FAIRHOPE, Ala. - Bill Finch, notable garden writer, will speak at a meeting of the nonprofit Local Food Production Initiative at 7 p.m., Monday, Jan. 17.

His topic will be “Vegetable Gardening on the Gulf Coast” and will include “Bill’s top veggie picks which produce the best results,” according to an LFPI news release.

Finch, executive director of the nonprofit Mobile Botanical Gardens, is the longstanding garden columnist at the Press-Register and also writes a monthly column for Alabama Gardening magazine.

He serves as a senior fellow for the Gulf of Mexico Region of the Ocean Foundation in the Restore Coastal Alabama program, concerned with the restoration efforts in the wake of the Deep Horizon oil spill.

His talk will be at Homestead Village, a retirement community in Fairhope. From Greeno Road (U.S. 98) turn east on Plantation Boulevard to the main building and follow signs to the ballroom.

The meeting is open to the public. A donation of $5 per person is suggested. For more information, call Jo Ann Wettlaufer at 928-8646.