Clallam Master Gardener program to be talk of international panel in South Korea

Published 12:01 am Thursday, September 25, 2014

PORT ANGELES — Lessons learned by Clallam County Master Gardeners through its Growing Healthy program will be shared at the 2014 International Master Gardener Conference in South Korea today through Saturday.

Growing Healthy was a 15-week pilot gardening project to help low-income people with diabetes or at risk for developing the disease eat healthier and get more exercise.

A collaboration among Master Gardeners, Volunteers in Medicine of the Olympics (VIMO), First Step Family Support Center and Port Angeles Community Gardens, the program began in April and ran through Aug. 15.

It served about 19 people.

“Some might consider our program small, but efforts by local Master Gardeners over the past decade have made, and continue to make, real impacts on the gardening community and beyond,” said Laurel Moulton, former Clallam County Master Gardener program coordinator.

Moulton is presenting the Growing Healthy paper at the conference in South Korea.

She and Master Gardener Jeanette Stehr-Green submitted the paper to the conference’s organizers in March and were told in July that the paper had been accepted.

Most Growing Healthy sessions were in the Fifth Street Community Garden, 328 E. Fifth St., Port Angeles.

Every Friday from 10 a.m. to noon, participants would walk around the garden with Master Gardeners and then get to work, said Zoe Apisdorf, development coordinator for VIMO, which offers a nonprofit, low-cost medical clinic for those without other access to health care.

“Some would work on harvesting, some on planting, some weed control or pruning,” she said.

Cooking classes also were part of the program.

The classes were held either at First Step Family Support Center, 325 E. Sixth St., or at the garden, Apisdorf said.

Breaking habits

The program helped participants change some of their habits, she said.

“With the patient population we see at VIMO, one of the hardest things is getting people to help themselves and feel connected to the community,” Apisdorf said.

“Through this reoccurring class, they felt more connected to their community, and that was able to help them learn lifestyle changes without them being talked at.

“It helped them take ownership in their health.”

VIMO, as the lead agency for the grant application, contacted organizations that serve the same people who use the clinic.

Stehr-Green was the mastermind behind the program, Apisdorf said.

“We considered the pilot a success and were excited that conference organizers also viewed the ability to impact nutrition and exercise among low-income, underserved community members and their families positively,” Stehr-Green said.

The program received funding from the American Medical Association Foundation and local businesses and was supported by volunteers, Apisdorf said.

The 2014 International Master Gardener Conference is hosted by the GyeongGi-Do Agricultural Research and Extension Service near Suwon, South Korea.

The conference attracted Master Gardeners and program coordinators from across the United States, South Korea, Japan and Germany.

To learn more about the Growing Healthy project, email Apisdorf at development@vimoclinic.org or phone 360-457-4431.

To learn more about Clallam County Master Gardeners, email Lorrie Hamilton, program coordinator, at lhamilton@co.clallam.wa.us or phone 360-417-2279.