How Does Your Garden Grow?

Gardening has become one of the most popular pastimes in America today, but successful gardening takes knowledge, especially when moving to a state like Florida where you can garden year-round. When you get frustrated because your favorite plants refuse to behave like they should, it’s time to call on a Master Gardener to help you out.

Master Gardeners are volunteer instructors who are qualified to provide the answers to Floridians’ gardening questions. They are trained by the University of Florida Cooperative Extension program, which is part of a nationwide educational network resulting from collaboration between federal, state and local governments and a state land grant university. Every state has a central extension office at its land grant university and a network of regional and local offices. The mission of the cooperative extension system is to give out research-based information on a variety of topics including agriculture and horticulture.

The Master Gardener program was launched in 1972 by Dr. David Gibby, horticultural agent for King’s County in the Seattle, Wash., extension office. His aim was to train qualified volunteers to answer home gardeners’ questions, an idea that had grown out of his frustration at trying to keep up with the volume of questions he was receiving. Over time, the program developed a “learn and return” strategy that provided education-based instruction combined with the latest scientific research.

 Read the entire article in the January 2007 issue