Poplar Grove Plantation Partnership

Situation

The Poplar Grove Plantation only has 2 full time employees and a full workload. They rely on volunteers to keep and grow the operation. Our entire community is affected by this situation because the plantation is full of rich local agricultural history. Without volunteers, it would be difficult to keep things running around the Plantation.

Response

Extension Master Gardener℠ Volunteers of Pender County host an Ask a Master Gardener Volunteer booth at the Farmer's Market at Poplar Grove to answer gardening questions from the public. We also have a booth and plant sale at their Goosebumps in the Grove Event and their Herb and Garden Festival event. We care for their greenhouse which is on their farm tour. We have an herb demonstration garden on the grounds. We have an ornamental garden that showcases plants that were grown during the Civil War, complete with a shell path throughout the garden that was commonly used back then. The volunteer Association is able to meet in one of the plantation barns on the side of the county where meeting space is scarce.

Results

The Ask a Master Gardener Volunteer booth at the Farmer's Market at Poplar Grove meets once a month to answer gardening questions from the public. The booth sees about 30 clients each day. This is 270 people throughout the year.

The Goosebumps in the Grove Event and their Herb and Garden Festival events are two days long. They host around 500 people per day. The plantation does all the marketing for these events. This serves 2000 people from these two festivals alone. We care for their greenhouse which is on their farm tour, and in turn, are able to propagate and grow plants for our plant sales. We have an herb demonstration garden where people can walk in and learn about the different herbs that grow well here. We have an ornamental garden that showcases plants that were grown during the Civil War, complete with a shell path throughout the garden that was commonly used back then.

The volunteer Association meets in one of the plantation barns on the side of the county where meeting space is scarce. The Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Pender County and Poplar Grove Plantation partnership is an amazing asset to our County. We are able to help the full-time workers there maintain the plantation while reaching the citizens of our community. It is a mutually beneficial relationship that we plan to grow in the future.