March 28, 2024

Hurst to speak at SW Iowa Home and Garden Show

A familiar face to many in Creston, Susan Appleget Hurst will be the guest speaker Saturday at the SW Iowa Home and Garden Show, held at Southern Prairie YMCA.

The SW Iowa Home and Garden Show runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Southern Prairie YMCA in Creston. Tickets are $5 and children are admitted for free. The event features a variety of vendors, door prizes and a Back Yard BBQ contest sponsored by Hy-Vee.

Hurst’s presentations are also sponsored by Hy-Vee, with sessions from 10 to 10:45 a.m. and 12:15 to 1 p.m.

Hurst, who grew up in Sigourney in southeastern Iowa, opened Applehurst in Winterset in 2011. She operated the store, located in the old Madison County jail, until 2015. Hurst said she had many Creston shoppers at the store.

Hurst brings with her plenty of expertise, having written for Country Gardens, Garden Shed and Better Homes and Gardens magazines.

“Saturday, I’ll be speaking about growing and using herbs and also about ideas for outdoor decor project kind of things,” Hurst said. “People are really crazy about the junk market salvage thing right now. People are really enjoying the creativity, indulging their creativity in putting things together for their homes and gardens.”

Hurst said her presentations will include plenty of images to look at, as well as handouts that will provide attendees with simple ideas on how to use fresh herbs every day.

Those ideas include simple recipes, as well as information on growing and preserving herb harvests, so the flavor of fresh herbs can be enjoyed all year.

While operating Applehurst, Hurst said she was the only big source for miniature garden plants and accessories in the area.

“I had a lot of people come and take classes on building miniature gardens and succulent plants,” she said. “Also, I sold wine. So I did classes on growing and using herbs and pairing those things with wines.”

Growing and using herbs is one of Hurst’s favorite topics to talk about.

“Even people who don’t want to have a big garden can really get a lot of bang for their buck and the most out of their time by growing fresh herbs,” Hurst said. “Fresh herbs taste so much different than dried ones in the little containers in the store. I want to give people the confidence to grow a few fresh herbs and maybe try some new herbs they haven’t tried before.”

For her presentation on outdoor decor, Hurst said she’ll incorporate some ideas from the pages of Better Homes and Gardens and help attendees apply those ideas to their own yards.

“These are simple ideas for things they can do or creativity starters for them to create their own cool stuff for their garden or home,” she said. “I think they’ll come up with some cute ideas to use things they already have in new ways, and add their own batch of creativity to their garden with some of those ideas.”