Posted: February 22, 2023
Time flies when you're having fun, and that has certainly been the case for the current group of Penn State Extension Master Gardeners in Clinton County, who will celebrate their 15th anniversary of uninterrupted service to the community this year.
The present group, which got its start in 2008, now has 23 certified Master Gardeners and one Master Gardener apprentice. That's a big change from fifteen years ago, when Horticulture Educator Tom Butzler and I worked together to get the current program up and running. Back then, there weren't enough active Master Gardener volunteers to keep the program operating and its future was anything but certain. I was new to Extension at the time and Tom told me that several good attempts to establish a Master Gardener program had been made in the 1990s and early 2000s but by 2008, the number of volunteers had dropped, and the program was no longer viable.
Tom and I knew there was a need for Master Gardener programs and services in Clinton County, so we combined our expertise, his in horticulture and mine in volunteer development, and got to work recruiting and training new volunteers and planning activities. It was slow going at first, but it worked. One of our first recruits was Salona resident Carole Livingston, who is now the longest serving Master Gardener in Clinton County. She had applied to the program several times previously, but each year was told that they didn't have enough applicants to form a training class in Clinton County. At Tom's suggestion, she traveled to Center County to participate in Master Gardener Basic training, which she completed in 2007. We invited her to join the program in Clinton County in 2008, and she has been active ever since.
Carole was instrumental in establishing our demonstration gardens at the fairgrounds. She volunteers at plant sales, teaches classes, helps with our holiday greens sale, and much more. She told me being a Master Gardener has been an amazing journey and she has enjoyed her time as a member of the current group. Carole likes volunteering and says the work done by Master Gardeners isn't a burden, it's an opportunity to learn and have a lot of fun. She's been putting her knowledge to work helping to develop a new generation of gardeners by teaching her great grandchildren about growing vegetables. She said they had a great time raising pumpkins this summer and she taught them how to plant bulbs they got from the Master Gardener plant sale in the fall. Her grandkids are already asking about planting broccoli, carrots, and lettuce in the spring.
We have increased the size of the program by holding Master Gardener basic training annually in Clinton County and have added new Master Gardeners each year. It requires a commitment of time and effort on the part of trainees. Basic Training takes approximately six months to complete and is designed to provide experienced home gardeners with the information and skills necessary to serve as volunteers in their communities. Classes are taught by Penn State Horticulture Educators, Program Assistants, and Master Gardeners. Topics include botany, plant propagation, insects and diseases, plant identification, vegetables, native plants, pruning, diagnostics, and more. After completing basic training and passing their exams, volunteers move into the apprenticeship phase of the program during which they work alongside certified Master Gardeners to apply their knowledge and "learn the ropes."
During the apprenticeship, trainees take part in a variety of Master Gardener activities. They maintain demonstration gardens at the Clinton County fairgrounds which include a pollinator garden filled with attractive native plants, as well as an entry garden filled with both natives and ornamentals. Master Gardeners hold plant sales that make hard-to-find native trees, shrubs, and perennials available locally. Workshops are provided in conjunction with the plant sales and Master Gardeners are on hand to answer home-gardener questions. They also operate a garden hotline from March through September which provides answers to gardening questions from the public via phone and e-mail. Apprentices learn how to access the research-based information that is used to respond to gardening questions from the public and work under the supervision of experienced volunteers until they have demonstrated that they have the skills necessary to answer questions accurately. Master Gardeners hold gardening classes, an annual symposium in January called Garden Sense, write newspaper articles, help those interested in creating pollinator and wildlife gardens, make presentations to community groups, and more.
To be considered for certification as Master Gardeners, apprentices are required to provide 50 hours of volunteer service and meet all apprenticeship requirements. To maintain certification, Master Gardeners must complete at least 10 hours of continuing education each year.
As we began to add new Master Gardeners, Tom and I, who were both working full-time as Extension Educators, realized we needed a coordinator for the Master Gardener program. Unfortunately, there was no money in the budget to hire staff. To keep the program going, we asked one of the Master Gardeners to serve as a volunteer (unpaid) coordinator, and much to our relief, he agreed. Master Gardener Quentin Stocum served as the volunteer Master Gardener Coordinator in Clinton County until his retirement in 2014. With Quentin's departure, we were once again without a coordinator and there was still no money in the budget to hire staff. There was a concern that the program would not be able to continue without a coordinator and I was asked to take on the responsibility since I had recently retired from my full-time position with Extension. I agreed to serve as the unpaid, volunteer coordinator, and I have to say it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time coordinating the program. Getting to know and work with my fellow Master Gardeners has been a pleasure. We share a love of gardening and a respect for the environment and are passionate about sharing our knowledge to help make a difference in our communities. We've learned to pull together as a team and overcome whatever challenges arise. Simply put, we enjoy working together and have a lot of fun doing it.
We're looking forward to celebrating our group's fifteenth anniversary, reviewing our accomplishments, and making new plans. And of course, we're also looking forward to many more years of service to our community. Becoming a Master Gardener is an opportunity to serve by sharing research-based gardening knowledge and to get to know others who have similar gardening interests. If you think you might like to join us, please give us a call at 570-858-0198.
Debra C. Burrows, PhD is a retired Penn State Extension Educator and a certified Master Gardener. She is the author of this article.
