Happy Spring Everyone,
This is one of the busiest seasons for gar-
deners. And we are no exception! What with
our Spring Education Day, participation in
Sunnyside Master Gardener’s Pollinator Day,
getting our unit gardens cleaned-up, to say
nothing of our personal gardens, it is a wonder we have time for anything else. But of course, we wouldn’t be the energetic, enthusiastic, and over-extended people we are, if we didn’t take on even more.
A group of members are meeting with Craig Whitaker, to plan upgrades for our website.
There is so much more it can be, and thanks to Craig, we are beginning the process of discovery and redesign. The program committee has planned three fieldtrips for April-June. Thanks o committee members Dee Dee Nunn, Joan Burton, and Deb Slentz, who have each volunteered to organize one of these outings. Watch for emails on specific scheduling of these fun adventures.
Our unit’s kick-off to spring is our biggest
educational and fundraising event of the
year. This year we celebrated our 30th
Spring Education Day on March 29th. How
do you measure success? It really is a sub-
jective question. For events such as ours,
though, there are some objective indicators.
Three come readily to mind: attendance
numbers, revenue, and participant feedback.
First off, attendance was our best ever! We
had 346 participants. If I remember correctly, last year was 308. Second, we cleared enough through registration alone to cover our expenses and then some. The fund raisers include our spectacular raffle and KHS market place, free-will table, Peggy Thiene-man’s plant sale, and vendors from the community. All of these activities did exceedingly well and we took in a fabulous amount to meet unit expenses, finance the unit gardens, and provide for future projects. Finally, we collected 195 surveys from attendees. Dee Dee Nunn volunteered to compile the
results. Her summary emphasized that re-
sponses were all very positive. All of the
speakers received excellent reviews, as did
the other activities (vendors, plant sale, raf-
fle, marketplace.) As always, the food was
much enjoyed with the usual green bean
controversy. We can check off each success
indicator with a resounding YES. Well done
members. You all out-did yourselves. In fact,
many attendees, and all of the speakers,
commented that they were so impressed with the professional quality and extent of the event.
As I like to say, we are a small, but mighty, unit.
To close, I’ll turn my attention to national
news. Have you seen the new recipe finder
on the HSA web site? It features many herb-
based recipes and allows you to search the
50-page list using key words. Very cool. And
be sure to check out the April 21,2025 HSA
Blog and the April Webinar on the HSA web
site titled “Who Are the Lost Ladies of Herbal and Garden Writing?” by Carol Michel. She is the award-winning author of five books of humorous and helpful gardening essays and two children’s
books. Carol was one of our speakers at our
2019 Spring Education Day.
That brings us full circle!
Important Message: Garden season is upon us and our unit gardens need you. These gardens are an important part of our mission to educate the community about herbs. I recognize that some members may not be physically capable, but many of us are. It doesn’t have to take too much of your time. If we had 24 members commit just 2 hours a month at one of the gardens, that would be enough to have 3 members at each garden every week! The day of the week and time of day can be flexible. Joan and Jo Ann can work up a schedule for each of the gardens. Let’s talk about it at the May unit meeting. Until then, weekly workdays are Wednesday mornings at Kentucky
School for the Blind (KSB), approximately 10:00 -12:00, earlier if it’s hot, and 10:30–12:30 in Corydon at the Old Capital Herb Garden (OCHG).