Tag: Master Gardener Training

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Does Your Master Gardener Training Class Schedule Meet State Standards?

In 2008, the Home Horticulture Working Group voted on and approved curricular standards for annual Master Gardener training for new volunteers. As you start to put your schedule of classes together for 2020, please take a moment to review the standards, and be sure that your class content aligns with current guidance.

Training must consist of at least 40 hours of training time. This time can include time in class, time spent on online course modules, and time spent on practical or hands-on activities.

More detail on the suggested content of each class can be found in the Master Gardener Coordinators Manual section on Course Content.

OSU Faculty and Staff who teach classes: please take a moment to update your information and preferences for the 2020 teaching season in the Instructor Database in Box. You might also want to check out the Basic Training Resources folder in Box. Both of these are in our shared Master Gardener Program folder in Box. You need to have an OSU email in order to access these resources. If you can not access these resources, please contact Gail.

Required Courses: In order to be certified as an OSU Master Gardener volunteer, all trainees must complete each of these three classes.

  • The OSU Master Gardener Program
  • Understanding Pesticides
  • Basic Botany

Plant Problem Diagnosis: Choose at least 2 of the following classes.

  • Diagnostics
  • Insect ID
  • Plant Pathology
  • Weed ID and Management
  • Vertebrate pest management
  • Resources for Master Gardeners

Sustainable Gardening: Choose at least 2 of the following classes.

  • Soils and Fertilizers
  • Compost
  • Integrated Pest Management
  • Sustainable Landscape Design
  • Organic Gardening
  • Gardening for Wildlife
  • Rain Gardens
  • Water Quality
  • Waterwise Gardening
  • Native Plants
  • Invasive Species

Backyard and Community Food Production: Choose at least 2 of the following classes

  • Organic Gardening
  • Vegetable Gardening
  • Small Fruits
  • Home Orchards
  • Herbs
  • Container Gardening
  • Compost

Elective Classes: Choose as many classes as are necessary to round out curricular content.

  • Herbaceous Ornamental Plants
  • Houseplants
  • Lawns
  • Localized Gardening (Coastal, Valley, High Desert, etc.)
  • Pruning
  • Woody Ornamental Plants
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Home Horticulture Working Group Retreat

The Home Horticulture Working Group received an OSU Extension Innovation Grant, to support a 2-day retreat for our group. The intention of the retreat is to:

 . . . create the time and space for deep conversations on future iterations of Oregon’s EMG program. We will review Oregon’s EMG program with an eye towards identifying structural changes that could be made to improve the experience for both coordinators running the program, and current and future EMG volunteers. An anticipated end result of this work is the development of a shared vision of inclusivity for the program, specific action items to make Oregon’s EMG program relevant and useful to a broader audience, and a potential redesign of the course, better suited for both coordinators and participants.

You can access the entire proposal, with full details, here.

The first step in planning our retreat is to choose a time and location for the retreat. Please note that we think we have enough funding to pay for lodging for about 20 rooms. If we get more than 20 folks who need lodging, We have two options that we are considering:

Please visit THIS SURVEY to let the planning committee know if you will be able to participate in the retreat, and then rank your preference for date and location. Please also let us know if you will need a hotel room.

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National Extension Master Gardener Coordinators’ Conference

Oregon sent a fairly large contingent of Extension professionals to the 2018 Extension Master Gardener Coordinators’ Conference, which was hosted by the University of Wisconsin.

A lot of the conference content has been posted for viewing, if you were not able to make the event, or if you’re wanting to revisit the conference. Of special interest to Oregon’s MG Coordinators are two presentations.

  1. Michelle Sager’s talk on ‘Dissecting Controversial Issues in Master Gardener Training. (12 minutes and 52 seconds)
  2. The Oregon group’s take-home messages from the conference, and their 2020 vision for Oregon’s Master Gardener Program. (about 10 minutes)

Both presentations are well worth the time!