RENEW, REFRESH:
Victoria County Master Gardeners will write column for 17th year
July 26, 2019
By Charla Borchers Leon --Victoria County Master Gardener and Gardeners' Dirt Editor
Renewal brings new in The Dirt
Earlier this week, another renewal of confidence took place with members of the Victoria County Master Gardener Association voting to renew writing this column for the 17th year. With all original and never-repeated material published weekly for the past 16 years, 835 articles have been voluntarily written by members in conjunction with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and published in collaboration with the Victoria Advocate.
- Hours of effort, expertise weekly
Approximately 140 volunteer Master Gardeners have written through the years with a committee of four who plan and schedule the column. With myself as editor in chief since inception, AgriLife Extension staff and professional horticulturist review ensure sound, verifiable and scientifically backed information in each publication that usually is a result of 25 hours or more time.
Look for articles
You will find the column printed on Pages A4 and A5 on Friday mornings where it has been located since early spring of this year. It can also be found online at VictoriaAdvocate.com every week as well as on the Advocate’s Facebook page and Twitter. Go to the Master Gardener website at vcmga.org to see articles for the past 16 years.
Suggest topics
As before, readers are welcomed and encouraged to suggest topics for members to research and write about. Feel free to contact Suzanne LaBrecque at svlabrecque@hotmail.com with ideas.
Column addresses education mission
With education as their mission, the Master Gardeners of Victoria County remain committed to offer educational information on gardening topics now and into the future. We appreciate readership following along with publication collaboration with the Victoria Advocate these many years.
The Gardeners’ Dirt is written by members of the Victoria County Master Gardener Association, an educational outreach of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension – Victoria County. Mail your questions in care of the Advocate, P.O. Box 1518, Victoria, TX 77901; or vcmga@vicad.com, or comment on this column at VictoriaAdvocate.com.
STARTING 10 CONTINUOUS YEARS
Article by Charla Borchers Leon in 2012
It was mid-spring when a small group of Master Gardeners discussed the possibility of approaching the Advocate about offering a gardening column to the public for educational purposes.
Contacts were made, numerous meetings were held, a vote was taken and a contract was signed. On that July 3, "The Gardeners' Dirt" began its weekly journey that is now beginning a decade of continuous publication - completely free to the public.
It has been published with authentic and never-repeated articles written by 115 different authors and edited by this editor-in-chief for 470 continuous weeks, short of two weeks when there was a threatening hurricane evacuation for our area.
It reaches potentially 94,000 plus readers in 12 area counties every Friday, according to industry standards, with all articles from inception available 24/7 and archived at vcmga.org.
The column proudly claims statewide recognition each time it has been entered in competition, garnering all first and second place awards. Perhaps the proudest accolade to date was when the Advocate dedicated an editorial printing that commended the column and its long-time editor-in-chief for it being one of the most educational contributions to the newspaper and the community as a whole.
Victoria County Master Gardeners celebrate its successes and our pride in it by voting this past week to, once again, provide it to you into what begins a "Decade of 'The Dirt.'"
Victoria County Master Gardener Association
