Library hosting Family Garden Day

Fairfield Public Library will host a Family Garden Day from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Afton Hallauer, the youth services librarian, said Family Garden Day is being held in cooperation with the Fairfield 1st Fridays Art Walk. The theme for the April art walk, set for 6-9 p.m. Friday on and near the Fairfield square, is ?Spring Garden Celebration.?

?Different booths will be set up [Thursday] around the library highlighting aspects of gardening, like beekeeping and aquaponics,? said Hallauer.

Booths will be hosted by organizations including Jefferson County Master Gardeners, Hometown Harvest Southeast Iowa, Fairfield Hy-Vee Food and Drug Store, Iowa Honey Producers Association, Alliant Energy Hometown Rewards, Rainscaping Iowa and others.

The booths will focus on: distinguishing good bugs from bad bugs and putting the good ones to work; a community garden project, with half the harvest going to The Lord?s Cupboard; identifying and treating emerald ash borer; samples from Fairfield Farmers? Market; learning how to make healthy diet choices; gardening questions and answers; plus microgreens, Monarch butterflies, rain barrels and rain gardens, planting food for school lunches, starting seedlings and straw bale gardening.

?The booths will have activities for kids and talking points for the adults,? said Hallauer.

Hallauer said every child coming to Family Garden Day will get a ?passport? to have stamped at the booths. Once the passport is full, it can be returned to the library?s front desk for a take-away prize and for entry in a drawing for prizes, such as plants, packs of gardening supplies, like pails, shoves and rakes.

?It should be a fun time,? said Hallauer.

The library also will have ?Books in Bloom? displays, a feature of the art walk?s ?Spring Garden Celebration.?