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Master Gardener Volunteer Program year in review

The Master Gardener Volunteer (MGV) program has accomplished so much in the past year, bolstered by the addition of a newly trained cohort last fall. Together with the veteran MGVs, they devoted over 1,000 hours to serving their community, strengthening the program, and increasing their knowledge. 570 of these hours were in direct service – teaching classes, writing articles, tabling, and answering questions from gardeners across the county. This group is tearing it up!

In May CCE held a Grow and Preserve Open House at the Extension Learning Farm to kick off the growing season and highlight the MGV and Master Food Preserver programs. Dozens came out to the high tunnel to plant seeds to take home and consult with Master Gardener Volunteers.

Classes
Two new MGVs jumped right in to facilitate the Seed to Supper course for beginning gardeners, which we offered in Morristown this year. In addition to these 5 classes, MGVs taught or assisted at nine other classes throughout the year, including several in our Grow and Preserve Series where we paired growing classes with preservation classes in the Harvest Kitchen. New MGV Brad and Linda led classes on Tree Identification, and Annie taught about Planning for Year Round Blooms. Loni brought samples to a high school session on Edible Wild Plants, and several MGV co-presented about growing their favorite fresh herbs.

Linda C teaches about growing fresh herbs
Linda C teaches about growing fresh herbs at littleGrasse Community Farm.

Blog posts
Master Gardener Volunteers wrote a total of 15 Fruition posts, plus another five that I contributed. From testing garden soil to growing tomatoes to getting great blooms on indoor plants, these posts cover a lot of ground. In case you missed any,  click the Gardening and Homesteading topic under “Posts” to find them all.

Growline
The moderators of our garden hotline ”the Growline” spent 80 hours answering 135 inquiries, often undertaking research on a new topic and occasionally visiting a site to gather more information. Though this is likely an undercount, it’s valuable to have a record of so many of the topics of interest to area gardeners and homeowners.

Field trips
The Master gardeners loves to learn and really enjoys visiting farms and gardens as a group in addition to our monthly planning meetings. The veteran MGVs met the new cohort in December for a wreath making session at the Extension Learning Farm where the group also helped with maintaining the ornamental beds in the spring and Nick Hamilton-Honey guided us through an enlightening Diversity training. MGV make wreaths together in December 2022

In May, Janet Lomastro led a hands-on small-batch composting workshop in Potsdam, a technique many in the group are now experimenting with at home. Master Gardener Volunteers learn about Janet's composting technique Read more Master Gardener Volunteer Program year in review

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Meet Anneke Larrance, Master Gardener Volunteer

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 Anneke Larrance!

Can you remember the moment you decided to become a gardener, or when you realized you had become one?  

I was raised on a farm and we grew much of what we ate, so I learned early the miraculous transformation of seed into good things to eat. My mother traded pieces of iris, leaves of African violets, and “starts” of many houseplants, and I learned from those processes too. Weeds and fertilizer were topics of conversation. I didn’t decide to become a gardener, I naturally grew into one.

Anneke's geraniums
I take cuttings from my own geraniums to start new plants every year.

What benefits do you gain from gardening? 

Gardening clears my mind and soothes my soul. It’s also great exercise. I sometimes commune with my free-ranging chickens while I garden and I do my best writing there. 

Why did you want to become a Master Gardener Volunteer? 

There were so many things that I wanted to learn!

In what ways do you serve as a MGV? 

I’ve made presentations, written articles, judged 4H horticulture at the St. Lawrence County fair, weeded at CCE, answered lots of gardening questions, tabled at different events, and led holiday wreath-making.

My two biggest projects were helping to design, prepare, and then plant the original perennial landscape at CCE. During the pandemic I spearheaded the design, construction, planting, and care of a living quilt on the slope at Cornell Cooperative Extension (see picture above).

Read more Meet Anneke Larrance, Master Gardener Volunteer

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Meet Linda Carney, Master Gardener Volunteer

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
Teaching at a recent Grow and Preserve workshop about growing fresh herbs

Read more Meet Linda Carney, Master Gardener Volunteer