Rose pruning made simple. Learn the how, when and where to prune to keep your roses at their best year round.

Gaye Hammond is a consulting rosarian, international lecturer and writer. She is also President of the Houston Rose Society. Gaye oversees the creation and maintenance of three Earth-Kind® trial sites in Texas and is involved in Earth-Kind® projects at ARS Headquarters in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Free tomato plant for first 150 people.

Let these authors of The Southern Kitchen Garden book educate and entertain you. Attendees will learn soil preparation, maintenance, fertilization, disease and insect control and variety selection. Experienced and novice gardeners alike will be entertained and informed by these two gardening gurus!!

Bill Adams and Tom LeRoy's informative and entertaining approach to gardening make this one of our most popular events. Learn vegetable gardening from the pros.

Tom is currently the Extension Agent for Montgomery County while Bill is a well known professional photographer and Extension Agent Emeritus for Harris County. Together, they have co-authored Vegetable Gardening for the South.

Learn the habitat and nesting habits and how to protect bluebirds with this popular presentation by Linda Crum. You may join the Texas Bluebird Society, and with a new membership receive a free nestbox.

Linda is a Texas Master naturalist and has monitored bluebirds in her backyard for years. She also monitors a bluebird trail at a nearby State Forest and reports all data to Cornell Laboratories, NestWatch program.

Charles Strack

Learn basic welding skills with noted metal artist Charles Strack. Class space is limited. Cost: $205

Leah and Pam Gunter, Gunters Heirloom Vegetables

These vegetable varieties have been around for generations and for good reason. Their taste is second to none! Leah and Pam are experts in the growing of these traditional varieties and graciously pass along their knowledge.

Charles Strack

Learn basic welding skills with noted metal artist Charles Strack. Class space is limited. Cost: $205

Learn the techniques and varieties to maximize your harvest in minimal space. Vegetables in containers add beauty and function to your patio or landscape. No Fee.

Jeremy Kollaus' low key approach to gardening appeals to the laid-back gardener in each of us. Not only an experienced vegetable gardener, Jeremy is a great cook!

Linda Gay

The extreme weather patterns of 2011 have forced us to remember what did well and be smart in our plant choices for this year.

I received my Associates Degree in Horticulture from Trident Technical College in Charleston, SC. I moved to Houston the summer of 1979 and worked in the commercial green industry until 1985. October 1985 I stared at Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens and retired in May 2011. I was the director for 11 years. I am first and foremost a gardener, constantly manipulating soils and putting new plants in the garden, always learning and growing. I have killed plants every which way you can and this experience has made me a plant expert. After 6 months of retirement I was very fortuitous and landed in the coolest gardener's paradise, The Arbor Gate in Tomball, Texas. Beverly and the staff are a great group of people and I reconnect with the master gardeners and the rest of my gardening friends. Come see us!

Ann Wheeler, Log House Herbs

Basic information on growing familiar herbs successfully in our area, plus ideas for using them in recipes, the landscape, and various containers. Also, introductions to some new herb friends you will want to try.

Chef Molly Fowler & Ann Wheeler, Log House Herb Farm

Make your reservations early. This popular event promises to be educational, fun and delicious! You will also go home with a great party favor! Space is limited. Cost is $40.

Houston's own Dining Diva, Molly Fowler will be joining Ann. Molly combines her years of catering expertise with her wide-ranging experience as a cooking instructor to demonstrate entertaining with ease, flair and impact.

Konrad Haskins, Pit Master

Cost: $139 / BYOB

Come join grand champion pit master Konrad "Teddy Bear" Haskins for an informal backyard barbecue where you will learn how to take your skills to the next level. This is the Steak class plus cooking a Brisket from start to delicious eating, scratch Dutch oven Pinto Beans and Buttermilk Biscuits. Repeatable methods to prepare great Steaks, Brisket, Beans and Biscuits from a grand champion pitmaster. Selection, preparation, seasoning, optional marinading, wood selection, grill and smoker setup. We will cook everything for sampling from start to finish. BYOB. This class includes all of How to Grill a Great and Flavorful Steak. Ask Bev the last class even though we cooked a ton, there was almost nothing left it was that good.

