By Terry Chamberlin and Susan Starr.
The SDHS Garden for the 2017 Fair
You won’t want to miss this year’s SDHS exhibit at the San Diego County Fair. In celebration of the Fair’s Wild West theme, the SDHS design team, Terry Chamberlin, Mannah Gbeh, Greg Hunter, Jason Showalter and Karen Krugman, have created a modern urban homesteading garden with a rustic touch.
Urban homesteading is a modern gardening movement which echoes the farming techniques of early pioneer homesteaders. To illustrate the urban homesteading concept, the garden has been planted with edibles that might have been found in early pioneer gardens; there are fruit trees and a vegetable patch, along with plants that attract bees and other pollinators. Also present are plants that pioneers might have found when they arrived in California, such as California natives and California Pepper trees, as well as roses that homesteaders may have brought with them on their trek west. Structures include a water wheel and, in a nod to modern practices, a garden shed with a green roof of succulents. Since this year’s Exhibit aims to be educational as well as beautiful, the design team has assembled a history of roses, information on the importance of providing habitats for San Diego county’s native solitary bees, and information on native seeds to complement the landscape.
Plan to visit this unique garden and enjoy the Fair. You can also volunteer to serve as an
exhibit host and receive free entry to the Fair.
Mannah Gbeh, SDHS Fair Exhibit Team Leader and Su Kraus, Moosa Creek Nursery.