TREEage Volunteer Recognized (posted 11/9/2007)

Fellow MG, Marie Ambusk, was recognized in the Burlington Free Press for outstanding community support. There is mention of VT Master Gardener and her TREEage project you may enjoy to read. Congratulations Marie!

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071011/NEWS02/710110337/1007/news02

Northwest Chapter featured on Across the Fence (posted 11/9/07)

For those of you who missed the original program on live TV, the streaming video of MG projects and info on the MG Program is available now from the following website. Two green thumbs up!!!

http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmext/tv/?Page=streamingvideo.html
Click on "A sampling of community projects by UVM Master Gardeners (9/27/07)"

Statehouse Invasive Weed Project (posted 8/1/07)

Here's the link to the text of the WCAX story: http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=6833866

The Times Argus had a big photo and caption: http://timesargus.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?userphoto=0&image=15616141&thispage=1

Rutland Vermont Master Gardener Plant Sale (posted 7/12/07)

It was pretty early Saturday morning but Ruth Birch managed a smile while waiting in line to pay for the plants she picked to buy at the Rutland County Master Gardners plant sale. The annual event was held at the Godnick Adult Center in Rutland. Albert J.Marro / Rutland Herald 06/02/07

Leanna Martin of Sudbury takes a liking to a white violet plant while shopping at the Rutland Country Master Gardners plant sale. The annual sale was held Saturday at the Godnick Adult Center in Rutland. Albert J. Marro / Rutland Herald 06/02/07

Jill Read (center) of Castleton boxes some plants for a customer during annual Rutland County Master Gardner plant sale held Saturday at the Godnick Adult Center in Rutland. Albert J. Marro / Rutland Herald 06/02/07

Growing Network: UVM-trained master gardeners are helping communities statewide (posted 9/15/06)
By Jon Reidel (The View from UVM Aug 24, 2006 http://www.uvm.edu/theview/article.php?id=2068)

Graduating from the university’s Extension-run Master Gardener Program comes with expectations. Although retreating to the backyard to quietly tend the family garden isn’t discouraged, the hope is that graduates will help the program accomplish its primary goal of building stronger communities through sustainable gardening.

When done right, like in the city of St. Albans, community gardening work is powerful. City officials there formed a park commission two years ago as part of an ongoing citywide revitalization effort and appointed Master Gardener Jeff Young as chair. Drawing on the knowledge he gained during the 14-week program and 40 hours of community service required of all students, Young made a number of recommendations to the mayor and city council regarding the refurbishing of five-acre Taylor Park in the center of town.

The overhaul included pruning 38 lilac trees and 28 crabapple trees; thinning trees for a better view of the park and historic buildings behind it; removing shrubs and dozens of truckloads of brush; mulching; and other improvements. Local graduates of the Master Gardener Program led the effort, which spawned other gardening projects in the area credited with helping to turn around the city's downtown.

“There’s no doubt about it,” says St. Albans Mayor Martin Manahan, a lifelong resident of the city, “the park has become a centerpiece of the downtown and symbol for the huge changes that have occurred here. Even the residential areas look better as people have added wildflowers and made other landscaping improvements. People are taking pride in their property, and it started with the park.”

Expanding program

As the network of Master Gardeners grows heading into its 15th anniversary in Vermont, so does the number of projects taken on by communities across the state. With more than 200 graduates this summer, and 800-plus master gardeners in Vermont and 50,000 nationwide, their influence is expansive and touches on many areas of agriculture. In Washington and Orange counties, for example, more than a dozen projects are in progress, with one group maintaining the gardens at the Montpelier Peace Park in cooperation with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

Other projects around the state include assisting summer schools with growing food for their lunch programs such as vegetables for pizza; teaching inmates at places like the Northwest State Correctional Facility to grow vegetables behind the walls of the prison; tree inventories; growing food for local shelters; restoring heirloom gardens at historic sites; and improving other parks everywhere.

“It’s not just about completing projects,” says Nancy Hulett, an outreach professional in plant and soil sciences and director of the Master Gardner Program. “It’s really about bringing in members of the community so they have some investment. Our goal is to promote environmentally prudent home horticulture practices through education and community activities.”

In addition to covering the fundamentals of home gardening and the plant and soil sciences, the program teaches more complex issues such as landscape design and plant diseases. The work doesn't stop with the course itself, which reaches all of the state via interactive television. The program offers a hotline open to anyone with gardening questions, Web-based information services and chapters located in individual towns.

The Master Gardner Program is unique in Extension in that it’s self-funded through grants and corporate sponsors and some student tuition. Hulett, the program’s only paid employee, continues to expand the number of chapters and push the importance of new graduates taking the lead in their respective communities.

“People really want to volunteer in their own communities,” says Young. “Until we got the program built up in St. Albans people had to go to Burlington to get their volunteer hours in. The nice part about the network continuing to grow is that people can have an impact in their own community.”

Let's Go Daffy in Ludlow (posted 8/30/06)
(The Message For October 26-November 1, 2005)

The Let's Go Daffy campaign became a reality recently when Ludlow Streetscapes members and UVM Master Gardener volunteers ignored the heavy rains and windy conditions to plant over 450 daffodil bulbs, more that 40 tulip bulbs plus 4 chysanthemums, a burning bush, and a spirea around the "Welcome to Ludlow" sign near Fletcher Farm on Route 103. Another 200-plus crocus bulbs were planted at the Veteran's Memorial Park and the Bicentennial Memorial Park in downtown Ludlow. Project Coordinator, Cecilia McMillen, led the team of Barb Whittaker, Liz Crowley and volunteers from the UVM Master Gardeners Program: John Atwood, Peter Baker, Debbie Trent, Barb Curran and Rosa Donohue (also a Streetscapes member) in this effort. Funding for this project came from Streetscapes and public donations received throughout this year at various events.

The Masters: Gardening comes alive in volunteer program (posted 6/8/06)
By Mel Huff ,Times Argus Staff (Times Argus, May 25, 2006)

MONTPELIER – Two young children in frog-patterned rain gear played near their mother Tuesday evening while grown-ups wandered among hundreds of primroses blooming in Arlene Perkins' mountainside garden. Alumni of the Vermont Master Gardener program were welcoming – with plates of homemade cookies – new graduates of this year's course into the Washington and Orange County Chapter.

The Master Gardener program, now national, was started in Washington state in 1972 by an extension agent who, overwhelmed by calls from home gardeners, conceived the idea of training volunteers to handle questions. Nancy Hulett, coordinator of the UVM Extension Home Horticulture Program, thinks Vermont's program began around 1987.

"The whole purpose of (the reception) is so that the new graduates of the class don't just go off into limbo but get acquainted with the previous graduates and do some networking and get better integrated into the continuing Master Gardener program," said Georgia Valentine, one of the organizers of the reception.

This year the training site in Waterbury yielded a crop of 27 new Master Gardeners. Statewide, about 250 gardeners at more than a dozen sites from Bennington to Newport took part in the 14-week course through Vermont Interactive Television.