As an experienced caterer, restaurateur and competitor Konrad knows how to barbecue everything from an intimate dinner for two to lunch for 5,000 soldiers returning from Iraq. His love of barbecue started while watching his grandfather cook whole steers on a spit when he was five. He now combines a lifetime of teaching and cooking with food science to help his students understand how to cook better barbecue. Our classes give you the knowledge to use different techniques successfully on everything from a propane grill to a trailered smoker. With the internet full of confusing and contradictory advice, the BBQ Institute® classes provide a clear and easy to follow road map to success. Our definition of success is when you go home and cook barbecue that impresses those you care about. We offer email support to graduates to guarantee your BBQ is better than ever. Improve your skills or give the gift of knowledge, book a class today.

After working and teaching in aviation and computers in 2002 he started competing. His competition career has seen success all over the US including cooking at the elite invitation only world championship level. He has appeared on TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, including Food TV and the Wall Street Journal. In 2003 Konrad went full time professional pitmaster. In 2004 he Started the BBQ Institute®, which is now his full time career.

Konrad Haskins, Pit Master

Cost: $139 / BYOB

Come join grand champion pit master Konrad "Teddy Bear" Haskins for an informal backyard barbecue where you will learn how to take your skills to the next level. Konrad has taken awards for both his Chicken and Ribs nationally and at the Texas State Championship. Repeatable methods to prepare great Chicken Breasts, Half Chickens, Baby Back and Spare Ribs from a grand champion pitmaster. Selection, preparation, butchering, seasoning, optional marinading, wood selection, grill and smoker setup. We will cook everything for sampling from start to finish. BYOB. This class was a special request from the students who took the Beef, Beans and Biscuits class in July. It is a follow on class that covers all new material. New side dish recipes included.

As an experienced caterer, restaurateur and competitor Konrad knows how to barbecue everything from an intimate dinner for two to lunch for 5,000 soldiers returning from Iraq. His love of barbecue started while watching his grandfather cook whole steers on a spit when he was five. He now combines a lifetime of teaching and cooking with food science to help his students understand how to cook better barbecue. Our classes give you the knowledge to use different techniques successfully on everything from a propane grill to a trailered smoker. With the internet full of confusing and contradictory advice, the BBQ Institute® classes provide a clear and easy to follow road map to success. Our definition of success is when you go home and cook barbecue that impresses those you care about. We offer email support to graduates to guarantee your BBQ is better than ever. Improve your skills or give the gift of knowledge, book a class today.

After working and teaching in aviation and computers in 2002 he started competing. His competition career has seen success all over the US including cooking at the elite invitation only world championship level. He has appeared on TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, including Food TV and the Wall Street Journal. In 2003 Konrad went full time professional pitmaster. In 2004 he Started the BBQ Institute®, which is now his full time career.

Dave Whitinger, Dave’s Garden

This is a fast paced blitz of the best gardening tips that have been collected and voted on by the members of the AllThingsPlants.com website. You will come away with dozens of new ideas that will revitalize your gardens and make you more efficient.

Dave is the founder of the DavesGarden.com and Cubits.org websites and the current president of the Cherokee County Master Gardeners Association. He lives on a 90 acre farm in Jacksonville, TX with his wife and 5 children.

Dr. William Welch, Texas A&M University

Dr. Welch will be at The Arbor Gate from 10am to Noon signing his new book "Heirloom Gardening in the South".

Dr. David Creech

The heat and drought of 2010 and 2011 has redefined what plants make the grade as Texas-tough, bullet proof, and deserving greater use. In a show and tell, Dr. Creech will walk us through the many surprising survivors at SFA Gardens and landscapes of SE Texas. While surviving is one thing, thriving is another. With a focus on drought tolerance, there still remains a surprising array of woody and herbaceous gems suited for any homeowner hoping for a cheerful, colorful and interesting garden - even when it's a pure hell during the summer and rains are only a memory.

