Interview with Mike Korrigan (August 2026)
Q1) Tell us about how you became interested in becoming an EMG.
Back in my working days, a copy of an EMG flyer came into my hands, like a paper
seedling promising horticultural adventure. I applied, but — much like a tomato planted
too early — I missed the deadline and was promptly rejected. Fast-forward to retirement
in 2019, when I finally had time to chase down that dream.
My wife, Mary Jane, had retired a couple years ahead of me, and together we realized
the EMG program would offer exactly what we wanted for our golden years: education,
camaraderie, and a good excuse to talk about compost. Honestly, I can’t remember a
time when I wasn’t gardening, so the EMG training felt like slipping into a well-worn pair
of garden gloves.
Q2) What year did you attend the EMG class? Did you and Mary Jane attend class
together?
Indeed, Mary Jane and I did — the legendary 2020 COVID class. We were baptized not
in soil, but in Zoom links and Google accounts. Elaine Specht and Stacy Morgan Smith
deserve medals for shepherding us through that digital wilderness and somehow
delivering us to graduation with our sanity intact.
Q3) In which county do you reside? Have you two lived in the valley all your lives?
Shenandoah County is home, specifically Strasburg — where the mountains are grand,
and sunny garden real estate in a subdivision is more precious than heirloom seeds.
Mary Jane and I both hail from the Syracuse area and even attended the same high school — four years apart, never crossing paths.
Q4) You are very active in the Northern Shenandoah Valley EMG unit. Do you have
a preferred area to focus on as an EMG?
Before my health hiatus, I was the friendly face at the EMG Information Booth at the
Saturday Farmer’s Market in Strasburg. I loved it — a rotating cast of EMGs joined me,
and we became a little gardening troupe. Garden Fest is another favorite of mine: you
can usually find me in the tool shed, donating plants, directing parking, or rescuing
items for Secondhand Rose. I also enjoy volunteering with the EMG Help Desk; it is a
delightful puzzle box of plant mysteries.
Q5) When and how did your love of plants and nature start? It sprouted early. My family garden was half a football field long and, when I was about 5, my earliest memory is of my Grandfather Thompson plowing it with a team of two horses — a scene straight out of a timeless snapshot.
Later my dad took over, with a neighboring farmer plowing with his tractor, and I became his trusty corn-hoeing, potato-hilling sidekick.
When Mary Jane and I married, we rented the upstairs of a farmer’s
home and were gifted a patch of garden in their field. We shared the harvest, and
gardening officially took root in our life.
Q6)Tell us a little about your own garden. Do you have a favorite plant? And why?
Our garden is a team effort: I grow the vegetables, Mary Jane orchestrates the
landscaping and flowers, and together we keep the place humming. My favorite plant?
Tomatoes — the divas of the vegetable world. With limited space, I grow them in wire
cages or on a tripod, inspired by Mike McGrath’s Growing Great Tomatoes.
Thanks to fellow EMG Belinda Palmer, I’ve become a mustard-cover-crop evangelist.
Mustard has natural compounds that suppress fungal spores. I mix mustard with winter
oilseed radishes, and phacelia to create a green carpet that fights fungal diseases, and
at the end it becomes glorious green manure. The mustard overwinters like a champ.
I’m also a believer in biochar. I made 15 gallons and inoculated it with my special brew.
My Virginia Tech soil test came back with no deficiencies and a pH of 8.2 that actually
needed lowering a bit. Biochar helps plants be stronger, warding off the usual pests.
Every year I experiment with different vegetables. Fennel was a memorable adventure:
the bulbs flopped; grocery store supplies were much better. But I harvested a quart of
fennel seeds. Santa brought a meat grinder that Christmas, and we turned those seeds
into 20 pounds of breakfast sausage. Gardening is an adventure full of plot twists.
My 4×6 greenhouse is attached to a basement window, so I can siphon basement heat
into the greenhouse. Seeds start indoors, then move to the greenhouse. This allows me
to extend the season with cherry tomatoes that produce throughout the winter — a
small miracle.
I like to keep a simple journal and an almanac. I cannot write like George Washington or
Thomas Jefferson, but I jot down the big stuff: plantings, odd weather, and anything
notable that happens in my garden.
Q7) How do you spend your free time, when not in the garden?
I enjoy charcoal grilling — my Weber and I have been companions for years, and
garden vegetables often meet their smoky destiny there.
I golf with a merry band of characters: two former coworkers half my age, a retired
doctor from church, and occasionally my son or nephew. I’m a hacker, but a happy one.
I ski when I can — I visited Bryce once this year. Probably the worst conditions of the
season, very icy.
Woodworking is another leisure pursuit of mine. I built the water barrel stand,
greenhouse frame, greenhouse furniture, and a potting bench complete with a junk
drawer, because every gardener needs one.
And I also have an old collection of Lionel trains, requiring tender loving care. I built a
42-inch-high table for the layout, and the trains run in our basement like a miniature
world with its own weather patterns.
