Butler Farm Bureau highlights agriculture, gardening at showcase
CONNOQUENESSING TWP — Local agriculture enthusiasts are using “Planting for the Future” to share how the industry impacts all of us.
The Butler County Farm Bureau and its women’s leadership committee held its second annual Planting for the Future agricultural showcase May 16 and 17 at the Butler Farm Show grounds. The showcase is held to teach community members more about local agriculture and other plant and garden-adjacent topics.
The farm bureau partnered with the Penn State Extension’s master gardener program to hold the event. The gardeners from the extension’s program had the opportunity to sell and teach about the hundreds of plants on display.
Plants for sale included indoor, outdoor, native plants, vegetables, plants good for shade, some better for directly in the sun and other kinds of flowers.
Aside from selling local goods and carnival food, vendors and local garden enthusiasts set up stations to share gardening tips and teach others about the impacts of other agricultural-related topics. These ranged from composting, to what types of windows can be good for indoor plants, to the daily impact livestock has on our lives.
“There’s a lot of different individuals and groups here today making everything happen,” Diane Dallos, a master gardener, said.
Mary Elizabeth, a member of Butler Farm Bureau’s women’s leadership committee who helped organize the showcase, said the bureau came up with Planting for the Future to help promote education around the importance of agriculture in Butler County.
Elizabeth stressed the importance agriculture has on our local and national economies as a reason to keep people informed. She said promoting agriculture and science moving into the future is important for everyone.
“The biggest thing as a part of women’s leadership is to educate, advocate and promote,” Elizabeth. “We’re big into buy local, support local, we’re big into connecting the farms to the kitchen tables; and everybody eats so, everybody needs to know about farming.”
Dallos said the showcase is important because it connects communities around Butler with agriculture, gardening and “everything that’s great about Butler County.”
“All the different groups participating and sharing what they do, we also have these educational presentations going on and the Farm building’s activities are great,” Dallos said.
