News release, effective immediately.
For media inquiries, contact Caroline Booth Lara, Communications Specialist, (580) 224-6379.
  email: cblara@noble.org

Note: This event occurred in 1999.

More Garden Sessions Added to Annual Tour

Twice as many sessions are included in this year's horticulture tour June 8 at the Noble Foundation, and coordinator/horticulturist Steve Upson is warning participants to "hold onto their hats for a fast-paced tour of information and sights."

Several changes and additions have been made to the popular free tour, Upson said.

This year, Oklahoma State University instructor Dave Gerken will be among the presenters, along with Scott Landgraf, NF soil and pecan specialist, who also is speaking for the first time.

Other speakers include NF Agricultural Division employees Upson, horticulturist Dooly Barlow, and Tommy Smith, research assistant.

Tour participants can select four of six available session topics to attend between 6:30 and 9 p.m. Welcoming remarks begin at 6:20 p.m. Sessions and their speakers include Orchard Fertility and Water Management (Landgraf); Orchard Site Selection and Management (Barlow); Turfgrass Establishment and Management (Gerken); Raised Bed Strawberry Culture (Upson); Bedding and Planting Techniques for the Hobby and Market Gardener (Smith); and Permanent vs. Moveable Hoop House Culture (Upson).

To be demonstrated this year is a commercial bedder and plastic mulching machine "ideal for the market gardener," Upson said, as well as several tools to help home gardeners, plus raised bed and hoop house crops. A moveable hoop house frame will be on display, and lots of free material will be available on the various topics.

Registration begins at 5:30 p.m. Participants are encouraged to come early for refreshments and to visit displays and agricultural specialists.

Parking is available at the Noble Foundation, 2510 Sam Noble Parkway (state Highway 199) east of Ardmore, and next door at the Southern Oklahoma Technology Center. Buses will transport visitors to and from the Foundation's Horticulture Center throughout the evening.

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(FYI — The Noble Foundation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization headquartered in Ardmore, Okla. The Foundation conducts agricultural and plant biology research; provides grants to numerous other charitable and educational organizations; and assists farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative programs.)