Master Gardener Annette McCleery has been gardening “since birth.”
“We joked that mama had us to have more people to weed the garden,” McCleery laughed.
After years in the North Carolina Piedmont, the Long Island native and her husband bought 22 acres of hilly, undeveloped property in southern Stokes County in 2001.
Since then, her garden has evolved. “We started with three 16 foot raised beds,” she said. “They didn’t do well, because there’s no water up here. They completely depended on rainfall.”
Bringing water “up here” requires an 80 foot elevation change up the long steep driveway that follows an old logging road. Her water efforts have borne fruit, literally.
Gardening there was not easy at first. Like most of Stokes County, “the soil is clay and rocks.” By augmenting the native soil with compost, McCleery now has a rich growing environment.
Generously-mulched raised rows are home to a lush vegetable and flower garden, along with 16 blueberry bushes. Landscape cloth on walkways between rows reduce the weeding necessary.
“It’s finally looking the way I want it,” McCleery said. This year, they added arches made of T-posts and cattle panels to support the squash vines and keep the fruit off the ground. “I really like it.”
She protects the area from deer using rows of monofilament line supported by metal T-posts. “I still have a problem with groundhogs that have to be trapped and re-homed,” McCleery says.
Nearby, a small orchard, wild plums and persimmons, and beds of North Carolina native plants give McCleery more areas to apply her interests. Toolshed and a huge compost pile fill out the area.
What does she do with all those blueberries? “Feed the birds, mostly.” The debate over protecting the berries with netting continues.
Some of her other harvest is canned. “I have been canning since I was tall enough to stand at the stove,” McCleery said. These days, canning is mostly jams and apple butter. She also bakes persimmon pudding.
McCleery’s gardening does not stop there. Along the steep driveway to the creek, and on the steep hillside near their home, McCleery practices her version of hugelkultur.
Hugelkultur involves planting in raised beds where soil is placed over a pile of logs, limbs, and sticks. Decomposing wood beneath the soil provides nutrients to her plants and retains moisture, so she has to water much less often. McCleery’s hillside hugelkultur beds have a 2×6 on the uphill side, and two 2x12s on the downhill side. This has proven an effective way for her to garden on the hillside.
McCleery’s passions include North Carolina native plants. “Ruellia carolinensis — native to our property is what truly got me into natives,” she says. Today, she has 190 North Carolina native plants on her property.
“I dig a hole, add a gallon of water. Then put in a plant and add another gallon of water.” That method gives McCleery new plantings a good start, even in periods of drought.
The fenced area for her dogs protects plants she’s propagating from becoming snacks for deer. “This is where all the babies happen,” McCleery joked.
Water for the gardens “up the hill” comes from a rainwater capture system, so it doesn’t tax their well. Roof gutters and downspouts feed water containers. “In a good rain, I can get 175 gallons.”
“Master Gardener was something I always wanted to do. I vowed to do it when I retired.” The program in Stokes County was perfect for McCleery. Matt Lenhardt, Stokes County Extension Director, runs the program and encourages Master Gardener students and graduates to focus on areas they are interested in.
McCleery said, “Out here, I’m an island; there are no other gardeners around me. In Master Gardener, I enjoyed being around like-minded people who love gardening.”
Some of McCleery’s favorite things about the program were learning how much information one can get from a soil test. She enjoyed making contacts with others who know more. “We all have our area of expertise.”
A bonus: getting together with classmates. “We eat each other’s food. Even when we make similar dishes, we make them in different ways.”
McCleery likes gardening conversations with Stokes County residents, and to motivate others. “It’s not impossible to grow something, no matter where you are. The key is to grow plants suitable for the location.”
Her tip for gardeners in August? “Get ready for your fall garden. Start seeds indoors in the air conditioning. Outdoors, prepare the garden, so you can plant at the right time.”
The Extension Master Gardener℠ program in Stokes County is an intensive course in consumer horticulture. In exchange for their training, Extension Master Gardener℠ volunteers contribute time as volunteers and work through N.C. Cooperative Extension, Stokes County Center, to provide horticulture-related information to the public through classes, plant clinics, demonstration gardens, and much more.
Topics covered in the Master Gardener training course include: Soils, Fertilizers, Organic Gardening, Botany & Plant Physiology, Plant Identification and Propagation, Attracting and Deterring Wildlife, Native and Invasive Plants, Beneficial and Pest Insects, Managing Plant Diseases & Weeds, and much much more!!!
New Master Gardener training courses typically are held starting in January and run through April of each year. FMI contact Matt Lenhardt, County Extension Director and Extension Agent, Agriculture, at malenhar@ncsu.edu or 336.593.8179.
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