by Rusty Collins, Jefferson County CSU Extension Director

Jefferson County CSU Extension, along with the West Chamber of Commerce and the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, hosted a Business After Hours event on May 21 to celebrate the opening of the Junior Master Gardener Demonstration Garden and Outdoor Classroom. The event featured educational booths on all of the Extension programs, a delicious BBQ, an F150 Truck Raffle for the 4H Foundation, a roping demonstration, cake decorating, Native Plant “Wheel of Fortune,” and plant/insect identification.

The Commissioners and our partners who helped to complete the project were present at the ribbon cutting. The demonstration garden will provide a place for youth who have completed a Junior Master Gardener Curriculum to plant, grow and harvest produce; then sell it at the Farmer’s Markets. This will teach the children about the commerce side of food production. Our program is only the second Junior Master Gardener Program in the State of Colorado!