Feature Article - for release the week of February 3, 2008

Dan Culbert - Extension Horticulture Agent

Master OF Gardens

It’s good to be back here in town.  If you have noticed, the last two weeks of this column have been produced by our wonderful Extension Program Assistant, Angela Sachson.  I’ve been out of town on a special assignment.  Actually I’ve been out of the country – Costa Rica to be more accurate.

Now before everyone gets too excited about me being gone on a “vacation”, let me assure you that this was not the case.  It was two weeks of work, preparing and teaching some new partners at EARTH University about the Wonderful World of Master Gardening.  The pace of preparations and presentations allowed me only a glimpse of those beautiful exotic vacation paradises that you see in the slick travel brochures. {Yeah, right, says our local staff...}

 

Over the next few months I will share what I did, what I saw, and more importantly, the lessons that I learned from visiting the “wild west” of Costa Rica. Guanacaste Province is hot (95 degrees F.) and very dry (no significant rain since November), but still supports a varied agricultural economy (sugar, rice, and lots of Brahman beef) and is facing growing pains with an exploding tourist economy (and you think we have water woes).

 

Front Row Seats are Now Available

If you would like a front seat to hear all about this fascinating visit to the land of the “Ticos”, you can sign up now for our upcoming Master Gardener course, which is really the focus of today’s column.  The deadline to apply for this training program is next Friday, February 8^th, and after interviews, this new crop of volunteers will begin to sprout on Wednesdays from February 20^th through April 30^th.

This year’s course promises something old and something new.  Many horticulture Agents find that they are teaching the same content, year after year, to packed houses in their county office.  (I could only hope to have that problem!)  This spring a number of the classes will be given by state-wide experts in their subject matter – the way all Master Gardener classes were taught many years ago.  What’s new is that these class segments will be broadcast over an internet-based Polycom conference, so your class-mates may be “next door” in Fort Pierce or even up the ‘pike in Pensacola!

I’m really hoping that we have a good crowd here in Okeechobee, as the University has asked me to make the presentation on Botany.  It will be “broadcast” all over the Sunshine State from right here in Okeechobee.  (I guess if I can teach Botany to 50 Costa Ricans with my limited Spanish-speaking skills, I can also teach it to hundreds of Floridians from Key West to the Panhandle just as easily!)

It’s not just sitting in front of the screen – it will also be a lot of hands on practice with the kinds of skills and knowledge that will help you become a better gardener.  I’ll be arranging a number of field trips to nurseries and landscapes that will show our prospective Green Thumbs how to solve gardening problems at the drop of a trowel.

The Dirty Little Details

No previous knowledge of gardening or horticulture is required – or even assumed – by class members.  We are looking for “People-people”, who have abilities in talking with other local residents about their challenges in their Florida Yards, and who have a passion for plants and what makes them tick. Its about knowing where to go, not memorizing a bunch of facts.

Master Gardeners are truly international in their outlook.  While working at the  EARTH campus in Liberia, Dan met up with a visiting group of Missouri Master Gardeners who were on a study tour.  Here they get a sample of the passion fruit grown on the campus in western Costa Rica.  Photo:  Dan Culbert, UF/IFAS

At the end of the course, our new flowering friends will be invited to join our Extension team, and are asked to provide 75 hours of help to the community though the UF/IFAS Extension Service.  It might be that a new Master Gardener would like to work with youth, like Bobbie Fuller, and help set up another 4-H Junior Master Gardener Club. 

We also need folks to answer the many different kinds of questions about plants, bugs, weeds, and everything else under the sun as residents and snowbirds make their way to the Extension office.  Many organizations are begging to get advice from Master Gardeners here in Okeechobee as the set out on landscaping projects.  And of course, Angela needs lots of help promoting Florida Friendly Landscaping with her committed core of Florida Yard Advisors.

The class fee includes a refundable deposit that is given back when this small number of hours is reached.  It also helps cover the cost of reference materials, refreshments, and a polo shirt that identifies the trainees as most knowledgeable volunteers this side of the Suwannee River.

 

Please get a Sprouting Kit!

A package of information including the application about the class - it is available at our office. Request one for yourself, and grab another for that other “great gardener” down the street that is just waiting to be asked by you.  (We really do need lots of referrals to make this years class a success – please call us!)  The whole shebang is also on the Web at http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu/Master Gardeners/Sprout.Kit.2008.doc.  If necessary, we can send it via snail mail to any mail box this side of Costa Rica.

 If you want to see more about our Costa Rica class, check out this website:  http://LaFlor.ifas.ufl.edu .  I’ve placed some photos and more information on our Okeechobee web page, http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu.  If you need additional information on Master Gardening, please email us at okeechobee@ifas.ufl.edu or call us at 863-763-6469.  Local residents can stop by our office at 458 Hwy 98 North in Okeechobee, and visit our Okeechobee County Master Gardeners from 1 to 3 PM on Tuesday afternoons.   GO GATORS!     

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Trade  names, where used, are given for the purpose of providing specific information. They do not constitute an endorsement or guarantee of products named, nor does it imply criticism of products not named. The Florida Cooperative Extension Service - Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer authorized to provide research, educational information, and other services to individuals and institutions that function without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap, or national origin.  Florida Cooperative Extension Service / IFAS / University of Florida.  Larry A.  Arrington, Dean. Last update: 01/31/2008.  This page is maintained by Dan Culbert