UCCE Master Gardeners of San Bernardino County
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UCCE Master Gardeners of San Bernardino County

Posts Tagged: National Volunteer Week

National Volunteer Month: Gardeners with Heart – Harvest Helpers (Part 1)

In April, we celebrate National Volunteer Month and Week (April 17-23), honoring all of the contributions that volunteers make in our communities. All week long, the UC Master Gardener Program will feature stories of exceptional volunteers, or Gardeners with Heart, making a difference in California's communities. This year we recognize our community connection leaders, harvest helpers, and environmental stewards. The passion and support of UC Master Gardener volunteers have been and continue to be essential in the program continuing to serve our mission.

Please join me as we celebrate and share our Gardeners with Heart and their remarkable stories, projects, and impact. Today, we celebrate Gardeners with Heart, who are harvest helpers who empower their community to grow food at home, in schools and in community gardens. Connecting gardeners with resources, knowledge, and the support they need to have a successful food garden harvest and improved access to nutritious fresh produce.

La’ Toya Taylor-Berthil enjoying the scent of citrus blossoms in San Bernadino County.
 
La'Toya Taylor-Berthil
 
“I volunteer my time as a UC Master Gardener because I believe that we all should look to reshape the way we view our environment and the way our food is produced,” explains Gardener with Heart, La'Toya Taylor-Berthil, “I aim to be able to help spark the flame in the youth and my peers to take control of their health through their diets and to understand where their food comes from and how beneficial it is to take care of our environment including our trees and everyday plants.” La'Toya became a UC Master Gardener volunteer in 2021 as part of its pandemic-inspired first fully online class. She was long involved in gardening and supported a fellow UC Master Gardener, Elizabeth McSwain, in her gardening and community-building adventures. Through her connection with McSwain, La'Toya was inspired to learn more about the program and wanted to be a UC Master Gardener herself!
 
La'Toya is dedicated to wellness in the community both in her personal life and volunteer life, and volunteers with the UC Master Gardener Program to bring wellness through gardening to the community at large. She worked closely with the Seeds of Joy Community Garden to support them from the beginning, helping with planting days, teaching classes, setting up and all the logistics that go into public events at community gardens. She has now expanded on what she has learned in that process, and what she brings to the table through her own educational pursuits, and is supporting other projects in the community, including working with school gardens. “As a mother, my main mission is to help reshape the way our children are fed and educated in school about their health and food. Our children need more access to local whole foods and I wholeheartedly believe that gardening should be a part of every school's curriculum in some shape or form,” says La'Toya.
 
Currently, La'Toya is a member of the School and Community Garden committee and works with schools in the Fontana Unified School District. She is in the beginning stages of helping Locust Elementary School develop its raised garden beds, and feels it is vitally important to hand down sustainability to our children and shape their futures through protecting the environment and making it a community effort. “La'Toya brings enthusiasm to all of her projects. Even though she has been with the program a short time we are seeing her make a difference,” says program coordinator Maggie O'Neil. “La'Toya is working closely with school and community gardens to teach classes about food gardening and make gardening accessible. We are so grateful for her passion to promote community wellness from the ground up, literally!”
 
Barbara Searles harvesting onion at Mill Valley Community Garden in Marin County.
 
Barbara Searles

As a UC Master Gardener, Barbara Searles is most deeply involved as the co-chair of the School & Community project team and is on the Help Desk steering committee for Marin County. Barbara shares her gardening knowledge and enthusiasm for growing plants as a garden committee leader at the Mill Valley Community Garden, connecting with gardeners of all ages. In addition to her work with community gardens throughout Marin, she shares valuable resources and expertise with a growing number of senior residential community gardens. Recently, the Cities of San Rafael and San Anselmo received insight from Barbara on best practices for community gardens.
 
During the pandemic, a time of critical need for community access to fresh produce, Barbara spearheaded the initiative, “Grow an Extra Row” of vegetables for food-insecure citizens in Marin County. In March 2021, Barbara inspired, organized, and instructed a group of UC Master Gardeners to join the “Grow an Extra Row” team to grow vegetable plants at home, then donate those plants to community gardens with the expectation that the harvested produce be donated to local food relief agencies.
 
