In mid September, a group of 10 people set out on a journey to become Master Gardener Volunteers (MGV). Upon completion, this extraordinary group will represent CCE in the community and use their gardening knowledge and resources to help residents thrive.
The MGV training can be executed in many ways and this year’s training is a hybrid course, with outside readings, videos, and homework as well as weekly in-person sessions where trainees dive deeper into one or two topics with an expert. The training continues through November, and will culminate with each person presenting an Action Project, which will address a need in their community.
To bring the wide world of tending plants to life in the classroom, we’ve enlisted the knowledge and expertise of people from across New York State. We’ve been grateful to welcome local guest speakers like Carlene Doane, Executive Director of GardenShare, a non profit that tackles food insecurity in our county. We also learned from Dr. Aswini Pai, an ecologist and ethnobotanist at St. Lawrence University, who shared her knowledge about plant biology for gardeners, including what plants need and what processes occur within them. Read more Germinating a new crop of Master Gardener Volunteers