To earn Master Gardener certification, participants take a basic horticulture course taught through the University of Vermont Extension and then do 40 hours of community service. The reception provided an opportunity for veteran Master Gardeners to tell graduates about their service projects and recruit volunteers.

The course provides more than 40 hours of instruction from UVM faculty and Vermont horticulturalists that covers a broad range of topics, including biology, entomology, soils, landscape and vegetable gardening, plant pathology and pest management.

"The course exceeded my expectations," said Emily Boedecker, a new graduate. Boedecker moved to Vermont from California three years ago and has had to readjust from a long growing season to a shorter one.

"It had a lot of content and an extraordinary number of characters teaching the courses. There's nothing like a character to keep you engaged," she said. "Everyone was very passionate and interested in their own subject. That's what makes a good teacher."

Mark Starrett, an associate professor of horticulture at the University of Vermont, has been teaching botany segments, and sometimes about woody plants and shrubs, for the Master Gardener program since 1997.

"Working with plants is a way to get rid of some of the stresses of your daily routine," he observed, and added, "I think (the Master Gardener program) has such positive effects for the community."

The Washington/Orange County chapter sponsors more than a dozen community service projects.

One group maintains the gardens at the Rusty Parker Memorial Park in Waterbury. Every year volunteers plant red, white and blue flowers in front of the war memorials.

Another group weeds and maintains the Montpelier Peace Park in cooperation with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Jennifer Garson notes that often members of the public stop to help. "When I'm at the Peace Park, every single person that goes past says 'Thank you.' It's nice to know it's appreciated."

Garson and another volunteer guided faculty at Norwich University and members of the Northfield community in replanting a damaged garden memorializing a colleague and plant lover who managed the university greenhouse. Kassie Dreyer LaRiviere died of breast cancer in 1993.

Ariel Zevon was recruiting volunteers Tuesday evening for a vegetable gardening project at Two Rivers Center for Sustainability.

The scope of Master Gardeners extends to "a lot more than just your own garden," Valentine noted. "It really has a much wider applicability because they talk about things like local food sources and the whole idea of responsible stewardship of the land."

The next Master Gardener course will be held in 2007. Final dates have not been set, but it will run from mid-February through mid-May. "There is usually a waiting list to get in," said Cindy Griffith, chairwoman of the Washington/Orange chapter.

Despite its success, or maybe because of it, UVM Extension has decided to eliminate funding for the coordinator's position. Hulett has been raising the budget for the expanding Master Gardener program since she was hired in 2000, and UVM extension paid her salary. Now money she set aside for two half-time positions will have to be used for hers.

She expresses concern that additional fund raising will take time away from programs. "It takes more time to do more things," she notes. "We're straight out.

For more information about the Vermont Master Gardener program visit www.uvm.edu/mastergardener. To see Arlene Perkins' primrose garden, visit www.vermonthub.com.

Salad Bar on menu at Williston Schools (posted 2/13/06)
by Marianne Apfelbaum, Observer staff (Williston Observer, September 15, 2005)

Allen Brook teacher Diane DiGennaro helps students Makenna Higbee, 8, (left) and Kaitlin Clark, 8, harvest red leaf lettuce from the Allen Brook garden last week. Vegetables from the garden will be used at both Allen Brook and Williston Central schools as part of a new salad bar program.

Two new programs in Williston schools have meshed with a local wellness initiative aimed at creating healthier students. The new programs will allow students to enjoy a lunchtime salad bar that offers vegetables straight from a garden at Allen Brook School .

Teacher Diane DiGennaro, a Master Gardener, spearheaded the programs in cooperation with the University of Vermont Extension Service . DiGennaro worked with Britta Carlson, the town’s summer camp director and a member of a newly formed Wellness Committee, to encourage children in the camp to learn the art of gardening this summer.

Camper planted a wide variety of vegetables from seed and learned how to weed and care for the plants. Some of those same students are now part of a school group that picks vegetables from the garden twice weekly to share with the schools’ food service personnel who are starting the new salad bar.

Sandy Clapper, a food service worker at ABS and parent of two Williston students, is happy about the addition of the salad bar. “It’s much more nutritious for the kids and so much healthier than processed stuff,” she said last week after receiving a bagful of fresh lettuce from the Allen Brook garden. “I think our kids look forward to it. I know the teachers do.”

Lydia King, food service director at Williston Central School , is hopeful that the program will catch on. “We will offer the salad bar to students one day a week,” she said. “We will see what the participation is. We expect an influx at first because it’s a different thing to do.”

DiGennaro is also optimistic. “I hope to expand the gardening program next year by starting in the spring, rather than summer,” she said.

The salad bar, which is scheduled to be in place by late September, will include a wide variety of fresh vegetables as well as beans, eggs, ham, turkey, cheeses and low-fat dressings. The cost, including fruit, milk and a roll, will be $2.

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Master Gardeners Volunteer (posted 2/13/06)
(Silver Threads: Elderly Services Newsletter, End of Year 2005; Middlebury)

Volunteer and Master Gardener Sally Taylor digs in to help landscape the new Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Center for Elderly Services.

UVM Master Gardeners from all over Addison County worked under the direction of landscape designer Judith Irven to make our new building look like home. Many thanks to all of you!

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Digging in with Kids: Creating Gardens with Children (posted 2/13/06)
(Windham Child Care Association Child Care News, June 2005)



What do you get when you combine the Vermont Department of Health, the Master Gardener program, the 4-H extension program in youth horticulture, and Windham Child Care Association? You get kids gardening!

An what do you get when you get kids gardening? You get kids exercising, learning, eating healthy foods, and, inevitably, getting dirty and having fun.

Thanks to a new and innovative collaboration in Windham County, Master Gardener candidates will soon being working with three local child care programs: Lori’s Family Day Care in Dummerston, and The Family Garden and Cathy’s Family Child Care in West Brattleboro.

The idea for the collaboration came from Cindy Twombly, a public health nurse with the Vermont Department of Health’s Healthy Child Care Vermont program. A Master Gardener herself, Cindy was brainstorming one day with Windham Child Care Association’s Professional Development Coordinator Cyndi Miller (a Master Gardener Intern), who mentioned that local early educators were eager to learn more about gardening with children. Twombly wanted to create educational programs for providers that would meet state guidelines – including addressing issues such as childhood obesity, healthy eating and good nutrition – and knew that a gardening program would fit the bill perfectly.

Twombly got permission and support from the Health Department which provided funds for books, tools and other resources. The Master Gardener program offered to help provide Master Gardener candidates who must complete 40 hours of community service in order to become certified, to help child care programs create gardens. Twombly also enlisted the support of middle schoolers involved in UVM’s 4-H extension program in youth horticulture. The 4-H participants will bring containers, plants, and seeds to child care programs and will provide skilled labor to help create gardens.