Q8) Tell us a little about your family…
Both our families immigrated from Europe before the Great Depression and served
heavily in World War II, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Mary Jane and I are among the
first in both our families to earn college degrees.
Children or grandchildren? We have one son, a Marshall University graduate, now eight years into a banking career.
Profession before retirement? I started Data Processing in 1968, then earned a Business degree from LeMoyne College. Over 50 years, I worked every job from key puncher to top management. I retired from Shentel as a Senior Programmer Analyst. I loved the creativity of programming, and some of my Shentel programs still run daily —eight years after I retired.
Interview with Elaine Specht
(May 2026)
Q1) What made you interested in becoming an Extension Master Gardener? When did you attend the EMG class?
I was a member of the Class of 2014. By then, I had already been living in Woodstock for three years but, because my job involved a lot of travel, I really didn’t know anyone local. I hoped that by becoming a Master Gardener I would meet other people who shared my interest in horticulture and I could volunteer on projects that would help me feel more a part of the community. All that has certainly been the case. I am pleased to note that Claire DeMasi, June Newcomb, and Sandy Ward from the 2014 class are still EMG members, too.
Q2) When and how did your love of plants and nature start?
I grew up on a farm in Western New York, which had been in my father’s family for three generations. My Mom, who grew up on an apple farm, inherited a love of ornamental gardening from her grandfather. Over the years, she installed extensive gardens around our house.
Unfortunately, I spent the first 24 years of my life trying to get as far away from that life as I could. But almost as soon as my husband and I began renting our first house, I was placing regular calls back to Mom and Dad for gardening advice, both to grow vegetables and start my own ornamental gardens. Turns out gardening was too ingrained in my DNA to get away from it!
Q3) I know you have taken on many different roles in our NSV EMG unit. How did you decide which areas to focus on as an EMG?
Another member of my class, Stacey Morgan Smith, really has played a huge part in all the roles I have taken as a Master Gardener. Back in 2015, she encouraged me to take on leading the Seed Exchange, which I did for 5 years. Then, she got me excited about coordinating the first hybrid EMG class with her in 2020. I liked that experience so much that I helped coordinate another hybrid class in 2022 and then an in-person class in 2023.
Stacey also helped build my confidence enough to run for NSVMGA President in the fall of 2020, so I was on the Board for four years. Stacey showed me how important the Volunteer Coordinator position is to the smooth running of EMG projects, so I followed in her footsteps to take on that role. I also took on the Webmaster role, Google site management, and Garden Fest plant sale coordination. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Stacey for inspiring me to be so active in a wide range of roles as a Master Gardener.
Q4) Please describe one project that you especially enjoyed from among your EMG activities.
This is like trying to pick a favorite flower. I have enjoyed all the projects and activities I have been involved in as an EMG, but in different ways. To highlight just one role, I would say that coordinating EMG classes stands out for me. It was by far the most time-consuming, but with significant work there is also a significant reward.
Q5) How do you like to spend your free time, when not in the garden or doing EMG volunteer work?
After being so heavily involved as a Master Gardener over the past decade, I am immensely pleased to see newer members stepping in and bringing new ideas and fresh perspectives. They are taking the roles I once held to greater heights. Recently, I have taken up piano lessons again, after more than a 40-year hiatus. I also write a column for the Mountain Courier, a monthly newspaper focused on Shenandoah County. I read quite a bit and I try to stay fit with exercise and yoga classes, hiking, and bicycling.
Interview with Katherine Rindt, EMG
(February 2026)
Q1) Tell us about how you became interested in becoming an Extension Master Gardener.
When I was getting ready to retire and wondering what I would do with my time, Richard Stromberg told me that, if I became a Master Gardener, he would have plenty to keep me busy. Luckily, when I retired in April, 2003, there was a class starting soon in Shenandoah County, so I signed up.
Q2) When and how did your love of plants and nature start?
I think I was born with a love of plants and nature. Both my grandmothers were avid gardeners and I spent time with them working in their yards. My maternal grandmother bought and planted things she found in catalogs and advertisements. When we moved into her house, after she died, my mother and I worked hard to keep the garden up to her standards.
As a young adult, I was introduced to hiking and camping, when I married into a family that liked outdoor adventure. My father-in-law instilled in me a love of the woods and a sense of stewardship for the environment, which has continued to grow over the past 56 years.
Q3) You have a strong connection with the Warren County community and Warren Heritage Demonstration Garden. Tell us about this project and how it has evolved over the years.
I started working in the garden at the Warren Heritage Society right after my EMG class. The gardens had become quite overgrown and Marsha Burd developed the renovation project, shortly before she became County Coordinator. We found the original garden design plans in the Heritage Society archives and used them to restore the garden beds with period plants.
Next, we installed an herb garden for the docents to use in their cooking demonstrations in the property’s colonial kitchen. Then we created brochures with the plants and design plans, to be handed out by the Heritage Society. This whole renovation project took several years, and by then I was hooked! When Marsha moved to Maryland, I took over as project lead.
