Tag: Master Gardener Training

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Guide to Being a Master Gardener Volunteer: revised publication is now out

The quintessential guidebook for being an OSU Extension Master Gardener volunteer has been updated and modernized. It’s available to read online and download and features all things Master Gardener, including our connection to OSU, the priorities of the program, and policies and guidelines. Access it here.

What does it mean to recertify? What are the continuing education requirements of Master Gardeners? How do we provide gardening recommendations to the general public? What is the relationship between OSU and the county-based Master Gardener Associations?

You’ll find the answers to these questions, and many more, in the updated guidebook, plus links to even more background and items to read. The new version is a more nimble, modernized version, and can easily be updated as needed. Happy reading!

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It’s a new day for training to become a Master Gardener volunteer

The OSU Extension Master Gardener program has revamped, revised, and re-imagined training for new Master Gardeners in 2022 to become more accessible than ever. Mixing the best of both worlds, online training will deliver our top-notch university-level gardening education, with localized and in-person hands-on training workshops organized by county-based OSU faculty. 

Why are we doing this?

We’re better meeting community needs: In the summer of 2021, we conducted an extensive community assessment. Findings clearly show the general public wants flexible opportunities to interact, access content and learning on demand, and on their own time. Offering elements of training online and/or in-person will clearly meet that demand in a way we’ve never done before. 

Many of our counties are large and have required distant travel to attend trainings. We’re already hearing from new trainees who are excited to finally be able to become Master Gardeners who have not been able to join due to the distance. 

On-demand education also means that people with busy schedules can fit the training into their schedules in the way it works best for them. 

We’ve lowered the cost, with many counties offering tiered pricing that includes reduced fees and opportunities for scholarships. Tiered pricing includes options for those who want to pay a bit more, to support others who choose the reduced fee option.

COVID is still here: it’s difficult to anticipate what 2022 will look like. Meeting inside, social distancing, and differing county impacts, all make maneuvering with COVID an ongoing challenge. This new model can better meet the need and demand while maintaining flexibility through this changing climate. 

Capacity: We currently have a lack of faculty and staff available to teach Master Gardener trainings. Our “people power” is at an all-time low due to retirements and new hires.

Previously, many of our faculty would travel to teach in person, which is extremely time extensive. With the talented faculty we do currently have, they’re able to provide additional support statewide virtually, actually extending and expanding the reach of experts available to Master Gardener trainees.

Better delivery of adult education means more hands-on workshops, less lectures: Instead of using our in-person time for 3-hour lectures, our hybrid training model uses that time for hands-on, interactive, and experiential workshops. Instead of listening to PowerPoints, trainees instead learn from our expert faculty and Master Gardener volunteers in the garden.

What does it mean to be a Master Gardener?

Oregon State University Extension Master Gardener volunteers are neighbors, friends and family who you can go to for garden advice that is grounded in science and locally relevant. We are garden educators and on-the-ground community scientists. Learn more about our mission, vision, values and priorities of the program.

Are you ready to become a Master Gardener?

Get connected locally with your county Master Gardener program to find out when your county is accepting applications, and when training is scheduled in your area. 

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Master Gardener Certifications in 2021 and new Master Gardener Trainings in 2022: questions and answers as of May 18, 2021

“Will OSU Extension be hosting trainings for new Master Gardener volunteers in 2022?”  

Yes. Counties with Master Gardener Programs are planning for the 2022 Master Gardener trainings. Typically, applications for new Master Gardener trainees are available each fall, and the classes begin in January or February of the following year. Specific dates may vary across counties. Check with your local Master Gardener program for details. 

“I took the Master Gardener training class in 2020, but COVID disrupted my ability to complete my certification. Can I still be certified?” 

Yes! We realize that COVID has disrupted personal lives and much of our in-person programming. Many counties were not able to hold face-to-face volunteer activities, and many face-to-face volunteer activities are still on hold. Most counties have lowered the number of required volunteer service hours to 40 hours, to help the class of 2020 Master Gardener trainees complete their service hour requirement. Your sum total volunteer service hours accrued during 2020, 2021, and into 2022 will count towards meeting the service hour requirement and Master Gardener certification. Be alert to your local county program updates as volunteer activities are able to resume. We appreciate your patience and continued participation in the Master Gardener training program. 

