A Minute for Agriculture
By Bruce Bearinger
Buchanan County ISU
Extension Education Director
Nationally, the Master Gardener program is relatively young. The first Master Gardener program was initiated in two counties in Washington State in 1972. The Extension agent for horticulture in those counties was overwhelmed by the volume of requests for horticulture information coming into his office. His efforts to use the media to answer questions more efficiently only seemed to result in an increasing number of telephone calls asking for individualized information. He came up with the idea of trading specialized training in horticulture for a commitment to spend a specific number of hours doing volunteer outreach work.
The Washington state program was so successful that several other states quickly patterned similar programs after it. Forty-Six states, the District of Columbia, and four Canadian provinces have organized Master Gardener Programs. It is estimated that over 100,000 people have been trained as Master Gardeners.
The Master Gardener program has been used as a model for several other volunteer training programs, such as Master Food Preservers, Master Woodlot Managers, Master Composters, and Master Conservationists.
The Iowa Master Gardener program was piloted in Scott County in 1977 with 17 volunteer trained. Over 3500 Iowans in nearly all of Iowa’s 99 counties have been certified as Master Gardeners. Training is held in approximately 20 locations each year, with participants driving as far as 70 miles one way to attend Master Gardner classes.
In 1987, the First National Master Gardener Conference was held in Washington, D.C. Shortly after the conference, Master Gardener International Corporation (MaGIC) was created. International Conferences are now held bi-annually in various parts of the world.
Look for my article next month when I will give a brief history of the Master Gardener program and association in Buchanan County. I will also discuss the Master Conservationist program in Buchanan County.