“Barbara Searles is an extraordinary individual who dedicates her time and skills to a variety of organizations that allow her creativity to flourish,” says fellow UC Master Gardener volunteer Jeannette Perez. “The school and community gardens project, and specifically the “Grow An Extra Row” initiative benefit from Barbara's deep gardening knowledge, creative problem-solving, and unwavering commitment to unifying UC Master Gardeners, school and community gardens, and local relief organizations to intentionally improve food security in Marin communities—in the present and into the future. Barbara Barbara is a UC Master Gardener with an extraordinary heart, and exemplifies to the fullest extent the role of Harvest Helper.”
Pat Hitchcock (right), UC Master Gardener of Napa County, demonstrates how to plant a lettuce seedling at a recent Ole Health Garden planting event on March 19, 2022.
 
Pat Hitchcock
 
Pat Hitchcock truly loves teaching people about growing vegetables. “Teaching people is at the very core of what we do, sharing what we know and providing resources for good information,” says program coordinator in Napa County Yvonne Rasmussen.
 
As a long-time volunteer, Pat shares her skills, knowledge, and love for growing edibles through workshops, school garden consultations, and giving talks. For the past two years, she has organized a team of UC Master Gardeners to provide monthly community food-growing forums. Each forum is a one-hour Zoom webinar that focuses on successful seasonal food gardening. Topics include planting, cover crop rotation, record keeping, tools, watering and pest management. Pat shares all of the information a gardener needs from seeds to harvest and storage. "My favorite projects are workshops (of many kinds) and our local field trials," says Pat. "While the field trials are not university level research of any kind, they do allow our small team of growers to get hands on practice at growing a variety of vegetables over the years. When we teach others about growing those same vegetables, knowledge gained from University sources is augmented by personal experiences of success and failure. This seems to resonate with our audiences." 
 
Pat has also helped local partners with Napa County's community partner gardens, including its recent connection with OLE Health to encourage growing and eating healthy food from the garden. She has mentored countless school garden coordinators to help them plan their edible and vegetables gardens and has become one of the program's go-to people for guest speaker requests on growing vegetables!
 
About National Volunteer Month and Gardeners with Heart

During National Volunteer Month (April 1 - 30), the UC Master Gardener Program celebrates its 6,216 incredible UC Master Gardener volunteers and their contributions to California communities. Throughout the month, we will feature stories of special volunteers or Gardeners with Heart from across the state who use their skills to improve program delivery. Gardeners with Heart are volunteers nominated by their local county leadership as community connection leaders, harvest helpers, and environmental stewards. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for National Volunteer Month and Week!

Special appreciation to UC Master Gardener Program coordinators Maggie O'Neil (San Bernardino) Yvonne Rasmussen (Napa) and volunteer leader Jeannette Perez (Marin) for their contributions to this story.

To see additional Gardeners with Heart - Harvest Helpers, view the blog post: National Volunteer Month: Gardeners with Heart – Harvest Helpers (Part 2)
Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2022 at 9:23 AM
Focus Area Tags: Yard & Garden

National Volunteer Month: Gardeners with Heart – Environmental Stewardship

In April, we celebrate National Volunteer Month and Week (April 17-23), honoring all of the contributions that volunteers make in our communities. All week long, the UC Master Gardener Program will feature stories of exceptional volunteers, or Gardeners with Heart, making a difference in California communities. This year we recognize our community connection leaders, harvest helpers, and environmental stewards. The passion and support of UC Master Gardener volunteers have been and continue to be essential in the program continuing to serve our mission.

Please join me as we celebrate and share our Gardeners with Heart and their remarkable stories, projects, and impact. Today, we celebrate Gardeners with Heart, who are true environmental stewards, developing and delivering educational programming that addresses environmental and climate change-related issues in California so that our communities are informed and resilient when facing wildfire, drought, invasive pests, and other challenges.

