I have this recipe for a Fridge Dive Pesto Pasta. It’s where you clean out the bins of their questionable kale, the suspect spinach, the flaccid herbs and wilty greens and you make a pesto out of them. This is the buZZ! version of that pesto, where I clean out my inbox of announcements, dates, upcoming events and such that have been lingering there for the last month. Not that any of the following are questionable, suspect or otherwise wilty. It’s all good stuff I need to tell you about before it’s not relevant or before you miss a registration deadline.

As for the Fridge Dive dish, it’s delicious! You can find it HERE if you’re interested. But read buZZ! first.

Hicks Nursery of Westbury, New York, is celebrating 170 years in business this year and that is a spectacularly amazing feat! As Benary’s Matthias Redlefsen pointed out in his 2009 three-part series about family businesses, it’s not all that common for family businesses to last more than three generations. And for the Hicks family, well, they're on generation number six. Six!

As this VIDEO evidences, Hicks Nursery is looking as though they're doing pretty well, too. Maybe it’s the newly renovated facilities that are making everyone smile here (take a VIDEO TOUR of the changes). As Stephen Hicks points out, not only has Long Island changed, the business itself has “adjusted and changed with the times to become the business we are today.”

We're looking forward to what the next generations bring to the family business!

Are you a vegetable pathologist or know someone who is? If so, Cornell’s Long Island Horticultural Research and Education Center in my hometown of Riverhead is looking for you! LIHREC’s very own Dr. Margery Daughtrey reached out to a few homegrown Long Islanders in the hort biz and asked us to spread the word about the now-open Senior Extension Associate position working in vegetable pathology.

I know some of you will fake your résumés and claim to be a Ph.D. level pathologist just for the chance to work with Margie. Whoever gets the job will be treated to a very welcoming and friendly cohort with some extraordinary researchers and extension specialists. Try your luck via the Academic Jobs Online listing HERE.

Meanwhile, due north of Long Island in the great state of Connecticut, the University of Connecticut is preparing for its Native Plants & Pollinators Conference on Thursday, November 2. This is the fourth biennial occurrence of a day-long series of presentations featuring science-based research and information on native plant species and supporting pollinators in a managed landscape.

Who’s this event for? It’s an event for growers, landscape service providers, landscape architects and designers, town commissions, municipalities, schools, and homeowners, as well. Everyone gets an opportunity to learn the best plants and the best practices for pollinator management in both private and public spaces. Pollinators can’t tell the difference between those spaces, after all, so it’s important for everyone.

The early-bird deadline for registration is coming up next Friday, October 6, so head over here to REGISTER and save yourself $10. The registration fee includes admission, lunch and parking. The conference is also eligible for pesticide recertification credits, too.

The Sand County Foundation, a national non-profit that champions voluntary conservation practices by farmers and ranchers, is now accepting applications from high school teachers for pollinator habitat grants. The program is for high school students in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin and includes hands-on experience growing native wildflowers and establishing habitat for insect pollinators and Monarch butterflies.

Those who are awarded the grants will receive native seeds and seedlings, consultation and $1,000 to support any project expenses. Students will germinate and grow native plants over the winter, and plant them outside in the spring as an experiential learning opportunity. The Foundation encourages applicants to partner with landowners to establish pollinator habitat on agricultural and other working lands.

In addition to the grant program, all teachers can access a Pollinator Habitat Curriculum Guide, which you can download HERE.

You have until November 17 to apply. But why put it off? Apply HERE.

America In Bloom has a lot going on this time of year.

The first is an ASAP item: It’s a reminder to vote for your favorite America In Bloom YouTube Video to determine the winners of AIB’s People’s Choice Video Award. AIB challenged the folks who created these videos to create something that showcased the impact America In Bloom has had on their communities. You have three video finalists to choose from to take home the top honor: Brewton, Alabama; Madison, Mississippi; or Orion Township, Michigan. Make your favorite the winner by VIEWING AND VOTING. Voting ends this Saturday, September 30, around 6:30 p.m. Eastern, right before AIB’s Annual Educational Symposium and Awards Celebration.

