Your Green Thumb

Traditionally, there are many rites of spring; in Southern Rhode Island, one of the newest is the annual East Farm Spring Festival and plant sale, which draws thousands of worshipers of everything that is green, flowering and sustainable. The May 12 festival, which is officially sponsored by URI, features plant sales (ornamental and vegetable), gobs of information on how to make your growing season more fruitful, food, music and children’s activities.

The annual URI Master Gardener plant sale is the major fundraiser for the URI Outreach Center, which provides educational help throughout the state to community gardens, school children and adults. The Master Gardeners have vegetable plant varieties not usually found at commercial venues. The South Kingstown Farmer’s Market is also part of the festival, and there are specialty plants offered by the RI Wild Plant Society as well. Rain barrels will be on sale (some can be pre-ordered at www.riwaterlady.com) and the gardeners will offer free pH soil testing. (Bring a cupful of soil from your garden or lawn using samples taken from various spots.)

Several URI departments will offer special displays, activities and demonstrations such as how to fillet fish. At least four workshops are planned, including installation of drip irrigation, container gardening, using Rhode Island native plants and making hypertufas for your garden. In the vegetable garden, Master Gardeners will explain vertical gardening, organic controls and composting.

The RI Commercial Fisheries Center will offer free chowder, and country music will be provided on the grounds. One large tent will be home to scores of children’s games and craft activities. Children can also visit some of the small farm animals that will be trucked to the site from URI’s Peckham Farm.

New this year will be a drop-off operation for unwanted electronic devices such as TV sets and computers. Items that will be accepted without cost include residential computers, laptops, PDAs, cell phones, computer mice, keyboards, networking equipment, cabling, flat screens, CRT monitors, stereo equipment, telephones, cordless phones, wide screen/tube televisions, microwaves, small appliances, lead batteries and other electronic gadgetry. Mini-refrigerators, dehumidifiers and household air conditioners will be accepted for a $10 disposal fee.

Free parking is available. Veteran festival-goers usually bring wagons, strollers or other wheeled devices to transport their purchases to the parking areas. Festival is May 12 from from 10am-2pm. East Farm is located on Route 108, Kingston.