Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension is gearing up to offer the Master Gardener Training course again in early 2024. Applications are being accepted until December 1.
The Master Gardener program is a nation-wide volunteer service program, started in 1973 in Washington state. Each state has a land-grant university that offers extension offices in each of their counties. Master Gardener Volunteers support the mission of Cornell Cooperative Extension by “extending” the research-based information and guidelines put forth by Cornell University to their county residents. The Master Gardener Training Course is offered every other year and is the first step for those who are interested in becoming a Master Gardener Volunteer with Cornell Cooperative Extension.
The course in 2024 will once again be a hybrid course with a large part of the lessons taking place online. The online part of the course is broken down into “modules” – different sections with “Read,” “Watch,” and “Do” portions to guide students through various horticultural subject matter. The online course is self-paced, meaning students are given a time frame within which to complete each module and they can choose when to complete the coursework based on their personal schedule.
“I learned so much from taking MG training about ways to garden that support the environment,” said Deb Roberts, a 2022 MG Training graduate, “It gave me a good basis of science-based knowledge that I can build on and gives me hope.”
In addition to the online portion, students will meet once a week with CCE Horticulture Educator Katie Oakes, who is the coordinator of the Master Gardener programs as well as the facilitator and main instructor for the Master Gardener Training Course.
“The feedback I heard most often following that first run of the hybrid training course is that the students wished they had been able to meet more frequently in person,” Oakes explained the change this year. “Everyone agreed that it was so valuable to have the in-person meetings to really drive home key points in each module, and to have that hands-on learning that so many students appreciate.”
This coming year, the course will start February 1 and will run through May 2, with in-person classes occurring every Thursday evening at the extension office’s ‘Buzz Hill’ Education Center from 6 to 8 p.m.
“The Master Gardener program was an excellent experience; it changed the way I garden and look at my environment. The research based educational materials were thorough, interesting, and challenged me to think differently,” explained Sue Starkweather Miller, who completed the Master Gardener Training Course in 2022. “There was a lot of new information for me to learn, so I would have preferred to have had the weekly group sessions Katie is planning for this coming Training session. It will give the new students more time to reinforce what they learn in the online modules.”
Once students complete the training program, they serve 50 hours with the MG Program to become official Master Gardener Volunteers. Those service hours can include attending monthly Master Gardener meetings, helping out at various Master Gardener educational programs, tabling at public events like the Home and Garden Show and the Orleans County 4-H Fair, or finding answers to gardening questions that come in from county residents.
“The best part about the program is finding a group of people who care about the same things that I do, and who are excited to share what they know,” said Peggy Thomas, another graduate of the 2022 MG Training. “I learn something new every time we meet.”
Orleans County CCE will close the application process on December 1, 2023, after which participants for the course will be selected and notified of acceptance into the program. Preference will be given to Orleans County residents and those who are interested in becoming long-term volunteers with the Master Gardener Program. The cost of the course is $250. If you are interested in the course, but require financial assistance, contact Katie Oakes directly at 585-798-4265 ext. 125 or by email at klo54@cornell.edu. Applications can be found online at https://orleans.cce.cornell.edu/.
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