The second is also a bit of a hurry-up-and-do-this item: Once a year, AIB holds a fundraising event to help the organization with its mission spreading the messaging of community beautification, education and involvement. Tickets for the AIB Raffle are $100 each and the prize opportunities are downright appealing: a $5,000 winner, $1,000 winner and a $500 winner. They cap the number of tickets at 500 total, so each ticket has a 1 in 500 chance of winning, if I have my math correct. Better chances than Powerball and you probably bought a ticket for that, so head over to BUY YOUR AIB RAFFLE TICKET. Again, the last chance to buy is September 30 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.

You have a few weeks to take part in this third item, which is America In Bloom’s benefit auction. It’s your chance to bid on unique flowers, plants, travel experiences and a whole bunch more. There are caladiums from Bates Sons & Daughters, houseplants from leafjoy, flower plugs from Bob’s Market and D.S. Cole, a sea plane adventure in Tavares, Florida (oh, I like that one), and other fine items that you can enjoy yourself or maybe even turn around and sell at retail. Registering is easy and BIDDING IS, TOO. The auction closes October 21.

I love receiving information about the plants and products that receive National Garden Bureau’s Green Thumb Awards, which are usually announced at the beginning of the year. And right now is your chance to get your items into the running for these awards!

Your entries can be live goods or hardgoods, with the live goods in the categories of annuals, edibles, perennials and shrubs. Your hardgoods can be within the categories of garden tools, garden décor, books or any other innovative garden item. If your plant or product is deemed to be the most unique, technologically innovative, the best to solve a gardening problem, provides the best gardening opportunity or simply is the most appealing, you’re definitely in the running.

I love this logo, don't you?

But, wait, there’s one new twist to this year’s Green Thumb Awards! The People’s Choice Award will be included for each product category, so that means Edibles will have an Industry’s Choice winner and a People’s Choice winner. I love this idea because sometimes what the industry thinks is a winner is completely different from what consumers think is a winner.

National Garden Bureau members can enter products into the Green Thumb program based on their membership level. Non-members are encouraged to join in order to submit their new and innovative garden products. Not an NGB member? You can sign up HERE! Deadline to enter is end-of-day October 16. 

If you would like more information about the Green Thumb Awards program, would like to submit a plant/product or want more information about membership in National Garden Bureau, please contact NGB Executive Director Diane Blazek or send an email to info@ngb.org.

Early-bird registration for MANTS, being held at the Baltimore Convention Center, January 10-12, is now open. So if you want to be counted among the more than 11,000 MANTS attendees who visit the more than 900 exhibitors, now’s the time to get the best pricing on the experience.

If you’ve never attended MANTS before, it’s a show that's traditionally nursery-heavy, but has a great range of products, including garden items, tools and outdoor living essentials. It also doesn’t have a separate educational conference associated with it, but does have peer-to-peer education on the show floor. It’s a great show for writing orders, connecting with clients and networking at an important time of year.

Early bird pricing for attendees is $20 per person through December 1, after which admission is $30 per person. Register HERE to get that good deal. Pricing includes admission to all three days of the show. Attendee and exhibitor HOUSING RESERVATIONS are available through the official Visit Baltimore Housing Bureau through January 3. Discounted rates are available at eight downtown hotels, all within walking distance of the Baltimore Convention Center. Start the new year off right—start it at MANTS!

TPIE returns to Ft. Lauderdale and the Broward County Convention Center this coming January, January 17-19. You should know that hotel booking is now open. I just signed up for my hotel—and you should, too!. Sign up via the official housing site HERE to ensure you get your preferred hotel. A little bird tells me that registration for TPIE is opening mid-October. I’ll keep you posted as to the date.

Something else to be aware of is that the new Brightline train connection between Orlando and Miami stops in Ft. Lauderdale. This mode of transportation is an option for anyone who would like to visit Apopka and Miami during the week of TPIE. I, for one, love a train ride.

You might recall that last October I took the entire month off to work on a personal project. This October, I will be doing a “lite” version of what I call my October Project. I will be writing buZZ! for next week (with help from colleague Jen Polanz, who'll who have news from The Garden Center Group Event), and the following three weeks will feature submissions from some new and previous buZZ! contributors.

Got anything to share? I could squeeze it in during one of those weeks. Just EMAIL ME about what you might want to include. As long as it isn't super self-promotional, I’ll consider it!