I almost killed it.
So….. I got happy with myself about the fig I have rooting in the pot. Aaaaand I watered it and took the baggie off of it.
That was not a good idea. The largest leaf died and one of the the side shoots started to dry up.
I put the baggie back over it and it seems to be recovering.
It’s sitting in the kitchen window with the baggie back over it, now. It will stay there, with its baggie, until my friend is ready to take responsibility for it.
I have a friend who is doing MG training in Orange County at the same time as I am doing mine in Greensboro. We so NOT have the same curriculum OR the same expectations by our agents for follow up.
Not exactly anyway. At least as far as we can tell right now.
So.
This is what MG training is like where I am doing MY thing.
Clearly, different counties use their volunteers as seems best to them and those needs vary.
What I’m posting can give someone an idea of what to expect in a general way.
It’s very much a YMMV kind of experience.
At our first class, we were given a folder with a name tag attached that has the logo of the extension service, our names, and STUDENT printed on it. We’re expected to wear those every time we’re doing something official so that the people there have an idea of how much instructions we need. We get a new one with INTERN on it after we finish the class and until November. Then, when we have fulfilled all our requirements, we get one that says MASTER GARDENER.
The folder contained the schedule I already showed you, a page of certification requirements, a schedule of events for the coming year, and some basic information about the paid employees and committee heads.
We got a brief welcome from most of those people over the course of our 2.5 hour class.
After introductions, we got more detailed information about what is expected from us and how to meet those requirements.
Certification requires 35 hours of education from our training classes and 5 hours of education from field trips, videos, guest lectures, final exam review and any extra training workshops we participate in. In addition, we’re expected to complete 40 volunteer hours by November. 16 hours in the demo garden, 8 hours at any of various events (plant sales, farmers’ market booth, 4-H helper, etc.), 12 hours on the Infoline and 4 hours doing what we enjoy the most.
Annual recertification requires 10 hours of Education and 30 hours Volunteering, 9 of those in the Demo Garden and/or Infoline. Plus a $20 Recertification fee. (I have no problem with that. I think it’s entirely reasonable.)
We watched this little video about the Extension service.
Then, we got a tour of the demonstration gardens. To my frustration, the gardens are so well labeled that they didn’t feel like we need a map. So, I can’t show you exactly how it’s arranged. There are all sorts of small garden areas, shade, crevice, water, bog, vegetable, herb, zen, serenity, pollinator, birds, natives, succulents….
I’m trying to remember if there are any other types specified. I’ll try to do better when I’m not in a crowd of 30 people. That should be easy to do because we will be doing mandatory work in each of 4 zones once a month for 4 months. That way, we learn some about each area and don’t pick favorites without knowing all the choices that are actually there.
When we went back inside, we learned to use the intranet. We will be logging our hours, using the calendar to let committee heads know when to expect us to come help out and log Infoline calls there.
“Infoline” includes checking the emails for home grower questions in addition to answering phone calls. We DON’T answer farming calls or email. Those go directly to the agent. We work with community gardens, schools and household growers, both inside and out. But, small scale.
We have to avoid giving brand recommendations, too. We can say “A copper based fungicide will treat that rust on your peach trees. You can get it at any of the farm and garden stores. You want to look for this (chemical name) at this strength and apply it this often.” But we can’t say “Get Ortho Coppercide at Lowe’s and use that to treat the rust on your peach trees.”
It can never look like the Extension Service is advertising any product.
I think that’s all the high spots. Next week, it’s Plant ID and Botany.
I have rooted a fig.
I’m not positive what the variety is. It has yellow fruit. It is not a Brown Turkey fig.
I watched this video and decided to give it a try. https://youtu.be/VQy-ChIvNKw?si=EoK3amigA0ssDAO_. It has been staying in my bedroom with a plastic bag over it to keep it from drying out.
I’m so excited!!
North Carolina State University is the largest agricultural college in the state and they run the State Extension Service. Each county has an office that does all sorts of useful things for their communities. They operate using public funds supervising 4H clubs and helping anyone involved with plants, from farmers and public gardens to someone trying to keep a houseplant alive.
Each county has trained volunteers to help shoulder the load. I start training in Guilford County in January. I actually live in Orange County, but the Orange training class is already full, Greensboro isn’t far and I have a friend who was signing up there.
Orientation is January 14 and we will have class nearly every Wednesday until the beginning of May.
The star on 2/25 is because that’s not a day to miss. That’s the day we meet our mentors. We can miss a day and make it up. But, that one really needed to be on everyone’s calendar.
Application days are test days. Those aren’t days to miss either.
On the Virtual Wednesdays we have all day week to watch the video on the MG intranet and there’s a little quiz afterward to prove we actually did watch all of it.
The intranet is how we log our hours, too. You don’t get to just sign up and say “I paid my $120 and I’m a Master Gardener.” You are expected to seriously put in some time.
MG Interns are expected to volunteer a lot as we continue working with our mentors. Once we are actual Master Gardeners, we are expected to serve a minimum of 10 hours per year. (There’s a party in November when we have completed our training. Friends and family are invited to celebrate.)
In our first year, we are expected to put in 40 hours after we finish the class:
We have a book and we’ll be expected to read before coming to class. We can buy a hardback copy if we really want to have one in our hands for $50 or $60. Or we can download it from that website for free. You can get the HB from other online stores than the NC Extension service and they can be a little less costly. But, not by much.
We’re using the second edition, originally published in 2022. They’re working on a 3rd edition. But, it is such a great book that other services want to use it and #3 is going to be for the entire Southeast, not just NC. So, they’re putting extra effort into that one and it’s not coming out soon. Taylor said that the only differences between #1 and #2 are organizational and if we find an inexpensive copy of the first edition, it will have the same info in a different arrangement.
You can know I’ll be going with free on my tablet.
I have used the Infoline a few times and I’m looking forward to doing that, kind of giving back. That training is learning where to look for answers. Complicated stuff gets passed along to the Extension Agent.
I’m really looking forward to the Raleigh field trip on 2/2. We get to see how soil is tested and see what we need to know to tell people how to collect their samples.
Well.
I’m really looking forward to all of it.
I am the Audience 