11 classes down, one to go. My last class at Hidden Lake Gardens is tomorrow. But I won’t be a Master Gardener yet. First, I have to complete and pass my final. Then I need to complete 40 hours of volunteer work. (Digging in my yard, or yours, doesn’t count.) But I think I am having a fun.
When I was at the orientation I was a little concerned about my ability to sit through a 4 hour class. It’s been quite a while since I’ve tried to learn anything. Even back in college, the only 4 hour class I had was “studio” where I was on my own and could wander down to get coffee. But now, after 11 classes, I am amazed how fast it went and that I almost never fidgeted in class.
The Master Gardener Volunteer training program covers a lot of ground. This is the curriculum, in order of appearance:
The class comes with an 800-page manual and supplement. But not everything in the manual is covered in class. The MSU program offers some leeway to the individual counties on setting up their own class schedule.
Our county has a gem of a coordinator, Karen Gentry, left, who is on staff at Hidden Lake. Karen decided to let us read the information on
When I was at the orientation I was a little concerned about my ability to sit through a 4 hour class. It’s been quite a while since I’ve tried to learn anything. Even back in college, the only 4 hour class I had was “studio” where I was on my own and could wander down to get coffee. But now, after 11 classes, I am amazed how fast it went and that I almost never fidgeted in class.
The Master Gardener Volunteer training program covers a lot of ground. This is the curriculum, in order of appearance:
- Plant Science
- Soils for Plant Growth and Backyard Composting
- Diagnostics and Plant Identification
- Tree Fruit Culture
- Small Fruit Culture
- Vegetable Culture
- Water Quality and Master Gardener Volunteering
- Woody Ornamentals
- Lawn Care
- Plant Health Care
- Indoor Plants
- Flower Gardening
The class comes with an 800-page manual and supplement. But not everything in the manual is covered in class. The MSU program offers some leeway to the individual counties on setting up their own class schedule.
Our county has a gem of a coordinator, Karen Gentry, left, who is on staff at Hidden Lake. Karen decided to let us read the information on - Household Pests
- Managing Wildlife and
- Poisonous Plants.
Thank you Karen.
But if any of you have questions, I have the manual.
I had many AH-HA moments while I was in class. I discovered that I’ve made a lot of missteps in my 40 years of digging and planting, some very recently.
I’ll be re-reading the manual when I complete my final exam, thank the gods and Karen, again, that it is a take-home. While I am studying for the final, I will probably write a little about the lot that I’ve learned. And as I’ve said before, I now know just how much I don’t know.
Old dog, new tricks? Life is all about learning.
--David
I had many AH-HA moments while I was in class. I discovered that I’ve made a lot of missteps in my 40 years of digging and planting, some very recently.
I’ll be re-reading the manual when I complete my final exam, thank the gods and Karen, again, that it is a take-home. While I am studying for the final, I will probably write a little about the lot that I’ve learned. And as I’ve said before, I now know just how much I don’t know.
Old dog, new tricks? Life is all about learning.
--David
2 comments:
That's absolutely true. I'm a little jealous actually. There's not much green to garden out here. I'm thinking about doing some amateur landscaping around the patio area at Matt's though. It's a super space that needs some love. Any tips, oh almost-master-gardener?
I'd be happy happy happy to share ideas. What are you dealing with?
If you want xeriscaping, you need to go with native plants. If you want flowers, how about containers, a drip watering system on a timer and lots of love.
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