Garden Matters: Growing a Community of Gardeners
Millbrook Garden Club Launches a Garden Series to Educate Residents on the Benefits of Gardens.
September 16, 2026
What started as a pollinator garden project has blossomed into a community-wide celebration of gardening. Through "Garden Matters," the Millbrook Garden Club, a member club of the GCA, is bringing gardeners of all experience levels together for free talks, walks, and workshops that inspire learning, conservation, and a deeper appreciation of the natural world.
Hosted at the Millbrook Library, in Millbrook, New York, in partnership with Stonewood Farm and Friends of the Millbrook Library, the monthly series features expert-led talks, walks, and workshops such as “Building Healthy Soil with Stonewood Farm,” “Grocery to Garden with Odd Duck Farm”, and “Plant Communities in a Community Garden.” The free series explores the value of pollinator gardens and meadows, using the entire plant from underground roots to blossoms and seeds, and how to identify plants, mushrooms, and other fungi.
The idea for “Garden Matters” began last fall when Friends of the Millbrook Library asked the garden club to help install a pollinator garden in the middle of Millbrook. Club members suggested garden designer Andy Durbridge, former director of gardens at Old Westbury Gardens on Long Island, to design the space. He created a garden with native plants chosen to attract pollinators. The success of the project inspired the club to expand its outreach by creating a community garden education series.
Drawing on the region’s wealth of horticultural expertise, speakers include Chris Baker, certified forager and founder of Chicory Naturalist; author Andrea Barnet; and Dr. Joshua Ginsberg, president of Cary Institute. Millbrook Garden Club members are also featured speakers.
Through “Garden Matters”, the Millbrook Garden Club, is cultivating a more knowledgeable and engaged gardening community while advancing the GCA’s mission of education, conservation, and environmental stewardship.
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