Dr. David Creech, Professor of Horticulture, has been at Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas since September, 1978. His teaching responsibilities include courses in fruit and vegetable production, greenhouse management, landscape plant materials, plant propagation, and nursery management. His effort has focused on blueberry germplasm and production studies, alternative crop/alternative technology work, crop nutrition studies, new plant introductions for the ornamental horticulture industry, endangered plant rescue, research and reintroduction, and finding sustainable solutions to environmental concerns. Dr. Creech is a contributing writer to numerous scholarly and trade publications. Dr. Creech has enjoyed numerous international consultancies since 1981 to Pakistan, Guatemala, Mexico, Nepal, Israel and China. His latest work in China collaborates with colleagues at the Nanjing Botanical Garden and has a focus on Taxodium improvement and research, nursery production and blueberry potential. Dr. Creech was President, 1991-1992, of the Native Plant Society of Texas, an 1800 member, 31 chapter organization dedicated to the conservation, selection and use of the native plants of Texas. He is currently the Director of the ten-acre SFA Mast Arboretum, an on-campus resource that has enjoyed steady growth, development, utilization and visitation since its inception in 1985. Dr. Creech?s also directs the 8-acre SFA Ruby Mize Azalea Garden which opened in 2000. The garden features over a mile of trails, 6000+ azaleas, over 200 varieties of Japanese maples and 400 varieties of camellias plus a wide assortment of companion trees and shrubs. He is also co-Director of a new 40-acre forest resource on the SFA campus, the SFA Pineywoods Native Plant Center, only the third garden affiliated with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas. He signs all his letters, "Keep planting."

Rand Hopkins of Monrovia Nursery

A sneak preview of what's new from this industries leading nursery. No fee.

Rand C. Hopkins grew up in Houston, TX and graduated from Clear Lake High School. Upon graduation he attended Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. where he received a Bachelor of Sciences in Natural Resources with a minor in Horticulture. Rand started working for Monrovia in 1993 in both the Dayton, Or and Visalia, Ca. locations, and over the past 13 years he has been based in Houston, TX as an outside sales representative for Monrovia. When he is not talking about plants Rand enjoys playing guitar in a local band and spending time with his wife Julie and children Sienna and Reed.

Gaye Hammond

Attendees will learn the secrets of successfully rooting rose cuttings. Each attendee will go home with a prepared cutting and be able to watch it develop into a blooming plant.

Gaye Hammond is a consulting rosarian, international lecturer and writer. She is also President of the Houston Rose Society. Gaye oversees the creation and maintenance of three Earth-Kind® trial sites in Texas and is involved in Earth-Kind® projects at ARS Headquarters in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Gaye Hammond

Roses are one of the few plants that bloom in our area almost all year long. As such they are the perfect plant to carry the visual load in the landscape. The trick is selecting the right rose for your specific needs - including the amount of care (or no care) you wish to employ to keep the landscape looking beautiful. In this class we will actually design a landscape from scratch using roses are the foundation plantings supplemented by other companion plants and trees.

Gaye Hammond is a consulting rosarian, international lecturer and writer. She is also President of the Houston Rose Society. Gaye oversees the creation and maintenance of three Earth-Kind® trial sites in Texas and is involved in Earth-Kind® projects at ARS Headquarters in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Kathy Huber, The Houston Chronicle

An informal chat with the Chronicle's Garden Editor. Kathy's roots are in the South, as she shares her love of gardening with treasured favorites and new found friends. No fee.

Dr. William Welch, Texas A&M University and Greg Grant

Friends and co-authors, Bill Welch and Greg Grant, will discuss the many heirloom plants uniquely adapted to Southern gardens as well as their long friendship and many interesting horticultural characters they've had the pleasure of knowing. Greg will also talk about his numerous plant introductions and how they got their names. Bill Welch is the Texas Agrilife Extension Landscape Horticulturist at Texas a&M while Greg Grant is a horticulturist for SFA Gardens in Nacogdoches. They are co-authors of Heirloom Gardening in the South-Yesterdays Plants for Today's Gardens (Texas A&M University Press).

