On April 16, at 7 p.m., at the Salem Museum, two speakers will share secrets to successful gardening. The event is free and open to the public.
In her lively talk, Peggy Shifflett will present secrets of Appalachian gardening which have been passed down to her through four generations. For plentiful harvests – cabbage, beans, sweet potatoes, anything – she stresses the importance of “planting by the signs, family, and magic.” A retired Radford University professor, Dr. Shifflett is the president of the Museum’s Board and author of four books about Appalachian lore and culture, including stories of family food traditions and mealtime rituals.
Charlie Filer, a science teacher at Glenvar High School, will speak on the beauty of bees and how their work in our gardens may be more important than our own. Filer, the 2012 Roanoke County Teacher of the Year, manages the high school’s greenhouse, beehive and sustainable gardens. The students in his ecology class use the wax from the school’s own beehive to produce a lip balm – locally sourced and produced – that they are selling to raise funds for a bee-keeper’s suit.
-Submitted by Fran Ferguson, Salem Museum Executive Director