Master Gardeners Day, June 27, 2001

June 1---This month, thousands of Alabama Master Gardeners join the Alabama Cooperative Extension System in celebrating 20 years of Master Gardening in Alabama! Not many Extension education programs have enjoyed the long-running success and have given Cooperative Extension a household name to hang its hat on like the Alabama Master Gardener Volunteer Program.

Each year, hundreds of applicants compete for the limited number of seats in some 30 sites in Alabama where this popular horticultural training course is made available. The Master Gardener Volunteer Program seeks individuals who commit the time to attend the required classes, but also can give back the required amount of volunteer service time to become certified Master Gardeners.

So what is the secret to this popular gardening program that leaves participants wanting more and willing to give of their time and resources to be awarded the coveted title "Master Gardener"? Part of the answer can be found in looking at the program’s rich history and how it came to Alabama.

The Master Gardener volunteer program concept started almost 30 years ago. King County (Seattle), Wash. Extension Agent David Gibby, got an idea to recruit and train homeowners who had a desire to learn more about horticulture and gardening in exchange for their returning an equivalent amount of volunteer service time, helping him answer some of the requests for home horticultural information in the county.

We are fortunate that Mary Lou McNabb (and her husband Bob) moved to Huntsville, Ala., from New York in 1981. Mary Lou, familiar with the Master Gardener program in New York, asked Madison County, Ala., Extension Agent Gary Murray if he could help get a Master Gardener Program started in Alabama. The rest as they say is history.

The concept of training gardening volunteers who would assist Extension agents in meeting the growing demand for home horticultural and gardening information was slow to catch on in Alabama, with only a few classes being conducted in the major urban areas of Alabama in the early 1980s.

Interest in the Master Gardener Program mirrored the growth and success of the horticulture industry in Alabama and the Southeast during the 1990s. The hundreds of Alabamians who participate in the Master Gardener Program each year come from as many different backgrounds as there are participants. Participants share a common desire to learn more about gardening and landscaping, but also bring a wealth of expertise and camaraderie to aid Extension and become better stewards of our state’s landscape and natural resources.

Master Gardeners not only volunteer to assist county Extension offices with answering frequently asked home gardening questions and with identifying plants and plant problems, but also with making Extension information available to the public. Perhaps the most important thing Master Gardeners do is to free up more time for county Extension agents to respond to agricultural clientele in Alabama counties who depend on Extension expertise for their livelihood. It takes an investment of an Extension agent’s time the first few years of working with Master Gardener volunteers, but as with anything that is worth the effort, the Master Gardener Program pays great dividends in their county.

In 1992, Master Gardeners established the Alabama Master Gardeners Association, Inc. a nonprofit educational organization that enhances and supports the work of the Alabama Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program and provides ongoing opportunities for Master Gardeners to continue their knowledge of and interest in horticulture and related subject areas. Master Gardeners participate in more than 30 local Master Gardener groups and associations throughout Alabama, with a common goal of meeting and sharing information about Master Gardener volunteer service opportunities, common interests in making the community a better place to live, and learning more about their passion … gardening!

A new logo has been adopted for the Alabama Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program in 2001, and a special day has been set aside to honor Master Gardeners and to celebrate the spirit of volunteerism that Master Gardeners have given to the state of Alabama.

Join us Wednesday, June 27, 2001, for Alabama Master Gardeners Day, and help us celebrate 20 years of Master Gardening!

Source: Mary Beth Musgrove, Extension Horticulturist and State Master Gardener Program Coordinator, (205) 221-3392