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Coordinator’s Column

Grace Florjancic
Latest posts by Grace Florjancic (see all)

Hello Gardeners,

As we wrap up the Master Gardener Volunteer year, we have many accomplishments to look back on. We have a great group of students moving on to graduate this month, a plentiful second year of our Plant a Row Campaign produce donations to ACCESS food pantries, and a successful kick off of the Cultivating Companions program.

Our MG class of 2024 were wonderful students to work with. Many students have carved out their niche spaces of where they like to fit into the organization. This year’s students have been seen around the Demonstration Gardens, Plant Clinic, across the county in tabling events, and out teaching in the libraries this past year. Congrats on all your hard work and we can’t wait to see what you all get up to next year.

Our second year of the Plant a Row Campaign to collect produce donations was a ringing success. We collected 812 pounds of produce this summer at our Wednesday collections! We had additional donations to food pantries outside of our campaign, bringing our total number of produce donated to 952 pounds. This produce has been greatly appreciated by ACCESS and our community members that receive fresh produce from them. Much of our Wednesday collections left the ACCESS warehouse on Thursday to be delivered to ACCESS housing locations around Medford. This partnership has been a huge success that we will continue to foster in the upcoming years.

The Cultivating Companions program was piloted this year in rural libraries around the county. We found it fun for both the instructors and the participants. People ended up befriending neighbors they didn’t know, learning skills about growing plants, and laughing with each other. The libraries have been amazing hosts for these group classes, assisting with scheduling and technology.  Our extra supplies from our generous grant means that next year’s program activities are already set to go.

Thank you everyone for a great year of volunteering, educating, and community building! I am looking forward to working with you all in 2025!

 

 

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