Aiken Times

City of Greenwood issued the following announcement on February. 17

Article and photo by: DAMIAN DOMINGUEZ ddominguez@indexjournal.com

There’s more than plants growing in Greenwood’s greenhouse — its new volunteer coordinator is hoping to cultivate interest in gardening.

Julio Flores, 40, started as the city horticultural crew’s volunteer coordinator about a month ago. Coming from Texas, he now lives in Clinton and came to Greenwood after his horticulture instructor at Piedmont Technical College recommended the job.

“I grew up with my grandparents in Texas, and they were farmers so I was kind of exposed to the whole plant-life early on,” Flores said. “I am excited to bring some ideas and just get to know more of the community in Greenwood. We don’t have something like this in Clinton.”

Flores’ job as volunteer coordinator is to manage the volunteer schedule and organize the tasks volunteers help take on. Volunteer hours are from 9-11 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but Flores said he’s hoping to expand to Wednesday soon.

He likes to have everything set up before volunteers come in — trays with soil set out for seeding, plants and clippers line up so people can take cuttings to start new plants with.

“It’s always good to have a mother stock plant because then you can make babies,” he said.

Flores said he’s eager to expand the volunteer base. Often people only think of retirees when they imagine volunteer gardeners, which Flores said makes sense, but he’s eager to get people from all backgrounds involve.

“I think a lot of people have lost the ability of gardening, and I think it’s something that should be a part of our lifestyle,” he said. “There’s nothing more pleasing than seeing a tiny seed that you put in the soil and it grows into a big, beautiful plant.”

Horticulturalist Diana Fetters said volunteers have their preferences for activities, and Flores is learning their personalities and interests over time. She was glad to have him fill the volunteer coordinator position, which was vacant after Ann Barklow’s retirement in late September.

“Our volunteer program is going to be big, having someone to manage it is a blessing,” Fetters said.

Flores’ first impression of the volunteers was that they’re a very kind and passionate community of gardeners. He said gardening forms bonds and gardeners cultivate plants, but also a sense of community.

“They’re all very passionate about this, and you can tell they put a lot of effort and devotion into what they do out here,” he said.

Article can also be found here.

Original source can be found here.