Your chance to become a Master Gardener is now!
In this week’s Home Grown we learn about how to become a better gardener while serving in the community.
One way to do this is by joining the Master Gardener Program. This is a program that educates adults on agriculture and how to grow a garden in our dry desert climate.
It’s one way for people in the community to grow together through a series of classes taught by local experts in agriculture and teachers from the University of Arizona.
“The Master Gardener Program has a lot for everyone,” said Janine Lane who is the program coordinator for the Master Gardener Program in Yuma County. “If you have any interest in plants at all there’s a niche for you,” she added. “It could be a vegetable garden, you could be working with native plants, it could be working in the moody garden, or maybe you have something in your head that you want to do for the community but you need some help starting it so we really encourage people to join this program plus it’s a nice place to meet people doing something that you both enjoy,” she said.
Other classes in the program include a soil class, botany class, tree class, a class on fruit and citrus and how to take care of native plants in our area.
Here is the class schedule:
Time: Mondays 8:30 am-12:00 pm
October 1 st – Introduction and Botany – Janine Lane Yuma County Cooperative Extension, Dr. Kurt Nolte, USDA
October 8th – Soils and composting – Dr. Kurt Nolte, USDA
October 15th – Irrigation – Steve Poe – The University of Arizona Tucson
October 22 nd – Weeds – Barry Tickes – La Paz/Yuma County Cooperative Extension
October 29 th – Arboriculture – Frank Saldana – Arbor Tech
November 5 th – Desert Gardening/Food Safety – Janine Lane- Yuma County Cooperative Extension, Dr. Paula Rivadeneira – Yuma Agriculture Center
November 12 th – *Native Plant Walk – Karen Reichhardt – Arizona Native Plant Society
November 19th – Plant Pathology – Mike Matheron – Yuma Agriculture Center
November 26th – Citrus Care and Culture – Glen Wright – Yuma Agriculture Center
December 3rd – Turf – Bill Forden – Superintendent Foothills Golf Project
December 10th – Cactus – Cal Kelley – Yuma and Cochise County Master Gardener
December 17th – Entomology – Karen Bowen Yuma County Master Gardener
December 24th – Off
January 7th – Diagnosing Plant Disorders – Janine Lane – Yuma County Cooperative Extension, Mary Thode Yuma County Master Gardener
January 14th – – Garden Tour
January 21st – Off
January 28th – Final and Potluck *These are class days off * These classes will be located at other locations Garden Tour, Master Gardener homes Native Plant Walk, West Wetlands Park
The deadline to sign up for this program is the first day of class, October 1. There are only 25 spots available in this program. It costs $175 if you want to become a certified Master Gardener, which requires 50 hours of community service. The program costs $200 if you just want to take the class for the experience.
For more information on signing up call (928) 726-3904 and ask for Janine Lane.
