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As a colleague said the other day, the unthinkable happened. Caroline Kiang has passed.
There will be a memorial celebration of Caroline in the New Year.
I had the pleasure of knowing Caroline as an educator, a mentor and a friend. Let me share a few words with fellow Master Gardeners.
Caroline, the educator.
Master Gardener Training was rigorous for our 2005 class with 18 lengthy weekly sessions led by gardening professionals from all over New York state. Some of you recall the gigantic self-made binders of gardening materials and frequent exams.
When I completed training, I began to understand why the Suffolk Master Gardener program was so highly regarded. Caroline, who started the program in 1977, worked tirelessly to promote our mission as “multipliers” spreading the word about best garden practices. Her advocacy of the program, as well as its Master Gardeners every year for 35 years, gave us purpose and credibility wherever we volunteered. Caroline gave the 1500 plus Master Gardeners she trained opportunities to flourish. Be assured. Whether you graduated in the Class of 1982 or the Class of 2012, Caroline remembered you.
Caroline, the mentor.
Although most of us knew her as the dedicated Master Gardener program director, Caroline wore other gardening hats. Every year she described an additional project or a new collaboration that extended the reach of Community Horticulture beyond the Master Gardener program. Here are just a few.
Caroline was chosen as the President of the Perennial Plant Association, a national organization of horticulture professionals and growers. In this role, she worked with perennial industry leaders to address nationwide concerns.
Caroline was deeply committed to teaching children about gardening. During the summertime, Caroline offered training to classroom teachers through the SCOPE program. Caroline designed “Out of the Classroom and Into the Garden” to give generations of teachers exactly what they needed for a successful school garden. Decades later, one of Caroline’s SCOPE participants found her way to the Master Gardener program. Jill Skelly said Caroline’s class “was instrumental in helping me create an action plan for the Park Avenue School Garden, now in its 15th year. Everything from how to scout a location to how to deal with administrators to get everyone on board.”
When a USDA “Healthy Gardens, Healthy Youth” program came looking for Cornell Extension staff to conduct research in local schools, Caroline adopted the Riverhead Charter School where she collected data on eating habits, implemented a garden, and offered a curriculum to empower children to make healthier eating choices.
When Caroline retired from Cornell Extension, she joined OLLI, the adult education program at Stony Brook University. She took multiple courses every session. Soon Caroline became an OLLI teacher offering a variety of gardening programs. Then, of course, she found herself on the strategic planning committee charting OLLI’s direction and development.
In short. Caroline set the bar high for all her endeavors. She brought people and gardening matters together to make a difference in the lives of individuals and their communities. The Suffolk Alliance for Pollinators, Seed to Supper training and Coastal Gardening projects are my attempts to follow Caroline’s outstanding example.
Caroline, the friend.
We delivered joint workshops at national conferences.
Together we explored gardens near and far: Bridge Gardens, Long House, Bayard Cutting Arboretum, the High Line, Cornell (University) Botanic Gardens, Swarthmore College gardens, Longwood and Chanticleer.
Caroline’s husband Bruce typically propagates hundreds of vegetables in their basement every winter. By May, Caroline knew they needed to find another home. She was on the phone asking if I wanted to join her delivering trays of seedlings to area school gardens. Of course.
When the Shinnecock Nation wanted to offer an after-school gardening program for teens, she reached out and said let’s do this together. And we did.
It was usually over lunch that I experienced part of what made Caroline so remarkable. Caroline knew people as well as she knew plants, perhaps even more, and cultivated both so well. She was a sincere and careful listener. Caroline also possessed an incredible memory. She could remember everything and everyone, plus their grandchildren. This is no exaggeration. When we had lunch three weeks ago, Caroline was Caroline inquiring about the day job as well as my family. There was a sparkle in her eye when she recalled a Master Gardener, a nursery grower, a colleague or a friend. Clearly, we all meant a great deal to Caroline who wove us together into the tapestry of her life.
A New York Times article from yesteryear described Caroline as “dynamic and ebullient.” https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/25/arts/an-answer-to-gardeners-questions.html
She never lost those qualities. And Caroline was so much more to those of us who had the good fortune to know her.
Roxanne Zimmer
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