By Joan Wilson, Southside Master Gardener
A year ago I decided to do something just for myself. After
decades devoted to the study and practice of medicine, I returned to my farm
girl childhood and took the Master Gardeners class. For 16 weeks every Tuesday I got to be with
others also in love with growing things and learn from Virginia Cooperative
Extension experts how to be conservators of our beautiful land. As we learned, we had opportunities to help
grow vegetables for the community at Healthy Harvest Community Garden, and help
preserve and extend the Southern Virginia Botanical Gardens, consisting of
numerous areas open to the public and used for teaching school students in
horticulture, agriculture, and landscape classes. We took outings to local
farms to see the skills we were being taught in use and to the Halifax County
Service Authority’s water purification plant to learn how the town’s water is
made safe.
This year, the classes will be on Saturdays February 14 from
930-1230 through June 13 at the South Boston Halifax Museum of Fine Arts and
History classroom, 1540 Wilborn Avenue, South Boston, VA. Makeup classes will be arranged as
needed. If you are interested, email ask@ssmga.org, or call 434-830-3383, the
Extension Master Gardener Help Desk. You may leave a message. Or you may call
Lee Baldwin at 919-623-3556. You will be
contacted to discuss your interest and questions. Applications are available at the Virginia
Extension office at 171 South Main Street, Halifax, beside the library. The deadline for signing up is January
31. Cost is the same as last year: $165, which pays for the class textbook.
Dorothy Day, a Master Gardener, states that she took the
class because she loves flowers and has done a lot of planting trees and shrubs
and ‘thought it was about time’ to learn what to do. She reminds me you don’t
have to have a garden to take the class. Or, your garden can be a few pots,
indoors or outside. Perhaps you garden
in raised beds, or want a native plant garden, or have trees and shrubs that
that need pruning, or have pests that need controlling. There are even classes
on handling erosion and water collection.
Most importantly, you can make lifelong friends and help
your community.
Lisa Randall writes that she has become a better steward of
her own land, and is helping to build a stronger community through education
and knowledge-sharing.
Anne Rexrode writes that it is a wonderful class! It covers many subjects, all useful to anyone
who wants to have a great garden, whether growing flowers, fruit, or food. She praises the textbook and the extra
information provided as handouts for classes.
Vicki Hickman is putting her 26 acres of farmland in
Campbell County into the Virginia Tech native perennial reintroduction
project. She extols the hands-on wealth
of accumulated knowledge of Master Gardeners and Extension experts.
Lee Baldwin first began to garden in graduate school, with a
tiny vegetable garden that her neighbor claimed could have fed the entire town
of Radford ! In her forever home in Clarksville, her husband created a
‘gardener’s dream’ of a space in which she began growing vegetables, and later
tending an apple orchard. When she read an article about Master Gardeners the
thought of gardening with others who love the soil and of community outreach
thrilled her. The Community Garden captured her, as did the joy of working
beside the wonderful friends she has made.
All mention the love of the land and the friendships and camaraderie
shared in class and caring for the botanical gardens at Edmonds Park, the Healthy
Harvest Garden, and the farmers markets.
I enjoyed the school children, whether they were there just
to tour the Native American, music, natural trail, native plants, healing,
beekeeping and other sections of the botanical gardens, or there as high school
class students to help dig, plant, mulch and water the different areas.
The money made by the sale of plants and crafts at the
Halifax Farmers Market special events is used to help County students attend
the amazing 4-H camp on Smith Mountain Lake. The couple of days I got to help
there were so much fun!
We have incredible resources here in the Southern Virginia
Botanical Garden and the 4-H camp. Virginia
Cooperative Extension Master Gardener classes are a great way to access them. Do it just for yourself and your community!