Linda Haque volunteering at the UC Master Gardener booth at the Fruit Festival, where she shared information about ACP/HLB with residents.

Linda Haque

For more than a decade, UC Master Gardener Linda Haque has dedicated herself to helping save California's citrus from the threat of Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) and the devastating disease it vectors, Huanglongbing. Shortly after becoming a UC Master Gardener in 2010, Linda Haque pioneered the Ventura County Invasive Pest Outreach Group (IPOG), where she works closely with the Farm Bureau, California Department of Food and Agriculture, and UC ANR to support outreach that increases awareness of ACP across the state, and encourage communities to monitor and report pests.

“There are several motivations for me to work on what began as the 'ACP Committee' back in 2010 as a new UC Master Gardener trainee,” says Haque. “First, the challenge of learning something new was reinforced by interacting with and learning from so many knowledgeable, dedicated people who were also working on this challenge. These people ranged from other UC Master Gardener volunteers, UCCE advisors, people in the farming community, researchers from a variety of institutions […] as well as interact with dedicated, hardworking staff at the California Department of Food and Agriculture. It is gratifying to see how many people care about the value of citrus to our everyday quality of life. As a motto for UCLA Extension notes, 'if you're not learning, you're not living.' Agree!” exclaims Haque.

Today, Linda is well known for her work and has been an integral player in the statewide effort to slow and stop the spread of ACP. Linda's educational efforts have contributed to the well-being of California's citrus industry and we are proud to celebrate her environmental stewardship.

Leslie Hart at a recent UC Master Gardener training class, April 2022

Leslie Hart

Leslie Hart's leadership in guiding the UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County's Garden Sense team has sustained the program through the challenges of the pandemic and has brought Garden Sense to new levels of achievement with her creative and exceptional program management. Hart and the team of Garden Sense consultants made a direct impact on landscape water savings during an exceptional drought period. “We estimate that as a result of the Garden Sense program with the square footage of lawn removed by clientele after a visit, we helped Sonoma County save 10.67acre-feet of water in 2022 (one acre-foot of water is 325,851 gallons)!” says program manager Mimi Enright. “They did this through a record number of visits in a year: 289!”

We're celebrating Leslie as a Gardener with Heart, for her leadership with this impactful project. While we celebrate her, we also recognize and applaud the entire dedicated team of 41 UC Master Gardener volunteers who serve as Garden Sense consultants. This incredible and dedicated team are inspiring transformed landscapes county-wide. In an impact survey, a client shared, “the women who came out were absolutely fabulous. It is true that I could not have started my project without them. They could see things that I just couldn't see, and left me with some very helpful information. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Fay Mark, UC Master Gardener volunteer and Gardener with Heart in Marin County, a key member of the Marin County’s Fire-Smart Landscaping (FSL) committee.

Fay Mark

In the wake of a series of devastating fires across California, Fay Mark used her horticultural knowledge as a UC Master Gardener to organize a movement in Marin County. Her goal was to educate fire officials and residents to look at their landscapes in a new way. She sought to reverse the existing policy of un-constrained defoliation to mitigate wildfire risk, which damages the environment. Fay advocated using best horticultural practices to create defensible space. “I have enjoyed using my horticultural knowledge and leadership skills to educate fire officials and residents to look at landscapes in a new way. Mitigating wildfire risk must be done in a manner that combines the creation of defensible space while continuing to support the environment using horticultural best practices,” says Mark.

The guiding principle for residents was that defensible space and a reduction in fuel could be created with proper plant placement and landscape maintenance while preserving the ecological well-being of the environment. Fay coined the phrase “healthy landscapes are fire-smart landscapes” and the UC Master Gardener Program of Marin County's Fire-Smart Landscaping (FSL) committee spread the adoption of the term Fire-Smart Landscaping.

Recruiting and leading the FSL Committee members, Fay established a demand for UC Master Gardener educational materials among a broad array of agencies. Each became a channel of communication for the Fire-Smart Landscaping message, through the use of videos, print publications, webinars, landscaping tips, news articles, and social media blurbs. Agencies included FireSafe Marin, Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority, the Ecologically Sound Practices Partnership, FireWise communities, public library programs, and individual City Councils.

