Jean, I know you grew up in Iowa.  Was it around farming?

I grew up on a farm, relatively close to town, but still definitely on a farm. I still own it and work it, which I love.  It's not a big farm, and I was an only child so it was just my mom, dad, and me.  Dad did most of the farm work and Mom raised an enormous garden.  When I was too young to help on the farm, I still followed Dad around to help fix fence and things like that which I loved to do.  I always wanted to be outdoors with him.  Mom raised a huge garden, but I really didn't like helping her  because it was too much work and not as interesting.  I'd rather be with my dad.  So I didn't learn squat about actual gardening!

Now you are living here in western Massachusetts--another big change--how are you planning your garden for your new home?  

We are planning to build a house in Williamsburg. (Jean and Ed moved into their new home in July 2016)  We have about three acres with a beaver pond and wetlands.  We have a great meadow and lots of southern and eastern exposure.  I can't put anything in yet because of construction plus I'm still fighting invasive species.  But I'm getting ideas. It will be a little of everything--some vegetables and fruits and blueberry bushes!  I had to leave four blueberry bushes in Mississippi and was not happy about that.  I’m thinking a raised set of beds will be in order as we have a lot of drainage issues.  I’m very grateful for all the resources here, like the symposia, to help me do this design and then get going.

What challenges have you had in learning to garden in New England?

Species identification, recognizing the importance of cleaning up in the fall, new plants to work with and understand how they work.  For instance, I have several balloon flowers apparently in three different growth habits though the same species name is on the tag.  

The other thing that is different here is that I’m not used to all these invasive species to fight.  I had poison ivy, but I don't think I had any invasive species.  I have seven or eight species to deal with now.  I'm not happy with that!

Why did you decide to become a Master Gardener?

The way I was raised is still in me.  I was raised in a rural environment where you produce most of your own food and now view that as a real blessing.  I like the volunteer life, am still a practicing environmentalist, so the MG program is a good match. 

What was it like managing the 2013 Master Gardener course?

It was a good experience.  Interesting, actually fun, familiar in that part of my work history was in training.  It was familiar in that I had learned to create a training setting in a comfortable environment, provide food, be available, and do the best that I could on addressing problems.  I enjoyed it and I learned because I was listening to everything, too.  When it was over for at least the next couple of Tuesdays it was kind of weird and empty. I wish I had done better on the quizzes because I know that caused so much angst.  But the class members were great to get to know.  I feel very protective of the interns and have a stake in how well they do on becoming MGs.  

I do know the class makes a long day and sometimes in the afternoon energy was lagging.  I'd like to find a way to make the class more interactive in the afternoon.  A lot of the interns hadn't been in school a long time, so the adjustment was difficult for some.  I went back to school when I was 36 for my PhD, and I remember the difficulty of getting back to sitting for the day, listening to lectures, taking notes, studying, and taking quizzes.

You will soon be up for election for President of WMMGA.  What would you hope to accomplish during your term of office? (Jean ended her successful term of office at the end of 2015)

I want to build on at least two things.  First, I want to give credit to the presidents I have known, Marilyn Wiley and Toi Graham, who during their administrations, developed a budget for the organization and developed the webpage.  Those are two really important things.  So I want to maintain and expand on those efforts.  I want to keep us on a good financial and policy footing so we can continue to grow as an effective organization.

I’d really like the presence and use of the webpage to increase.  I would like us to have a calendar on the webpage that we could all refer to that has the entire year laid out.  I’m hoping that several members will step up to help maintain the page.

WMMGA has well over 200 members.  I'd like to be sure that everyone is given the opportunity to do something.  And that means a more active request for their services. There are undoubtedly members who have skills we could use, but they haven't been asked yet.  

We also have the three geographic areas, and I want to be sure we have fair and consistent treatment among all three.  I’d like all three to grow and prosper.

I know you like to tell stories and jokes.  Do you have one you'd like to share for this article?

Here are some good garden definitions!

Knee - A device for finding rocks in your garden. 

Green Fingers - Something everyone else has plenty of. 

Perennial - This year, possibly; next year, unlikely. 

Seed catalogue - A work of fiction with fantasy photos. 

Spade - Highly efficient back-pain generator.