Well you rock too!!

She's a master gardener, because I call her one! ha

I call her my garden guru. I was asked today if I was a master gardener. I said no, I just research a lot and ask OkieDawn my questions.

I don't in any way intend to demean the Master Gardeners out there, but there's a whole lot more to gardening than a "course" and an agreement to give time to the community. Dawn, honestly, knows more about vegetable gardening and its related components/issues than any "master gardener" I've ever spoken to. JMHO.

Mary

Y'all are so kind. I'm just an old dirt gardener who learned at my daddy's knee, and who then went on to search for answers to questions he couldn't answer. I'm still searching for answers all the time---isn't that how we all learn?

With respect to the Master Gardener program, I do respect it for what it is---an educational program combined with community service. However, I also feel there is no substitute for real-life learning in the gardening dirt school of hard knocks. Learning by doing something for years is not the same as learning from a book and handouts in a course. I assume they also get a lot of practical hands-on gardening work too when they take the course. Surely they do. And, it really isn't a case of either/or---I believe certified Master Gardeners and old time experienced gardeners can complement one another perfectly. I like the way the Master Gardeners program exposes people to knowledge in many different areas. Nobody knows everything there is to know about gardening (or anything else) and we're all continually learning, hopefully together, and hopefully sharing what we learn with one another.

I know several people who are Master Gardeners and they all rock. Every single one of them is very dedicated to the program, whether they had 10 or 20 years of experience in gardening before they took the course, or maybe 3 or 5 years., and every single one of them will do everything in their power to help anyone who has a gardening question or problem. I don't think they get enough credit for all the community hours they work. Many of them go far above and beyond what they are required to do. I appreciate our master gardeners. And we shouldn't expect the Master Gardeners to know everything. That's not their role. They know what they were taught, and they also know who to go to with questions that fall outside their expertise. So, if they cannot answer your questions, they know who does have the answers. Or, at least, they know who should.

As for Amy, if y'all aren't on the FB pages seeing her in action, you should be. She answers tons of questions for people, and in my mind, her answers always are the correct ones, and I appreciate the time I know she spends there helping people.

Ha ha ha, I give them Dawn answers that I've learned here. Makes me look good.

LOL. And everything I know is something I learned from someone else, whether it was another gardener, a garden writer, a farmer or whoever. I think the best thing those of us who love growing can do is just to pass on what we learn. Shared knowledge is precious to me and I always try to remember who it was that taught me what I know.

Every single time we talk about growing Dixondale onions, I know exactly where that started for me.....with Bill P., who lived east of Dallas and posted on GardenWeb as Gone Fishin'. He's been gardening in Heaven for almost a decade now, I guess, and I miss his words of wisdom. He strongly encouraged me to stop buying local onions and to order fresh bundles straight from Dixondale Farms. He told me that if I did that, I'd never regret it. He was 100% correct, and when we pass on the knowledge we have of how to grow onions, of how to plant them, care for them, cure them, etc., I still see Gone Fishin's rows of gigantically huge onions in his garden. He didn't just post photos of them to "brag", but answered everybody's questions about how he did it and why he used the techniques he used and advised folks on how they could do the same. He wasn't just growing onions----he was using his words to grow a whole new generation of gardeners. I've never yet gotten monster onions like his, but I keep trying. One thing he had going for him was that he added tons of manure from his daughter's horse barn to his garden every year, particularly to the area where he was going to plant his onions. Apparently those onions loved that horse manure. So, while Gone Fishin' is gone, so much of his knowledge lives on in all of us and we keep sharing it with others. To me, that is an important part of gardening too---just spreading the word.

I think so too. If it weren't for sharing the passion I never would have tried. Dick Raymond was my first inspiration in the joy of gardening. I always wanted to try it but he really got me hooked to passion of it.

Now I admitted this to okieTim at my first spring fling. When I search Anything on gw I always type Dawns name also. That assures me I get good answers.

I don't know to many people that take the time like yall do to help lure others in.

I agree with everyone above. I've learned so much from others, and I try to share that with anyone who wants to learn. This forum has been a great resource for me, and I value the wisdom, experience, advice and opinions of my fellow Okie gardeners. Something I discovered in college, although it seems paradoxical, is that when we teach others, we also learn. So, it is good to share what we have learned, with those who want to learn. I'm laughing here, but sharing with others who don't ask for or want our advice or opinions isn't such a good idea;) There is someone in my extended family with whom I have a complicated relationship. It can, at times, be competitive when it needn't be. Anyway, I shared some seedlings this spring with that person, and informed them that I had started hardening them off outdoors. I recommended that they continue to keep the seedlings outside.The person promptly told me that they harden their things off in the warmth of an upstairs spare bedroom. I just smiled and said, "ok". They still don't have a single tomato.

I can vouch for the horse manure in the onion beds. Yep.