As EMGs, we partner with the Heritage Society to help them fulfill their mission of preserving history and educating the public. Over the past two years, we have planted the Three Sisters Garden at their location. This garden honors the local Native American heritage of this area, provides gardening activities for children during the Festival of Leaves and the Heritage Society history camp, and hosts presentations on various gardening topics for the public.
Q4) I know you have taken on many different roles in our NSV EMG unit. How have you served the Northern Shenandoah Master Gardeners?
I have served as Vice President, worked on the nominating committee, succeeded Marsha Burd as the Warren County Volunteer Coordinator, and I also served as the project lead for the Warren County Help Line.
Q5) For what other projects have you enjoyed volunteering? What makes an engaging project?
I like helping people with plant questions and problems. So, I have always enjoyed working at the Help Line and at information booths. I like doing research to learn new things. I also like to get my hands dirty. The combination of these two aspects – research and active gardening – will keep me hooked on a project!
Q6) As a gardener with many years of experience, what positive changes have you seen in consumer horticulture? What concerns might you have?
One of the biggest changes I have seen is the increased public awareness of how damaging the use of chemicals can be for our health and the environment. As a result, there is now an increased use of integrated pest management to solve problems, rather than just spraying whatever is in the garage or shed to kill bugs. Another significant change is that more gardeners are planting native plants to encourage pollinators and birds.
I am concerned about invasive plants and invasive insects destroying our native plant populations. Gardeners can be vectors of introduction of both these threats into an area.
Q7) Tell us about how you spend your free time, when not in the garden.
Volunteering with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club is my other job. My husband and I are the maintainers of two sections of the Appalachian Trail (AT), one in the Thompson Wildlife area and the other in Shenandoah Park.
I also support my husband in his volunteer role as District Manager of all the trails and shelters from Rt. 50 to the northern park boundary near Chester Gap. We hike the trails to chainsaw and cut back extra vegetation that other trail maintainers cannot remove with hand tools.
I also like to hike with family and friends just for fun. When I am stuck in the house, I like to read, knit and crochet. Like most knitters, I tend to hoard yarn. Anyone need any yarn for a project? (Interview by EMG Susan)
Interview with Kathy Doyle, EMG Emeritus
(October 2025)
Q1) When and how did you first develop a love of plants and gardens?
In my early twenties, I lived in a house made up of apartments, and there was a yard in the back that was unused. I dug up an area and planted a few things; I don’t even remember what. My neighbor, a 90-year-old man, came over to inspect what I was doing, and he said, “Well, you’re no gardener.” That was my start!
However, I didn’t start gardening properly until I was much older, in my forties. I had a vegetable garden, and my husband oversaw any flowers that needed to be planted. I had no concept of native and invasive plants. At that point, I knew very little about gardening and just did whatever I thought was right.
Q2) Why did you decide to become an Extension Master Gardener (EMG)?
Actually, I wanted to take the Master Naturalist class – but it fell on nights when I was working. The gentleman I spoke with suggested the Master Gardener class instead.
That was the first time I heard about the EMG class, with its focus on gardening and plants, but it fitted in well with my love of nature.
Q3) What areas did you specialize in as a volunteer EMG?
I was used to working with children in Head Start and the public schools, so I gravitated to children’s gardening. I have always said that children are “my people.” I used to do a Science Club at my house when my older son was in elementary school and, when my younger son came along, he wanted a club too, so we started a Nature Club.
I have always loved researching activities to do with children. I was retired by the time I became a Master Gardener, my own children were long gone, and I was no longer working with young children in school.
So, it seemed natural that, as an EMG, I would seek out activities involving children.
Q4) Please describe one project that you especially enjoyed in your EMG activities.
I have to say that I really enjoyed working with two other Master Gardeners in heading up the Garden Fest event for two years. It was out of my wheelhouse but working as a team was so inspiring and so much fun.
I never considered myself much of a leader; however, being in the EMG program really helped me to step out of my comfort zone and take on responsibilities that I had never considered before. When you can divvy up those responsibilities with a team, the ideas flow, and you end up achieving so much more than if you had done it as a lone wolf.
Q5) As an Emeritus EMG, what do you plan for future activities, in the garden or elsewhere?
My heart is with children and families. Since I retired, I’ve volunteered at the Strasburg Library doing Baby Rhyme Time and Preschool Storytime every week. I love being around babies and young kids and interacting with parents and caregivers. It’s a joy.
I’ve recently started working as a Blue Ridge CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate). This is a more serious endeavor and a whole new experience for me, since we work with children in need of services (CHINS) and kids in foster care. We gather information about the children and their families to share with each guardian ad litem and judge, so that they can make informed decisions on the future of children at risk.
I’m also planning some projects in my own garden, such as trying to get rid of those pesky tree-of-heaven trees and autumn olives – but that could be a life’s work! I’m getting pretty good with my chainsaw. I’m also trying my hand at growing more native flowers and I aim to eliminate more and more of our lawn. (Interview by EMG Judith)