One sunny, cool day in early Spring, Kim Freeman, co-director of The Family Garden, surveys a mass of earth near the back fence of the center’s yard. “We’ve been shoveling it all by hand,” she says. “The kids come and go and help if they want. They really love being in the dirt.”

Freeman hopes that with help for the Gardening Program, what is now a plot of soil rich in worms but lacking plants will be transformed into an abundant vegetable garden “that we can all work on together and then eat out of.” Children at The Family Garden started growing seeds in February. Thriving bean plants sprout from containers set on sunny window sills. “We all help water and look for new leaves,” notes Freeman, who has found that “gardening with children is so natural because it shows immediate growth.”

Cathy Siggins also looks forward to having the helping hands of experienced gardeners in her yard. After taking Sue Clarke’s workshop, “Growing Things with Children,” she was inspired to try gardening projects with the children in her program, but says that “working with a mentor, I’d be less likely to throw up my hands and say ‘I can’t do this.’”

Siggins has observed that children are fascinated by the cycle of planting, tending and harvesting food. “They are able to see the process from planting seeds to food on their plates. It’s a very powerful process to watch children participate in – planting seeds, nurturing plants, watching them grow, and eventually having lunch.”

Cindy Twombly’s own two children grew up helping out in the family vegetable garden, and reaping the rewards at harvest time. Gardens, Twombly says, encourage healthy eating habits. When children participate in gardening, “they are much more apt to enjoy vegetables.”

Twombly is pleased to be bringing people together to promote gardening in early education programs. “The way everything came together so smoothly,” Twombly says, “it was just meant to be.” She also sees growth in the program’s future: “We’re very hopeful that if it’s successful, we can expand to more child care programs next year.”

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Jailhouse rocks gardening contest at the fair (posted 9/9/05)
By Wilson Ring, The Associated Press (The Burlington Free Press September 7, 2005)

Inmate Andrew Wood proudly holds up some of the inmate-gardener's award-winning peppers at the Northwest State Correctional Center in St. Albans.

The vegetables and flowers grown by inmates from the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans were big winners in the gardening competitions at the Champlain Valley Fair.

Organic okra, garlic, field pumpkins, cantaloupes and mini-roses were among the plants grown behind the barbed wire in the yard of Vermont's most secure prison that won top honors at the Essex Junction fair, which ended Monday.

Carrots, beans, eggplant and green peppers were among the inmates' second- place winners. The inmates' lowest placing entry, onions, came in third. Only one of the prison plants did not win any awards.

"We rocked," Andrew Wood, 32, an inmate from the Rutland area serving a sentence of 20 years to life for second-degree murder, said by telephone Tuesday.

"By far, the quality of the produce that comes out of the garden is 10 times what you get out of the supermarket," Wood said. "We're all organic. We take a lot of pride in what we do. We've gotten a lot of compliments from the staff, producing above and beyond what we thought would come out of here."

Some inmates at the St. Albans prison work 12- to 14-hour days in the summer maintaining the 3 1/2-acre plot. The garden helps feed the other inmates and provides fresh produce for a food shelf in St. Albans, said Barb Hagen, the prison staff member who oversees the gardening project.

The inmate gardeners -- who couldn't leave the facility -- chose the vegetables that Hagen displayed on their behalf at the fair.

"I am just really proud of them," Hagen said, adding that the gardeners' efforts are sometimes ridiculed by other inmates. "They take a lot of heat for it, sucking up. They see the end result and that's what we go for."

In the winter, the inmates work in the two greenhouses on the prison grounds where they produce vegetables and flowers. Earlier this year the inmates donated thousands of flowers to the families of deployed Vermont National Guard members.

The garden and the greenhouses help save the prison kitchen thousands of dollars a year and give the inmates better-tasting food -- but the benefits of the garden go beyond the money saved.

"I will take this with me," said inmate Duane Bedell, 40, of Huntington, who is nearing the end of a six- to 20-year sentence for sexual assault. "Even though it may be only a little, I am repaying the community in some way. I will carry that with me the rest of my life."

Bedell said that after he is released he hopes to start a community garden somewhere.

Wood said that working in the garden has been part of the educational process in prison that has helped change his life.

"I was a bad apple. ... I have taken the educational opportunities. I have learned so much," Wood said. "I am definitely going to take what I've learned here with the flowers and the greenhouses and do something with it."

Hagen said the inmates are eligible to receive a master gardener certificate from the University of Vermont. The program combines classroom time with community service, which the inmates can accumulate working in the prison garden.

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Williston resident honored for lifetime of community service (posted 9/9/05)
By Jen Butson, Correspondent (Williston Observer August 18, 2005)

Ruth Painter pursues her gardening passion while helping out worthy causes such as the Williston in Bloom program and the Vermont Respite House. Painter says that no matter how busy, all residents can volunteer in their community.

Gov. Jim Douglas recently held a reception for 57 of the state’s outstanding volunteers. Among them was Ruth Painter of Williston, whose lifetime of community service brought an honor with a long and weighty title: the Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Volunteer Community Service.

Painter has lived in the Williston area more than 50 years and has volunteered continuously. She worked part-time at Pine Ridge School helping children with reading, writing and spelling until 1995, when she started a private tutoring practice.

Now retired, she said that work never stopped her from volunteering. “I’ve been volunteering my entire life,” she said. “This isn’t something I just started doing now that I’m retired.”

Painter has combined her passions with helping others in many different volunteer programs. One of her favorite hobbies is gardening, and she has served the town’s Williston in Bloom program, which is in its third year and has twice took second place in national competitions. Painter also works with Vermont Master Gardeners, visiting the Vermont Respite House in Williston every Wednesday evening. The group’s objective is to beautify the landscape around the facility, which serves terminally ill patients and their families. Painter said the group has been meeting for more than six years and always welcomes new volunteers. “We want there to be a beautiful view from every window, and that takes a lot of work,” she said. Painter’s volunteer activities include working with numerous local groups. She is a member of the Old Brick Church Board and helps out at Dorothy Alling Library, the Williston Historical Society, Meals on Wheels and Habitat for Humanity. She is a Justice of the Peace, serves on the boards of Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity, Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger and Interfaith Affordable Housing. At first, Painter was reluctant to receive her volunteer award and did not want her efforts publicized. She said she volunteers not for the praise, but because helping is just an inherently good thing to do. She views herself as just another volunteer.

“Look at all the fathers and mothers working just as hard being coaches or soccer moms,” she said. “They’re volunteering too, and they do a lot of good. It is about the common good, it’s not about the award,” she added. “I really enjoyed the people who attended (the ceremony). They had wonderful examples of efforts being done in their communities. I see volunteerism as the strength of America, and it is healthy here in Vermont.”

Douglas thanked and shook the hand of each volunteer at the ceremony. “Every Vermonter has something valuable to share with his or her community,” Douglas said at the ceremony. “From time, money, skills or experience – there are an unlimited number of ways which each of us can contribute. In your service, many of you demonstrate much more than the ability to give.”

The award is sponsored by the Vermont Commission on National and Community Service.

