Labor of love
Franklin County’s master gardener program schools recruits in greenery, community
For master gardener volunteers, gardening is often as much about people as it is about plants. Master gardeners have a
desire to learn about plants and gardening, and a willingness — and the time — to share that knowledge with the community, said Mike Hogan, an Ohio State Extension educator and associate professor who oversees the Master Gardener program.
“It’s important that they are interested in working with people, in working for the community, and not just passionate about gardening,”
Hogan said.
For those who share such a passion, the Ohio State University Extension service will be recruiting master gardener trainees at two upcoming orientation sessions.
To be certified, trainees receive 75 hours of training in horticulture topics at the Franklin County Extension Office on the Ohio State campus. The program is seeking about 55 to 60 trainees for 2020 sessions.
“They basically get a college-level course in exchange for offering to help with community projects,” Hogan said.
After 11 weeks of classes beginning in January, trainees volunteer for 50 hours on projects such as community gardens, therapy gardens, public gardens, gardening classes and workshops, and research projects, as well as taking calls on a home and garden hotline.
Master gardeners, while often providing labor for gardening projects, provide much more, Hogan said.
“It’s not a free labor program; master gardeners are leaders, not weeders,” he said.
Although, truth be told, there is plenty of weeding to be done, too.
One such leader/weeder is Sue Simon of Westerville, the 2017 Master Gardener of the Year.
Simon, 67, who co-owned a construction business before retirement, has been a master gardener for about 10 years. She was hard at work with other master gardeners recently in the Friends Garden, a community garden she helped found across from the Friends of the Homeless Shelter on East Main Street in Olde Towne East.
“When we started here 10 years ago, it was a vacant lot,” she said.“there were hardly even any weeds growing.”
The garden is now planted with berries, herbs, fruit trees, vegetables and beautiful flowers. Men from the shelter and nearby transitional housing often visit the garden, Simon said.
“If you’re homeless, your days are filled with stress, but you can come here and just be. It’s a place of peace.”
Members of the community also help in the garden, and all are welcome to the fruits and vegetables that grow there, Simon said.
A love of gardening, and of helping others, led Simon to the Master Gardener program.
“I gardened with my grandmother,” she said. “I always loved gardening, but I wanted to learn more and use what I learned for another of my passions — service.”
Simon said she now works as a volunteer on about 10 community gardening projects, several of which she has helped start. All are different, but all are centered on helping communities in need, she said.
Joe Lansing, 67, a retired electrical engineer who was working at the Friends Garden, also volunteers at the OSU Horticultural Therapy Garden for challenged young adults, he said.
“I like putting my 40-some years of gardening experience to good use,” said Lansing, who, like Simon, has been a master gardener for about 10 years.
He also applies everything he has learned in the program in his own garden at his home near Gahanna, he said.
Sarah Bryant, 38, has been a master gardener since 2016.
She was drawn to the program by the opportunity to learn more about horticulture, she said.
“I’ve always been a vegetable gardener, but I wanted to learn about flowers,” Bryant said.
Thanks to her new knowledge, a pollinator garden has now joined the vegetable garden at her Clintonville home, she said.
As the co-owner of a bakery, Bryant is busy, but she makes time to volunteer with the program on weekends. And she always learns something new, she said.
“There were three months of classes, but you can learn so much more just being out here with people like Sue (Simon) who are all so knowledgeable,” Bryant said.
There currently are more than 200 active master gardeners in Franklin County. After becoming master gardeners, participants maintain their certification with at least 10 hours of continuing horticultural education and 25 hours of volunteering each year.
Last year, Franklin County master gardeners volunteered about 18,000 hours, and they raised and donated 20,000 pounds of food and vegetables to those in need. Franklin County master gardeners also took nearly 3,300 hours of continuing horticulture education courses in 2018.
An orientation session this week at the Northern Lights branch library drew nearly 50 potential master gardeners to the event.
Adam and Laura Stephens of Clintonville, who both work in information technology, attended the session to find out what becoming a master gardener is all about.
“I actually heard about the program a couple of years ago when I was between jobs, but I missed the deadline to sign up,” said Laura, 37.
Adam, 39, said he is most interested in the program’s educational courses, but he also is eager to share what he learns with others.
The two are members of the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, where master gardeners contribute volunteer hours.
“We’ve both taught ourselves about gardening, but want to learn more,” Laura said.
There is no place better than the Master Gardener program to gain that knowledge, said Linda Bauer, 65, who took her training in 2018.
“I’m a newbie,” said Bauer, a retired information technology professional who lives in Clintonville.
Her decision to become a master gardener has been fufilling.
“I think the rewards are huge,” Bauer said. “You grow your own gardening knowledge but also give back to the community. And the people you meet are among the most upbeat, optimistic and caring people I’ve ever associated with.
“I don’t think you can ask for anything better, but you do tend to get hot and sweaty.”
sstephens@dispatch.com @Stevestephens