2024 Grant Program Awardees
A committee appointed by the president of MCMGA, reviewed grant applications submitted by non-profit organizations. This year seven projects were selected that are educational in nature and promote and involve the community in horticultural activities as outlined in the criteria for selection. Here are the written reports and photos submitted by awardees.
To date, we have recieved five reports from awardees; the remaining will be added as we receive them. We’re glad to share the news about these successful gardening projects, enjoy!
Read a summary of the original grant proposals to compare with the finishsed product.
Bloomington Animal Shelter Garden
A group of various volunteers decided to beautify the entrance of the Animal Shelter on South Walnut Street in Bloomington with the intention of supporting the mission of the shelter, bringing positive vibes and colors. Volunteers converted 1500 square feett of mostly turf into a pollinator friendly and diverse garden with dense naturalistic planting, lower maintenance, and a long flowering season. “Dog toilets” (dog urinals) and metal edging with simple rope fence were installed around the main bed to protect the planting from damage. Work started on 1st March 2024, and the last bed was planted in early June 2024.
In fall 2024 spring bulbs will be planted to prolong the flowering season, the shade overgrown corner will be restored and new info panel will be installed in early 2025. For more information go to www. animalsheltergardens.com
GardenQuest Youth Programming
Students will use the kneeling pads, trowels and soil knives for their lessons both indoors and outdoors as they learn garden design and the see-to-plant germinations process in October through December and throughout the spring semester. Sunbelt Rentals partnered with Garden Quest to dig the four beds needed for this project.
Monroe County Courthouse Native Plant Garden
The Monroe County Master Gardeners received a grant of $300. To replace signs, purchase native plants and to replace an elderberry tree in 2024.
The group works on a bi-weekly basis to maintain the garden and has done so for >12 years. The group regularly answers visitor’s questions concerning native plants. This year the group used the grant money to purchase:
Metal signs from Gemplers
$116.00
Native plants from MCIRIS, Mays and Hinkle-Garton $168.00
Color printing and lamination
$20.00
Total
$304.40
The group printed and laminated new information signs for all native plants. They purchased native hepatica, shooting stars, mayflowers (donated!), jack in the pulpits, queen of the prairie, native petunias, blue mist flower and other native plants. The elderberry tree ended up coming back from the stump and so was not replaced.
In addition, the group was asked to design a plant to replace a wintercreeper area the courthouse currently has. The group designed two plans for the City and County; a blue theme based garden and a second that featured yellow and orange. Both gardens featured native plants and a couple of non-native species that deer and rabbits would not eat.
Our photos highlight our volunteers working in the garden during the summer months.
Food Bearing Tree Distribution
Location: The Overlook, 611 W 12th St., Bloomington, IN, 47404
Time: 3/23/2024 11-3PM
The Neighborhood Planting Project (NPP) held its annual tree giveaway on Saturday, March 23rd at the Overlook. Prior to the event interest was gathered by having a sign up form where one could request up to six trees of each of the nine species offered. As the day of the event grew near, there were over 200 responses and it was decided to close the form early to avoid overwhelming the capacity of the space and the supply of trees. Over half of the species had to have their limits reduced below six because of the high number of trees requested!
The day of the event started cool which was good for the dormant trees. Besides the trees from the Vallonia tree nursery, local author Ross Gay had brought a few elderberry plants from his own garden. Amendments, mulch, and information sheets for some species were also available for those interested. The homeschool group of parents and kids with cute matching t-shirts arrived to volunteer as people started showing up to get trees. Over the course of the day there were about 25 volunteers that helped make the event run smoothly.
First, people checked in and were given a receipt showing the number of each species they were allotted which included a key of species and their assigned color along with basic planting instructions. Volunteers at each tree station bundled the correct number of trees with the corresponding color tape. At the end people wrapped the roots of their trees with newspaper and dunked them in water to keep the roots moist until planting.
Nearly all trees were handed by the end of the event with a few walkins that hadn’t had a chance to fill out the request form. Some people did not come and were given a chance to pick up their order on Monday evening. The remaining trees were handed out over the course of a few afternoons outside Redbud Books.
Overall the tree giveaway was a success and energized the NPP volunteers to host a seed and plant swap later in the spring. As of writing this report the tree order for next year has already been placed and NPP volunteers are looking forward to another successful tree distribution in the spring. The NPP wishes to thank the Monroe County Master Gardener’s Association for helping make this event possible and accessible to all!
Edgewood Junior High School Garden Expansion Project
This past spring, 8th grade students from Mrs. Myers’ Exploring Agriculture class at Edgewood Junior High School doubled the size of their school garden. The garden features a raised bed design made from corrugated steel sheets and trimmed with wood. Students took the design they had previously created, and mirrored it to square off the original “L” shape.
Due to supply issues, students were not able to complete construction of the garden until the very end of the school year to plant for the 2024 summer. Mrs. Myers was also on maternity leave in the beginning of the school year; so work in the expansion garden has been limited so far. However, the 2024/25 eigth grade Exploring Agriculture classes are very excited to get in the garden this coming spring to oversee the planting and management of fruits, vegetables and flowers. Students will also utilize the space to conduct student-designed experiments related to gardening.
Students really enjoyed working together and getting the expansion completed. While they were disappointed that we did not get to plant in the new section this year, they felt great about being a part of leaving their mark on their school for future classes to learn and enjoy for years to come.
Raised Bed Gardens for New Hope Early Learning Center
New hope for Families was founded more than ten years ago to address the needs of homeless families with emergency overnight shelter. Families use our shelter if they would otherwise sleep outside with their children. Families exit shelter to a lease in their name that they can afford.
More than 80% do, and they do it in three months on average. Early on, we realized that families could not get the income needed to afford their next lease without childcare, especially for children birth-to-five years old. In fact, the year we started our early learning program, it was less expensive to send a student to their freshman year at IU than it was to enroll in their preschool. Therefore we started our own, committed to providing high-quality, affordable (even free) early learning and childcare to families who need it the most.
Today, New Hope for Families’ Early Learning Center (ELC) provides top-quality education to children ages birth-to-5. The Early Learning Center enrolls forty-eight children across four classrooms. Half of our enrollment capacity is reserved for children affected by homelessness.
New Hope used the granted $500 to construct five raised-bed gardens. The raised beds are an essential element of our Plot-T o-T ot program, a unique curriculum developed several years ago by New Hope Early Learning Center staff, wherein preschoolers grow and pick fresh produce. The garden beds allowed us to bring one of our favorite programs on-site rather than renting beds at Switchyard park. In addition, having the beds here on our property allowed more frequent visits and gardening activities in our Plot-T o-T ot program. Finally, the beds gave us more opportunities for volunteers to join horticultural work, even and especially master gardeners and other community members, continuing the cycle of educational opportunities around horticulture.
We are actively recruiting master gardener interns and other volunteers to join our broader gardening and landscaping efforts. We are grateful for the Master Gardeners and look forward to more partnership in the future.