Painter said everyone should volunteer. She said a lot of people feel like they don’t have the time, buty when they combine their interests with an effort, they are dually rewarded. “People who volunteer are generally happier people,” she said. “Identify your interests and choose a program that suits you."

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Vermont Master Gardeners in Northeast Kingdom on Across the Fence (posted 8/30/05)

click here for video (15 min. 29sec, aired 7/04)

You will need Real Player to play; video may be poor on older computers or video cards.

Across the Fence is the nation's longest running farm and home show, broadcast daily on the CBS affiliate WCAX in Burlington, VT throughout northern New England and Quebec, and produced jointly with UVM Extension. VHS tapes of many shows may be ordered from the Across the Fence link above.

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New Garden at TBPS (posted 9/14/04)
(Exit 10, 2004)
by Michelle Miles



The Thatcher Brook Primary School Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) would like to extend a big thanks to the Master Gardeners, especially Kate Raymond. They guided and helped the PTO with its school beautification project this spring, building ad planting a new raised flower bed i the front school yard. The Master Gardeners offered design suggestions and answered many questions we had. Saturday, June 12, the Master Gardeners along with PTO volunteers put the final touches on the flower bed, laying out the design and planting flowers. We look forward to seeing a more colorful school yard as the flowers mature. Please make sure you sto by and take a look.

Thank You! (posted 9/14/04)
(Exit 10, 2004)
By Denise Badowski



At the August 5th Rusty Parker Park concert, as Master Gardener Manager for the Rusty Parker Park, I introduced two groups of very special people to the folks that gathered for an evening of musical entertainment.

The Master Gardeners organization and its sponsors deserve the Waterbury community's appreciation and thanks for all their hard work and support in making this park project a great success.

The Master Gardeners donated their time and horticultural talents by planting and maintaining the attractive flower and garden designs. Through their hard work and dedication, these volunteers made this park a special place where one can come to relax and enjoy its historical feeling and hometown charm. Attending the presentation were Master Gardeners Julie Frailey and Sharon Wilson. Other Master Gardeners that helped with this project were Chris Conely, Jackie Hartman, Judy Keyes, Nancy Merz, and Sarah Moran.

A special thank-you to our sponsors for allowing us to share our passion for gardening with the Waterbury community. In attendance that evening were Al Lewis, representing the Waterbury Rotary Club. Terry Christie from the American Legion Post 59 and Michele Livingstone from the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters deserve our thanks as well.

If you see these organizations in the park or in town while passing, please personally thank them for taking an active role in beautifying our community park.

Godnick Center Garden Project Plants a Row for the Hungry (posted 8/24/04)
(Sam's Good News June 30, 2004)


Local gardeners are encouraged to participate in the "Plant a Row for the Hungry" project by planting a little extra produce and donating it to area food shelves. The Rutland Regional Correctional Center, Master Gardeners and UVM Extension Service are participating in this worthwhile endeavor by planting a garden at the Godnick Adult Center in Rutland, Vermont. Pictured at the Godnick Garden Project are Master Gardener Karen Moore, Mike Bousquet, Jim Candon, Correctional Instructor; Sean Tremblay, Tom Griffin and Master Gardener George Sharp.

Last September, Tom Griffin, Case Work Supervisor at the Rutland Community Correctional Center (RRCC), inquired at the Godnick Senior Center about cleaning up some scrub brush and overgrowth at the center and starting a community garden. This past week, people on house arrest and the "crew from the department of corrections facility" gave back to the community by planting vegetable plants at the area's newest community garden according to Griffin.

The Godnick garden project is being conducted as a cooperative effort with participation by the RRCC, local Master Gardeners, UVM Extension Service as part of the national Plant a Row for the Hungry (PAR) initiative. PAR is a people-helping-people program to assist in feeding the homeless and hungry in their own community. This innovative public service was developed in 1995 by the Garden Writers Association of America to encourage gardeners to grow a little extra produce and donate it to local soup kitchens and food banks that serve the homeless and hungry. UVM Extension Master Gardener Georgianna Thomas will be contacting area food shelves and those with coolers and refrigeration to ask their assistance in distributing the harvest from the Godnick Center project.

PAR is rooted in the tradition of sharing a bountiful garden harvest with others. This sharing can happen on many levels. Individuals can plant extra produce (fresh vegetables, fruits or herbs) and deliver it to local food collection agencies. They can also help inform others of this worthwhile endeavor. Groups can organize local gardeners into a PAR network, encourage participation by handing out starter kits, and organize community-wide planting and harvest events. Businesses can help by organizing a company-wide PAR campaign or contributing "in-kind" or financial donations.

For further information on Plant a Row for the Hungry check the website at http://www.gwaa.org, email PAR@gwaa.org or call toll free 877-GWAA-PAR (877-492-2727).

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Personal Growth: Master Gardener program in jail gives women goals, skills (posted 8/23/04)
By Carolyn Handy, Southern Vermont Bureau (Rutland Herald July 31, 2004)


Brooke Rowell has recently completed a Master Gardener course at the Windsor prison for women. She is seen here in the prison's vegetable garden, where peas and broccoli are growing.

WINDSOR — Female prisoners in Vermont have learned to plant seeds that may grow into more than just columbines or cabbage. By taking gardening classes, they may be able to start a new career after incarceration. Brooke Rowell is an inmate at the Windsor women's prison, but will be released in a few weeks. During her incarceration since October, she earned her high school diploma and graduated from a Vermont Master Gardener class. While several Vermont prisons have gardens tended by prisoners, this year Windsor is the only one to have the Master Gardener program.

"At first it was kind of boring," Rowell said in a telephone interview from the women's prison. "I didn't think I was going to learn anything."

Since Rowell needed the class for her science credit, she stuck with it. Now she is thinking about working at a greenhouse, florist, farm, or at landscaping or lawn-maintenance company. There are many greenhouses in the St. Johnsbury area, where she is from, she said, and the Master Gardener qualification will look good on her résumé, she said.

"It opens up a lot of possibilities," she said. "It's hard to get a job when you haven't worked for a long time."

Rowell, 21, is one of eight inmates who graduated from the class in June. Four of the graduates have since left the prison, and one is already working in a greenhouse in the Newfane area, according to Pepper Tepperman, a Corrections Department service specialist at the prison.

"I saw her recently, and she said she is amazed at how much she learned that she is now able to apply at her job," Tepperman said.

Before she took the class, Rowell said she would have thought she only needed to put a seed into some soil and water it in order to have an organic garden. During the class, the students tested the soil at all eight vegetable gardens at the prison for nitrogen and phosphates, she said.

"All were deficient, and all needed more nitrogen," she said.

The students added a mixture of horse manure, wood chips and sawdust, she said, but it will take about four years to decompose and make a difference. Men previously maintained the eight vegetable gardens, Rowell said. Until October, the facility was a male prison. The Windsor prison became a women's facility after the Springfield prison opened last fall. Rowell said she was enthusiastic about the mother-child gardening plots at the prison. When children visit their mothers on the weekends, they go outside and work in the garden together.

