BRAINERD — The Master Gardener volunteer program is growing more than vegetables this summer as more people join the program in Crow Wing County.
The Community Giving area at the Northland Arboretum is cared for by the Crow Wing Master Gardener Volunteer program, a chapter of the University of Minnesota Extension’s statewide program. In those gardens, volunteers host weekly Gardening 101 classes for both youths and adults, and the master gardener volunteers care for Giving Gardens. All of the produce grown in the Giving Gardens is donated. Since 2020, the master gardeners donated over 16,000 pounds of produce to food shelves throughout the county.
In addition to growing produce and teaching people how to grow their own gardens and providing plants to do it, the master gardeners in Crow Wing County also provided funds for roundabout beautification and assisted with plantings and worked with lake associations on shoreline restoration in efforts to expand knowledge of water quality.
They built raised gardens at Lighthouse Beginnings, Breezy Point Community Gardens, Port Group Homes, Minnesota Teen Challenge – women’s location, and at My Neighbor to Love Coalition’s homeless housing project.
To help inform the public and answer questions, they hosted events at the Brainerd Public Library that attracted 459 people in 2024, had 45 calls on the county helpline this past year, published a quarterly newsletter, had a weekly Ask the Master Gardener column in the Dispatch and staffed “Ask the Master Gardener” booths with 2,021 educational contacts recorded there for 2024.
On Wednesday, Aug. 20, they hosted the annual open house at the Northland Arboretum. On Saturday, from 9 a.m. to noon, the master gardeners will host a plant sale of perennials, which is the group’s main fundraiser, with a focus on native plants, pollinator plants and edibles.
Crow Wing County Master Gardener Intern Jennifer Smith brings produce she picked to the table on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, at the Northland Arboretum. The food harvested Thursday weighed 100.5 pounds and was set to go to the Salvation Army.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Sterling Kramer looks on as his grandma Terri Kramer, a student in the Gardening 101 adult class, shows off some of her produce that she gathered from her plot on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, at the Northland Arboretum during the Master Gardener Volunteer Open House.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Jennifer Lee, left, Amy Bear, Gail Brecht and Jennifer Smith from the Crow Wing County Master Gardener program, gather produce picked from the garden on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, at the Northland Arboretum. The food harvested that day weighed 100.5 pounds and was set to go to the Salvation Army.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Produce picked from the garden is gathered on a table ready to be weighed and packed up on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, at the Northland Arboretum. The food harvested that day weighed 100.5 pounds and was set to go to the Salvation Army.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Susan Lutz, left, Amy Bear, Jennifer Smith and Janet Chaffe from the Crow Wing County Master Gardener program, gather produce picked from the garden on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, at the Northland Arboretum. The food harvested weighed 100.5 pounds and was set to go to the Salvation Army.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Crow Wing Master Gardeners Susan Lutz and Gail Brecht pick beans from the Community Giving area on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, at the Northland Arboretum.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Produce picked from the garden sits on the table ready to be weighed, packed up and brought to the Salvation Army on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, at the Northland Arboretum.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Crow Wing Master Gardener Janet Chaffe picks beans from the Community Giving area on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, at the Northland Arboretum.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
The Crow Wing Master Gardener Volunteers work in the garden on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, to get ready to host a plant sale at the Northland Arboretum. The sale will be on Saturday, Aug. 23, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the arboretum.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Crow Wing County Master Gardeners Brittany Goerges, left, and Dan Lee talk about the Community Giving area on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, at the Northland Arboretum during the Master Gardener Volunteer Open House.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
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