A MASTER GARDENER 

 TELLS ALE 



CARL DEAME 



For the next eighteen weeks, 



the group met e\ery Tuesday 



and plowed through soil science, 



insects, diseases, annuals, 



fruit trees, lavms 

 and a dozen other subjects. 



1 first heard about the Master Gardeners when the 

 program was featured in a National Geographic 

 article about three years ago. The attention get- 

 ter for me was the chance to do volunteer gardening 

 work in conjunction with some formal university 

 training. At the time, however, New Hampshire hap- 

 pened to be one of two states that had not yet 

 started the program. An inquiry revealed that plans 

 for starting this program were being considered, but 

 that not much headway had ever been made Finally, 

 in January, 1993, fifty selected candidates from 

 Merrimack, Strafford. Rockingham, and Hillsborough 

 counties gathered in a highway department building 

 in Concord. They became the first Master Gardening 

 class in New Hampshire. For the next eighteen 

 weeks, the group met every Tuesday and plowed 

 through soil science, insects, diseases, annuals, fruit 

 trees, lawns and a dozen other subjects. The courses 

 were taught by UNH Extension specialists who pre- 

 sented information in their own fields 



The first group of trainees was made up of folks 

 who had been gardening most of their lives Many 

 were earning a living or part-time income from a 

 specific crop (blueberries and perennials seemed to 

 predominate). In some cases, the student knowledge 

 may have equaled the instructor's when the courses 

 switched to their specialties. 



Upon graduation in May, the volunteer projects 

 started. A home for children in Rochester, The Farm 

 Museum in Milton, and the gardens at the Merrimack 

 County Nursing Home were just a few of the places 

 that received Master Gardener attention A newspa- 

 per was organized and published and many of the 

 graduates wrote newspaper articles and did TV spots 

 on various gardening subjects I ended up answering 

 phone calls from homeowners who had gardening 

 questions. If you want an interesting experience, try 

 answering all the questions that come into a county 

 Extension office in one week 



All things considered, the program has been a 

 success. The first group was joined by the second 

 graduating class in May of this year and Belknap and 

 Carroll counties have been added to the program. 

 There are now over one hundred graduate Master 

 Gardeners in the State of New Hampshire who are 

 offering their talents as volunteers They have joined 

 the large pool of individuals who give their time to 

 make our state a better place to live. Let's hope the 

 hundred become a thousand in a very short time 

 Carl Deame is Program Assistant, kgricullural Resources, 

 Strafford County Cooperative Extension, 259 County Farm 

 Road. Unit 5, Dover, NH 03820-6015. He can be reached 

 at (6031 749-4445. 



AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 1994 



