MANKATO — Earlier this month, the Mankato Area Lifelong Learners and Master Gardeners combined to turn a pleasant walk in the garden into the opportunity to honor a friend and support a valuable area nonprofit.
The Nancy Zwickey Memorial Garden Tours on July 18 gave folks the opportunity to visit three private gardens and learn more about what is planted there, thanks to generous homeowners and volunteers. Through goodwill donations, $900 was raised over the three hours.
The fundraising event was put together by friends and fellow club members of the late Lake Crystal educator who died in November 2025 at age 84. Zwickey was known for her own nonprofit support and, not surprisingly, the organizing groups place a strong emphasis on education.
“The Lifelong Learner organization wanted to do something for her,” said Ruth Tweto who, along with Karen Wright and Sara Suskovic opened up their gardens for the tours. The Glenwood Gardens were opened for two hours; the home gardens for three.
Because Zwickey also had been a board member of ECHO Food Shelf, they brainstormed a way to support the emergency food assistance program. The local Master Gardeners were approached about participating, resulting in an event that drew about 130 people.
Carolyn Becker, who is a member of both Lifelong Learners and ECHO, made the connection and served on the planning committee, Tweto said.
While Tweto, who became a Master Gardener in 2021 during the pandemic, said gardeners always like to share the bounty of their work, preparing for larger tours was still a lot of work.
“It was months of preparation. You’ve got to mulch your garden and make sure the weeds are kept in tow, and fertilize your plants and organize where you’re going to plant them, and try to make sure that they’re at their best for the garden tour,” she said. In addition, she had a few people join her to make 83 signs to identify certain plants.
Lifelong Learner volunteers were on hand to collect donations and, in the case of Tweto’s nearly two acres of gardens, hand out maps. It included much more preparation than tours she might give to her son, visiting from Houston, or the neighbor who came over to provide a tour for his wife.
One of the subjects stressed during the tours — remember, most people involved are there to educate — was information about the importance of pollinators, Tweto said. That comes into play when determining plants to grow and when they need to be planted.
“With a lot of the native plants, that helps with pollinators,” she said. “But the more things you have blossoming, the more insects or butterflies that would be attracted to a yard or place. And then you get more pollinators, therefore you get more apples and more blackberries and more watermelons.
“So,” she added, “everything needs a pollinator, and more natives help with that.” Which describes the organizations involved in this event perfectly.