|
My name is Fran Pike, a Master Gardener with the University
of Missouri Extension in St. Charles County.
I enjoy going to plant
sales, greenhouses, and nurseries to find unusual plants.
Enjoying the beauty of flowers, both in the home and in the
garden is a wonderful experience.
As part of Master Gardener volunteer activities, I give classes on
gardening, write articles for this website on home gardening in
Missouri, and answer gardening questions. I was
president of my neighborhood garden club for 10 years, and a past president of
the Gardeners of St. Charles County. A
focus of my efforts is to share with others the love of gardening
and the joy and discoveries of growing, using, and understanding
plants.
At
home, I maintain a flower garden, pond, and vegetable garden that
keep me busy, along with other family activities. Cooking
and preserving vegetables and herbs that come from our garden each
year is very rewarding. I enjoy growing dye plants for my
handspun yarns. Five years ago, I started a
business called "Rover's Comb,"
offering handspun
yarns made from angora and chiengora (dog hair).
Gardening at our place has been a real family affair. My
husband, Curt, has been very instrumental in preparing the garden
sites and is the strength behind the shovel for the heavy
projects. When I asked our boys what they liked best about the garden, they
said they liked the pond the best, because
they like feeding the fish and finding frogs and tadpoles.
In the garden, Tom liked growing the "baby corn" that we use in
stir fries. Jeff liked the stachys
(Helen Von Stein), which he calls "Ellie's ears"
instead of lamb's ears, after our pet angora rabbit
"Ellie." Although they are now teenagers, they still enjoy picking blackberries, and
watching the moonflowers
open on summer evenings. It is my hope that they will
remember these things and be inspired to create a garden of their
own some day.
|