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Vol. 101 No. 47 Sunday, April 18, 2010

p.10

Okeechobee County has five new Master Gardeners

By Pete Gawda, Okeechobee News

Dan Culbert, Horticulture Agent with the Okeechobee County Cooperative Extension Service, standing left, with the newly graduated Okeechobee County Master Gardener Class of 2010. They are, left to right, seated, Nancy Vaughan, Iona Clemons, Mickey DeFede; back row, Marie Koepke and Melissa Morse. Photo: Fran Everly, Okeechobee Master Gardener, UF/IFAS Extension Service.

There are now five more people in the county with an extensive knowledge of plants.

The Okeechobee County Master Gardener Class of 2010, which graduated on April 14, was the largest class ever for the county with five graduates: Iona Clemons, Delores DeFede, Maria Koepke, Melissa Morse and Nancy Vaughn.

Horticulturist Dan Culbert of the Okeechobee County Cooperative Extension Service, which sponsored the class, said that 10 people enrolled in the class, but for various reasons five of them dropped out. There are normally three or four people in the annual class.

It is no wonder that the rigorous curriculum caused a large dropout rate. The course met one day a week for 12 weeks with homework and a final exam. It included an introduction to the Extension service, care of fruit trees, landscaping, ecosystems of Florida, soil types, fertilizers, pesticides, plant nutrition, insect pests, invasive species, and vegetable gardening. Mr. Culbert said it was the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree in horticulture.

That’s not all. Within one year of graduation the Master Gardeners have to put in 75 hours of community service. Mr. Culbert is hoping that some of the graduates will earn community service time by answering the telephone in his office, freeing him for other tasks.

“What didn’t we learn?” was the reply of Ms. Vaughn when asked what she learned in the course. She has a five-inch thick notebook from the course.

“It’s something I always wanted to do,” she said.

Ms. Vaughn plans to use her gardening skills for her church and her community. As Director of Christian Education at First United Methodist Church, she is using her gardening skills on a children’s garden which is irrigated by rain barrels.

“There are a lot of Bible lessons in a garden,” she said.

As for helping the community, she plans to maintain the butterfly garden in Flagler Park and is interested in working with the 4-H Club.

Ms. Morse plans to use what she learned in the Master Gardener course in the operation of her lawn service. Every night after work she had to spend time on her homework. Miss Morse said the great thing about the course is that a student learned how to research answers to questions. As for community service she is thinking of working in the extension office and maybe working with the 4-H Club.

Ms. Morse said the part of the course that stood out most in her mind was learning about citrus and palm trees.

She said many people take these trees for granted, not realizing how much is involved in their cultivation.

One of the graduates, Ms. Clemons, was busy the day after graduation working on the butterfly garden in Flagler Park.

Post your opinions in the Public Issues Forum at www.newszap.com. Reporter Pete Gawda can be reached at pgawda@newszap.com.

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