Gardening is the most popular of all leisure time activities and for good reason. It provides both mental and physical stress relief. As citizens of Jefferson County become more health conscious, requests for gardening information increases. This need for information has resulted in increases in the number of requests for participation in the Master Gardener Class. In response to that need a Master Gardener class was held in the fall 2005. The Agent for Urban Programs coordinated an intensive 16 class program. The class was taught by agents as well professionals in the field of horticulture. Seventeen people completed the course and passed the final exam. As of this time 15 Master Gardener interns have returned 614 hours to the Extension. Each intern is required to return 40 hours of volunteer service in three areas of service: educational activities, horticulture hotline, and hands-on activities. The educational activities have included a speakers bureau, question & answer booths at garden tours, judging 4h county fair, children’s garden classes, and demonstrations at horticultural events. Master Gardener interns have taken 233 calls from home gardeners. The interns are also involved in designing and maintaining 3 demonstration gardens.
The assigned hourly wage given to the value of volunteer work by Independent Sector, a non-profit leadership organization, is $17.55. When multiplied by 614 hours, the result is $10,776.00 donated to extension in the service of the citizens of Jefferson County.
All of the graduates of the class expressed that the amount and quality of the knowledge gained exceeded their expectations. Most of them acknowledged that they would become more environmentally conscious gardeners and would make safer choices when purchasing and using garden chemicals. They would also advise others to correctly practice integrated pest management.