July 17, 2014
The 2014 Purdue Master Gardener State Conference was held June 12-14, 2014 in Indianapolis, IN! The Marion County Master Gardeners and Purdue Extension, Marion County, did an outstanding job hosting this year’s conference! Thank you to Kathy Hull, Barb Jablonski, and Judy Turner, Conference Co-chairs, Steve Mayer, County MG Coordinator, and all of the Marion County Master Gardeners who helped host over 250 Purdue Master Gardeners from across Indiana!
Congratulations to the following Purdue Master Gardener Search for Excellence Award Winners who received recognition on Friday, June 13, 2014.
Educational Service Workshop
1st Pla
ce – Sunnyside Master Gardener Association, Floyd County for their Garden Lecture Series
The purpose of the lecture series is to provide advanced training opportunities for the members of the Sunnyside Master Gardener Association and, equally important, to demonstrate sound gardening practices to the public. Another goal is to develop a Speakers’ Bureau of Sunnyside Master Gardeners who would be willing to give presentations as requested by the public.
In 2013, a lecture series was held in the fall. Topics for the fall lecture series were Extending the Growing Season, Agri-Ability, Amending Your Soil and Raised Beds. Presenters included Sunnyside Master Gardeners and local Extension Educators.
2nd Place – Hendricks County Master Gardeners for the garden education project at the Plainfield Correctional Facility
The Plainfield Correctional Facility (PCF) is a medium security adult male facility. Volunteers from Hendricks County Master Gardeners, PCF officers, offenders and staff members, joined to participate in this new gardening venture. Hendricks County Master Gardeners assisted PCF staff by working with offenders and staff to teach them proper gardening techniques while establishing gardens on facility grounds.
During growing season from May 2013 – October 2013 (20 weeks) approximately 20 offenders worked daily on the following tasks: planting, watering, weeding, Insect/disease management, Compost fertilizing, Harvesting and packaging. PCF offenders contributed 14,000 hours while participating in the project and Hendricks County Master Gardeners contributed 410 hours training offenders and staff about gardening and assisting with the maintenance of the gardens.
Youth Program
1st Place – St. J
oe Valley Master Gardeners, St. Joseph County for Diggin’ in the Dirt: Kids Garden Club
The “Diggin’ in the Dirt: Kids Garden Club” is a joint effort between St Joseph Valley Master Gardeners and the Bittersweet branch of the Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Library Children’s Staff for children in grades 1-6. The children are taught skills about gardening and enjoy a brief presentation on gardening-related topics once a month from April to September. Hands-on experiences and demonstrations are also used to teach the children about gardening.
2nd Place: LaGrange and Steuben County Master Gardeners for Young Sprouts
Young Sprouts meet one to two time
s a month after school. Each educational session begins with a garden-related book read by the school librarian followed by a short lesson presented by a Master Gardener on topics such as saving seeds, flower arranging, bees, herbs, wild edibles, etc. Community businesses such as Booth Tree Farm spoke about their Christmas tree business, or Master Gardeners gave a lesson from the Junior Master Gardener curriculum.
Since the Young Sprouts program began 13 years ago, over 200 students have participated and gained an appreciation for and hopefully a love of gardening. Some of the Young Sprouts participants have become Junior Master Gardeners to continue their horticulture education. As a result of the ongoing success of the Young Sprouts program, the school now has a display and teaching garden where the community can learn about gardening.
3rd Place – Madison County Master Gardener Association for the Liberty Christian School Garden Club Nature Trail
The Liberty Christi
an School garden club created a new trail, 1,100 feet in length. The goal of this project was to provide a hands-on tool for teachers and Master Gardener volunteers. Teachers at the school have used the nature train to teach about identifying trees or plants and leaves, preparing leaf collections, how leaves change colors, and photosynthesis in plants.
Here are some quotes from some students in response to being asked what they have learned from their experience participating in the Liberty Christian School Garden Club:
“I learned how to plant vegetables in the garden and getting my hands dirty!”
“I learned about germination, that the seed needs temperature, sun, and moisture to grow.”
“I learned about bulbs. The different parts and how to plant and force bulbs. I loved planting them around school and in the spring seeing what we planted bloom.”
“I learned about different potatoes, where they come from and how to plant them.”
“I learned about perennials and annuals, also how to plant a tree.”
“I love being in the greenhouse and learning how to plant seeds and taking them home.”
“Our Earth is important and we need to take care of it.”
Congratulations to all of these hard working Purdue Master Gardeners!
See you at the 2015 Purdue Master Gardener State Conference, June 4-6 in Evansville!