3/30/2023
Whether you’re still growing a green thumb or have a whole hand of green thumbs, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved!
On Tuesday, March 28th 2023, Master Gardener volunteers and interns gathered at the Roseville Oval for the annual Project Fair. Though the weather has remained cold and dreary, there was no lack of warmth and sunny smiles inside the project fair as project leaders cheerfully displayed their opportunities and successes.
Whether you’re still growing a green thumb or have a whole hand of green thumbs, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved. From strolling through St. Paul to visit some top-in-class gardens with Blooming St. Paul to growing a Demonstration Garden at “The Barn,” I was energized by how many ways there were to get involved. But, of course, the most challenging thing is deciding what to do first!
The Aldrich Arena Raingardens are an excellent opportunity to spread your knowledge about a lesser know but critical type of garden. Volunteer opportunities range from maintaining them to helping to provide education about rain gardens in general. Have more of a desire for direct social impact? Join an opportunity like the Children’s Peace Garden, Frogtown Green, Gardens for Good, Nature Heals, Youth Projects, or My Little Green Friends to work directly with the public around various wellness, social, and equity projects. There’s even a project focusing on culturally significant foods and indigenous gardens with the Montessori American Indian Childcare Center.
If you’re more of a solitary botany geek like me, there are still just as many options to get connected and stay involved. The Yard & Garden Hotlines/Info Tables, Farmers Markets Stands, Lawns to Legumes Coaching, Speakers Bureau, and Garden Journalists allow you to dive into horticultural know-how and spread that knowledge far and wide directly to the eager learners in our communities. Another way to directly impact everyone in our communities is to volunteer at the County Yard Waste Sites, which directly impacts our state funding for our program. And it wouldn’t be a gardening program without the opportunity to grow plants for the annual Plant Sale to raise funds to support RCMG programs and projects!
I’d be remiss if I didn’t include the vital volunteer roles that help all of us come together, like the RCMG Board of Directors, Education Committee, and the Marketing & Communications Committee. If you are interested in helping to chair or lend a hand to the administrative side of the Ramsey Country Master Gardener Program, be sure to get involved with them!
One of the more difficult things you may experience with volunteering can be where to sign up and what to sign up for. The Project Fair was an excellent place to start that journey, talking with the very people running each project.
If you missed the fair, there are still ways to sign up by checking out the RCMG newsletter, connecting with your team leaders, or attending one of the Monthly Meetings. Sign ups are hosted through SignUp Genius with invitations coming out on Thursday mornings and Sunday evening so be sure to review the opportunities there.
A special thank you to those on the RCMG New Member Committee, Judie and Karen and the many RCMG project leaders who helped to put on such a fantastic fair!
Summary written by Jake Tackett | Photos taken by Laran Brandt |