LUSK-The Niobrara County Fairgrounds will be the scene of the seventh annual Local Foods Expo to be held on Wednesday, April 25th from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.  The Expo is sponsored by the Niobrara County Extension Office and is designed to get everyone excited about gardening and all of the associated benefits of gardening and eating local foods.  This year’s program promises to be of interest to local gardeners, local food producers and consumers.

Two educational workshops will be held at the Expo.  They are:

“Small Fruit Production- Berries of All Varieties” 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Learn how to plant, provide care, and select varieties for berry production in Wyoming. Jeff Edwards, University of Wyoming SAREC Pesticide Coordinator.

“Organic Gardening” 6:45 - 7:45 p.m. Catherine will share lots of tips and tricks for growing a successful organic garden. Catherine Wissner, Laramie County Extension Horticulture Educator

The Kid’s Corner

Real Kids, Real Meals, Real Fun- Kids will learn how to make easy, fun, quick and nutritious foods. Julie Balzan- University of Wyoming Extension Educator 5:30-6:30 or 6:45-7:45

Numerous educational and informational booths will also be available throughout the evening for Expo goers to visit.  These booths will include:  

Pressure Canner Gauge Testing & Food Preservation. Denise Smith-University Extension Educator. Even though canning season is a few months away, bring your pressure canner gauge to be tested for free.  Also get free research based canning information for all of your food preservation needs.

Niobrara County Cattle Women. Besides serving delicious beef samples and having beef promotional information and recipes, the Cattlewomen will be sharing information on using local beef in the Niobrara County school lunch menus.

Pressure Cooking. Vicki Hayman- University Extension Educator. Learn about the revival of pressure cooking and the newest kitchen appliance craze – the Instapot.  Learn how to make tasty, nutritious meals in much less time, what foods cook well under pressure and what foods don’t, plus lots of useful tricks and tips. 

Soil Test Kits and Water Test Kits- Niobrara County Extension Office

Get your free test kits and find out what you need to do to have your soil ready for spring planting and also how your water measures up to acceptable standards

Niobrara Bees and Honey— Kellie Chichester, Niobrara County 4-H Educator and Niobrara County 4-H members 

Learn tips and tricks for raising bees and producing honey through the 4-H Beekeeping project

Pine Ridge Apiary- Wade Anderson, Honey Producer from Crawford, Nebraska

 Bees and honey production are just part of a small family run business that is dedicated to sustainable agriculture and protecting the environment.  Wade loves the bees and honey and hopes to get everyone to feel the same.  He also thinks that it is important to know where your food comes from and how it is produced.

Gardening Adaptations—Rick Geringer, Wyoming Agribility Project

Visit with Rick to learn about gardening tool adaptations for people with arthritis and health related issues.

Niobrara County Soil Conservation District

At each year’s Expo, Lisa and Heidi always bring the newest hot topic in the gardening world to share with us,  so you will have to come to the Expo to see what they have in store for us this year. 

Growing Hops- Brian Lee, University of Wyoming SAREC

Due to the growing craft beer movement, growing hops is a craze that is sweeping the nation.  Hops main use is for flavoring beer. Hops are easy to grow plants and a specialty crop that grows well in Wyoming.  The Hops vines and flowers are gorgeous in the garden and can really add to your outdoor landscape.  Brian will teach you all about growing and using hops.   

Organic Gardening- Catherine Wissner, Laramie County Extension Horticulture Educator

Learn how to garden as organically as possible and leave the pesticides on the shelf plus how to help native pollinating insects thrive. 

Composting- Becky Harris, Converse County Extension Horticulture Educator and Converse County Master Gardeners

Learn how to do backyard composting using simple, small-scale methods

Box Elder Maple Syrup Production- Brian Sebade, University of Wyoming Extension Educator

Who knew that you could get syrup from Box Elder trees?  Visit this booth to find out how.

Vineyards and Growing Grapes- Sally Sanchez, Vineyard owner and operator from Wheatland

Sally will share information on her vineyard experience including both the joys and the challenges.

Farm to Fork Wyoming Berries- Wyoming Public Television

That’s Wyoming- Wyoming Travel Commission

Prescription Drug Disposal- Prevention Management Organization

Bring your old, expired prescription drugs to the Expo and use an environmentally safe drug disposal kit to get those drugs out of your house and out of other people’s hands.

Solutions for Life Wellness and Information Booth

The Expo is free of charge and everyone is invited and encouraged to attend.  There will be door prizes, free Pollinator Garden seeds to all that attend the Expo, other free items for participants, tasty food samples, lots of great information and sharing of ideas.  Please plan to join us for an evening of learning and for a great start to spring and gardening season.  Any questions, call the Niobrara County Extension Office at 334-3534.