Recent Posts
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It’s not too often that the stakes are this high! What an opportunity! Your county could score a FREE Advanced Training!! Well, except for the lunch part. We’ll picnic or potluck or something fun for lunch. What’s the catch, you say? Really? (Can you hear me laugh at your wise skepticism?) The catch is you will…
Posted in: Training -
In the fall of 2015, Cherokee County Extension Volunteers (MGEVs) began work on a unique project with Cherokee County Extension and the Sequoyah Library System. In March of 2016, the Cherokee County Seed Library was launched at Hickory Flat Library, with plans to open a second seed library location in 2017. By establishing a seed…
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Ten years ago, Camp Dirty Knees was started to kick off the Carroll County Junior Master Gardener (JMG) program. A group of Master Gardener Extension Volunteers (MGEVs) who were also educators, started this project to address a need they noticed in the community. If children were exposed to horticulture education and gardening at a young…
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A native plant garden positively impacts the environment as the use of native plants in the landscape can allow for decreased use of inputs like pesticides and fertilizer. In addition, these plants provide food and habitat for a variety of native wildlife. In Macon, GA, this type of beneficial garden evolved from a research garden…
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Last year, as Sarah and I worked on the annual report for Georgia’s MGEV Program, we wanted to include more information about how MGEVs educate the public. Since the project is the essence of MGEV outreach, we needed a way to learn more about MGEV projects. I wanted examples of projects that were addressing our state initiatives,…
Posted in: Projects -
When the MGEV program concept was developed more than 40 years ago in Washington, Extension agents were in dire need of volunteers to help answer plant and gardening questions that came to the Extension office. Plant clinics were also offered in area shopping malls. If you have worked the phones or office “help desk” or…
Posted in: Projects -
Do you remember what the very first Master Gardener project was? It was a plant clinic, held at a shopping mall in Washington state. The project was birthed from Extension’s need to meet public demand for horticulture and gardening information. More than 300 people showed up that first day to get answers from that first…
Posted in: Volunteering -
Posted in: Volunteering
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I was asked to share some of my comments from yesterday’s MGEV Appreciation Picnic at UGA’s Research&Education Garden. Enjoy! MGEVs are extraordinary people in my book. They understand the importance of horticulture and gardening to everyday life. They are motivated to do something in and for their communities through volunteer service. You put…
Posted in: Volunteering -
Plant clinic shifts, presentations at libraries, speaking to students in classrooms, processing soil samples, preparing garden samples to send to specialists, writing newspaper columns, advising new homeowners how to take care of their landscape, answering the phone, leading garden tours, maintaining demonstration gardens, replacing garden signage, communicating with potential partners and stakeholders, and more… the…
Posted in: Volunteering