Master Gardeners

Who are Master Gardener Volunteers?

 

The Master Gardener Program is a cooperative effort between community volunteers and Cape Cod Cooperative Extension staff to provide unbiased horticultural information to the residents of Barnstable County.  Working with Master Gardener volunteers, Extension can expand its ability to provide quality information to the residents of Barnstable County through an array of horticultural programs.

 

Master Gardeners are adults of all ages who love gardening and who have previous gardening experience.  They come from all walks of life and are willing to learn about horticulture and share that research-based information with others.

 

Master Gardeners:

• enhance the economy and environment through horticultural education
• use applied research and the research resources of the University of Massachusetts
• connect people with their environment by helping them find sound management practices for home and urban natural resources
• create and maintain an aesthetically pleasing environment

• promote well-being through people/plant interactions and horticulture therapy

• contribute to a safe, abundant food supply through home fruit and vegetable production

Objectives of the Master Gardener Program

 

To expand the capacity of The Cape Cod Cooperative Extension to distribute unbiased horticultural information to individuals and groups in local communities.

 

To develop and enhance community programs related to horticulture. These programs are educational in nature and may involve environmental improvements, horticultural therapy projects, community and school gardening projects, or other programs determined by local need.

 

To develop leadership potential of Master Gardener volunteers through a volunteer administrative network designed to assist Extension staff in managing local Master Gardener activities and programs.

  

How to Become a Master Gardener

 

The application for the program is posted on Extension’s web site at the end of September and is due before Thanksgiving.  In January, possible candidates will be selected to come in for an interview.  From this pool, 12 people will be chosen to take the training which begins in February and lasts for 10 weeks.  The training is free, but volunteers are required to give back 60 hours of volunteer time the first year (largely spent on the plant clinic and hotline) and 25 hours each year after that (on programs of the Master Gardener’s choosing).

 

Master Gardener Programs Include: 

 

Plant Clinic & Hotline

Backyard Horticulture

Children’s Gardens

Demonstration Garden

Horticultural Conference

Master Gardener Scholarship

Annual Plant Sale

Soil Test Clinics

Speaker’s Bureau

Video/Television Program

 

Click here to download the 2011 Master Gardener application.