"That's probably the best project they could have for mothers and children to do together," she said. "This gives them a chance to get out of the jailhouse setting."

In the winter, because there are no special activities for mothers and children, they all have to sit in the visiting room, she said.

"This fall we will try to put cover crops on our garden to save the nitrogen from being washed away by the rain," Rowell said. "When we rototill the cover crop back into the ground, it puts the nitrogen back into the soil."

All the prisoners are allowed to work in the vegetable garden. The garden contains almost every vegetable except for cauliflower, asparagus and corn.

"We have fresh vegetables all the time in our lunches and dinners," Rowell said. "We harvested 1,200 pounds of cabbage so far this year. We've eaten plenty of it. Sometimes I just walk through and eat the broccoli. We also have radishes, carrots, and sunflowers."

In addition to looking for a job when she is released from prison, Rowell said she is thinking about doing some landscaping around the house or growing a houseplant.

"I'm more interested now in growing a houseplant than before," she said. "I will know to water them this time."

Rowell said that she has never been able to keep houseplants alive. In exchange for the Master Gardener training, the inmates worked on a volunteer program at the prison — designing, planting and maintaining a flower garden in front of one of the buildings. First, landscapers taught the students how to design a garden. They designed the flower garden on paper, deciding which plants to use and how large to make the walkway.

"You need to make a walkway big enough for a few people to walk through it," she said.

The students dug up the grass to make the flower garden in the shape they wanted and, next, the bed was rototilled. Now the garden includes day lilies, Asiatic lilies, columbines, irises, dahlias, sweet peas, marigolds, ornamental grasses and shrubs, she said. Pepperman said this is the first time the prison has held the Master Gardener class at the prison. She said she hopes to have another class next year.

"We are also hoping to get a big greenhouse, a 20-by-40-foot greenhouse," she said, which might be financed by a grant or from the Corrections Department's education fund.

The greenhouse would be used to give workshops, expand the Master Gardener program, and to grow some vegetables that would ripen earlier in the season, like tomatoes. Gov. James Douglas will coming to the women's prison today to meet with the eight graduates of the Master Gardener program, Tepperman said, and to recognize Rowell for also earning her high school diploma.

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Rock Garden: Westside's new Pocket Park is cultivated, sculpted into shape (posted 8/23/04)
By Gordon Dritschilo, Herald Staff (Rutland Herald June 25, 2004)


The Marble Street Pocket Park, a former empty lot in West Rutland, features sculptures and planting.

A long-planned project to beautify the Marble Street Pocket Park is finally carved in stone - and planted in the earth. Those 8-year-old plans came to fruition earlier this month when a crew of volunteers spruced up the small downtown space. What was essentially an empty lot wedged between two buildings and dominated by a massive marble sculpture is now adorned with a variety of plantings, as well as marble paving stones and benches.

"We planted three small bushes, a couple of shade trees, an ornamental crab tree and a lot of perennials," said Town Manager Thomas Yennerell. "We built little berms out of soil for the plantings. It looks really nice."

The town created the park in 1994, when it bought the property and tore down the discount food store that had stood there. The sculpture was added by artist Michael Winslow in 1996, and there were plans to do more. A three-day workshop was held to generate possibilities, and several designs were submitted. Nothing more happened in the space, however, until Yennerell decided to revisit the plans last fall. He organized an eight-member _committee and began gathering funds. The town chipped in $3,600 and other members rounded up donations of money and materials.

"The volunteers have all been really great," Yennerell said. "Charlene Clifford got the UVM Master Gardener Program involved, which was a big help."

Dennis Girard, who lives across the street from the park, said the difference was like night and day.

"I've lived here a year and a month," he said. "When we first moved in, it was an obviously neglected piece of land. I had no idea what it was. Now it's beautiful, with the plants and trees and bushes. It'd look good in any town."

Girard said when he saw the committee members setting out to work June 12, he and his children, 8-year-old James and 6-year-old Jenna, decided to lend a hand.

"They had a small shovel just my daughter's size," he said. "There was a big pile of mulch, so we started filling a wheelbarrow. It was a great time and it did good for my kids to be able to do that, giving them a sense of community. It became something in town they helped to do."

Yennerell said the committee isn't quite finished with the park.

"They want to plant some annuals," he said. "We'll probably start meeting this winter to see if we want to expand or do some different things over there."

Meanwhile, Girard said his children are happily using the back area for batting practice.

"It's not real big, but it's big enough for them," he said.

Williston makes another run for municipal beauty title (posted 8/4/04)
By Roger L. Noyes, correspondent (Williston Observer July 15, 2004)

Local volunteers pulled weeds last weekend, a last-minute preparation before judges considered how Williston stacks up against other like-sized towns in a civic beauty contest. Most recent work for the America in Bloom contest focused on removing patches of purple loosestrife alongside a stretch of Route 2A south of Interstate 89. A group of nine volunteers spend Saturday morning trudging through ditches, uprooting any loosestrife that they found.

“This is one spot we noticed had a lot of it,” said Susan Stanne, a Williston resident and master gardener involved in efforts to eliminate the invasive species, which is a threat to native vegetation. The Vermont Department of Agriculture has even declared a quarantine rule for purple loosestrife and four other “noxious’ plants listed on the department’s Web site.
…


Master gardener Susan Stanne of Williston takes a break from weeding Saturday to display an invasive purple loosestrife plant plucked from a culvert near Route 2A.


Dianne DiGennaro of Essex (from left), Susan Stanne of Williston and Sarah Kingsley-Richards from Milton socialize while pulling up weeds Saturday near Route 2A. The weeding was a collaborative effort between the Williston in Bloom Committee and the Vermont Master Gardener program.

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Vermont Master Gardeners in Rutland on Across the Fence (posted 3/31/04)

click here for video (16 min., aired 7/03)

You will need Real Player to play; video may be poor on older computers or video cards.

Across the Fence is the nation's longest running farm and home show, broadcast daily on the CBS affiliate WCAX in Burlington, VT throughout northern New England and Quebec, and produced jointly with UVM Extension. VHS tapes of many shows may be ordered from the Across the Fence link above.

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Time to Smell the Flowers
from St. Johnsbury July 18, 2002 (posted 10/21/02)

An educational display titled "The Year of the Rose 2002" graces the entrance of the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum. The display was made by Master Gardeners, and Seed and Weed Garden Club members Caroline Frey, Cindy Buck and Lorraine Petterson. The display also features a large print by Pierre Joseph Redoute, a master flower painter of the 19th Century, from Paris.

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Serenity Comes to Green
from The Messenger for July 31-Aug 6, 2002 (posted 9/23/02)



Aspiring UVM Master Gardener Annie Lockerby of North Springfield recently volunteered to create a green scene of serenity for her client, Lynda Huff of Perkinsville. Huff wanted a place to relax, read and perhaps forget about her constant companion, the disease multiple sclerosis (MS). Lockerby wanted a chance to build serene green spaces for people who could not, and celebrate that her multiple sclerosis battle was in remission -for now.

