This year the MNMG proudly announce a new venue—the Montgomery county fairgrounds where—rain or shine—buyers and browsers can enjoy selecting their favorite plants and crafts comfortably inside. Probably best known for their annual plant sale, Montgomery County Master Gardeners (MNMG) offer healthy home-grown plants to hundreds of eager neighbors. Some come for those affordable vegetables and herbs. Others expectantly wait for the chance to start their gardens with well-nurtured ready-to-plant perennials, annuals, bushes, and trees. Yet others enjoy browsing treasures in the craft booth.
Master Gardener volunteers love sharing their experience and expertise to help educate and beautify their community. And don’t let that word “master” fool you! Ask a Master Gardener what the word “Master” really means and you’re likely to hear: “Oh, only a couple in our group are truly garden masters. Most of us just like growing beautiful or tasty plants and learning something new every day. What we do especially well is share what we learn with our neighbors and our community.” In past years over 3,000 Arkansas Master Gardener volunteers donated more than 180,000 service hours to Arkansas projects. In Montgomery County alone, these happy volunteers have donated thousands of hours to beautify the court house, library, nursing home, and extension office in Mount Ida, and the Caddo Indian memorial in Norman.
To protect yourselves and your neighbors, you must wear a mask. Plant and craft lovers are encouraged to bring a wagon or garden cart to haul their purchases to their cars. Pets except service animals are not allowed.
Barbara Howell, MNMG plant-sale chair says “We have a lot of fun doing what we do and this is a chance for us to pass our knowledge along. To become a Master Gardener, you participate in training classes and annually donate 20 hours of service to the special projects in our community.”
