Harris County Master Gardener Program Graduation
Each year, the Horticulture Department holds an annual Texas Master Gardener Volunteer Training, led by Master Gardener Program Coordinator, Brandi Keller. Master Gardeners are trained to assist AgriLife Extension in reaching its mission to bring relevant, research-based information in horticulture to the public. When members of the community are accepted for the Volunteer Training Course, they understand the class will be twelve weeks long and they have a commitment to complete 60 volunteer service hours within one year. What isn’t quite appreciated until sitting in the classroom is that 78 hours of education on 22 different topics comes from twelve speakers that include Texas A&M AgriLife Extension County Agents, Specialists, Professors, Texas Master Gardeners, and other Extension Staff. Some of the topics included each year are water conservation, botany, entomology, vegetable gardening, pesticide safety, woody ornamentals, organic gardening and more.
Once the class finishes, September is the first full month in which new Interns start volunteering independently. This past year, we welcomed 38 Interns, and, by the start of fall, they had already completed over 100 total service hours. This is also the time when volunteers from the previous year’s class have met all their requirements and graduate to become Certified Master Gardeners.
Horticulture
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