New Announcements
2025 Extension Master Gardener College Save the Date: June 10-15 in Blacksburg!
- Webinar Series
- December 19 2:00 pm | Invasive Plants, Restoration and the Sound of Urban Streams with Gabrielle Ripa – In this presentation, Gabrielle will present her PhD work on acoustic monitoring of stream ecosystems and the impact invasive species have on the acoustic landscape.
i. Gabrielle Ripa is a PhD student at Virginia Tech who is studying how to limit invasive plants on stream restoration projects in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Because of her background in wildlife ecology, Gabrielle is also seeking to connect the changes to the stream environment, due to invasion and restoration, to the animal community through acoustic monitoring. She hopes her work can inform the design of restoration projects that are better at recovering both plant and animal communities.
ii. Register for the Dec 19 webinar here
iii. Water Stewards: This content is good quality CE for your Advanced EMG certification.
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- All webinars are recorded and posted in the webinar archive
- 2025 Focus Theme: Home Food production
- As we move into the new year, the Virginia Extension Master Gardener Program will be focusing on a critical and timely theme: Home Food Production. This initiative comes in response to the significant community challenges faced by Southwest Virginia in the wake of Hurricane Helene. Many communities are still recovering, and we believe our skills, resources, and dedication can make a real difference in promoting sustainable, resilient food systems at the household level. We also believe that we can be positive change agents across the commonwealth through this work.
Throughout 2025, we will be working together to educate, empower, and support local gardeners, families, and communities in growing their own food. Whether it’s through kitchen gardens, community plots, or container gardening, our goal is to help people increase their food security, improve their nutrition, and build a more sustainable future. We invite all of you to join us in this important work.
- Upcoming Northern Shenandoah Valley Events:
- Seed Exchange: What can one do in the dead of winter when the ground is frozen, and plants are dormant? Please consider joining the NSV EMGs for their annual Seed Exchange on January 18, 2025, from 10am to 2pm. The Seed Exchange will be indoors at a new location, Strasburg High School Cafeteria in Strasburg, Virginia. The new location will help to minimize any weather-related impacts. For those who would like to share their extra seeds or those who might like to acquire free seeds, everyone will leave a winner! For more details, please access the link: https://nsvmga.org/events/seed-exchange/
- Indoor Plant Clinic: Late winter is the perfect time to give your indoor plants a little love. Learn how to take care of the plants you already have. Plus, participants go home with FREE easy-to-grow houseplants that they re-pot from a division or rooting. Please consider joining the fun on February 1, 2025, from 10am to 2pm at Bowman Library in Stephens City, Virginia. NSV EMGs will be on hand to provide plant care basics, along with presenting informative sessions on topics such as Eastern Prickly Pear, Growing Orchids and House Plant Tips and Propagation, etc. Kids are invited, too, and can join in an educational activity. For more details, please access the link: https://nsvmga.org/events/indoor-plant-clinic/