With a new cohort of Master Gardener Volunteers beginning to serve their community, we’d like to introduce them (AND YOU!) to the group of MGVs who have sustained this program for the last several years. Meet Linda Carney, teacher, steward, and grower of food and flowers in Natural Bridge and the Baker Woods Preserve!
Can you remember the moment you decided to become a gardener, or when you realized you had become one?
My mother grew up on a farm where by necessity just about everything they consumed was from the plants and animals they raised. She left the farm, joined the military and then raised a family on the move. She always had roses and a few other plants to tend to wherever we lived, but these were always patches we left behind. When my husband and I bought our house and land here in Natural Bridge, back in 1986, that heritage and opportunity became mine to kindle and bring to fruition with our family.
What benefits do you gain from gardening?
It brings me great joy just being outside, seeing nature at work and discovering its beauty. When I can, I love to share that joy and the discovery of nature with children. I also find gardening to be a peaceful and rejuvenating experience.
Why did you want to become a Master Gardener Volunteer?
Becoming a Master Gardener Volunteer began as a means of connecting with my past but then evolved into a way to continue to learn and teach others. It allows me to maintain my connection with the school at which I taught for thirty years and where I helped to establish a small school garden.
![Linda teaches at a recent Grow and Preserve workshop about growing fresh herbs](https://blogs.cornell.edu/fruition/files/2023/08/thumbnail_image_50737921.jpg)
In what ways do you serve as a MGV?
I continue to be a resource for the teachers regarding the school garden and other related plant science questions, but have found I spend a lot more time with the BWP (Baker Woods Preserve). The trees and pollinator / perennial gardens we maintain there have been a means to help others learn about the relationships between species, invasive vs. native plants and the role we have with our environment. Making the interpretive guides for the BWP trees and helping out with group trips brings another dimension to my role as a MGV.
Additionally, I enjoy an occasional research question stemming from the Growline and our son’s “mushrooming” business; our exposure to the world of gardening at the Master Gardener level has led to our son’s development of his gourmet mushroom business and his desire to farm the land in a sustainable way.
What do you grow and what are your specialties in the garden?
Pollinator / native plants continue to be a focus in the BWP and our own flower gardens. Improving the biodiversity of the woodland edges with native trees and shrubs is another. In addition, we grow vegetables for our own use and to sell with the least amount of manufactured chemicals and disturbance to the soil. Vermicomposting and using the resulting natural fertilizer throughout the gardens is an ongoing project.
![One of several pollinator gardens at the Baker Woods Preserve.](https://blogs.cornell.edu/fruition/files/2023/08/image_50726145.jpg)
What are you learning about now in the gardening realm, and what do you want to learn more about?
I am currently learning about winter gardening so that the children at school can grow more during the school year. As a Science Olympiad coach I am working with a couple of students to learn about the economic and ecological role of trees. I’m also curious about effective large scale composting (other than vermicomposting), high tunnel production and anything that increases the biodiversity of the soil.
![Trying out some composting techniques I learned this year through continuing education classes for Master Gardener Volunteers](https://blogs.cornell.edu/fruition/files/2023/08/Linda-composting.png)
To contact our county’s Growline anytime, email SLCgrowline@gmail.com or call 315-379-9192 x239 and a Master Gardener Volunteer will be happy to help you.
Resources:
- At our farm, The Peacock & Pony, Our son Liam sells mushrooms, pasture-raised poultry, free range eggs, organically grown veggies and chaga.
- Baker Woods Preserve
- Fruition post about the MGVs visiting the Peacock and Pony and the Baker Woods Preserve
- BWP All Trails
Linda and Matt Carney at fellow Master Gardener Volunteer Nancy Alessi’s place