Becoming an OSU Master Gardener™ 

Master Gardeners (MGs) are volunteers trained by OSU Extension Service agents and specialists. To become an OSU Master Gardener, you must complete the training program, pass a final examination following training, and volunteer a specified number of hours of public service through the Master Gardener program.

Volunteers receive training in botany, soil science, insect and disease identification and control, care and culture of ornamental plants, small fruits, lawns, home orchards and vegetables, and diagnosis of plant problems to prepare you to answer home gardening questions. Classes are offered only one time each year, from early January to mid-March.  Classes are held one day per week, on Mondays, from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the OSU Marion County Extension Office in Salem.  The office is located in the Health and Services Building, 3180 Center Street NE, Room 1361.

Master Gardener Class

The second part of the program begins after classes are completed. Volunteers give 66 hours of their time extending home horticulture information to other gardeners. The 66 hours are to be given sometime during the year in educational activities of the Master Gardeners. 40 of those pay-back hours are spent on telephone duty on the Master Gardener desk in the Extension office, answering questions from homeowners in Marion County on gardening topics.

 

Master Gardener™ Garden Gate Newsletter

Master Gardener™ Garden Gate Newsletter: January 2009 issue

Master Gardener Desk

12 hours are devoted to activities in the Marion Garden, a demonstration garden run by the MGs at the Salem Extension office. The other 14 hours are spent on other activities that Marion County MGs have been involved in recently.  Some of those are the annual Master Gardener plant sale, in May, classroom programs for schoolchildren, gardening clinics and presentations at farmers markets and fairs, radio presentations on KBZY 1490 AM in Salem, and an evaluation of drought-tolerant plants with the Oregon Garden. Ideas from new members for community volunteer activities are always welcome, and if you have particular skills you would like to offer, we make a concerted effort to accommodate those! 

Marion Garden	KBZY Radio

The cost for this program is a fee of $100, which covers materials and is paid at the time of enrollment. The $100 fee includes a copy of Sustainable Gardening, a comprehensive 500-page reference manual, prepared specifically for Oregon and Washington Master Gardeners. Application forms for the program are sent out in October. If you would like to receive an application form, please contact Neil Bell (neil.bell@oregonstate.edu) to add your name to the list for the program.