollinators, and all types of gardening.
Printer Friendly Breakout Sessions Descriptions
Cages, Cutters & Coils, Oh My!
DIY ultimate tomato cage; sturdy, tall enough, wide enough, attractive, storable, long-lasting. DITTO for pepper cages.
Don't Buy New Geraniums Every Year!
Do you purchase and grow beautiful geraniums, only to let them die and buy again next year? Well, STOP tossing them and learn how to propagate and overwinter for next year.
Growing Your Gardening Knowledge
Have you ever considered switching to a garden drip irrigation system? This presenter will use his 20 years’ experience to review the options, explain what seems to work and provide examples of products used.
Growing Up with Vertical Gardening
Join us for a discussion/power point on vertical gardening to maximize space, provide privacy, increase visual interest and productivity. Samples of useable items for vertical gardening will be on display.
Blueprinting with Plants
Create blueprinted designs using a cyanotype process invented in the 1800s! You can create beautiful designs in your own home by simply placing leaves, flowers, and other materials on specially treated paper and exposing them to sunlight.
New Plant Varieties for 2025 at McCrory Gardens
Did you know that McCrory Gardens plants over 40,000 plants each year? Supporting our mission of "Connecting People and Plants through Education, Discovery, Research, and Enjoyment of the Natural and Built Landscape,” we grow and test new varieties each year. Join in and learn about what new plants will be growing in 2025!
SDSU Horticulture Happenings
Visit with SDSU students about their interesting horticulture projects and activities.
Southeast Technical College Horticulture Happenings
Visit with Southeast Tech students about their interesting horticulture projects and activities.
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Minnehaha Master Gardeners
- Becoming an SDSU Extension Master Gardener info
- Sign up for the “From the Ground Up” newsletter
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Free horticulture books, magazines, publications
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South Dakota Federated Garden Clubs, Inc.
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SDSU Native Plant Initiative
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South Dakota Soil Health Coalition
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South Dakota SARE (Sustainable Agriculture & Research Education)
Printer Friendly Directions
Location
The HUB at Southeast Technical College
2001 North Career Avenue Sioux Falls, SD 57107
Directions
Directions from the North:
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- From Southbound I29, take Exit 81 (Russel/Maple St) and turn right onto Maple Street.
- Follow Maple Street west to N Career Avenue. Turn left onto N Career Avenue.
- Follow N Career Avenue south to The Hub at 2001 N Career Avenue.
Directions from the South:
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- From Northbound I29, take Exit 80 (Madison St) and turn left onto Madison Street.
- Follow Madison St west to Terry Avenue. Turn right onto Terry Avenue
- Follow Terry Avenue north to N Career Avenue. Turn right onto N Career Avenue.
- Follow N Career Avenue (road curves) to The Hub at 2001 N Career Avenue.
Parking
All parking areas are open to the public.
Best Parking Locations
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- Southeast Technology Center - I.T. Support
- Lot north of Ed Wood Trade and Industry Center
