Is it too late to plant a cover crop in my garden? Why does my sycamore tree lose its leaves in the spring? Here is a leaf from something growing in my backyard, can you tell me what it is? How do I get rid of wiregrass? These are the types of questions Sabine
Harvey answers three days a week at the Horticultural Program Assistance “hot line” of the University of Maryland Kent County Extension Office. Not only is she a master gardener, she just received certificate #2 in horticultural plants from Longwood Gardens. There is no #3. You have probably seen her at the Chestertown Farmers’ Market – she and other master gardeners are there most weekends, April through August, to answer yet more questions and help you grow the best tomatoes in the neighborhood.
Harvey is also working with the next generation of gardeners. In 2009 she started a small garden at Worton Elementary School, primarily herbs with a few wild flowers mixed in, giving children a hands-on lesson on the important role plants play in our world. Did you know that monarch caterpillars can only eat milkweed, and that swallowtails only eat plants in the carrot family? (That’s why they love parsley.) In 2010 Harvey began a much more ambitious project, a community garden at the Chestertown Middle School. Beds were dug in April of that year, and, funded by a grant through Lowe’s, some PTA money, and generous donations, Harvey, Washington College Habitat for Humanity students, 7th and 8th graders and community volunteers were able to buy tools, build a fence, and prepare the soil for a considerably larger garden.
The community garden was planted this spring, watered and weeded throughout the summer by middle schoolers, high schoolers, teachers, college students, town residents, and of course, Harvey. The fresh produce was given to the local Food Pantry and put in backpacks for low income students to take home. Last week students and volunteers harvested over 50 pounds of produce: lettuce, carrots, bell peppers, broccoli, peas and beans. The vegetables were washed, chopped, and used for the first ever salad bar at Chestertown Middle School. “It was amazing,” Harvey said. “ The kids loved it. There are three lunch shifts at the school, and the food was gone by the second shift.” Who says kids don’t like vegetables?
Of course, you would need a few more acres of garden to supply a Middle School salad bar in the spring and fall, but it’s a great way to get the next generation interested in eating fresh vegetables and perhaps starting a garden at home.
Kent County Public Works Complex
709 Morgnec Road, Suite 202, Chestertown, MD
Phone: 410-778-1661 Fax: 410-778-9075
Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday
John says
Great story and way to go KCMS! Kids growing up in this area SHOULD be learning how to grow things.
Nick Stoer says
Great article! Read it again and ask yourself “What might I do next year to expand my horizons?” The article about Sabine Harvey is a perfect recruiting poster for people interested in taking the courses needed to become a Master Gardener. For more information, call Sabine at the phone number at the end of the article.