Keep note of your volunteer service activities. Volunteer service hours must be reported to your local Master Gardener Extension program for them to count towards Master Gardener certification. Most OSU Extension Master Gardener Programs (except for the Portland Metro counties) use the online Volunteer Reporting System for reporting and tracking volunteer hours. The Portland Metro Area Counties of Clackamas, Washington, and Multnomah use a different system, and will provide a link to report your hours in the fall. 

In 2021, you may have also participated in continuing education programs for your Master Gardener work. These may have included webinars (such as the Growing Oregon Gardeners: Level Up Series) or online classes (such as the Elevated Skills training for Master Gardener volunteers). Or, you may have participated in other continuing education classes, through your local Master Gardener Program. We hope these programs have enriched and supported you in your new role as community garden educators.  

Please check with your local Master Gardener coordinator if you have questions about reporting service hours or continuing education units. 

“I took the Master Gardener training in 2020 and completed both my coursework and my volunteer service hour requirement. Can I be certified as a Master Gardener volunteer?” 

Yes! Individuals who completed their coursework and volunteer service hours will receive (or may have already received) their Master Gardener badge and certificate of completion. Completing your Master Gardener training and certification is a HUGE accomplishment, and particularly so during the challenges of 2020 and 2021. Congratulations, and thank you! We look forward to celebrating your accomplishment. 

“I am a current Master Gardener volunteer but have not been able to recertify during COVID. What do I need to do?” 

Master Gardeners who were certified for the 2020 calendar year will maintain their certification in 2021 and into 2022. We understand that COVID has disrupted our lives in so many ways, including the ability to complete annual recertification requirements (a minimum of 20 hours of volunteer service and a minimum 10 hours of continuing education units per year). 

Even if you have not been able to complete annual recertification requirements, we encourage you to report any volunteer service hours and/or continuing education units that you have been able to complete. 

“Do I need to report my volunteer service and continuing education hours?” 

Yes. Reporting your Master Gardener Program service hours and continuing education is very important. It helps us to know that you are still interested in engaging with the Master Gardener Program, and pursuing your Master Gardener certification. As we open Master Gardener certification opportunities to new trainees in 2022, your reporting helps us to ensure that you will be first in line for volunteer service opportunities. Reporting also helps us to communicate the impact and value of the program to local, university, and statewide decision makers, and to make the case for funding in counties with active Master Gardener volunteers. 

Please check with your local Master Gardener coordinator if you have questions about reporting service hours or continuing education units. 

“I heard that OSU will require vaccines for faculty, staff, and students. What about volunteers? Do I need to be vaccinated and/or report that I have been vaccinated?” 

OSU Extension Service encourages all community members to get vaccinated.  The more people are vaccinated the better the outlook for getting back to community volunteer activities. For more information please see: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/community-vitality/coronavirus.  

At this time there is not an expectation to require volunteers to be vaccinated. However, administrators are expected to have more discussion about this over the next few weeks. If new details are added to the OSU vaccination requirement, that affect Master Gardener volunteers, we will be sure to communicate them as soon as we know more. 

“Given the CDC’s latest guidance for individuals who have been fully vaccinated, do I have to wear a face covering or mask while participating in face to face Master Gardener volunteer activities?” 

In short, and at this time, the answer is ‘yes’. The information, below, is excerpted from a recent email from OSU’s Coronavirus Response Coordinator, Dan Larsen: 

Oregon State University must continue to adhere to current Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (OSHA) guidelines and rules requiring the use of face coverings. 
   
You likely know that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) announced Thursday that fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to wear a face covering or physically distance, except where required by state or other jurisdictions’ laws, rules and regulations. Gov. Kate Brown followed the CDC’s announcement Thursday sharing that businesses in Oregon could stop requiring face coverings and social distancing for those who are fully vaccinated. 
  