Konrad Haskins, Pit Master

Cost: $49

Our ultimate burger class. You'll learn how to make amazing, moist, tender hamburgers with 90% lean beef. Plus the classic toppings taken to new levels of amazing. Come Hungry Includes Smoked: Cheese, Tomatoes and Mushrooms. Grilled Onions. Smoked Bacon and Pig Candy

As an experienced caterer, restaurateur and competitor Konrad knows how to barbecue everything from an intimate dinner for two to lunch for 5,000 soldiers returning from Iraq. His love of barbecue started while watching his grandfather cook whole steers on a spit when he was five. He now combines a lifetime of teaching and cooking with food science to help his students understand how to cook better barbecue. Our classes give you the knowledge to use different techniques successfully on everything from a propane grill to a trailered smoker. With the internet full of confusing and contradictory advice, the BBQ Institute® classes provide a clear and easy to follow road map to success. Our definition of success is when you go home and cook barbecue that impresses those you care about. We offer email support to graduates to guarantee your BBQ is better than ever. Improve your skills or give the gift of knowledge, book a class today.

After working and teaching in aviation and computers in 2002 he started competing. His competition career has seen success all over the US including cooking at the elite invitation only world championship level. He has appeared on TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, including Food TV and the Wall Street Journal. In 2003 Konrad went full time professional pitmaster. In 2004 he Started the BBQ Institute®, which is now his full time career.

Henry Flowers of McAshan Gardens

Madalene Hill was one of Texas’ and Southern America’s leading herb enthusiasts. She created a historic nursery and restaurant known as Hilltop Herb Farm, co-authored Southern Herb Growing, - perhaps the best book on herbs for our region, became President of the Herb Society of America, and shared her passion for herbs with so many along the way. The knot garden at the National Herb Garden and the herb garden at Arbor Gate are both justifiably named in her honor. This presentation will celebrate her life and the herbs that she helped to bring into commerce and/or which are named in her honor.

Henry is a native Texan and a graduate of Texas A&M University. He holds both Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Horticulture.
He is the 2009 recipient of the Herb Society of America's Joanna McQuail Reed Award for the Artistic Use of Herbs.

Ann Wheeler, Log House Herbs & Chef Chris Crowder

This celebration of everything basil will bring together the plant lore of this favorite herb and the culinary lore and expertise associated with it.

Basilmania! strikes in early spring every year -- causing herb lovers to behave in a most irrational manner -- that is, we all rush to The Arbor Gate in search of this greatest of all spring and summer culinary herbs weeks ahead of the sunshine and warm temperatures they require to flourish.

This class will explore basils that may smell and taste of anise, camphor, cinnamon, clove, eucalyptus-carnation, lemon, thyme, and other scents. You’ll discover that the spicy notes of many basils not usually considered culinary herbs can add unusual flavors and fragrances to quite ordinary recipes.

Join us for this festive event and experience some aspects of basil you’ve not been acquainted with before. Indulge yourself in Basilmania!

Chef Chris Crowder is a professional chef and long time friend of The Arbor Gate. He prepares delicious dishes for many of the Arbor Gate events and specializes in herbal recipes.

Steve Chamblee

Nothing makes a bold statement in a garden like a pergola...you already know that. But did you know building a pergola is a fun and easy project you can do yourself? Come join Steven Chamblee for a hands-on demonstration of how to make the perfect pergola for your garden.

Steven Chamblee is the Chief Horticulturist for Chandor Gardens in Weatherford. He serves as Consulting Editor and Author for Neil Sperry's GARDENS magazine, and writes a monthly e-newsletter column entitle Native Son, and is an Adjunct Instructor for Tarrant County College and Texas Christian University's Extended Education. He has studied public and private gardens in England, Denmark, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Hawaii, and across the continental United United States. He is proud to be one of those rare horticulturists who concurrently talks the talk and walks the walk.

Cherie Foster Colburn

Join this award-winning garden writer and landscape designer to discover how you can make these drought-proof beauties part of your low-maintenance landscape. Cherie will also be signing her newest picture book, BLOOMIN’ TALES of TEXAS: 7 FAVORITE WILDFLOWER LEGENDS.