“Fay paved the way for the UCCE Marin Master Gardeners to receive a meaningful grant from the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority to enable the UC Master Gardener Program of Marin County to hire a Fire-Smart Landscape Science Coordinator late last year. This person is continuing Fay's excellent and impactful work,” says fellow volunteer Julie McMillon.

UC Master Gardener Tim Coyne provided leadership to develop a Climate Forward Trees list to empower a city with smart planting choices.
Tim Coyne

In the spring of 2021, the City of Santa Rosa, a long-established leader in environmental sustainability and an advocate for stable, healthy and functional landscapes, reached out to the UC Master Gardener Program in Sonoma County with an interest in developing a list of low-water, climate smart trees suitable for streetscapes and landscapes throughout the city.

Tim Coyne, a recent UC Master Gardener transfer from Ventura County, led the team of volunteers who developed the Climate Forward Trees list for the City of Santa Rosa. Tim brought 35 years of corporate experience in project management to this innovative project. The Climate Forward team used available research to develop a set of criteria and a scoring system to evaluate potential tree species. They selected another California city with a current climate similar to that projected for Santa Rosa in 50 years to select potential trees for evaluation. After an exhaustive evaluation process, the team developed a final list of 29 ‘Climate Forward' tree species. The list is of tree species that are expected to adapt and thrive over the next 50 years despite changing climate conditions. “Without Tim's leadership, the Climate Forward trees project would not have been the success that it is,” says UC Master Gardener Anne Haddix.

The Climate Forward team (Linda King, Kim Pearson, Bill Klausing, Roger Bucholz, Kim Roberts and Rosemary MacReary) will now use their methodology to evaluate the trees that UC Master Gardeners currently recommend for home gardens in Sonoma County to determine if some should be added or dropped from the list given changing climate conditions, especially drought. “This project shows that we can tackle climate change through partnership, science, and community volunteerism. And the process can be rewarding for all involved,” explained Haddix.

Daveta Cooper leading a composting workshop at the Hansen Research and Extension Center.

Daveta Cooper

Elizabeth Andrew's quote, “volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart” perfectly describes Daveta Cooper's passion for volunteering. Even before becoming a certified UC Master Gardener volunteer in 2020, Deveta Cooper dedicated her time to serving the program.About becoming a UC Master Gardener, Cooper said, “I would like to continue learning about soil health and plant propagation and encourage others to learn about vermiculture and compost.”

Daveta Cooper is passionate about soil health and is an avid composter; she shares her wealth of experience in composting and vermicomposting through hands-on composting demonstrations to help divert green waste from landfills. Moving forward Cooper is planning on expanding her volunteer efforts to help gardeners reduce pesticide use, or improve their pest management practices. “I would like to introduce the basic concepts of integrated pest management (IPM) to non or new gardeners, giving them options besides the automatic use of herbicides and pesticides,” says Cooper. Her work contributes to environmental health in many ways and is amplified when she inspires others to make sustainable decisions where they live. We're grateful for the passion she brings to the work she does, that energy is contagious and results in new composters and verimicomposters county-wide.
 
About National Volunteer Month and Gardeners with Heart
 
During National Volunteer Month (April 1 - 30), the UC Master Gardener Program celebrates its 6,216 incredible UC Master Gardener volunteers and their contributions to California communities. Throughout the month, we will feature stories of special volunteers or Gardeners with Heart from across the state who use their skills to improve program delivery. Gardeners with Heart are volunteers nominated by their local county leadership as community connection leaders, harvest helpers, and environmental stewards. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for National Volunteer Month and Week!
 
Special appreciation to UC Master Gardener Program coordinators Alexa Hendricks (Ventura) and Mimi Enright (Sonoma), and volunteer leaders Anne Haddix (Sonoma) and Julie McMillon (Marin) for their contributions to this story. 
Posted on Monday, April 18, 2022 at 8:07 AM

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