We will probably be there also, but if you haven't been before remember that it is SUNDAY AND MONDAY, May 5th and 6th. Be sure to go into the seed store (which will be packed) but they normally run some type of unadvertised special. I first go look at the list of speakers so I can plan my day. Some of the presentations fill up fast, but if I am not interested in what is being presented then I use that time to shop. There are always lots of vendors selling plants, honey, baked goods, iron works, etc., in addition to the retail stores on the property. A lot of the speakers have books to sell. There is a vegetarian restaurant there with a limited menu and unless it has changed the cost of the meal is a donation. I haven't been there this year since I didn't need more seed. My husband was coming through that town on his way home from a trip, and he went there and filled my shopping list for the year. Wear good walking shoes and be prepared for a crowd. I normally have responsibilities on Sunday, but we tend to do a little trip the first weekend of May since I have a birthday, anniversary, and Mother's Day, usually within a 10 day period, I sometimes I choose the festival (and goodies) for my birthday celebration. I can pick my own presents at the festival. LOL Here is a link that might be useful: Festival

Christie - we'll have Chicago Hardy figs - great for this area since they winter over. They need to be well mulched for the winter and are slow re-emerging in the spring - mine are just now starting to come up. They never become huge trees here as they do in the south or northwest, but instead about 6 or 7' tall bushes with absolutly yummy figs. As for Baker Creek - it looks as if Sunday may be showery and Monday clear. Usually Sunday is the big day and Monday much slower. I don't know about the lines waiting to get in as we always have to be there so early to set up and then we are busy and I don't see the road again until the day is over. The mud last year was a mess, but I thought they handled it valiently - I'd have gone and drowned myself in a mudhole! Christine/violet - I'll hidey hole some kiwis for you - they are sold in a lot of 3 - 2 females and 1 male. My goji from you wintered over and is about 5 feet tall - I'm getting ready to do some cuttings from it. The gogi plants we are bringing are from seeds - I wanted to have a group of different varieties as that is suppose to really up the production. Let me know on the kiwis since we are almost out of them for the year.

Christie_SW_MO, How are you? Go for the Blacktail Mountain Watermelon. It is Amy Goldman's favorite for flavor and she should know, she wrote this book: Melons for the Passionate Grower, has been growing melons for years, and is great friends with Martha Stewart. She has appeared on Martha's show at least three times where she's shown melons and her garden. She has also spoken at Baker Creek, I saw her and her slides were amazing. Amy Goldman's Website. Here is a link that might be useful: Amy Goldman and Blacktail Watermelon

As Maxine says in her cartoon, 'when you get old nothing whistles at you except the tea kettle', so I guess it is nice when someone is still 'jealous' of anything I do. LOL Dawn, they also have a list at the cash register in the store so I do sign up there when I think about it. To most of the world it would be just a seed store, but to gardeners it is a fun place to visit. They have a bakery that always has nice smells and some good looking stuff, but since I bake all of that at home, it's not a big draw for me. I have eaten at the restaurant once and it is OK, not wonderful, but OK. If it were mine, I would serve soup, salad, and lots of homemade bread, and nothing else. That way they could showcase what they grow, and a limited menu would be easy to handle, and it's always going to be vegetarian anyway. It's nice to have a place to eat in the event you want to stay all day. I have enjoyed looking at the chickens and turkeys and such. There is a big garden in front of the seed store which I always check out, but a lot of the gardens elsewhere were covered with row covers the last time I was there. I think that is the way we all need to garden to keep it as organic as possible and not spray. Of course, if I had to spray it, I wouldn't grow it, so I am always looking at a better way to grow. On festival days they have local -uhh- talent, that come in and perform and they seem to be a big draw. I am probably too critical, but it just isn't my kind of music. Last year Al and I went one month in the Fall, stayed overnight, and one of my friends was furious to learn that we had gone and didn't invite her. We agreed to take her to the next festival the next month. Al got sick and couldn't go so she and I went back. I could have just sat there and listen to one speaker after another, but she could only make it through one. We did visit every booth, and every store, and spent a lot of time picking out seed packs, because it was her first trip. I think she bought close to 30 packs and she plants a small garden. I'm sure her gardener son benefited the most from that shopping trip. That was the day we ate there also. That week she became sick with H1N1 and I was just sure I would get it since we had spent hours in the same car just a few days before, but I didn't. Anyway, when you can build a business in the middle of no where and still draw the crowds that the Gettles do, then you are doing something right, and it's not his wardrobe that draws them (grin). It is miles down a dusty gravel road and you actual do have 'to go the extra mile' to get to it. It seems to be a very good business for them and in addition, they are able to see the world as they travel. They now have a store in Missouri, one on the east coast and the left coast, and I hope getting so big doesn't have a negative impact. Maybe we need to do a caravan road trip next year.