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Left to right, Master Gardeners Rich Horvath and Kenton Dolinich, Professors Steve Alm and Wayne Durfee and writer Chris Barrett discuss East Farm.

JANNELLE COURET Assistant Professor Biological Sciences

In the late ’90s, local newspaper publisher Rudolph “Rudi” Hempe joined the Master Gardeners. Inspired by the farm’s beauty and research potential, he helped arrange the first of several open houses that drew hundreds of people to the farm for plant sales and horticulture demonstrations. “I said, ‘You know this is the best kept secret in South County,’” Hempe notes of the inspiration to organize the open houses. “Pictures can be very helpful but often you need to see a plant sample, which you can often grab from the farm.”

- Heather Faubert

SPRING | 2022 Page 35