I did a compost demo at my garden for my local garden group. I have 4 bins, so I showed them the bin where I add new putrescibles, then added a bagful of shredded newspaper to it and -- presto! -- the fruit flies went away. I sifted some finished compost, and they got close to smell it and feel it. But the most exciting part was when I took the cover off a not-quite-ready bin and moved aside the top layer. Everyone ooohed and aahed at the multitude of worms. I think if everyone can learn one or two things from your garden tour, it will be successful. If it's too much to absorb, it may be overwhelming. So if I were doing something like this, I'd have in mind some main points I wanted to make (to appeal to beginners as well as experienced organic gardeners), and then be aware that often people learn best when they can get specific questions answered, so no matter how much preparation you do, some people will think the best part of the tour is something you may not have imagined -- serendipity. (Does that make sense? It's analogous to the kid getting all kinds of fancy presents and then having the most fun playing with the empty boxes and ribbons.) I also went on an organic garden tour last week. Four gardens. 1. A community garden where you get a garden plot (100 sf) by taking a weekly gardening class. It was interesting to see the different trellising strategies. The worm bin was disappointing -- I found only 1 tiny worm. 2. A suburban garden with 4 plum trees in the parking strip (the area between the sidewalk and the curb), and a dozen or so other fruit trees scattered around a mostly ornamental garden. The highlight, though, was seeing a new composting/mulching tool, one of two prototypes built. It's like a big hand blender and hose that shoots water out at 750psi. Get a barrel full of green waste, use the tool, and in minutes it's pulverized and ready to use as mulch or, after sitting for a few days, ready to incorporate into the soil as a "compost." The inventor is talking to the state, in hopes of having this technology adopted to replace spraying roadsides and rights of ways with herbicides. He also says it will be useful for building firebreaks. (Not really a home gardening tool, though.) They have also experimented with pulverizing lawn trimmings, squeezing out all the liquid, and returning it to the lawn, with great results. 3. Another suburban yard, this one with a gardener who has a toddler and does not have much time to spend on the garden. So the front yard had lots of tree collards, the back had lots of arugula, and at other times of the year he grew lots of chard, fava beans, and other greens. He had a 1-page handout describing "low-labor organic gardening": at least 4 inches of mulch, delivered free from tree trimmers; "a dead flower is a living seed"; keep matching plants to their favorite microclimates; try something else until you find the easy ones that match how much time and effort you want to put into your garden. 4. A large suburban lot with tons of corn growing (they ate corn every day of the year, freezing the summer overproduction to eat in the winter), interplanted with carrots earlier in the season and with beans and squash later in the season. This is one of the few gardeners I've met who double-digs every year. He explained that the ornamental plants in the front yard (cacti, hollyhocks, etc.) were grown as biomass for the compost. He collects the yard waste and sends everything through the chipper when he builds the compost pile. His compost pile, which had been run through the chipper the day before, had a thermometer sticking out of it registering 155 degrees F -- very effective. I also put my hand on the pile and could feel the heat. The compost pile sits for a week, is turned, then after another week goes into a bin.

Ryan, this looks like too much work to germinate Iris seeds. I am not going to try at this time but thank you. For best seed germination results, use a pin and poke a hole in the seeds and soak in warm water for 24 hours. The seeds will need 3 weeks warm/moist followed by 10 weeks cold/moist. Then move to warm again for germination. Some seeds need more than one cycle of warm cold, so keep seed trays for a few years. For most Iris seeds, I sow them in a pot and put out side in a sheltered location, with germination occurring in 1 to 3 years for most types. You can speed-up the process by sowing the seeds in a plastic bag with some moist medium and use the fridge. (poke hole, soak, 3 weeks warm, 10 weeks fridge, warm again - remove and plant seeds as they germinate, move ungerminated seeds back to the fridge. )

Sorry, just got back from Colorado. Would've suggested visiting Morris Arboretum and Swarthmore College campus, too, but you've got a full plate of fabulous sites to tour. Let us know how it went and how you liked everything.

If you are going to Philadelphia, you should definitely go to Longwood Gardens. It is west of the city on Rte.1. It was the home of Pierre S. duPont and has many acres under glass and also outdoors. It is one of the premier gardens in the country. Just across Rte. 1 is the Brandywine River Museum, home of paintings by Andrew Wyeth. Nearby also, below the state line in Delaware is Winterthur Museum and Gardens, also a beautiful garden but perhaps at its best in the spring. Can you tell I'm from Delaware?? The Brandywine Valley website has links to these attractions. Here is a link that might be useful: Brandywine Valley Guide