Last August, partly as a requirement for her master gardener degree, partly as a way to keep active against a debilitating disease, Lockerby went public with a novel idea -raise money and accept donations of garden stock in order to build small serenity gardens for MS patients. The money arrived, promises of plants did the same, and while it was too late in the season last year to plant a garden, Lockerby used the time to research, design and plan future serenity spots.

Huff, who has been living with MS for 10 years, became the first recipient of Lockerby's serenity garden. Cut from the turf behind Huff's home, Lockerby sliced away a half-moon shaped garden and artistically filled it with about 30 plants form hollyhocks and irises to sedum's and ornamental grasses -all picked and planted with attracting birds and butterflies in mind.

Huff, faced with MS for the past 10 years, is unable to move around the way she would like to and can't work outside the home, not unusual for an MS patient, noted Lockerby who said, "A place to get away from MS, get away from it all, is a blessing."

"I'm very impressed with the garden so far, especially since I planted it in the heat wave we had," Lockerby added, while watering the fledgling plants after putting in her eight hours at Woodbury Florist in Springfield.

Standing at the edge of her new garden Huff smiled and said, "This is a beautiful space. I want to get a couple of Adirondack chairs maybe and face them towards the garden. Annie did a great job. When this fills in next year..."

Lockerby is looking forward to sharing her garden construction expertise, no charge, with people who have MS and want a green place to relax. To discuss a garden, provide money or plants to help build a serenity garden, contact Annie through master.gardener@uvm.edu or 1-800-639-2230.

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Cultivating green thumbs: Master Gardener program answers homeowners' garden, lawn, and houseplant questions
By Susan J. Harlow (Impact -UVM Extension Newsletter, Spring 2002) (posted 6/20/02)

The growing season is about to get into full swing, and Don Hipes is ready for it. Hipes retired from the Natural Resource Conservation Service in 1994 and the next year took the Master Gardener course. "I was always interested in gardening and wanted to learn more."

Since then, he's worked on UVM Extension's Helpline three hours a week, answering homeowners' queries. Questions vary from basic botany--Why don't my flowers bloom?--to inquiries on insect and animal pests.

"I think the main benefit is that it's a public service that is difficult to find," Hipes says.

Vermont, one of many states that have Master Gardener programs, is just finishing its tenth year as a statewide program. There are now 812 certified Master Gardeners in the state; nationwide, there are about 50,000.

The mission of the program, says Director Nancy Hulett, is to train people in general horticulture, then take that expertise, along with reference material from UVM, to the public.

Many homeowners seek help with their backyard gardens, lawns, and houseplants. As demand for this kind of support has increased, the Master Gardener Program has played a crucial role in meeting homeowners' needs.

To be a Master Gardener, one completes a training that meets one evening a week for 14 weeks. This year, 230 students took the course, which provides an overview of general horticulture. Each week of the course, Extension specialists teach different topics, such as botany, entomology, and soils.

"The training emphasis is on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) because, when we help home gardeners achieve healthy yards and gardens, they reduce their reliance on pesticides," Hulett says. "We want homeowners to make decisions based on healthy soils and healthy groundwater."

After the course, students are considered interns. To become Master Gardeners, they must complete 40 hours of volunteer work in horticulture education or projects. Once certified as Master Gardeners, they must contribute 20 hours of community service each year.

They fill many niches with their work. "The program takes advantage of people's strengths and skills," Hulett says. Master Gardener chaptersthere are seven around the statemeet monthly, hosting speakers and workshops and pursuing group projects. Some volunteers facilitate meetings, and others pass out literature on horticulture and soil testing (one of the program's biggest initiatives) at farmers markets, fairs, and gardening shows. Master Gardeners also write newspaper columns, teach about composting, and help develop recreation trails. Many have a strong interest in children, so they do a lot of outreach in schools.

Master Gardener Dawn Petrovsky is coordinator of the Bellows Falls Community Garden in Bellows Falls, where eight families maintain 7-by-12-foot plots in the garden at the base of the town's ski hill.

She got involved when the garden first started seven years ago. She was growing sweet corn and tomatoes in buckets in her small second-floor apartment and was delighted with the chance to have garden space.

Now Petrovsky not only oversees the gardens and runs monthly meetings, she also coordinates the project's other activities--beautification of public areas, donating produce to the local food shelf, and joining in local festivals.

"It gets our members more involved with the community--they're really proud of their garden. And they know where their food is coming from, how it's grown, and what a serious commitment it is," Petrovsky says. "People leave with a different appreciation of the food industry."

Hulett is the program's only paid employee, so she must work hard to reach beyond Chittenden County to the rest of Vermont. In her two years, she has expanded the Master Gardener website and built more chapters. She travels to chapter meetings, offering advanced training and professional improvement.

"Electronic communications has made a huge difference," she says. "We're connected and stay in touch." She tries to strengthen the feeling that Master Gardeners are part of a cohesive organization with a logo, name badges, and a newsletter.

The Master Gardener program is unique in Extension in that it is self-funded by student tuition, grants, and corporate sponsors. The program also raises funds through sales of Landscape Plants for Vermont ($15), a booklet in its third printing.

Don Hipes, a volunteer with the UVM Extension Master Gardener Program, answers Vermonters' home garden, lawn, and house-plant questions.

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Garden Party
Leith Jones (Colebrook Chronicle 4/27/01) (posted 11/13/01)

Sandra Cooper created a large batch of cupcakes which she fashioned to look like flowers. Leith Jones photo.

On April 21, the Alice Ward Memorial Library hosted a garden party. Sandra Cooper said that a grant in the form of gardening materials worth more than $750 had been given to the library. She said that, nationwide, only 400 of the grants are awarded. Two years ago, students from Canaan School created a garden and grew flowers. Last year, they converted the bulk of the garden to vegetables, and had an outstanding season.

The party had several goals. One was to ask for volunteers to work in the garden and guide the children. A second was to have people talk to children about the importance of fresh vegetables in their diets, giving back to the land, and the preservation and conservation of our precious resources. A third goal was to ask people to help others who are hungry. Included in the grant is information about "Plant a Row for the Hungry (PAR)." Sandra said that the garden activity will be participating in the program by planting its own "row for the hungry."

On Monday, students went to the library to start some seeds under the watchful eye of Cooper, who is a Vermont Master Gardener. She said that the seedlings will be kept in the library until the weather allows them to be transplanted outside. She related that she is looking forwards to the students having another interesting and successful season of growing vegetables.

