In 2003, Shasta College in Redding became a host college for the California Extension Master Gardener Program. Leimone Waite, who has been a Horticulture Instructor at the college since 1998, is the administrator of the very successful Master Gardener Program there. At Shasta College, a member of the California Community College System of schools, the program is a collaborative venture between the college and the University of California system’s Agricultural Extension offices, which officially oversees and is responsible for the Master Gardener program throughout the state of California. Butte County began hosting a Master Gardener program in 2008 and will run the training every other year.
The Master Gardener program was originally conceived and started in Washington State in 1972 by David Gibby, Ph.D, a horticultural Extension agent for the University of Washington.
But wait. To truly understand the Master Gardener program, you need to understand a little bit about the history of the agricultural or horticultural Extension Agent system, and to understand that, you need to understand a little bit about American history.
If that sounds almost Epic – it is. The rigorously trained, enthusiastic volunteer corps we now know as Master Gardeners are at the end of one thread of the history of Westward Expansion, the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutions, and the subsequent suburbanization and even more recent Technological Revolution of the United States. In my humble opinion, the Master Gardener program is one shining example of a good and effective marriage between government resources, educational institutions and those of us at home on the farm – or in the garden as it were.
According to what is now known as the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service:
“The roots of U.S. agricultural extension go back to the early years of our country. There were agricultural societies and clubs after the American Revolution…In 1819 John Stuart Skinner of Baltimore began publishing the American Farmer. Farmers were encouraged to report on their achievements and their methods of solving problems.”
“The Morrill Act of 1862 established land-grant universities to educate citizens in agriculture, home economics, mechanical arts, and other practical professions. Extension was formalized in 1914, with the Smith-Lever Act. It established the partnership between the agricultural colleges and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide for cooperative agricultural extension work, in order to Develop practical applications of research knowledge, and give instruction and practical demonstrations of existing or improved practices or technologies in agriculture.” Photo above: Management of Orchards, Fruits and Berries are one of the subjects covered in the Master Gardener training.
“Congress created CSREES through the 1994 Department Reorganization Act, by combining the USDA’s Cooperative State Research Service (CSRS) and Extension Service (ES) into a single agency….All universities engage in research and teaching, but the nation’s more than 100 land-grant colleges and universities, have a third critical mission—extension. “Extension” means “reaching out,” and—along with teaching and research—land-grant institutions “extend” their resources…and bring land-grant expertise to the most local of levels.”
When Extension Agent Gibby came up with the idea of the Master Gardener Program, it was a case of “necessity is the mother of invention.” He was overwhelmed with the scope of his job and needed an extra hand – or 50.
An extension agent’s task in the early 1900s was primarily to use their scientific training, knowledge and on-going research to help farmers to produce more food at less expense for a growing nation. As time and situations developed, the task of agents also included helping to avoid or diminish damage to crops due to soil failures, large scale pest outbreaks or diseases. For example, according to the North Carolina University Cooperative Extension website, “on Nov. 12, 1906: the first county agent in the United States, W.C. Stallings, was appointed to serve Smith County, Texas. Boll Weevil damage was so severe in Texas and Louisiana that businessmen volunteered to help pay a large share of expenses in employing agents.” Later still, agents were a crucial link to the Victory Garden movement during the World Wars.
As times and farming have changed, the extension agencies have been widely called upon to address more and more general home-gardening and private land-use questions – from “what’s eating my tomatos?” to “can you do a walk around on my 35 acre county property to help me identify Pine-Bark beetle or invasive weed problems?”
Agents had a difficult time extending themselves (pardon the pun) farther and farther. Gibby reasoned that good and interested home gardeners could easily be trained to help specifically with the home-gardening side of an extension agent’s work. They could, they were, they did and the Master Gardener program continues to thrive and grow today. Photo above: This Praying Mantis is an example of a beneficial insect in a garden. The role of beneficial insects is part of the Integrated Pest Management portion of the Master Gardener Program.
Where once one land-grant university per state handled all of the state’s extension services, today literally thousands of Extension offices exist around the country. Extension Master Gardener programs exist in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and the program has been copied in other countries around the world.
Examples of projects or activities in which Extension Master Gardeners participate, (including the excellent and searchable web eXtension) are:
Conducting garden consumer hotlines; Setting up gardening exhibits; Writing news articles; Educating in community gardens; Conducting yard and neighborhood environmental programs; Controlling invasive plants; Establishing public demonstration gardens; Providing sensory gardens and other gardens and gardening techniques for the handicapped; Helping with community plantings; Composting, lawn waste management, and yard waste recycling. Photo above: Soils and Fertility is a portion of the Master Gardener training.
From her experience with administering the Master Gardener program at Shasta College, Leimone Waite says one of the main focuses is to help disseminate “scientifically based answers” to the many gardening questions that arise for home flower, vegetable, orchard or vine gardener. The sessions at Shasta are almost always full, training around 40 students. Each student receives 54 hours of “comprehensive training on a wide variety of topics. They attend classes from 6-9 pm each Tuesday as well spending 3 – 4 Saturdays in full-day practical workshops.” Photo above: Turf Management is a subject of the Master Gardener training.
The class topics range from: Basic Botany, Insects – the good and the bad; Soils & Fertility; Plant Diseases, Vegetable Gardening, Fungi, Irrigation, Lawns, Fruits & Berries and Fire-Safe Landscaping, among others. Sources include the well-respected Botany for Gardeners, by Brain Capon,
“The real benefits of the program,” says Leimone, “are that gardeners develop a better understanding of the science behind gardening and so develop a more balanced approach to gardening – from feeding to pest-control. They also connect with like-minded people and often form life-long networks of friends and colleagues!” Photo above: Irrigation, watering and how plants take up water is a portion of the Master Gardener training.
Once certified, as a Master Gardener, you are expected to give a certain number of volunteer hours back to the program in the form of such activities as manning informational tables at local farmer’s markets, answering the Master Gardener Hotline, giving composting or other garden-related workshops to schools or other organizations. “But most people are happy to do this,” says Leimone. “They are excited to share their love and knowledge of gardening.” An International Master Gardeners Conference – “New Frontiers” in horticulture and gardening – is being held in Las Vegas— March 22-26, 2009. For more information on that go to: www.unce.unr.edu/imgc/
Interested in a Master Gardener Program near you? Visit the appropriate website below for more info. Registration for the fall sessions generally happens in mid-August. Have a question for the Master Gardener Hotline? Call: 530-242-2219. Photos above: Vegetable gardening and Insect Identification are covered in the Master Gardener training.
General County Extension and Master Gardener Websites of interest:
www.csrees.usda.gov/index.html
www.extension.org/pages/Extension_Master_Gardener
www.extension.org/pages/State_and_Provincial_Master_Gardener_Coordinators
www.ces.ncsu.edu/chatham/archived/HeritageDay/HDHistory.html
California Master Gardener Websites:
camastergardeners.ucdavis.edu/
Shasta College Master Gardener Program:
www3.shastacollege.edu/scmg/default.htm, serving Shasta, Tehama and Trinity counties.
Butte County Master Gardener Program:
cebutte.ucdavis.edu/Master_Gardener719/
n a North State Garden is an educational outreach program of the Northern California Natural History Museum and a co-production of Northstate Public Radio.
In a North State Garden is a radio- and web-based outreach program of the Northern California Natural History Museum, in Chico, Calif. The mission of In a North State Garden is to celebrate the art, craft and science of home gardening in California’s North State region. The program is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell. To read more from In A North State Garden or to listen to the podcasts aired on KCHO/KFPR radio, click on jewellgarden.com.