Konrad Haskins, Pit Master

Cost: $295

This is our advanced me class for students who have complete BBQ101 or BBQ 151. This is for students wanting to take their product to the next level. We create an atmosphere of a back yard BBQ while learning from a grand champion Pitmaster. Students will learn what cannot be learned from reading the web.

We guarantee you'll cook better BBQ and we will give you the knowledge so that the class can pay for itself many time over.

As an experienced caterer, restaurateur and competitor Konrad knows how to barbecue everything from an intimate dinner for two to lunch for 5,000 soldiers returning from Iraq. His love of barbecue started while watching his grandfather cook whole steers on a spit when he was five. He now combines a lifetime of teaching and cooking with food science to help his students understand how to cook better barbecue. Our classes give you the knowledge to use different techniques successfully on everything from a propane grill to a trailered smoker. With the internet full of confusing and contradictory advice, the BBQ Institute® classes provide a clear and easy to follow road map to success. Our definition of success is when you go home and cook barbecue that impresses those you care about. We offer email support to graduates to guarantee your BBQ is better than ever. Improve your skills or give the gift of knowledge, book a class today.

After working and teaching in aviation and computers in 2002 he started competing. His competition career has seen success all over the US including cooking at the elite invitation only world championship level. He has appeared on TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, including Food TV and the Wall Street Journal. In 2003 Konrad went full time professional pitmaster. In 2004 he Started the BBQ Institute®, which is now his full time career.

Skip Richter

Our gardens are host to a multitude of insects and other creatures. Although some are pests many others are our allies, helping to minimize damage caused by the pest species. This educational class will help you learn to identify the "good guys" and some ways to attract them to your gardens and keep them around. With their help you can minimize the need to use pest control products and instead spend your time tending and enjoying your garden and landscape plants.

Skip received his master’s degree in Horticulture from Texas A&M University. He has been with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service for 24 years in Montgomery, Travis and Harris County where he currently serves as a County Extension Agent in Horticulture.

He has helped develop a variety of environmental gardening programs including Extension's "Don't Bag It" yard waste recycling programs, the Composting for Kids educational web page, and the Grow Green environmental education program which educates Austin residents on landscaping practices that protect water quality.

His media experience includes gardening columns and articles for newspapers and magazines, an internet column for the National Gardening Assn., and a regular segment on the “Central Texas Gardener” television program. He also created a television segment called “Gardening with Skip”. Many of these brief gardening segments can be seen on his “Gardening with Skip” YouTube channel.

Rob Greening, NiteLites

Rob will give you the tools you need for adding a new dimension to your landscape. Whether you have existing lighting or are planning installation let Rob take you through the steps. Rob will demystify the art of landscape lighting. Answering all your questions about how to enhance your garden with lighting. Experience the beauty and enjoyment of landscape lighting as explained by a NiteLite professional.

NiteLites is a locally owned and operated landscape lighting company.

One of our most popular events!
We will have a huge variety of Citrus-Grapefruit, Kumquats, Lemons, Limes, Mandarins, Satsumas, Oranges, Pummelos. Also Apples, Apricots, Blueberries, Figs, Grapes, Jujubes, Peaches, Persimmons, Plums, and Pomegranates. We’ll even have some of the more exotic tropicals like Barbados Cherry, Dragon Fruit, Cherry of the Rio Grande, Jaboticaba, Avocado and Star Fruit. Seminar is free.

• 9am Free seminar presented by: Heidi Sheesley, Treesearch Farms
• 10:30am Fruit tree sale begins.
• 1pm Free seminar

Heidi Sheesley, owner of Treesearch Farm, and Cisco. Treesearch Farms is a premier provider of perennials, natives, unique and unusual plants for the Gulf Coast region. Look for Heidi's weekly article in Sunday's Real Estate section of the Houston Chronicle.

Expand the variety in your home orchard!! Many types of fruit can be grown in containers, and some will do even better there because of specific soil or climate requirements. This class will teach you the keys to successful container fruit culture. You will learn how to select the proper container, provide a healthy soil environment, prune to control size and vigor, and how to maintain these conditions over the productive life of the fruit.