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Two MGs Win the "Burlington Blooms" Contest (posted 10/2/01)

Gardener's Supply Company's Jim Feinson (left) and Will Rapp (right) with grand-prize winner Ken Mills

Contest blooms with entries: Gardener's Supply Company rewards top Chittenden gardens
by Cheryl Dorschner (Burlington Free Press 9/29/01)

...Thirteen gardeners won for originality, bright color, plant diversity and use of space when Gardener's Supply Company announced its "Burlington Blooms" contest winners last week. Grand prize winner Ken Mills of Colchester astounded judges with a garden that is a canvas for his art, a stage for theater performances and a magical setting for parties. "You've got a complex, whimsical, discovery-laden garden like nobody else," said Gardener's Supply founder and CEO Will Rapp after touring the winning garden.
...The contest brought out entries from 175 Chittenden County private home gardens of all sizes, styles and means. Next year's contest will be expanded, says contest organizer Maree Gaetani of Gardener's Supply. Details will be announced in April. Photos and descriptions of winning gardens are on display at Gardener's Supply store on Intervale Avenue.

Grand prize winner Ken Mills of Colchester began six years ago with zero gardening experience, flat land, a field and a few trees. Without professional help, he planted more than 175 trees and shrubs, countless perennials, vegetables and herbs in a wholly original design, creating unexpected outdoor rooms of plant, furniture and art. He installed two ponds with waterfalls, fish and a brook. He's built arbors, stone walls and paths from material on the property. He's fashioned doorways, gates and sculpture from salvage yard finds. He has a labyrinth in the woods. He installed a water system and lighting throughout the acre of gardens. He built a slide from his owner-designed home into the gardens.


One of Ken Mills gardens and sculpture-adorned mailbox

Katheryn Layton of Burlington: Third Prize for Best Use of Small Space

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Master Gardeners Encourage Kids to Garden (published in Sam's Good News in Rutland 9/5/01)
by Rosemary Finley (posted 9/7/01)

Photo: Eleven year old Ethan Maier of Long Meadow, MA, stopped by the Vermont Master Gardeners table at the Rutland Downtown Farmers Market to check out the entries in this year’s Kids’ Day competition. Standing behind Ethan, hiding from the hot summer sun under the bills of their caps are Master Gardeners Jean Hunter, Ned Bogar, Pat Taylor, Kae Fretz and Peg Dombro.

This summer, Vermont Master Gardener Kae Fretz, with the able assistance of many other volunteer gardeners, has been manning the Master Gardener Table at the Downtown Farmers Market in Rutland. Kae and her assistants have spent one Saturday a month out in the hot sun fielding questions from market goers concerning their gardening problems. In order to encourage youngsters to take an interest in nature and gardening, back in June, Kae with the assistance of Master Gardeners Ned Bogar, and Ron and Jean Hunter conducted a “Kid’s Day” event at which approximately one hundred area youngsters showed up to enter a competition which required them to nurture an ornamental or vegetable plant for the summer.

On Saturday, August 25, the kids brought the surviving plants back to the Master Gardeners’ table at the Farmers’ Market to be judged. Pat Taylor, Ned Bogar, Jean Hunter and Peg Dombro were on hand to help Kae with this project. Madison Cornell, age six, won Best in Show. Four-year-old Patrick Kimmel won the award for the Best Foliage. Kyle Lewis, age eight, came back with the Biggest Pepper. The tallest sunflower plant was raised by Alex Reedy, age six, and nine-year old Chris Reedy won for the Shortest Sunflower Plant. The Most Interesting Foliage award went to Mercedes Lewis, age nine. Rachel Konstant, another six year old, won the Pinkest Begonia award. Andy and Ryan Levandowski brought in pictures of the beautiful sunflowers they had planted and tended all summer long.

The Master Gardeners of Southwest Vermont have participated in several programs this summer to encourage interest in gardening and horticulture, especially for the youth of the area. If you are interested in gardening and would like information about becoming a certified Vermont Master Gardener contact the Master Gardener Program at the South Burlington Extension Office, phone (802) 656-9562, email master.gardener@uvm.edu or visit the web site http://pss.uvm.edu/mg/mg. If you have a gardening question, you can call The Master Gardener Helpline at 1-800-639-2230 and the Master Gardeners will research and respond to your problem.

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4-H Forest Foxes (published in Sam's Good News in the Rutland area 8/29/01)
by Rosemary Finley (posted 8/29/01)


The Forest Foxes, a group of youngsters from the southwest section of Rutland City, proudly pose with the gardens they have been tending throughout the summer.

I recently discovered that youngsters living on farms aren’t the only ones participating in 4-H programs. 4-H has come to Rutland City. Twenty-two kids of both sexes between the ages of six and fifteen are actively participating in a 4-H program being conducted at the Forest Park Community Room in Rutland. The program is called the Forest Foxes and is sponsored by the UVM Extension Service 4-H Program. Supervision is provided by the Extension Service and volunteer Master Gardeners with the assistance of volunteer parents and a few teenage volunteers.

The Forest Foxes program, so far, has been conducted in three segments. The youngsters have been introduced to sewing, gardening and cooking. They are learning to use sewing machines and have made beanbags and pincushions. With the help of Master Gardeners Karen Moore and Deanna Ettori they planted vegetable gardens, which they have been tending and are now starting to harvest. The cooking segment of the program includes instruction on cooking safety, food handling and nutrition. Laurie Stearns, Nutrition Educator for the UVM Extension Services, says these kids probably know more about portion sizes and nutritional values than many adults.

On the day of my visit the group was enjoying the fruits, or more properly the vegetables, of their gardening labors, preparing and eating cole slaw and green beans from their own garden. Some of them were discovering that vegetables do actually taste good. Others still have reservations. When asked what their favorite parts of the program were, a young man named Michael said he enjoyed the cooking the most and Johnny said he liked the juice and milk. A young lady named Porsche said her favorite thing was the sewing and getting to use a sewing machine.

The Forest Foxes is a year round program and is open to all interested youngsters in the area. To find out more about the Forest Foxes, contact Rita Carlton, 4-H Specialist at the UVM Extension Service at 773-3349.

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Gardens for Learning -Educating Youngsters on Value of Food (posted 8/3/01)
article and photos by Rosemary Finley (Sam's Good News Vol. III Issue 3 July 25, 2001)


Gardens for learning participants proudly pose by the garden they planted at the Boys & Girls Club facility on Allen St. in Rutland. Master Gardeners Deanna Ettori (left rear) and Susan Harding (third from left rear) were on had to assist Program Manager Van Allen (far right rear) in educating the kids on gardening and food. Participants in the Gardening for Learning project enjoy the fruits of the strawberry season by preparing and devouring delicious strawberry crepes.

.........The Gardens for Learning project is a joint effort sponsored by Food Works of Montpelier and is designed to educate youngsters on the value of food and the joys of gardening. Food Works, the Boys & Girls Club, UVM Extension Service and volunteer Master Gardeners join together to demonstrate gardening techniques, food preparation, various crafts and take part in just plain fun and games with a group of youngsters. The group has planted a lovely vegetable and flower garden outside the Boys & Girls Club and, so far, they have harvested radishes and lettuce. Planting is still going on with more flowers to be added.

