UNION COUNTY EXTENSION MASTER GARDENERS
VOLUNTEER ASSOCIATION (UCEMGVA)
We are a volunteer organization that has been serving our communities in Union County and surrounding areas of North Carolina since 1989.
As part of the NC State Cooperative Extension program, our mission is to foster a ‘partnership to create a sustainable community through education and implementation’. In other words, we like to help and teach our community about good gardening practices, composting, integrated pest management, and home grown food production, just to name a few.
Our home base is in the Union County Agricultural Center in Monroe, NC, where we maintain our Teaching Gardens and Greenhouse and host a periodic ‘Ask a Master Gardener’ Open House.
We participate in various community programs such as:
School Outreach and Speakers Bureau-Our volunteers present over 40 talks per year to Civic Organizations, Schools, and Churches.
Plant a Row-Through the efforts of Master Gardener volunteer drivers & donors, as well as many others in the community, fresh produce and non-perishable goods are collected & distributed to 7 dedicated Union County area agencies whose focus is to help our neighbors in need. Our Plant a Row program strives to build our local food community through education & advocacy. We support the Union County Farmers Markets in both the City of Monroe and Waxhaw. We highlight and assist with marketing local Community Gardens that can provide food for the community, schools and churches. We support more subscriptions to Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs), allowing consumers to buy local seasonal food directly from a farmer.
Each spring we host the ‘Union County Heritage Festival’, an educational and fun festival focused on the stewardship and celebration of the bounties of the earth, and our UC communities and citizens.
We offer Successful Gardener classes on various topics such as composting, tree care, propagation, native plants, the edible landscape, and container gardening.
We monitor a 24/7 gardening call system called the Growline for Union County. 704-283-3822 or . We have received an average of 25 inquires monthly over the last three years.
We maintain a Web site on which we publish useful and informative gardening information: www.mastergardenersunioncountync.org
We hold Three Sales Events per year: a Tree Sale in February, a Spring Plant Sale, and a Fall Bulb and Plant Sale at which we serve nearly 400 customers annually.
To encourage budding future farmers, we annually award 4H scholarships, and a UCEMGVA Scholarship to a senior graduating from a Union County School and going to a NC college to major in botany, crop sciences, environmental studies, horticulture, animal husbandry, forestry or related fields. Not sure if you need any more but here are some photos from Sandy's propagation class with the new MG's today. Not sure if you need any more but here are some photos from Sandy's propagation class with the new MG's today.