Thinking about starting a vegetable garden?

Then Fairchild’s Edible Garden Festival is your best first stop: get seeds, seedlings and advice from experts. Today is the festival’s last day, so don’t think too much about it.

I stopped by yesterday and got tons of advice on how to fight the insects that are colonizing my pepper plant, and I also picked up four ounces of composting worms that I can’t wait to start feeding.

Here are the five reasons why you should go today:

1-Seedlings: Although I didn’t get any -I’ve learned to quiet my beginner’s enthusiasm and be realistic about the space I actually have-there were dozens of seedlings to pick from: mint, parsley, chives, basil, pepper, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumber, arugula, romaine lettuce, jalapeno, celery, collard, carrots and more.

2-Worms: What I did end up getting was four ounces of worms after hearing Lanette Sobel from the Fertile Earth Foundation give a basic intro to composting with worms.

I’ve been collecting all my kitchen waste in pots and mixing it with soil that I later use for planting, but this takes a lot of space. Worms sounded like a faster and more space efficient idea. I’ll be keeping you up-to-date on my worm composting experience.

3-Lectures: This is the best part of the festival. Learn everything from growing tomatoes to growing edibles South Beach style. You’ll hardly find so many experts on edible plant matters at the same place elsewhere. Check out today’s schedule.

I was particularly interested in yesterday’s “Organic Pest and Disease Management” lecture by Andres Mejides: about a week ago, I found some yellow and white insects on my pepper plant.

With a lot of humor, Mejides went from the gentler pest solutions -like ladybugs- to the stronger ones -like sulpher. What I have apparently are aphids, so following his advice, I’ll use chili pepper and garlic to fight them.

4-Involvement: Learn about local organizations promoting edible green spaces and get involved.

GROW, a non-profit urban farm educating the community on land reclamation and urban farming, was there to talk about its farm by the airport and giving away free herbs grown there.

The Urban Oasis Project, which recently completed its 10/10 by 10/10 campaign (10 families, 10 gardens by October 10) was there getting the word out and selling seeds and sprouting kits. (Ok, here’s my disclaimer: I volunteer for this wonderful organization).

5-Local vendors:I ran across some interesting local vendors producing delicious products:

Delightful Bites was selling all kinds of rich homemade jams, jellies, preserves and chutneys.

Bees N the Keys had a variety of honey flavors and I was told you can actually visit their bee farm in Key Largo, something I plan to do next time I’m in the area.

Crackerman Crackers, based out of Bay Harbor Islands, is also worth checking out. They use unbleached flour and only a handful of ingredients for their crackers and breads- the old-fashioned way bread should be.

They specialize in two products: crackers made of golden and brown organic flaxseed and sesame seed, and German-style whole wheat bread made with organic pumpkin and sunflower seeds.