Speaker Schedule

Expert Speakers for 2024 Chaffee Home & Garden Show

Show organizers have revealed the lineup of home and gardening experts who will present over two days on a variety of helpful topics specific to Chaffee County – its residents, its landscape, its environment. Read on to discover the list of educational seminars that will be presented at the Chaffee County Fairgrounds’ South Building on both Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7.

Batteries for Solar Powered Energy

Tim will be discussing battery storge system options and how they interact with grid interactive PV systems. ESS Systems such as the Tesla PowerWalls and Fortress Energy eVault Max will be discussed in detail.

Tim Klco is president of Peak Solar Designs serving Chaffee and surrounding counties since 2004. Tim is certified by the National Board of Certified Energy Practitioners® and a member of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association. Peak Solar Designs specializes in grid interactive and Energy Storage Systems (ESS) and has installed nearly 6 megawatts of residential PV systems in Chaffee County alone.

New Kitchen Tools for Cooking and Baking

Star Belmonte, Owner, The Mixing Bowl

Who doesn’t want the latest tools to make cooking and baking easier? You’ll see the greatest gadget demonstrations and taste some delicious gourmet foods at this fun session!

Star Belmonte is a 35+ year Salida local. Star and her husband John (born in Salida) are the owners of The Mixing Bowl in downtown Salida. You can find the most delicious gourmet foods, top kitchen gadgets, and cookware, along with beautiful local art at their store.

Winter Gardening – How to Accomplish It … even in the Rocky Mountains

Imagine being able to grow healthy nutritious food year-round, even in our challenging mountain environment! It’s possible.

You may be thinking of putting up a greenhouse in the future, or you may already be the proud owner of a growing room. Either way, this discussion will isolate some of the most common challenges that greenhouse growers face. Regardless of your personal greenhouse set-up, you can improve the efficiency with these tips.

Claudia Stover is a gardening instructor who fell in love with greenhouse growing after constructing her first greenhouse in 2007. With nearly 20 years of greenhouse gardening experience, she and her husband Rick have food readily available throughout the year, come rain, hail, snow, or wind. Fascinated with “all things growing” she and Rick have 35 years’ experience designing and building large, landscaped gardens throughout Virginia and Colorado.

Naturalizing With Natives

Amy Detmer, Head Manager at Brady’s West Maintenance Department

Any beautiful yard, garden or landscape can hold the key to joy. With the right consideration it can also provide a safe haven for birds, insects, and other wildlife.
How we perceive plant selections ultimately influences the outcome for not only the gardener, but our local flora and fauna. Why not encourage natural beauty while also inviting as much balance as possible?

This class will highlight the beauty of incorporating local plant life into your new or preexisting landscape. We will touch on understanding the defections of a true native, and of course utilizing them with ease.

Amy Detmer is the head manager of the Brady’s West Maintenance department. Currently she focuses on low maintenance landscaping solutions for private clients in the surrounding area. A combined knowledge of local gardening, and over 10 years of hands-on experience has broadened her high desert problem solving. She is always looking to improve her list of proven plant materials that thrive in our challenging environment and hopes to encourage fellow gardeners to find joy in their beauty.

Land Link, Maintaining Agricultural Production Land

In this session, Guidestone Colorado’s Land Link Director, Emma Lietz Bilecky, will address the challenges of agricultural land access for Chaffee County producers and share about the ways landowners can make their land available for agricultural production through the Colorado Land Link Database.

Emma Lietz Bilecky has been working with Guidestone Colorado since moving to Salida in 2022 and has roots in the Front Range. Prior to her work with Guidestone, Emma learned from, managed, and taught courses on farms in the Southeast, Northeast, Midwest, and Mountain West and earned masters degrees in environmental management and theological studies at Duke University. As the Colorado Land Link Director, Emma is working to address the crisis of land access and affordability while increasing equity, supporting agricultural communities, and building climate resilience.

Hot Tubs for Dummies

You have heard of Microsoft for Dummies. This class will be hot tub for Dummies. Care and Maintenance of a hot tub is not as scary as it seems. Brady’s West makes it so easy a caveman can do it!

Derald Brady grew up in a family-run nursery first in Westcliffe and then Canon City, before he and his three brothers formed Brady Brothers, Inc. in the 1990s. In 2008, the Brady Brothers bought the former Denoyer’s nursery in Salida and renamed it Brady’s West with Derald assuming responsibility for managing it.

Starting a Vegetable Garden

Get all the info you need on soil tests and soil preparation to start growing your own produce. You’ll learn about building a raised bed and growing in the ground in our Rocky Mountain soils.

Monica Pless is the Chaffee County Director of CSU Extension. She brings 20 years of experience farming, most recently as the Farm to School Director for Guidestone Colorado, growing produce for the Salida School District and hospital. Her background is primarily in market farming vegetables, tree fruit, flowers, greenhouse and poultry, and in youth development and farmer and rancher training. In her free time, she loves to hike, play trivia, and save seeds.

Irrigation for Vegetable Gardens: In-ground and Raised Beds

Derald Brady, Brady’s West

Learn how to effectively and efficiently water your vegetable garden so that the plants thrive and your yield is worth the work. Derald will offer tips and techniques for both in-ground plants and those in raised beds.

Derald Brady grew up in a family-run nursery first in Westcliffe and then Canon City, before he and his three brothers formed Brady Brothers, Inc. in the 1990s. In 2008, the Brady Brothers bought the former Denoyer’s nursery in Salida and renamed it Brady’s West with Derald assuming responsibility for managing it.

Row Cover for Season Extension and Managing Insect Pests

Monica Pless, Chaffee County Director of CSU Extension

Learn how to identify the insects we often see in Colorado produce gardens, and methods to manage, prevent and control them, including by using row covers. Find out ways to extend our short season (much of Chaffee County has only 100 frost free days) to start earlier in the spring and go later into the fall.

Monica Pless is the Chaffee County Director of CSU Extension. She brings 20 years of experience farming, most recently as the Farm to School Director for Guidestone Colorado, growing produce for the Salida School District and hospital. Her background is primarily in market farming vegetables, tree fruit, flowers, greenhouse and poultry, and in youth development and farmer and rancher training. In her free time, she loves to hike, play trivia, and save seeds.

Harvesting from Produce Gardens

Monica Pless, Chaffee County Director of CSU Extension

What are we looking for when we are ready to harvest from our veggie gardens? Learn techniques for harvesting produce at peak quality and storage conditions to make sure it lasts.

Monica Pless is the Chaffee County Director of CSU Extension. She brings 20 years of experience farming, most recently as the Farm to School Director for Guidestone Colorado, growing produce for the Salida School District and hospital. Her background is primarily in market farming vegetables, tree fruit, flowers, greenhouse and poultry, and in youth development and farmer and rancher training. In her free time, she loves to hike, play trivia, and save seeds.