Meet Monica Shephard - Class of 2022

Monica was born in Bossier City, Louisiana and as part of an Air Force family, she moved frequently. In addition to Louisiana, she has lived in Puerto Rico, Ohio, North Carolina, Washington, Maryland, the DC area and Virginia. Her husband was in the Navy and they moved to Virginia when he was assigned to Naval Air Station, Oceana. They moved to Norfolk in 1999.

Monica has a BS in Civil Engineering and an MS in Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. She continued her education taking classes in contract law, finance, leadership, environmental sciences, management, cultures and more. She worked for the Department of Defense in many different career fields and retired in 2019.

Monica’s mother is a Master Gardener in Florida and her sister is a Master Gardener in Maryland. Her dad grew up on a farm in Georgia. Every place her family lived her father would rent a piece of land and plant a garden. She believes there is nothing better than biting into a tomato or pepper that has been warmed by the afternoon sun, or eating a freshly dug potato. For fifty years her mother won rave reviews for her garden and flowers. Monica’s maternal grandfather grew up in a farming community in Germany. He immigrated to the United States and kept a vegetable garden, a flower garden and an orchard his entire life. Monica states, “having a garden and being in the soil is as essential as breathing in my universe and is part of my DNA.” Studying and becoming a Master Gardener has been a desire for a long time.

Monica felt that the techniques used in the training classes to address COVID were brilliant. Suffering from a severe hearing impairment, she felt that the closed captioning in Zoom was a miracle. As Monica’s hearing has worsened, she has felt isolated and doubted that she could complete the training component. She even used the Zoom transcription when she was in the classroom. Monica thanks the entire technical team!

To attain her fifty hours Monica worked at the Potager Garden at Norfolk Botanical Garden, Weyanoke Bird and Wildlife Sanctuary, Ernie Morgan Eco Garden, Crape Myrtle pruning, and several Community Outreach events. Her mentor, Mimi Rosenthal, suggested that she try as many projects as possible and she believes it was great advice.

Monica plans to continue working on a variety of projects which helps her with her personal project: rejuvenating the formal garden, pollinator garden, arboretum and water garden at the Fred Heutte Center. Monica and her husband, Scott, started that work in June of 2021 and continue to work on it almost every day. They were recently named to the board of the Friends of Fred Heutte Foundation. They want to continue to work in the beautification of South Hampton Roads and the preservation of the environment. In the past, many educational and horticultural programs have been sponsored by the Foundation to teach the art of growing and loving herbs and other plants. She believes there is a nexus between Master Gardener programs and the Foundation’s mission.

Monica and Scott have three handsome nephews and have strong relationships with them. They also have strong relationships with neighborhood children. Monica shares that it was a highlight when one of the children introduced her to friends as “My Monica.”

When Monica isn’t gardening in her home garden or FHC, she loves needlepoint, crewel embroidery, cross stitch, knitting, pickleball, making marbled eggs with polymer clay, and thinking about gardening. She and Scott have traveled extensively and hope to be able to travel again. They have two lovely rescue cats, Tabei (tawny ginger with golden eyes) that has been trained to harness and lead, and she says it is a “hoot” to watch Tabei walk Scott. Her other cat, Maeve (tortie with olive green eyes) is a chimera and is also starting to show interest in going outside. Monica is wondering if Maeve will accept a harness and lead, too. Both cats are two years old.

When you see Monica, be sure to introduce yourself and welcome Monica to Norfolk Master Gardeners.