Edible Garden Tour helps people improve gardening skills

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) - The Bannock County Extension of the University of Idaho hosted an Edible Garden Tour. The tour took participants around both Pocatello and Chubbuck and allows them to visit different gardens from residents in the area.

The garden tour was inspired by its organizer Katie Hickok, the Extension Educator at U of I's Bannock County extension, says the tour was born shortly after she moved to the area.

"When I moved here, I was intimidated by the climate and the zone here in Idaho. The growing seasons are very short, so I wanted to go see other people's gardens and there wasn't really an opportunity to do that. So I thought, why not create a garden tour so I could go see other people's gardens? So it kind of started for selfish reasons, but it was also a way to help others," Hickok said.

The tour started Saturday morning and ended later that afternoon. The goal was for gardeners and would-be gardeners to gather together and share tips and see how others are growing in the garden.

"All the gardeners are so excited to share their knowledge that it's like I've noticed people are really comfortable asking questions. And the gardeners are always they were happy to answer the question," Hickok said.

Cheryl Lyda was one of the gardeners welcoming people into her garden got her start 23 years ago when she first moved into her home. Her home is on a slope and turning her backyard into a garden seemed like the logical choice.

"There was nothing in the yard when I moved in. And I don't like mowing lawns, Plus I'm on a slope and I'm old, so. So I decided I wanted to try gardening and raised boxes, which you don't have to bend over a lot for. They're easy to weed," Lyda said.

Lyda also described how many of the boxes she used to create her garden are repurposed into the holders of her garden. She says it's a cheap way to get your garden started.

She says being a part of the tour has been great.

"I was afraid that people want to eat from my garden. And that's not going to happen because I'm very jealous of my tomatoes. So I'll slap that out of the hand of anybody but I like that I wasn't expected to have a bouquet of beautiful flowers or something, exceedingly manicured because that's obviously not what this is. But I guess she asked me what I wanted people to know, and it's that it doesn't take much money if you've got the time, and I'm retired," Lyda said.

The tour ended at the Marshall Public Library where the University of Idaho Bannock County Extension had some resources for the gardeners.