"October 24, 2014 Bean Potluck - National Food Day Celebration - Bring your favorite Bean or other Vegetable of the Year inspired dish to share. Be sure to bring the recipe too! After dining on a delicious assortment of OVOC-inspired dished, you'll have the opportunity to nominate your favorite vegetable for the 2015 One Vegetable One Community Vegetable of the Year. We'll take a straw pole vote of those in attendance. Feel free to cast a vote on our Facebook Page if you can't make the event." 

Title:  Practical seed saving 

Description:  In this workshop you will discover why it is that some garden plants, like the tomatoes, peppers, beans and peas that are available through the Duluth Public Seed Lending Library, are better choices for beginning seed savers than other crops such as mustard greens, carrots, spinach and sweet corn.  You will also learn selection, cleaning, drying and storage techniques that maintain seed integrity and viability for many growing seasons. We can even give some of the aspiring plant breeders among you ideas for how to get started developing your own unique cultivars!

Presenters:  Professor Tom Michaels is a faculty member in the Horticultural Science Department at the University of Minnesota. He has been an edible dry bean breeder for over 30 years.  He teaches several courses that address plant propagation and crop production in extensive and intensive settings.  His most recent invention is the Hydroponic Salad Table which allows urban balcony gardeners to supply their families with healthy salads every day.

Ms. Hannah Swegarden is a Master of Science degree candidate at the University of Minnesota.  She is assessing the amount of genetic diversity found within heirloom dry beans lines and determining whether selection within those lines will result in heirlooms with improved adaptation to Minnesota growing conditions.