David Gibby International Master Gardener Search For Excellence Award

1st Place Winner

The Evolution of the North Fulton Master Gardeners’ Lecture Series in Response to the Global Pandemic

North Fulton Master Gardeners

The Evolution of the North Fulton Master Gardeners’ Gardening Lecture Series (2019 – 2021) in Response to the Global Pandemic

In the face of a global pandemic, the North Fulton Master Gardeners in collaboration with the UGA Extension of Fulton County successfully provided horticultural education to the North Fulton community and beyond through virtual webinar technology.

The title of our application really sums up the transformation of our work this past year and a half. Prior to the pandemic shut down, we presented each of our classes in person at 3 different locations in North Fulton County. We typically attracted about 300 attendees to all 7 classes.

During the Spring 2020 Lecture Series, life as we knew it came to a stand-still. On March 13, in response to COVID-19, we announced the cancellation of the remainder of our in-person classes.

Our team quickly pivoted and learned how to record classes using Zoom. We created a YouTube account. We recorded one of our cancelled classes using Zoom and uploaded this first video in May 2020. This Hydrangea lecture has over 1,100 views to date.

In 2020, we Zoom recorded and posted 13 gardening lectures to our YouTube channel. To date these classes have been viewed more than 4,200 times.

In the spring of 2021, feeling brave, we transitioned to LIVE zoom webinars. Our team executed an extensive marketing and social media campaign. We held 10 live webinars – streaming live to both Zoom and Facebook and afterward, we posted the recordings to those same sites. The Spring Gardening Lecture Series has had over 10,000 views.

2nd Place Winner

Edible Webinar Series

UF/IFAS Manatee County Master Gardener Volunteer Program

Our in-person classes and workshops on vegetable gardening, backyard fruit trees and growing herbs have always been very popular with Manatee County residents. We did not want to give up these classes when the COVID-19 pandemic made in-person teaching impossible; in fact, the stresses of an uncertain future, concerns about food security, and social isolation and boredom associated with the pandemic made growing your own food more relevant than ever.

Three three-part webinars were developed by MG Volunteers targeting Central Florida residents interested in growing vegetables, fruit trees and herbs. Each webinar was approximately one hour long and was webcast via ZOOM to a live, pre-registered audience and via recorded and live links on ZOOM, Facebook and YouTube. Our goals were to educate and change horticultural behaviors for a more rewarding, more Florida-friendly approach to gardening which includes appropriate and efficient use of fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation and recycling materials such as composting.

Each webinar series was held a week apart:

The “Backyard Fruit Tree”series (selection, planting and care) by MG Volunteer John Dawson:

The “Herbs” series (selection, maintenance and harvesting) by MG Volunteers Becky Moreland and John Dawson

The “Vegetable Gardening” series (preparing, planting, care and scouting for pests and disease.)

Switching from in-person teaching to online webinars opened up new and different opportunities for us in terms of our educational mission.

3rd Place Winner

Nurture Nature Workshop

Talbot County Master Gardener Volunteers

The Nurture Nature workshop was held in March of 2020 in an auditorium provided by the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. The workshop began with a 20-minute video segment from a Joe Lamp’l’s “Growing a Greener World” episode with featured entomologist, Doug Tallamy. The video was followed with a panel discussion led by 5 Master Gardeners to share experiences, stories, and photos of how they reduced lawns and increased planted areas to support wildlife. Participants were offered the opportunity for one-on-one coaching with Master Gardener volunteers stationed throughout the auditorium. To reinforce the key points of the workshop, volunteers also developed a brochure with 10 achievable steps that participants can take to reduce lawn on a residential property in order to attract wildlife and “nurture nature”. Post-program evaluations demonstrated that participants were enthusiastic to include more native plants, reduce lawn, and increase wildlife habitat. The Nurture Nature Coaching Workshop was offered at no charge to participants, and involved more than 20 Master Gardener Volunteers from Talbot County. The program’s goal was to help our community recognize the collective effort that can be made in our own backyards to improve the environment for wildlife.

Workshop(s) / Presentation(s) Awards