Annual Master Gardener sale nurtures green thumbs
The Master Gardener plant sale is a May tradition in Anoka County, held at the Anoka County fairgrounds each year. Well over 1,000 people attended in 2025 to buy plants and get horticultural advice from volunteers, offering expertise about growing vegetables, planting trees, choosing native plants to attract pollinators, growing healthy food, keeping plants healthy and much more.
The volunteers enjoy receiving a diverse array of inquiries from experienced gardeners, young families planting their first gardens, and sometimes residents who are even younger.
Master Gardener Penny Johnson assisted teenage plant-shopper Corey, who said, “I really like looking at plants and shopping for plants and taking care of them. The thing is making sure they have the light and the conditions they really need to thrive, making sure to water them, but don’t overwater them. It’s like a pet, just being careful with them.”
Highlights
- RSDP impact: With support from a CERTs Seed Grant, an energy-efficiency assessment of manufactured homes in the Park Plaza Cooperative in Fridley was used to develop a scalable rehab loan and grant program for homeowners.
- The Anoka County 4-H Plastic Challenge collected 1,000 lbs of plastic to keep out of landfills and share with a company called Trex for recycling into landscape materials and furniture.
- Anoka County 4-H’ers Seno O., Sydney O. and Abigaile G. are Minnesota 4-H State Ambassadors.
- Extension’s agricultural business management team delivered an income tax short course in Blaine.
- U of M Farm Family of the Year: The Saari family farm plays an active role in education, donating hatching eggs to schools and daycares. They have hosted farm tours for homeschoolers and also mentor aspiring homesteaders.
- Minnesota Master Naturalist training: Big Rivers, Big Woods biome (Coon Rapids, East Bethel)
- SuperShelf locations: ACBC Food Shelf, St. Philip’s Lutheran Church Food & Clothing Shelf
- The Climate Adaptation Partnership is developing new resources on future groundwater and soil moisture conditions for Anoka County based on long-term precipitation changes. This information will allow communities to weigh issues such as proposed data centers and future drinking water availability using the best available science.
Anoka County office
Extension has 14 regional offices supporting all 87 counties in Minnesota.
Anoka County partners with Extension to deliver practical education and research you can use at home, at work and in your community. More about Extension in our county.
About the Minnesota 87 project
Spend time in any Minnesota county, and you will almost certainly encounter University of Minnesota Extension. Our faculty and staff, volunteers, participants, alumni and partners are woven into the fabric of rural, urban and suburban Minnesota life. This project showcases Extension in action through photos, stories and a sampling of the many ways Extension has touched the lives of people in every county.