Photo Galleries

09 Hypertufa Party
Coles County Master Gardeners recently hosted a "hands-on" hypertufa class. Hypertufa is homemade stone made from a combination of cement, peat moss and sand. Each participant went home with a completed planter to finish drying and plant next spring.

2009 MG Farmers Market
Coles County Extension Master Gardeners working hard at the 2009 Farmers Market on the Charleston Square. Way to go Master Gardeners!

2009 MG State Conference

Here are a few pictures from the recent MG State Conference held in Effingham IL.

2009 Gardening with Grandkids
Gardening with Grandkids was held at the 4-H Center at the Coles County Fairgrounds on July 20th. This workshop was offered by EIU Academy of Lifetime Learning. Participants were able to create a bog with plants donated by Wes Westside. They also created a terrerium, a salad in a bag garden, made a beautiful picture of pressed flowers, made a compost container, a tic tac toe game for the garden, a wind chime and their own snack of guacamole. Master Gardener Kathy Hummel and a host of U of I Extension Master Gardener volunteers provided a wealth of knowledge for both children and their grandparents.

2009 Master Gardener Pins

Coles County Extension Master Gardeners received year pins at their monthly meeting in March.

The following Master Gardeners received year pins:

5-year pins--Stan Adkins and Darla Chouinard. 10-year pins--Richard Funk, Justin Grady, Kathy Huymmel and Paul Icenogle. 15-year pins--Pam Overton and Jackie Record.

In photo left to right are: Paul Icenogle, Kathy Hummel, Richard Funk, Darla Chouinard and Stan Adkins.

2008 MG Terrarium workshop

MG Mary Smith presented a program on terrariums

2009 Spring into Gardening
A workshop for those tired of winter & wanting a early taste of Spring!

2008 Plant a Row

This garden, maintained by the University of Illinois Coles County Extension Master Gardeners, is part of the national Plant-a-Row for the Hungry Project. It is located on the grounds of Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center near the greenhouse. The produce from this vegetable garden is shared with local food pantries during the summer. In 2007, more than 2200 pounds of produce from this garden were donated to Coles County families.

2008 Idea Garden

Enjoy the views of the University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners Idea Garden. The Garden is located at the west entrance of Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center and is divided into eight sections. If you visit in person, look for 'fact sheets' located at each of the gardens to help you identify the various plants.

Insects Summer College for Kids-2008

Enjoy these pictures of the 2008 Summer College for Kids. Kathy Hummel, Coles County Master Gardener, Esther Lutz, Coles County Master Gardener Naturalist, and Kris Hall, Master Gardener Intern, lead the students in a learning experience about insects. The event was held on June 16 at the 4-H center. As you can tell by the pictures, everyone had a lot of fun!

Gardening with Grandkids-2008
Workshop with EIU's Academy for Lifetime Learning.

2008 Master Gardener Interns

In the picture left to right:

Front row: Sharon L. Kuhns, County Director; Mary Reardon, Nancy Renshaw

Second row: Kris Hall, Kathy Webster, Esther Lutz and Bernard Nale

2008 Master Gardener Plant Sale
The annual Coles County Master Gardener Plant Sale was held on Saturday, April 26, 2008 in Mattoon, Illinois.