— from Kate Yturri —

The Orcas Master Gardeners and Orcas Island Garden Club are hosting a presentation by Linda Gilkeson, Ph.D., on Integrated Pest Management on May 18, 2:00-3:00pm, at the Eastsound Fire Station. Integrated pest management, or IPM, is a process you can use to solve pest problems while minimizing risks to people and the environment.

The public is invited to this free presentation but donations are appreciated.

Linda will be speaking at the Garden Club meeting on the same day at 10 a.m. The presentation,
“Resilient Year-round Gardening for a Changing Climate” will include discussion of our regional climate change and what it means for the productivity of our fruit, vegetables and other plants. We will learn how to design a resilient garden, prevent common drought and heat stress disorders and improve growing conditions so plants survive ‘weird weather’, including heat, cold and drought and storms.

Linda is an entomologist from Salt Spring Island, British Columbia who has worked to promote programs to reduce and eliminate pesticide use. She has co-authored pest management training manuals for the government and organic gardening books for Rodale Press. She has self-published three books, most recently Resilient Gardens 2016: Climate Change, Stress Disorders, Pest Update. Her comprehensive gardening book Backyard Bounty: The Complete Guide to year-Round Organic Gardening in the Pacific Northwest.
Read about Linda at lindagilkeson.ca