Master Gardener pull up by Garden Organic
TheGardenLady has often suggested that when you, the readers, need your soil tested or if you have horticultural, gardening or insect problems you should call of go to your local Master Gardener Organization or to your Extension Office. I am sure that many readers know about this excellent program, but in case there are some readers who wonder what TheGardenLady is writing about, TheGardenLady thought that it might be interesting to have a column devoted to the Master Gardener Program.
First let me tell you something about why the program started. In the 1970s there had been such a rapid urban growth in the US, with so many new homeowners interested in home gardens and plants that County Extension Agents who helped farmers were overwhelmed with questions. The County Extension Agents couldn’t really help all these new amateur gardeners and professional nurseries and farmers, too. So someone in Seattle, Washington came up with the idea of training volunteers in horticulture. In exchange for the training those trained must commit to a certain number of volunteer hours to help the County Extension office solve home owners’ horticulture, plant and gardening problems thus freeing the extension agents to work with those professionals in the plant business, farmers or nurseries as well as having the time to do more research.
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