Sharing Master Gardener lessons at Brockport Farmers Market
“Bug hotels and integrated pest management” were the topics presented to shoppers at the Brockport Farmers Market on July 26. A young couple explained the method is about “all different kinds of bugs you want to have in your garden” to maximize successful growing.
Each week, the couple sets up a small table to educate people on how to work with nature and improve the natural environment. Next up they will feature a visiting local beekeeper discussing the basics of beekeeping. Topics such as preserving fruits and vegetables will be the focus near harvest time.
Colin Butgereit and Jena Buckwell, are students in the Master Gardener program at the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Orleans County. They are half-way through their training and will be certified Master Gardeners in December. Besides taking courses and studying the 400-page manual, they must complete 50 volunteer hours. Colin already has 50 and Jena is at 90 hours.
“We have chosen to educate the public,” Jenna says about their volunteer work. “It provides a forum for us to talk with people about things we think are important in agriculture and keeping the environment happy and healthy.”
Their dog, Lucy, joins them at their table at the farmers market and serves as a good will ambassador for the educational booth.
In their mid-twenties, the pair has chosen a lifestyle close to the soil, purchasing several acres near Clarendon. They live in a mobile home as they plan the construction of a house there. They call themselves “homesteaders,” living off the land with a “main focus to take care of ourselves and have a little abundance to share with friends and family,” Jenna said. Their choice of Orleans County to settle had much to do with acceptable building codes and acreage allowances for livestock. And, their land is a ten-minute drive from Brockport, Jena’s hometown.
Colin grew up in a Grand Rapids, Michigan suburb and studied welding technology at a community college. He is an installation coordinator for the Rochester branch of nrgHomeSolar, providing home solar energy products. Right now, his job is their source of income while, they say, “Jena is the manager of plans at home, making sure things work out for us.”
Jena studied graphic design at RIT, and then worked as art director at a newspaper in New York City, where she and Colin met four years ago. They became involved in a farmers market in New York called GrowNYC. It was the inspiration for their current calling. Jena was glad to escape the big city. “I never liked living in New York City,” she said. “I missed being out in the country.”
The country setting Jena missed was rural Brockport, her hometown. They first retreated from New York City by moving to Stanton, Virginia, which they found “beautiful” and populated with people “who helped shape what we want to be doing now in sustainable farming.” Although they loved Stanton, “I was homesick and missed family,” Jena said. “And, thinking of starting a family at some point, I wanted my mom around.”
They enjoy the Brockport area, and hope to find the kind of community support they knew in Stanton. “It was a great benefit to know a group of people in Stanton doing similar things and helping each other out,” Jena said. “We are starting to find that community here.” That is one benefit of the Farmers Market for them.
Colin and Jena are making a unique contribution in their teaching mission at Brockport Farmers Market. “We welcome them,” said Ruthann Tryka, co-manager of the weekly market. “They are very interesting and I think a real asset, bringing a whole new dimension to the market.”
