Well it’s official, the 2017 Master Gardener volunteer season has come to an end!  With a deadline of October 1st for all volunteer service hours to be completed, we wisely used the final hours to tear out plants and remove trellises at Wheeler Historic Farm. The Meals Plus garden has been put to bed (get it?) for yet another winter and eagerly awaits a new set of friendly faces in the spring!

Removing old bean vines from trellis basket of zinnias digging up melon plants for fall

As with all seasons, when one ends we joyfully begin to anticipate the next! Here in the Salt Lake County Extension office, that means planning for the next round of wonderful Master Gardener volunteers. This week’s post highlights the hard work of our AMAZING volunteers over this past ‘season’ and hopefully inspires other readers to join us for the upcoming one!

If you haven’t quite determined if the Master Gardener program is right for you, please check out our previous post “So you want to be a Master Gardener?” for all the nitty gritty details. Then head to the bottom of this post for information on how to join us in 2018!

Master Gardener Program – 2017 Season

1,200+

  • number of youth who participated in Sustainable Agriculture programs presented by Master Gardeners

youth at the garden during summer camp

2,411

  • number of public horticulture questions answered

6,445

  • pounds of produce harvested and donated to the senior center markets

$2,626

  • estimated value of produce donated to senior centers

freshly harvested produce ready to donate

6,137

  • total volunteer service hours completed by Master Gardeners in 2017

214

  • total number of Master Gardeners who reported hours in 2017

 

The Next Season of Master Gardeners (2018)

The Master Gardener volunteer training course is held once a year with classes starting in late January and continuing through May. Volunteer service should be completed between March and October.

the garden in fall ready for winter

  • The first step  is to get your name on our interest list
  • You’ll receive an email in late fall (November-December) alerting you to sign up for one of our mandatory orientations
  • You MUST attend an orientation in order to receive an application* for the program
  • We will review the applications and send notification to individuals that have been accepted to the program
  • After being notified of your acceptance, a $200 tuition fee is due.
  • Classes are held once week and are taught by USU Extension Faculty and Specialists who provide college level horticulture content.

Note* Turning in an application does not guarantee you will be accepted to the program, our class sizes vary from year to year and while we want to accept everyone, we sometimes have more demand than we can accommodate. If this happens, we will pick applicants via a lottery type system.

basil in bloom

For more information

Visit the Salt Lake County Master Gardener website at slcmg.usu.edu

If you are not located in Salt Lake County you can find out about the Master Gardener Program in your county by visiting your county Extension website.