The program is designed for kids ages six through nine; but accepts any young person that shows up. The group gathers every Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 a.m. until Noon at the Boys & Girls Club. On an average day about seven or eight youngsters show up to take part in the activities. The day I attended, Project Manager Van Allen and Master Gardeners Deanna Ettori and Susan Harding were assisting Joan Cavallo who was visiting from Food Works in demonstrating and helping the kids to prepare yummy looking and yummy tasting strawberry crepes. Before I left, Laurie Stearns of UVM Extension arrived with a game for the group to play.

.........All young people are invited to attend this on-going program. Just show up at the Boys & Girls Club on Tuesday and/or Thursday at 10:00 a.m. and learn about food and have some fun.

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Gardener Digs Deep for Expertise in Field (Bennington Banner 6/30-7/1/01)
Carrie Post, Special to Banner (posted 7/13/01)

"Gardening is a lesson in patience and looking ahead," says Master Gardener Linda McLenithan of Sunderland. "Things don't have to be perfect. Those gardens in magazines took years."

Master Gardeners are university-trained volunteers in the community. The University of Vermont offers Master Gardener classes around the state at interactive television classroom sites. McLenithan took the course in Rutland. She works as a secretary at Sunderland Elementary School. Her husband, Kevin, is parts manager at Morrison Automotive in Bennington. Nine years ago, the McLenithans and Suki, their Seal-point Siamese, moved to a one-room schoolhouse in Sunderland. The couple transformed the old post-and-beam structure into a home with a light, lovely open interior, while keeping the schoolhouse charm. Then they tackled the gardens.

"It started with feeding birds," Linda said, "and wanting to have hummingbirds and butterflies. You want plants for them. I noticed articles by people signing 'Master Gardener' after their names. I went surfing on the web to learn about it. The training gives you a new look at nature and the environment, from the ground up. You have to have good soil and amend it with organic materials. You have to find the right spots for plants, and they need to be zone-appropriate. There are so many gorgeous plants you can have."

UVM professors and other experts teach classes in botany, plant diseases and pest management. Master Gardener candidates learn about flowers, small fruits, trees, turf and weeds, and of course, vegetables. Master Gardener programs can be found in other states and share the mission "to promote successful, safe, and environmentally prudent home horticultural practices through education and community activities." "The class was great," McLenithan said. "The professors said it was like having a semester's work packed into three hours (one evening) a week."

Now that she has completed the 14-week class, McLenithan is required to donate 40 hours of service to the community in order for her to become certified. McLenithan's project is a summer camp enrichment, "Sunderland Junior Gardeners," for 16 children in grades 4 through 6, with Charlene Allison, a Sunderland teacher. Anyone may contact UVM's Extension Service to request a project but it must relate to gardening and be volunteer.

McLenithan advocates the use of organic methods when possible. "A lot of people are ready to hit the bottles to get rid of whatever is plaguing them, but the simplest organic method for getting rid of pests is to pick them off. Birds eat insects, too, and you don't want to poison the birds," McLenithan said.

Another socially responsible initiative of the Master Gardeners is called "Plant a Row for the Hungry." You don't have to be a Master Gardener to donate food. The Equinox Nursery, on Route 7A in Manchester, will accept donations on Tuesdays and Sundays. The UVM Master Gardener Program can provide the location of the site nearest you, and volunteers will wash and sort the produce and deliver it to the Food Shelf. They even take zucchini.

The Master Gardener Program is about more than horticultural production. Knowledge feeds ideas as nutrients feed plants. McLenithan enjoys the confidence she gained with additional training in the field, or the fields, she enjoys. She continues to update her gardening knowledge from UVM's Master Gardener website, and she made new friends in the training.

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Lake-Friendly Gardening Awareness Promoted
(Outreach Outlook May 2001, Volume 18, Number 4 http://ctr.uvm.edu/oo.)
Jurij Homziak, Watershed Management Specialist (posted 5/8/01)

From the blue expanses of Lake Champlain to the quiet waters of the many smaller lakes and ponds, lake waters are the heart of our region. To help protect these waters, UVM Extension's Master Gardener program, with Lake Champlain Sea Grant support, is making sure local residents are aware of lake-friendly gardening. Lake-friendly gardening promotes the following landscaping principles:
* Use low input.
* Water efficiently.
* Fertilize appropriately.
* Control erosion.
* Manage pests and diseases responsibly.
* Recycle yard and household wastes.
* Reduce nonpoint source pollution.
* Attract birds and provide for wildlife.
* Protect the watershed.
This outreach education effort is for residents and others involved in planning, designing, installing, and maintaining private and public landscapes. The core of the program is a series of 12 information bulletins, with tips and how-to advice on low-impact gardening, lawn care, and landscaping for the homeowner. These bulletins are available for free on the Web at http://ctr.uvm.edu/ctr/elecpubs.htm, or they can be purchased from the Extension Publications Office. (Contact Sheri Bissonnette, Publications Distribution Officer at: 656-0298; e-mail: sheri.bissonnette@uvm.edu.)
What began as a local initiative on the west coast years ago is now a very successful nationwide effort supported by state Extension and coastal Sea Grant programs. It first appeared in the Lake Champlain region a few years ago, as an Essex County, N.Y. reprint of a New York Sea Grant Great Lakes program publication. Lake Champlain Sea Grant enlisted UVM Extension Master Gardener program to review and revise the information to adapt it to the needs of gardeners, homeowners, and other residents in the Lake Champlain basin and Vermont.
Since lake-friendly gardening made its debut at the Burlington Flower Show in early March, the UVM Master Gardeners have been active in getting the word out to homeowners, gardeners, residential property managers, and others, such as neighborhood planning associations and volunteer organizations. Making entire neighborhoods aware of lake-friendly activities, such as low-input lawn care, is important to translate awareness into action. Sea Grant, UVM Extension Specialists and the Master Gardener program are working with the Burlington Public Works and Burlington School District staff to have a low-input lawncare demonstration underway this spring on the grounds of the Champlain Elementary School on Pine Street in Burlington.
In addition to increasing awareness about pollution prevention and water quality protection, the Lake Friendly Gardening program also raises awareness of important related issues such as backyard solid waste, soil erosion, and plant and wildlife conservation. Not only does the education program help homeowners protect lake resources, it also assists Vermont and Basin municipalities in meeting the requirements of the U.S. EPA stormwater rules to reduce nonpoint source pollution from urban runoff and discharges. By getting residents to become aware and involved in maintaining good water quality, we help to preserve the quality of life and promote sustainable development of the lake basins in our region.

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Contact Vermont Master Gardener at master.gardener@uvm.edu.
Contact webmaster sarah.kingsley@uvm.edu with questions or comments about this web site.

Vermont Master Gardener is an integral part of the University of Vermont Extension Home Horticulture Program

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. University of Vermont Extension, Burlington, Vermont.University of Vermont Extension and U.S. Department of Agriculture, cooperating, offer education and employment to everyone without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, or marital or familial status.