As you entered the first floor of Buntrock Commons on March 7, you were met with warm smiles, followed by glimmering pieces of jewelry, pots filled with seed packets, and precious fairy garden items. The Northfield community, alongside master gardeners, artisans, and horticulture enthusiasts gathered here to celebrate the Rice County Master Gardener Horticulture Education Day (Garden Day). Attendees could ask for gardening tips, purchase handmade art, participate in a silent auction, and attend a guest speech.
Garden Day is hosted by the Rice County Master Gardeners, which is a volunteer program through the University of Minnesota (UMN). Created in 1997, volunteers organize this event to educate communities about horticulture. It is held at St. Olaf every year.
“January through February we meet on Zoom calls for meetings,” Lorrie Rugg, the master gardener program coordinator at UMN for Steele and Rice Counties, said in an interview with The Olaf Messenger. “In March, Garden Day is the first opportunity we get to see each other. We get to renew friendships.”
One of the co-chairs, Larissa Hohrman, started out as a Rice County Master Gardener before joining the board in 2019. Her mother, Christine Hambline, has been co-chair since 2002.
“We’re trained through the University of Minnesota Extension in all things horticulture and gardening,” Hohrman said in an interview with The Olaf Messenger. “So that’s what we try to bring back to the community. Our fundraiser that we do on Saturday is one of the main ways that we can keep offering programming.”
UMN Twin Cities departments, such as the Soil Testing Laboratory, came for Garden Day. They assisted in answering questions related to gardening and soil maintenance. The Office Manager, Suzanne Frances, shared that it was her third year at the event.
“I enjoy talking with Master Gardeners and the students that walk by,” Frances said in an interview with The Olaf Messenger. “There is great camaraderie among the gardeners and attendees.”
