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Building a Strong Master Gardener Association Involved with the Community
| Name | James F. Hodges | | Situation | The appetite and need for gardening and landscaping information has been on a steady rise in the Lakelands for the past decade. Greenwood is a county in transition from primarily an agriculture county to a mix of agriculture, urban growth and the development of Lake Greenwood. Much of the population growth is new people moving into the area for jobs or retirement homes. As people move from place to place their need for information increases. Every part of this country has different climate, soils, plants, plant insects and diseases when it comes to any type of
horticulture activities.
The Master Gardener program can fill this need to provide educational programs in horticulture. Master Gardener programs provide excellent training in all areas of plant growth and horticulture with a 14 week course for the participants. Trained Master Gardeners then work with Extension agents and in the community to provide information to many other residents. They act as multipliers for the Extension service and volunteer in the community to improve parks, school landscape and learning
sites, farmers market demonstrations, Festival of Flowers activities, educational talks for all types of community groups and volunteering to answer questions at the Extension office.
Two adjoining counties, McCormick and Abbeville have no organized Master Gardener program, so they are included in the Greenwood County program and the organization is called the Lakelands Master Gardeners. | | Response | As the Clemson agent, I have coordinated the planning and implementation of volunteer activities and continuing educational programs for over 5 years with the Master Gardener Association . With yearly training programs, the Master Gardener Association membership has grown steadily. I have taken an aggressive educational volunterism approach by encouraging and offering greater latitude for projects to incoming
volunteers. I get the new class involved immediately in current projects and involve them in creating new projects.
The Master Gardener program is an on-going volunteer educational
program. It adds a tremendous leverage to horticultural education and public projects in the Lakelands community. It provides good basic plant and growing information to new area residents, new gardeners of all ages. One recent area of emphasis has been school projects to install learning environments. Youth education in horticulture is often lacking in normal school curriculum and teachers trained as Master Gardeners can and have involved local schools in several school projects. An organization such as the Master Gardener's can work within the schools, parks and community to help create new educational demonstrations and
gardens by working closely with other teachers, administrators, parents, and public officials to complete projects that are educational and enjoyable. | | Impact | The Lakelands Master Gardener Association membership roll has grown from 50 at the end of 2000 to more than 150 at the end of 2005. In 2000, slightly over 2000 hours of volunteer time was given by the group. Over 4000 hours of volunteer time were given in 2005. The emphasis of early participation and more latitude in projects has worked to quickly engage and maintain interest in serving the community in horticulture education and community beautification. Many members in the organization continue to contribute for many years; long after the 40 hours of volunteer
service requirement to complete the program has been fulfilled. The Master Gardener Association has 25 members with more than 250 hours of volunteer service, 13 of whom have completed 500 hours of service and 5 approaching 1000 hours of service.
The Master Gardener Association netted over $2000 in 2005 with several fund raisers that it used to provide materials and plants for various projects such as Habitat for Humanity and Hospice. Members purchased various gardening items through the Association and held a Master Gardener Garden Tour of member's gardens for the public.
During the first three months of 2006, a large cooperative project was begun to restore the historic gardens at Greenwood Railroad Museum site. Numerous workdays and educational seminars have been held this spring with the Greenwood Museum on this project. The number of requests for help with community, school and educational projects for Master Gardeners continues to grow. In fact, the demand for assistance is greater than the current membership is able to provide. Energy and enthusiasm is much
higher when projects and education programs are created by those who complete them rather than by an Association board or just an Extension agent. The Lakelands Master Gardener Association continues to grow and provide additional educational support to Extension and the community and develop and complete new community and school beautification and educational projects. As a result, the Lakeland's residents benefit with a more beautiful and pleasant community to live and work in. |
Last update8/14/2008
This website is maintained by Bryan Smith.
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