By Paul Maree
On Saturday, November 15th, Curry County Master Gardener volunteers partnered once again with the South Coast Health Equity Coalition (SCHEC) to offer a Spanish–English bilingual gardening class at their newly opened community space—complete with its own greenhouse.
This workshop follows the success of our first bilingual offering in July, the Spanish-Speaking Seed Starting Workshop, which you can read about HERE. Together, these sessions are part of our ongoing effort to make gardening education more accessible, inclusive, and community-driven on the South Coast.
Master Gardeners Julia Bott and Brenda Blythe, along with Brookings Harbor Garden Club VP Sally Thibeault, led November’s class with a focus on “What to Do in Your Garden Now” and practical pest management. The bilingual format ensured that Spanish-speaking participants could fully engage, ask questions, and build confidence in their gardening skills.
After the teaching portion, everyone headed outside to put new knowledge into practice. Volunteers and participants worked together to weed raised beds, plant garlic, and sow a fava bean cover crop. We even uncovered and replanted several volunteer brassicas that had self-sown around the property. The group also enjoyed a tour of Brenda’s worm bin and discussed a variety of pest management tools and resources available to home gardeners.
SCHEC expressed deep appreciation for the partnership and is eager to continue learning—especially about indoor growing in their new space and expanding their worm composting efforts. We look forward to offering more bilingual workshops and continuing to grow this meaningful collaboration in the months ahead.
