September 2026 Monthly Meeting Recap
09/15/2026
The September monthly meeting was held in-person and via Zoom from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 15, 2026. Attending this meeting can be counted as 2 hours of Continuing Education. (Find the recording in the Archives of the Monthly Meeting page.)
Board Announcements
Beth Fritcher shared information from the nonprofit organization.
RCMG Nonprofit
Beth Fritcher reported on progress made toward separation of the non-profit from the State program. To that end Beth’s working group had drafted bylaws which will come up for a vote at our October meeting. The goal is to retain local dollars in the non-profit and under the control of the Ramsey County program, separate and apart from the State program. We can expect more information on this topic both in the blog and in our newsletter.
Project Updates
RCMG Project leads and other volunteers talk about upcoming activities and opportunities
Program Committees
The office needs volunteers with web experience. Contact Brianna Gohde for more information.
This year’s Project Leads should think about continuing in their roles next year. In addition, Project Leads in Education and Marketing are needed. Let Brianna Gohde know if you can continue as Project Lead or if you are interested in Education and Marketing.
2027 Plant Sale
Planning for the 2027 Plant Sale has begun. Volunteers are needed for the tasks listed below. Contact Beth Fritcher, Molly O’Rourke, or Cheryl Brady to get more information about these volunteer opportunities.
Two new co-captains for the Perennial section of the sale on Thursday, Friday and also Saturday, which is the day of the day of sale.
Volunteers to set-up, take-down, clean-up at end of sale.
The Plant Sale’s Garden Store is now accepting donations of all-things “garden” – pots, tools, decorative items, stakes, etc. Contact Susie DeShon if you have items to donate.
Glove Sales
The glove sales team needs volunteers to sell gloves at each of our monthly meetings in October and November. The gloves are $7. Contact Shanna Hoffman if interested. We now will be offering children’s sizes as well as adult.
2026 Interns and Mentors
There will be an Intern/Mentor Celebration on Saturday, October 3. An email will be coming out inviting people to sign up in Sign-Up Genius for this event.
2027 Interns
To date 50 people have applied to be interns. Applications must be in by October 1. Last year there were 100 new interns. Volunteers are needed to interview applicants. Two garden education volunteers will work together to interview four interns. Contact Susie DeShon and Travis Sandland if you’d like to do this work.
Program Updates
State Team’s Presentation on New Hours Logging System
Jamie Spanks of the State Leadership Team updated us on the progress of switching from the current CFANS time logging system to the new “Better Impact” system. Here is what each of us needs to do for this transition:
September 16 - 30:
Login to Better Impact
Confirm your login and password
Confirm your profile information
Upload a photo (optional)
Please note: Your 2026 volunteer hours will not appear in this database yet. Transfer of all hours from the old to the new system will occur automatically on November 1.
Deadline September 30
Record all of your 2026 hours in the old system.
Beginning October 1
Begin using Better Impact to record your volunteer hours
Jamie gave a quick “tour” of the new system and assured us that there will be multiple ways to learn how to log into Better Impact, such as Zoom, video and a pdf with instructions.
New Ramsey County Garden Education Volunteers Website
Brianna Gohde and Jamie Spanks updated us on the transition from the current website to the new. It will now consist of two websites: one will be “external”, that is public-facing, and the other will be “internal”, that is for members only. The internal website will not be password protected. However, confidentiality of members’ data will be maintained because only members will have a URL which will allow access to the internal site. Members of the public will not have
URLs available to them.
Contact Jamie Spanks at span0003@umn.edu or mgvpdatabase@umn.edu if you have questions.
Continuing Education Session: Shaping Space: Planning the Intentional Garden
Ben Waldo, a landscape architect and 2026 RCGEV intern, gave a presentation on “Shaping Space: Planning the Intentional Garden”.
Ben described his own professional history, moving from studying, designing and building both public and private garden projects in various locations around the country, including his own backyard.
One take-away from Ben’s talk: Often clients want a landscape that requires no further gardening on their part. Providing such a garden designs is the traditional role of the landscape architect. However, Ben also aims to work with clients who want to do the gardening themselves, working within the parameters laid out by the architect.
Another take-away: When starting a design determine the “program”, meaning what are the functions to be fulfilled in the garden space. Examples of functions include seating/dining, playing, pet space, ecology, food growing, privacy, shade, water/swimming spots, and vignette-making. With these purposes in mind, the designer can then start researching how to meet the chosen functions. Measuring, analyzing, designing and “iterating” (looking at the design in different ways) will then follow. It can be helpful to think in terms of “rooms” in the garden. Ben also makes use of “borrowed landscapes”, that is, looking to the shape and structure of the landscapes and plants that border your own space and taking them into account as you design your own space.
Finally, when asked about resources for lay designers to use, Ben recommended the BBC’s Gardener’s World, landscape architects’ association websites, and the Landscape Arboretum’s classes.
