Meet Joanne Vigenski

Joanne is a Norfolk native and except for a few years in San Francisco and Denver, she has spent
most of her life in Norfolk close to family. Her brief time in Denver was significant because her
first child was born there and she started her career in healthcare as a Nursing Assistant.

Joanne is a graduate of Norfolk General School of Practical Nursing and Tidewater Community
College for Associates Applied Science in Nursing. She retired in 2020 from Sentara Norfolk
General Hospital after 42 years in the Burn and Trauma Step-Down and ICU, and as an
Integrated Care Manager in the Heart Hospital.

Joanne’s husband worked as a Landscaping Supervisor for the City of Norfolk and later owned
his own landscaping and tree service. When he passed in 2020 she wanted to learn how to take
care of her property. Her father-in-law is a Virginia Beach Master Gardener so she is familiar
with the MG programs. Joanne also thinks it’s important to grow your own food, if you are able
and have the space, for health and economic reasons.

Joanne joined the Norfolk Master Gardener Class of 2023. She was impressed with the classes.
She believes the staff was dedicated to presenting current and pertinent information through a
variety of modalities including learned speakers and hands-on opportunities. Food and fun being
integrated throughout the program was a surprising bonus and was not expected.

To attain her fifty hours, Joanne worked in several vegetable gardens: the Giving Garden, Fred
Heutte Square Foot Garden and the Potager Garden at Norfolk Botanical Garden. Time spent in
these gardens with experienced MGs has provided her with invaluable information. She also
participated in Microgreens presentations and one event at the Sentara Brock Cancer Center.
She thought the spring plant sale was fun and is looking forward to the fall sale. She is hoping to
be able to donate some plants.

Now that she has been certified she plans to take a little hiatus to get her garden in better shape.
She has been getting some nice zucchini, tomatoes and red potatoes. She is happy to be able to
grow “stuff.” She plans to check out the East Ocean View Children’s Garden and Weyanoke.
She enjoys the monthly talks at the Pretlow Library.

When Joanne is not participating in MG projects, she is active in her church. She is on the
cleaning and host team and is in a group that cooks for a homeless shelter once a month. They
are discussing the possibility of starting a kitchen garden at her church. She spends a lot of time
with her Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Rufus. They walk a mile twice a day. She crochets
baby hats for a hospital nursery and goes to the Ocean View Senior Center for exercise and line
dancing.

Her family has a UK vacation planned and will be visiting gardens in London, Wales, Scotland
and Ireland.

She was married to her husband for 48 years and her family consists of two daughters, one son
and one granddaughter, Stella. Her granddaughter recently deployed to Iraq with the Army
National Guard for a year and returned to continue her education at ODU and work as a
Paramedic and Volunteer Firefighter. She is pursuing a career in medicine with her dream job of
being a trauma surgeon. Joanne has two siblings, their families, some cousins and her 90+ year
old parents, all close by. She is thankful to have new friends with the MGs and is looking
forward to gardening therapy.


When you see Joanne, please introduce yourself and welcome her to the Norfolk Extension
Master Gardeners.