With the make-up of Pike County being made up of many private communities, week-end residents and a larger than average commuter population, home gardening is an important aspect of life in the county.

Penn State Cooperative Extension in Pike County and the Pike County Master Gardeners planned and implemented a day long Garden Day in April 2002. The goal of the program was to offer residents strategies for better and easier gardening and consisted of 10 workshops in which participants could choose three to attend. Workshop choices included Organic Gardening, Responsible Watershed Protection, Culinary Herbs, Water Gardens, Historic Landscapes, Feng Shui, Tree Care, Composting, Raised Bed Gardening, Deer Resistant Plants.

Comments made by some of the 65+ participants included: “Great! I learned a lot to incorporate into my existing garden,” “Several areas of tree care and management were new to me and will be very helpful as we plant more trees;” “Practical and useful information that will help me get started composting;” and “I am definitely going to build a raised bed garden!”