Master Gardeners of Whitley County
Upcoming Whitley County MG Spring Excitement!
It is finally starting to warm up and I hope you all can see that Spring is within our reach. Not sure about you, but this is my favorite time of year because I get to plan all of the wonderful things I want to do in my gardens this year. Speaking of plans I also wanted to give you some "save the date" information to put on your calendars:
May 2nd- MG meeting at Woodland Senior Center at 6:30pm
May 4th- First 2024 Garden Stroll- We will be touring 2 gardens. One belonging to Sue Farris and One belonging to Terri Christl.
May 18th- Plant sale- at the Woodlands Senior Center. Will be looking for volunteers to help with the sale closer to the date, but in the meantime, tell all your plant hunting friends that this event is back on calendar this year!
June 22nd- Garden Walk in the Tri-Lakes area.
The Whitley County program is affiliated with Purdue University, the Indiana land grant university. Those enrolling in the program get the initial training through a thirteen week course. There's about 70 active members in the Whitley County Master Gardener program.
The club meets on the first Thursday evening of each month for a 6:30 education topic and business session.
**The meetings are currently in person at the Woodland Senior Center and conducted via ZOOM***
Want to become a Master Gardener?
Don't wait! Contact the Extension office!
Below is the policy handbook. The extension office can give all the details about upcoming classes for 2021!
MG Grant opportunity
The mission of the Purdue Extension Whitley County Master Gardeners is to positively impact our community by educating on good gardening practices. This includes education on environmental practices that benefit our community. To accomplish this goal, the group is offering grant money to enable and encourage projects that would allow organizations to be innovators in gardening practices, a well as impact the beauty of our communities. The grant opportunities are for Whitley County not for profit organizations or groups. This is the third year that the Purdue Extension Whitley County Master Gardeners have offered this grant money.
Grants awarded in
Grant awarded in 2022:
Joseph Fox, Peabody Youth Services Librarian, has been designing, coordinating, and building
his raised bed gardens since early spring. The Whitley County Master Gardeners awarded him a
grant to recreate the beds that were destroyed by snow and ice during the previous winter. At
the group’s September meeting, Joe reported on how he uses the gardens to teach children
how to grow from seeds, plant propagation, identify diseases, plant rotation, composting, and
harvesting.
Even more exciting, Joe has plans to establish bee hives, bring in more native plants, set up rain
barrels, add perennials, and pollinators. He’s also in the process of organizing groups to pick up
trash in the community. Supply kits can be checked out to those who are interested. Another
project in the works is repurposing an old card catalogue as a seed library. Peabody Public
Library is an excellent model for the promotion of sustainable horticultural.
Grants awarded in 2021:
In 2021, The Giving Gardens of Indiana received funds to supplement their Farm and Forest School and the implementation of a strawberry bed. They will be doing a presentation later this year on their project.
Grants awarded in 2020:
The Purdue Extension Whitley County Master Gardeners awarded grant money to two organizations for 2020. The first was the Columbia City High School Spanish IV class. They implemented a “traveling gardens” program. The second grant award went to the Peabody Public Library to assist in funding connecting people and nature. Gardens were created including a pollinator garden to educate children on the importance of pollination and a vegetable garden to supply cooking programs.
In 2021, The Giving Gardens of Indiana received funds to supplement their Farm and Forest School and the implementation of a strawberry bed. They will be doing a presentation later this year on their project
Grants awarded in 2019:
The first was to the Columbia City High School Spanish IV class. The class established several travelling gardens that were showcased in several local schools.
The second grant award went to the Peabody Public Library. The library plans on establishing a pollinator garden to increase community awareness of pollinators and the plants they need.
Please complete and submit Grant applications for 2024 by October 30th, 2024. Funds awarded for 2024 must be used by the end of 2025
Come join us!! Watch the short video below to find how you can become a Master Gardener...
Become_a_Master_Gardener.mp4