Gardening Fair: A little taste of summer thanks to CRIFA students in Coaticook

Coaticook. A sign that spring is knocking on our doors, the CRIFA Horticultural Exhibition will welcome visitors this weekend (April 6-7).

This unmissable event of the season, which will be in its 29th edition, will be held this year under the theme “Valley Village”. “A village is a small group of houses located away from the village,” explains landscape teacher Brigitte Broteau. We wanted each of the students to be assigned to their own garden, as if they were meeting with a client who had needs and a deadline. We therefore find ourselves with four completely different presentations, with classic, “farmhouse”, Scandinavian and Victorian styles. »

Students in the program have been working on this major project since vacation. Christelle Gilbert will be attending her second gardening show, having participated in it last year as a participant in the horticulture section. “We learn to work as a team,” she says. Makes us think. There's not just one way to look at things. “It opens up our horizons and it's very rewarding,” says the woman who worked on the stone arch she is so proud of.

Speaking of pride, that's the feeling that swept over Calvin Dury just days before the event. “We started from scratch, and there was only dirt on the ground. There, we arrived with the facade of a house, a sidewalk, and a lawn. It was a long-term project, but I saw all the stages of this development. It doesn't look like anything and there, it's a real place. I hope To inspire people with that.”

Other programs were called upon to create the course, including Horticulture, Floristry and Forestry. “It was a great collaborative effort,” Ms. Proto sums up.

The gardening exhibition will be held at the same time as the CRIFA open house activity. The two-year-old format has been a huge success, bringing more than 3,000 people to the site, a number we hope to surpass again this spring.

Visitors are expected from 10am to 4pm on these two days.