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GROW Class - A Mini-Master Gardening Class for the Working Population
| Name | Amanda McNulty | | Situation | Clemson Extension’s Master Gardener (MG) Course is extremely popular, but requires time commitment in the classroom and volunteer participation not possible for 40 hr/week working people. Many residents expressed a desire to learn more about gardening and requested an alternative program that would provide the basics of horticulture in a time slot that would fit into a traditional working schedule. From the standpoint of local government needs, new EPA regulations require that citizen education in water quality, which is directly impacted by homeowner use of agricultural chemicals, be made a part of Sumter County’s plan of action. | | Response | GROW (Gardening and Recycling Organics Wisely) is an environmentally-friendly education project developed by Clemson Extension and SC DHEC. The Sumter County horticulture agent served on the advisory committee and has taught several one-day sessions across the state. She designed an expanded version to run for six consecutive weeks in one-hour evening sessions. The county recreation department provided space and refreshments. Copies of a participant booklet were obtained at no charge. The program was advertised in the agent’s newspaper column, at the MG booth at the County Fair, and by letter to an office-generated list of those interested in horticulture programs. A $40 registration fee was charged.
| | Impact | Twenty-nine participants enrolled, 3 were African-American scholarship recipients from the Community Garden project. Classes were conducted and participants learned about soils, composting, fertilization, pest control (stressing Integrated Pest Management), proper plant selection, lawn care, and irrigation. 24 participants submitted their first ever soil samples and results were discussed in class. Each participant was given a composter by the County Department of Public Works and 25 began using them. At the conclusion of the program, volunteers from the class went to Cypress Park and planted native specimens of azaleas, hickories, viburnum, and Pinkneya. The agent discussed the GROW program at a garden club meeting in a neighboring county, which led to its being presented by the local agriculture agent there.
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Last update10/5/2007
This website is maintained by Tiffany Rodgers.
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