Kids Day will be celebrated this coming Saturday at Floyd's Strawberry Farm in Fairmont. All children will receive free strawberries between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

You do not have to worry about having nothing to do this weekend. If you are an outdoor person, there are two events on Saturday morning that you definitely do not want to miss. Then you can complete your Saturday by attending the Gatlin Brothers Concert at the Givens Performing Arts Center at UNC-Pembroke. You do not have to have tickets for the morning events, but you might want to go ahead and call GPAC to get your concert tickets.

The Robeson County Master Gardeners will hold their Annual Plant Sale Saturday morning in the parking lot in front of Cox Quality Home Furnishings, which is located at 4301 Fayetteville Road in Lumberton. The plant sale will begin around 7:30 a.m. You do not want to lounge around the house and have a leisurely breakfast before going to purchase your plants. If you do, you might come home empty-handed. The Master Gardeners have been holding an annual plant sale for quite a few years, and everyone has learned that this is the place to go to find those special plants at special prices. The good plants will sale out fast, so get there early.

The Master Gardeners are a group of highly motivated individuals who have completed a 15-week training program focused on all aspects of horticulture. The Master Gardener Program is coordinated by the Cooperative Extension Service and is usually taught once each year. Participants of the program must contribute 40 hours of volunteer service to their community in exchange for the training to become certified Master Gardeners. Then if they wish, they can join their local Master Gardener Association and continue to learn and continue to share their expertise within their community.

The purpose of their Annual Plant Sale is not to compete with local garden centers or to offer bargain priced plants that are commonly available at these garden centers. Instead, their major goal is to assist local citizens in beautifying Robeson County. Many of the Master Gardeners have lavish landscapes containing both common and unusual plants. A good Master Gardener likes nothing better than to share a plant with a friend or neighbor. All of the plants they will be selling are those they have gathered from their own landscapes, and they will be selling them at very reasonable prices.

Every year, our Master Gardeners perform many beautification projects throughout the entire county. They use the money they earn from this plant sale to fund these projects. So come on out and buy some great plants at great prices and support their beautification projects.

After you buy your plants, head on over to Floyd's Strawberry Farm in Fairmont to get some delicious, fresh Robeson County strawberries. The strawberry farm opens about 7:00 in the morning, but this Saturday is a special day, because Kenny and Anna Floyd will be holding their third annual Kids Day from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Kids Day will be held in recognition of all those kids in the county who are autistic, and a percentage of all sales for this entire day will be donated to the Autism Society of Robeson County. April is National Autism Awareness Month, so here is your chance to take your children with you to get fresh strawberries and support this worthwhile cause at the same time

All children will receive a container and may pick the container full of strawberries at no cost, in addition to those they eat while picking. They will also receive a free coloring book and free face painting will be available. A special treat for both young and not so young will be homemade ice cream, including homemade strawberry ice cream.

The Autism Society will be selling pizza, soft drinks, and chips to raise money for their group and will be providing literature to help you better understand autism and the effect it has on some of our youth and their families. The Fairmont FFA youth will be selling bedding plants and flowers, and the Fairmont Rescue Squad will display their equipment.

I've planned your Saturday morning for you and have given you a suggestion for Saturday evening. I guess you will have to spend your Saturday afternoon planting those things you bought at the plant sale and preparing your strawberries for Saturday dinner.

The strawberry season is just beginning. We have eight strawberry farms in the county. I will be providing more information about these strawberry farms during the next few weeks.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 4/22/08