I’m going to talk a little bit about Master Gardeners. Master Gardeners is a program which provides garden education on how to garden to the general public at no cost. The program is run by state universities in cooperation with the department of agriculture and other agencies.
It is a volunteer program, with Master Gardeners providing classes, plant clinics, school programs and phone lines to the public. You can call in to a Master Gardeners hotline with question about how to grow a particular kind of plant, what is wrong with your plant, how to get rid of a particular insect, and lots more. You can also take a plant sample to a Master Gardener clinic and ask “What is it?”. There are a wide variety of ways at Master Gardeners help the public.
So how did you become a Master Gardener? There are usually classes in each state in one or more locations to train Master Gardeners, usually once a year. Each one will have slightly different criteria, and they are usually about 10 to 12 weeks long. They provide about the same level of material as a beginning level college course. After the course is over, you usually have to repay a certain number of hours during that year to become certified as a Master Gardener. Then in any following years, you usually have to take a certain number of education hours to maintain that certification. And you can continue to provide volunteer hours as long as you want to continue in the program.
So whether you want to become a Master Gardener yourself, or whether you want some information about how to garden, how to take care of your plants, or gardening tips; Master Gardeners is a pretty good resource for anyone with a home garden.
Home Garden Diggers 