The Latest Dirt - Sept 2022

Ask A Master Gardener Farmers Market — Dougherty Station, San Ramon

Ask A Master Gardener Farmers Market — Dougherty Station, San Ramon
By Kathy Gage

Dougherty Station San Ramon Ask A Master Gardener booth

Blue sky, warm temps (but not TOO warm), no wind: a perfect day for a UC Master Gardener Ask A Master Gardener booth in San Ramon! As you may know, Dougherty Station is a brand new market. It opened in May 2022. As such, it has relatively few vendors, including food stalls serving a variety of ethnic foods. Greg and I were terribly disappointed there was NO COFFEE VENDOR! Sheesh! We had five CoCoMG volunteers—maybe too many? — so we were a bit crowded, especially given how few people were shopping. And yet—a few clients’ gardening questions had all five of us fully engaged!

• Observation #1: How many and varied the garden-related topics we dealt with.
  Photo by Greg Letts
  Dougherty Station San Ramon Ask A Master Gardener booth
• Observation #2: People approached US—we did not have to go out and grab them! Indeed, we were very busy—and that was only the morning shift!
• Observation #3: I witnessed a man (whose wife was occupied with asking me gardening questions) very determinedly take one of each Quick Note we had put out. I was going to ask him to please only take what he needed, but I changed my mind. His comment: “I need the cards to help me learn about gardening.” Whatever works!