Message from the President…
Welcome 2022
I want to welcome everyone to the 2022 Marion County Master Gardeners organization. We made it. It’s been quite the year, in fact quite the last two years. The wonderful thing I have found about gardeners is that we are able to focus on the important things, things like where we should place the newly purchased plants and should we actually have purchased so many of them. Spending time in the garden can bring joy and calm in turbulent times.
“It is a relief to gardeners that science is recognizing what we have always known, that gardening is hugely beneficial to the body, mind and environment. Gardens can restore nature, bringing wildlife to even dense urban neighborhoods, and restore peace and tranquility to a troubled mind. There is no need to think of the garden as either a privileged plot of suburban land or a pastoral ideal.” (LA Times 03/31/2020)
Any time we work at Newfields, Eagle Creek Park, Holliday Park and all of the other locations where we volunteer, we are sharing the peace and tranquility of plants with the general population. It’s actually kind of a lovely responsibility that we have. Simply by sharing what we love we bring a sense of calm and peace to those folks who visit those locations.
Let’s step into 2022 with the knowledge that the beauty we bring to our yards and the locations where we volunteer, although we may not see it, will bring a sense of joy and tranquility that hopefully will spread and grow.
So, 2022, we are ready to meet you and grow with whatever lessons you have to teach us, knowing that as gardeners we will continue to learn, grow and bring beauty into our spaces.
Sharon Patterson
President 2022