Angela Chandler is a life-long hobby gardener. She is a Past-President of the Harris County Master Gardener Association and was the Texas State Master Gardener of the year in 2004. She enjoys teaching a variety of garden subjects and co-authors a monthly gardening article in the Houston Chronicle. She is currently a consultant to Treesearch Farms.

Rob Greening, NiteLites

Rob will give you the tools you need for adding a new dimension to your landscape. Whether you have existing lighting or are planning installation let Rob take you through the steps. Rob will demystify the art of landscape lighting and answer all your questions about how to enhance your garden with lighting. Experience the beauty and enjoyment of landscape lighting as explained by a NiteLite professional.

NiteLites is a locally owned and operated landscape lighting company.

Houston's own Dining Diva, Chef Molly Fowler returns with more inventive and flavorful ways to enjoy your fresh harvest throughout the year. Canning, freezing, infusions and more will be covered in this informative and entertaining class.

Class fee: $149

Come join the Dining Diva Molly Fowler, the first lady instructor for the BBQ Institute®, for an informal backyard barbecue where you will learn how to take your barbecue skills to the next level. Our classes give you the knowledge to use different techniques successfully on everything from a propane grill to a trailered smoker.

With the internet full of confusing and contradictory advice, the BBQ Institute® classes provide a clear and easy to follow road map to success. Our definition of success is when you go home and cook barbecue that impresses those you care about. We offer email support to graduates to guarantee your BBQ is better than ever. Improve your skills or give the gift of knowledge, book a class today. Fire management for ladies is covered both on gas and wood/charcoal cookers.

Sorry No Guys not even that Picky Bitch Konrad.

Molly combines her years of catering expertise with her wide-ranging experience as a cooking instructor to demonstrate entertaining with ease, flair and impact.

Jeremy Kollaus & Chef Chris Crowder

Jeremy's extensive vegetable gardening experience coupled with Chef Chris' creativity in the kitchen, promises to be an entertaining and informative addition to our schedule. Original recipes created by Chef Chris along with Jeremy’s gardening guidance make this a must attend class. No Fee.

Chef Chris Crowder is a professional chef and long time friend of The Arbor Gate. He prepares delicious dishes for many of the Arbor Gate events and specializes in herbal recipes.

Jeremy Kollaus' low key approach to gardening appeals to the laid-back gardener in each of us. Not only an experienced vegetable gardener, Jeremy is a great cook!

Bill Adams

Take advantage of a rare opportunity to learn techniques from this noted garden photographer. Bill's work can be seen in numerous publications, most recently the cover of Mother Earth News!!

Take advantage of a rare opportunity to learn techniques from this noted garden photographer. Bill Adams' work can be seen in numerous publications, most recently the cover of Mother Earth News!! Space is limited. No fee.

Bill is a well known professional photographer and Extension Agent Emeritus for Harris County.

The gardens at The Arbor Gate are dressed out in all their finery just for this annual event. Enjoy the day strolling through our display gardens and visiting with our gardening staff and talented artists. Highlighting the day will be our Arbor Gate artisans as well as guest artists who will be displaying some of their newest works. This year's participants include: Felder Rushing, Randy Lemmon, Big Thicket Creations, Houston Llew

Randy Lemmon is the host of GardenLine on 740AM KTRH. GardenLine will be broadcasting LIVE from the Arbor Gate from 6am to 10am! GardenLine is where Houston’s Gardeners listen for expert advice on everything from aphids to zoysias. Randy is a Texas Aggie with a wealth of knowledge about gardening in Houston. Randy will be here to answer questions and sign books from 11am to 1pm.

Felder Rushing is a true Southern Garden Guru. He's a well known author of 14 gardening books, Felder lectures widely across the country. His delivery combines down-home style laced with humor, zany metaphors, and real-life anecdotes! Catch his talk on "Felder's Artful Insights" at 10am!

Houston Llew, creator of the popular molten glass on copper art collectibles known as Spiritiles, will attend Arbor Gate's Art in the Garden event May 7 from 10 to 3. Meet the artist, have your Spiritiles personally signed by Houston, and enjoy a sneak preview of his very special Summer, 2011 Spiritile debut.

