From August 2024
This past year has been busy and exciting for Christine Purvis, her husband, Sam, and their sons, Asher and Eliot. They recently moved from Portland to Hood River to find outdoor adventure here in the gorge. When Christine is not homeschooling her boys, she is learning about her new hometown, enjoying outdoor activities with her family, and learning to become a Master Gardener.
Christine’s gardening experience began when she started dating her husband, and they would go to a farm to help plant and harvest. One crop was cherry tomatoes. There is nothing better than a fresh picked tomato, and they could eat as many of the warm, pungent tomatoes as they wanted. Ironically, Christine’s husband developed an allergy to them.
Soon, she found herself helping elementary school children learn the joy of growing vegetables and preparing delicious and healthy food from the school garden. Christine was hooked. She became passionate about healthy, farm to table food.
Growing up in Montana without a garden, her first attempt at her own was in Portland with lots of trial and errors. She is now trying a casual but organized raised bed garden with her sons. This year they planted vegetables and some flowers. One plant, a dianthus, she bought at the MG plant sale. One day Christine noticed that something was wrong. “Something pulled the plant out of the ground!” It didn’t take long to research the problem. Her husband thought it was a weed. Christine and the boys helped replant it and are happy to report that the plant survived the trauma.
One of Christine’s goals in becoming a Master Gardener was to be a more proficient gardener. She felt she needed to be immersed in the gardening world. She wanted to know how to find information. She liked the idea of one day being someone in the community who could help others with their questions.
Christine has had fun from the very first class meeting. She enjoyed being welcomed into the gardening world by all the members who wanted to share their knowledge and love of gardening. She knew then that this would be a good experience. After the first class she did feel overwhelmed with information like most of us. It was a toss-up between “This is so cool!” to “This is A LOT!”
The Fish Food Garden has been Christine’s perfect match. She was surprised and pleased to learn that kids can come help and learn at the Fish Food Garden too. You will often find Christine and her sons there helping with work parties. Christine says she is learning more about growing healthy vegetables and is grateful for the Fish Food Program itself. This is what she always wanted to do: to help others. This garden’s food for a cause is something she loves being involved with. At some point she would like to do more with the waterwise garden because she is also interested in conserving water.
Christine’s advice to new trainees is something we were all told, “Don’t get discouraged by all the information. Don’t get overwhelmed by it. Participate and get involved. Enjoy this community of Master Gardeners. It is a lot of fun sharing a common interest and being a part of this community. “
Inspiration comes from many sources and Christine’s main inspiration comes from cookbooks. “I wonder if I can grow that?” She wants to focus on the best, freshest ingredients. She is also inspired by chefs and other gardeners. She is aspiring to be a good gardener, but feels she has a long way to go. Christine is excited about the learning process to achieve that.
Christine has found fulfillment in the Master Gardener program. She has come a long way from learning at the farm years ago, to gardening now at the Fish Food Garden. Christine appreciates working together with a group of people who tackle so much. She finds it very gratifying seeing what can be accomplished when working together as a group to get so much more done.
Cheryl McKay
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