Some Dickinson Co. Master Gardeners Receive Special Award
Some Dickinson Co. Master Gardeners Receive Special Award
June 01, 2022Steve Schwaller
(Spirit Lake)– Some members of the Dickinson County Master Gardeners Program have received some special recognition. Sue Boettcher of ISU Extension and Outreach Dickinson County tells KUOO news they’ve received the Search for Excellence Award from Iowa State University…
“That goes out to Master Gardeners that do exceptional work in their communities, and that’s what Master Gardeners do. They take a training and then they have to do 40 hours of community service to get started and then 20 hours of community service after that. We have some very dedicated Master Gardeners here in Dickinson county. And so this is a great way to reward them for their work. There are several categories in the awards, and this award is for the learning and donation gardens area.”
Specifically, Boettcher says it pertains to the donation garden at Camp Foster YMCA, one of two donation gardens in Dickinson county they’re involved with…
“It is at the camp and then all the kids that go through Camp Foster in the day camp and in the extended stay camp have access and go through the donation garden. They go in and they help, they learn about gardening, they help with the garden, they get a taste of the food, so a lot of these kids are being exposed to gardening for the first time. It’s an excellent, excellent project.”
She says the ultimate goal is to promote and teach the importance of gardening to area youth…
“Last year there was 1,080 youth that went through and participated in that program out at Camp Foster and then other than tasting the food, the rest of the food that is raised there goes to food banks, local food banks here. So all of that is put to great use and great interactions with the kids and our Master Gardeners.”
Boettcher says last year, 433 pounds of produce were donated to local food banks. She says the project is made possible through a grant from the Growing Together Iowa program and donations from the Spirit Lake Noon Kiwanis Club. Boettcher also expresses their appreciation to Camp Foster for allowing them to have a donation garden located there.
Anyone wanting to learn more about the Dickinson County Master Gardner program should contact Boettcher at 336-3488.
Shown in photo: Katie Sorrell (ISU Growing Together grant program); and Master Gardeners Tammy Carr, Laura Callahan and Carol Larson.
