STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Learn how to grow those hard-to-grow, warm-season vegetables like tomatoes when the Hailey Public Library presents the final part of its three-part series on High Altitude Gardening.

Manon Gaudreau and Amy Mattias will discuss “Sunny Season Gardening” at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 12, at Town Center West—the old Copy & Print building west of the library.

“The most challenging veggies to grow in the Wood River Valley are the most sought after. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and more are what gardening is all about for some,” said the library’s programs and engagement manager Kristin Fletcher. “But, while our high desert climate blesses us with lots of sun, summers can also be searingly hot, bone dry and nights are often surprisingly cool. Long-time gardeners know that snow can fall even in the summer.  Amy and Manon are seasoned local gardeners and will fill their talks with helpful tips and tricks.”

 After studying seed saving with local gardener and seed saver Bill McDorman, Gaudreau became a Master Gardener and helped establish Valley Victory Gardens. She is the director of the Wood River Seed Library and has taught classes on gardening locally for many years.

 Mattias is program director for the Sun Valley Institute for Resilience and, in that role, helped launch the 5B Resilience Gardens collaboration in 2020. She serves on the Blaine County Food Council and is a board member of Idaho Center for Sustainable Agriculture. She follows regenerative practices, rooted in traditional ecological knowledge, in her own garden and is currently enrolled in a permaculture design course.