Any current Master Gardeners on this forum?

[gtaus]

I went into town today to attend an annual gardening "show" at our local Ace Hardware store. I talked to a master gardener, and she asked me if I had considered taking the University of Minnesota Master Gardners course. I had, years ago, but not since COVID hit. Anyway, she said they really need more people involved the Master Gardeners group. I am just wondering if anyone here is a Master Gardener and if they thought it was worth the time/effort/money to get the certification. Thanks for any feedback.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I am not a master gardener, but my mother was. It was mostly her tending to community gardens and volunteering her time. There was classes she attended, but I'm not sure if she learned as much as a person should. She wanted me to go, but I prefer to learn on my own. I believe here they required a certain amount of time volunteering to weed and plant, and to help with garden walks, and plant sales. Perhaps it's different where you are at. I'm not a club joining type of person, so I stayed away.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My mother did meet lots of nice people, and enjoyed it when she was younger. For the right type it's a great program.

 

[gtaus]

I am not a master gardener, but my mother was. It was mostly her tending to community gardens and volunteering her time. There was classes she attended, but I'm not sure if she learned as much as a person should.

I was told that after you get your Master Gardener certification, you have to volunteer at least 50 hours per year helping others. But, there are many ways to get credit for those 50 hours including attending classes and shows, answering gardening hot line questions, etc...

The Master Gardener I talked to today said that mostly the classes on gardening were teaching where to find good resources to answer questions. They don't expect you to know everything, but hope to give you the background so you can look up answers.

OK, so a little bit more on the background of my conversation with the Master Gardener today. I asked her 4 questions on things I am dealing with and she was unable to answer any of them. I think maybe my questions were too specific for her knowledge base, but she was able to take out her smart phone and give me what I thought were reasonable answers a few minutes later.

But, when I asked her about hügelkultur beds, she had never heard of it! I explained the concept to her and why I wanted to pick her brain, because last year we had a terrible drought and all our normal in ground planting and normal raised beds just dried up and died. The only produce I got was from my hügelkultur raised beds and she had never heard of it.

At that point, I think she realized that maybe I knew more about gardening than she did, and that is when she asked me to consider becoming a Master Gardener because they need more people to help them out. I told her that the more I learn about gardening, the more I realize I don't know near enough. She actually liked that answer and said that is exactly what they want from their members.

I'm not a club joining type of person, so I stayed away.

Yeah, I don't live in town and really don't belong to any clubs either. I never thought of being a Master Gardner was like joining a club, but maybe it is.

My mother did meet lots of nice people, and enjoyed it when she was younger. For the right type it's a great program.

Thanks for your feedback. Don't know if this is a direction to go for me, or not. Hope to hear some other thoughts from other people before I make any decisions.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That's kinda what surprised me about the program, that you didn't really need to know a lot to be called a master gardener. Enough people seem to enjoy the program, so definitely don't go by my experiences. I've enjoyed the yearly garden walks, and was even one of the gardens one year.

 

[addctd2plnts]

I'm not a Master Gardener but looked into it at one point. I don't think it would be much beyond what I already know, because I'm constantly reading and trying new things and have gardened everything from tropicals, to fruit trees, to veggies, to perenials and annuals, for 27 years now. The number of volunteer hours was a lot if you also maintain large gardens on your own property, considering Missouri has very little time where the weather makes gardening enjoyable. Usually we only get a few days in April and then May to get all our Spring gardening done. Once June 1st comes around, the temps go to 90 degrees plus. As I've gotten older, the heat has become really hard on me, so I only garden in the very early morning hours and need to be done by 10 am. I didn't think it would be easy to find volunteer opportunities around my heat issues, so I continued gardening my own properties.

 

[gtaus]

I'm not a Master Gardener but looked into it at one point. I don't think it would be much beyond what I already know

I'm sure I could learn a lot, but it sounds like what you learn is where to find answers.

I didn't think it would be easy to find volunteer opportunities around my heat issues, so I continued gardening my own properties.

I was told there are many ways to rack up your volunteer time, such as answering questions that get called into the gardening hotline, which you could do anytime from the comfort of your home. But, like I said, I live out in the country and really don't belong to any clubs. I don't know where/how I could get my 50 hours per year of volunteer work. I'll have to look more into that aspect.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Sounds like it's like a lot of certifications. You take a few classes, maybe take a multiple choice test, and when your check cleans, you get a certificate saying you're certified.

I took a 6 hour class a few weeks ago, and now I'm certified to teach "Leave No Trace" camping/hiking. Do I know much more about "Leave No Trace" than I did BEFORE the class? Not really? Am I an expert in "Leave No Trace"? Certainly not.

Same with an Agile certification in the business world. You can be a "certified scrum master" without ever actually having attended an agile meeting.

Best I can tell, certifications are really good at making people feel good about themselves and making certifying bodies money.

 

[gtaus]

and when your check cleans, you get a certificate saying you're certified.

Best I can tell, certifications are really good at making people feel good about themselves and making certifying bodies money.

I don't need any more certifications to feed my ego. If that is all the Master Gardener program is, then I don't need it. I am still hoping someone who is, or maybe was, a Master Gardener can offer me a bit of their experience.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I don't need any more certifications to feed my ego. If that is all the Master Gardener program is, then I don't need it. I am still hoping someone who is, or maybe was, a Master Gardener can offer me a bit of their experience.

Yes, not ALL certifications are like I described, so worth hearing from folks who have done this one.

Even if getting it just gives you the opportunity to get out into the community and talk to and help other gardeners, it may be worth getting for just that reason!