Master Gardeners gearing up for 2019

PRESCOTT – As soon as the weather allows, members of the Nevada County Master Gardeners will be out and about working on projects.

Members of the group met Tuesday morning at the Nevada County Extension Office to discuss upcoming project, most especially the annual plant show and sale, scheduled for April 13 at the Stokes Center.

Claudette Harris is this year’s president. Master Gardner’s is a volunteer organization under the umbrella of the University of Arkansas’ Division of Agriculture and the Extension Service. Each county does something different to raise money, it was said, with the local group sponsoring the plant show and sale. All money raised from the sale is used to do community projects, such as the landscaping at the Nevada County Courthouse and Prescott Elementary School. Other projects include the Nevada County Library and the Nevada County Extension Service, along with Sterling Square and the Prescott welcome sign. The club has taken on a new project this year, – the Nevada County Fair.

Plants for the show and sale are started at the greenhouse at Prescott High School, with the gardeners making a donation to the PHS Future Farmers of America club for the use of the greenhouse.

The group agreed on getting calls and being asked to do private projects, such as for homes and businesses. However, this isn’t permitted as all projects must be for public facilities. Master Gardeners have sanctioned and unsanctioned projects. The unsanctioned ones are projects they assist on, but are not ongoing. The sanctioned projects are ones the group do on an annual, or as needed, basis. The courthouse, library, extension office, PES, welcome sign and Sterling Square are all sanctioned projects as is the recently added fairgrounds.

Master Gardeners are trained by the Extension Service faculty and must first complete 40 hours of intensive educational training in almost every aspect of horticulture. Topics include soil science, botany, plant propagation, pest management, pesticide and herbicide usage, vegetable and ornamental gardening, fruit production, plant and weed identification, pruning and other such related subjects. This, though, is far from the end of the process as the gardeners must perform at least 20 hours of volunteer service in the community and 20 hours of continuing education annually after the first year.

Harris said it’s fun to work with people who have the same interests, and the group goes on field trips and to state meetings. “We’re a close-knit bunch.” She continued saying one of the things the gardeners does is to teach a butterfly program to second graders, adding the plants at PES are specifically to help attract butterflies. This, she said, is used as an educational program for the students.

However, new members are needed, especially men. The first scheduled work day is Jan. 14, with members of the group hitting the greenhouse on Jan. 28 to get ready for the plant show and sale. This year’s speakers will be Randy Forst, who will talk about gardening design, and Tara Beasely, who’ll talk about hummingbirds. There will also be vendors and door prizes.

“Everything we does goes back to the community,” Harris said. “We get a lot of positive comments, but we also do a lot of hard work.”

Anyone interested in becoming a Master Gardener, or simply learning more about the program can call County Agent Darren Neal at 870-887-2818 or go by the extension office at 532 W. First S.