We do share your excitement in the updates provided by Governor Brown and the CDC, and we are eager to support those who are fully vaccinated in being able to engage in activities with fewer requirements and restrictions. For now, we must wait, as OSU’s Safety & Success policies must be in alignment with existing Oregon Health Authority’s (OHA) guidance, as well as OHA and HECC guidance for higher education, and OHSA workplace rules. 
   
Additionally, once we receive updated guidance on how OSU can extend the benefits of reduced face covering requirements and restrictions, we will thoughtfully evaluate our current policies and enforcement measures, and will communicate any changes and updates with employees, students and stakeholders. We do anticipate that some environments within the university may continue to require use of face coverings through the end of spring term. 

Dan Larson email to OSU Community Members on May 14, 2021.
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Master Gardener Program Update: August 7, 2020

Status of Face to Face Master Gardener Activities

It has been 136 days since OSU effectively shut down all face-to-face activities, in response to Governor Kate Brown’s ‘Stay Home, Save Lives’ executive order. As I take stock of Oregon’s Master Gardener Program, today, I can see that we are gradually and cautiously returning to limited face-to-face activities. Please remember, that all face-to-face programming and non-essential travel during the Modified Operations phase must be approved by your regional director, via the Extension Modified Travel and Programming Request form. Please make sure to cc me on your requests, so that I can continue to keep track of the evolving landscape of the statewide Master Gardener Program.

To date, here are the face-to-face Master Gardener activities that have been approved for county Extension offices in the Modified Operations phase are listed below. Please note that these activities represent low-density, outdoor activities, with the exception of low density Plant Clinics in select Extension offices.

  • A trial run of a virtual plant sale has been approved, for potential scaling up of a fall, public, virtual plant sale. Master Gardeners are hosting a ‘closed’ sale, open only to other Master Gardeners, to try and identify and work out potential kinks in protocol that may be issues for a larger, public sale.
  • There are two Citizen Science projects that have been approved. In one project, select Master Gardeners will travel to help our state partners monitor invasive pests. In the second project, Master Gardeners will travel to an OSU research farm to help evaluate plant that are part of butterfly bush research project.
  • One hybrid training opportunity has been approved. Master Gardeners will participate in self-guided plant identification activities, and will ‘meet’ via Zoom for a follow up session.
  • Master Gardeners are working in Extension office plant clinics in two counties. Plant clinics at markets, fairs, retail stores, and other high density public venues are still off-limits, at this point.
  • Master Gardeners are working in demonstration and community gardens across the state. Unlike the Restricted Operations phase, when only activities that were focused on critical services for food security and/or facilities maintenance, that approvals have been expanded for counties in the Modified Operations phase to include maintenance of compost piles and worm bins.

Creating Opportunities for Social Interactions and Celebrations

On yesterday’s weekly Zoom call, we discussed how we might thank and celebrate our Master Gardener volunteers, while also adhering to public health and safety guidelines. Here is what we came up with:

  • Governor’s Proclamation of Master Gardener Week in Oregon, November 2-6 2020
  • Celebratory / Thank You Video featuring OSU administrators, faculty, staff. We’ll be asking high level administrators (Anita and Alan) to deliver messages of thanks. We will cut in video of MG faculty and staff, holding up signs with different thank you messages, and points of celebration/resilience. Will ask LeAnn to help storyboard. Am seeking video production assistance from OSU Faculty Multimedia Services.
  • Annual State of the MG Program Address (to be delivered by Gail, as a webinar)
  • A three-film Gardening Film Festival. Gardeners can live stream films at home. We will arrange for Q&A with directors, as a Zoom webinar or meeting. Potential Films: The Love Bugs (Entomology Focus),  Land Grab or Plant this Movie (Urban Ag Focus), and a third movie that should have a plant focus.
  • The week concludes on November 6, with the final Board Meeting of the Oregon Master Gardener Association.

Upcoming MG Coordinators Zoom Meeting Topics

  • August 13th: 2021 MG Training Plan, including plan for 2020 trainees who could not complete training.
  • August 20th: Developing MG Program Priorities & Values (including workshopping DEI training scenario that we did not get to on July 30th)

August 27th: Open to Your Suggestions, but could be focused on planning and progress for the 2020 Oregon Master Gardener week celebration.

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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!