Blogging the green way

If you haven't signed up for the Linn County Master Gardeners' Winter Gardening Fair, act quickly.

As of yesterday, organizers told me that 15 of the 45 classes were already full, with 391 people enrolled, which was ahead of last year's record year.

The fair is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 13, 2010, at the Kirkwood Center for Continuing Education. Find more info here: www.extension.iastate.edu/linn

If for some reason you can't make it, plan on checking in on GazetteOnline the morning of the fair. I plan to liveblog one of the sessions and you can weigh in or ask questions on the liveblog. Master Gardener, Becki Lynch, agreed to let me cover her session, called, "Get Rid of Pests the Green Way."

Becki will review the "greenest" pesticides available and how to use them. She will give tips on how to decipher labels and choose products that provide adequate protection against aphids, beetles, mites, scale, mealybugs and slugs. The class runs from 9:45-10:45 a.m., so go to www.GazetteOnline.com at that time on Feb. 13 and participate in the live coverage. If you're going to be at the fair, you can go to the same site  afterward to watch the replay of the liveblog.

I'm told that weekend readership of the online site is lower than during the week, so this is somewhat of an experiment. If it seems like there is interest in it, I'll plan to do more coverage like this in the future, so stay tuned.