Mary, you need to take a course offered by the county. We had to buy a binder which cost $100 and then also have manditory volunteer hours (which were not a lot). In Georgia, to remain a master gardener you need to do your volunteer hours every year.
I am not a master gardener. I went for an interview and was turned down. They asked about volunteer hour commitment history, and said my hours volunteering in Canada would never count. So I have not gone back to reapply.

GGG

Thanks for asking, Mary. Since the programs seem to vary slightly from state to state, I've copied the paragraph below from the AHS website:

The Master Gardener program, conducted throughout the United States and Canada, is a two-part educational effort, in which avid gardeners are provided many hours of intense home horticulture training, and in return they "pay back" local university extension agents through volunteerism. Master Gardeners assist with garden lectures, exhibits, demonstrations, school and community gardening, phone diagnostic service, research, and many other projects.

Their website is linked below, from which you can access MG programs throughout the US and three Canadian provinces.

Here in New Jersey, the course ran for three months, after which we had to perform 60 hours of community service/Helpline. Annual recertification requirements are 10 Helpline hours, 20 hours of community service and/or Helpline, and 10 hours of continuing education, for a total of 40 hours.

We have a "Helpline" at the County office of the State Cooperative Extenstion, where people can call, write, e-mail, or come in personally with garden-related questions. We are also invited to have informational booths at various events throughout the county, give talks to garden clubs and other organizations, plan gardens for such organizations as schools, Ronald McDonald House, municipal and county sites. We run a Junior Master Gardener (T) program, horticultural therapy program, assist with the County Fair, many volunteer in the County Parks, and each MG class takes over the PAR (Plant a Row for the Hungry) garden behind the County Agriculture Building to plan, plant, maintain, and harvest produce. In 2007, our class donated over 1600 pounds of produce to a local food bank; it looks like the current class is way ahead of us (in our defense, we had to wait for new deer fencing and that set us back considerably). We have an annual plant sale/educational event to help fund these programs.

A thorough knowledge of gardening is not a prerequisite to take the course ... but a genuine interest in gardening and the willingness & enthusiasm to help others is. I've often told people that being a Master Gardener doesn't mean one knows all the answers ... just where to find them ... well, most of them, anyway.

I'm fortunate in that I seem to live in a county with a particularly active MG program; wonderful people, too.

If you think you might be interested, check out the linked website for a link to the program in your state/county so you can find out more about it. I tell people in my area to ask to be put on the mailing list for an application packet, which is mailed out each September for the class that will start the following February. That way, they don't have to remember to look into it; when the application arrives, if they're still interested and the timing is right, they can fill it out and send it in.

Our group has men and women of all ages, from all walks of life, with the common bond of a genuine interest in gardening (as well as good stewardship of the land and its various inhabitants, though this is not our official focus) and sharing this wonderful hobby (addiction?) with others.

I'm sorry to have rambled on so. Can you tell I'm just a little enthusiastic I am about the program?

Diane

Here is a link that might be useful: AHS re Master Gardeners

I checked into master gardener certification for my county a couple of years ago. The fee was a nominal $70. Unfortunately their scheduling was based on the belief that most folks do not work on Saturday, which did not suit my schedule.

Lorna

Thank you for the information. Your program sounds wonderful, Diane. I love how you give back to the community. It is definitely something I'm going to look into.

Mary

I took the MG course here in NC in 2001 and was active in the group till I lost my husband - circumstances have prevented me from getting involved again but I will when my time is freed up. Ours was $40.00 for the manual and classes and then the usual volunteering hours back 40 the first year and then 20 after. We did alot of plant clinics at local nurseries, Plant A Row, speaking at local schools, ect. We held plant sales and had a beautification program around the Ag building. We also manned a telephone 'hotline' several days a week.

I originally took the course because I had moved from the upper Mid-Atlantic area and gardening down here was so different plus I just wanted to learn all I could. I thought the course was invaluable and will take a refresher couse when I do get back into it again. I guess every state works the program a little differently but the basic concept is still the same....

Lynne

GirlGroupGirl, I'm so sorry to hear they turned you away ... Their loss. (I guess they figured they had a "live one" when they saw on my application I'd been a school board member for 11 years, lol)

I forgot to mention our fee, which was, I think, about $120, but that can vary greatly. I was floored when a MG from another NJ county told me their course was over $200 ... then I learned their county offered night classes (ours are 9:30-12:30 Tues & Thurs), so of course the speaker fees were higher.

Lynne, it sounds like you were in a very active group, too, and I expect you'll get back into it when the time is right.

The only complaint I have is that our group are all great cooks ... who take turns providing refreshments at each class and association meeting and whenever else appropriate. I must have gained 10 pounds during the class, despite working in the PAR garden and one of the university experimental farms as well as my own gardens, and haven't been able to take it off since!

Diane

When I want inspiration and there are no new pics here, I google for a phrase like 'master gardener gardens' and find the neatest places to tour.

Master Gardeners in town near here write features for the local newspaper on occasion, always very informative and timely.

Nell

Diane, I'd volunteered at a local radio station for 10 years,
then had volunteered from when I was 11 to about 22 with various programs in our dept. of Social Services to work with developmentally handicapped children.
Plus I'd gardened since a child. It was kind of surreal.
Our MG program runs on Monday, Wed and Friday mornings, three hours each morning. There was also a test at the time and you needed 90% to pass however a friend just got his MG and they only required he give a demonstration to a group of people, which he did and he is now a MG. And a very good one.

I think it can also vary year to year who is in charge of the program. Our first year requirements are 55 hrs. and I think it's the same every year after that in this county - or it was because a lot of the MG's where letting their committments lapse. Now they have started an education center and it seems like there are nice programs there.

GGG