2026 Dutchess County Master Gardeners

I don’t see links to anything and can’t get the mobile app to work and I had no idea with we would be doing an online course.  It’s summer!  I want to get off my phone!!!

Good morning fellow classmates! My name is Joyce Mykoniaits.  I'm excited to meet everyone in person and learn how to navigate this app together.  The thing I love about gardening the most is seeing a vision come to life. I come from a design background and enjoy being in nature.  It brings me joy to create beauty and functionality in a kitchen garden and experience the different seasons of a perennial garden.  I'm interested in the Master Gardener volunteer program because I would like to contribute my skills in serving the community, surround myself with passionate people, and continue to broaden my knowledge in gardening skills.  I'm most interested in learning about growing vegetables & cutting flowers, how to battle pests organically, and maintain a garden that adapts to the changing climate.  I would also love to learn about soil types and relationships to specific plantings.  Please feel free to reach out to me! 

Hi All! 

Happy holiday weekend to everyone. Looking forward to meeting everyone soon. My name is Kevin Irby, but everyone calls me Kirby. I live just outside Rhinebeck on a little farm and have a bunch of raised beds that I mostly grow various vegetables in. For the questions:

What do you love most about gardening: particularly with vegetables and fruit, it makes me feel more connected and grounded as part of the natural world. There is also just nothing better than a fresh vegetable. 

What/who inspired you to become a Master Gardener Volunteer (MGV): My grandmother! When I was a kid in Texas, she had a huge garden. It was my safe space, and I thought it felt like Christmas every day when we'd harvest things. 

What are you most excited to learn about: I'm most excited to learn more about vegetable gardening since that's my primary interest, but I'm quite excited to learn about the whole realm of things I don't know about around more decorative gardening. I was just in the UK for two weeks where there is a strong gardening culture, and I'm feeling like I may actually step out of my vegetable box!

Hi Everyone,

My name is Nancy Kusior. Things I enjoy about gardening are 1)spending time in the garden  and in nature is peaceful 2) watching  tiny plants grow and produce vegetables and beautiful flowers is so rewarding 3) providing fresh vegetables and herbs for my family is awesome 4) having fresh cut flowers in vases indoors makes me happy.

My grandparents and parents always had a vegetable garden . When I first moved to the area about 20 years ago I attended a few continuing ed classes at Arlington High school on gardening and learned so much. I have been working on my vegetable garden ever since through trial and error. I 

I would love to learn more about vegetable gardening, landscape design, flower gardening , caring for fruit trees, and how to arrange outdoor  pots with beautiful flowers.