Susan Wood

Learn how to grow, harvest and enjoy herbs without losing your cool. With over 30 years experience growing and using herbs, Susan will share practical and inventive ways to beat the heat while working in the garden. Find out what to do now to protect your herb garden during our most difficult growing season. Plus, see how to dry herbs for teas, potpourris and decorative uses.

Susan has been growing and using herbs in the Houston area for over 30 years and is an award winning member of The Herb Society of America.

Big Bend Stone

Learn the ins and outs of water feature construction including planter selection, pump size, hose fittings, disappearing fountains, etc. Linda and Lico will then demonstrate construction of a multi-level, tiered waterfall fountain. Prepare to be inspired!

Konrad Haskins, Pit Master

Cost: $139 / BYOB

Come join grand champion pit master Konrad "Teddy Bear" Haskins for an informal backyard barbecue where you will learn how to take your skills to the next level.

This is the Steak class plus cooking a Brisket from start to delicious eating, scratch Dutch oven Pinto Beans and Buttermilk Biscuits. Repeatable methods to prepare great Steaks, Brisket, Beans and Biscuits from a grand champion pitmaster. Selection, preparation, seasoning, optional marinading, wood selection, grill and smoker setup. We will cook everything for sampling from start to finish. BYOB. This class includes all of How to Grill a Great and Flavorful Steak. Ask Bev the last class even though we cooked a ton, there was almost nothing left it was that good.

As an experienced caterer, restaurateur and competitor Konrad knows how to barbecue everything from an intimate dinner for two to lunch for 5,000 soldiers returning from Iraq. His love of barbecue started while watching his grandfather cook whole steers on a spit when he was five. He now combines a lifetime of teaching and cooking with food science to help his students understand how to cook better barbecue. Our classes give you the knowledge to use different techniques successfully on everything from a propane grill to a trailered smoker. With the internet full of confusing and contradictory advice, the BBQ Institute® classes provide a clear and easy to follow road map to success. Our definition of success is when you go home and cook barbecue that impresses those you care about. We offer email support to graduates to guarantee your BBQ is better than ever. Improve your skills or give the gift of knowledge, book a class today.

After working and teaching in aviation and computers in 2002 he started competing. His competition career has seen success all over the US including cooking at the elite invitation only world championship level. He has appeared on TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, including Food TV and the Wall Street Journal. In 2003 Konrad went full time professional pitmaster. In 2004 he Started the BBQ Institute®, which is now his full time career.

Big Bend Stone

One-on-one workshop with Linda and Lico to design your custom water feature. Class fee will be applied to materials purchased.

$100.00 class fee - applied to water feature. Class size is limited.

Konrad Haskins, Pit Master

Cost: $139 / BYOB

Come join grand champion pit master Konrad "Teddy Bear" Haskins for an informal backyard barbecue where you will learn how to take your skills to the next level. Konrad has taken awards for both his Chicken and Ribs nationally and at the Texas State Championship. Repeatable methods to prepare great Chicken Breasts, Half Chickens, Baby Back and Spare Ribs from a grand champion pitmaster. Selection, preparation, butchering, seasoning, optional marinading, wood selection, grill and smoker setup. We will cook everything for sampling from start to finish. BYOB. This class was a special request from the students who took the Beef, Beans and Biscuits class in July. It is a follow on class that covers all new material. New side dish recipes included.

As an experienced caterer, restaurateur and competitor Konrad knows how to barbecue everything from an intimate dinner for two to lunch for 5,000 soldiers returning from Iraq. His love of barbecue started while watching his grandfather cook whole steers on a spit when he was five. He now combines a lifetime of teaching and cooking with food science to help his students understand how to cook better barbecue. Our classes give you the knowledge to use different techniques successfully on everything from a propane grill to a trailered smoker. With the internet full of confusing and contradictory advice, the BBQ Institute® classes provide a clear and easy to follow road map to success. Our definition of success is when you go home and cook barbecue that impresses those you care about. We offer email support to graduates to guarantee your BBQ is better than ever. Improve your skills or give the gift of knowledge, book a class today.

After working and teaching in aviation and computers in 2002 he started competing. His competition career has seen success all over the US including cooking at the elite invitation only world championship level. He has appeared on TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, including Food TV and the Wall Street Journal. In 2003 Konrad went full time professional pitmaster. In 2004 he Started the BBQ Institute®, which is now his full time career.

Tom LeRoy
Bill Adams
Jeremy Kollaus
Chef Chris Crowder

Bill and Tom will choose winners in the categories of largest fruit and best tasting fruit. Don't miss out on the fun!

Categories are:

• Best tasting small (2"diameter or less)
• Best tasting large (2" diameter or more)
• Largest ( determined by weight)
• Prettiest Single Tomato (10 ounces or more)
• Most Uniform Sample of 4 Tomatoes (any size/single variety)
• Best tasting salsa

Entry tomato must have been grown personally by the registrant, and not have been used in any previous tomato contest. Tomatoes may be green, white, pink, orange, or red.

Contest begins at 10am. All entries must be on table by 10am.

Tom is currently the Extension Agent for Montgomery County while Bill is a well known professional photographer and Extension Agent Emeritus for Harris County. Together, they have co-authored Vegetable Gardening for the South.

Bill is a well known professional photographer and Extension Agent Emeritus for Harris County.

Ken Wuensche

A short history of winemaking including the earliest known winemaking in Europe and the New World will be reviewed. The science of wine making/ grape growing in including the major players—Louis Pasteur, Emile Peynaud, and T. V. Munson will be discussed. Wine making in ancient times and the method of our great grandparents will be offered.

Finally, winemaking utilizing fifty years of scientific research will be reviewed. We will also discuss the equipment needed and methods of making wine at home.

Ken Wuensche holds a BS in Chemistry from the University of Houston. Ken Worked for Dow Chemical from 1970-1975 and has been a residential contractor since. In 2003 Ken planted his first grapes and fermented his first wine from a wine kit. In2004 Ken picked and fermented his first crop of grapes into wine and has not missed a year since. Ken’s current crop of white Blanc du Bois grapes have been harvested and will yield in excess of one hundred gallons of wine.

Konrad Haskins, Pit Master

Cost: $139 / BYOB

Konrad has cooked 100,000 pounds each of Brisket, Pork Shoulder, Pork Ribs and Chicken. His favorite foods are those he has not cook 100K# of. Great Fajitas is one of his true personal passions when it comes to enjoying great food. All these recipes and techniques are his own developed over the years with great passion.

Our Ultimate Fajita class will have us making everything from scratch and using fresh herbs. Marinated Beef Skirt and Flank Steak. The secret to tenderizing Flank. Reverse searing for tender meat with amazing flavor. Moist smoked barenaked chicken breasts. Scratch made flour tortillas, scratch made fire roasted Salsa and scratch made guacamole. Come Hungry. These techniques will work with charcoal and gas grills and wood fired pits.

As an experienced caterer, restaurateur and competitor Konrad knows how to barbecue everything from an intimate dinner for two to lunch for 5,000 soldiers returning from Iraq. His love of barbecue started while watching his grandfather cook whole steers on a spit when he was five. He now combines a lifetime of teaching and cooking with food science to help his students understand how to cook better barbecue. Our classes give you the knowledge to use different techniques successfully on everything from a propane grill to a trailered smoker. With the internet full of confusing and contradictory advice, the BBQ Institute® classes provide a clear and easy to follow road map to success. Our definition of success is when you go home and cook barbecue that impresses those you care about. We offer email support to graduates to guarantee your BBQ is better than ever. Improve your skills or give the gift of knowledge, book a class today.

After working and teaching in aviation and computers in 2002 he started competing. His competition career has seen success all over the US including cooking at the elite invitation only world championship level. He has appeared on TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, including Food TV and the Wall Street Journal. In 2003 Konrad went full time professional pitmaster. In 2004 he Started the BBQ Institute®, which is now his full time career.