Training program starts in winter; deadline to apply is Oct. 10
Master gardener Anita Brown, from the Sacramento County class of 2020, welcomes visitors to the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center on Harvest Day. Applications for the 2025 class will open Sept. 10. Kathy Morrison
Being a UC master gardener does not mean having a gardening encyclopedia for a brain.
But a master gardener does relish talking about plants and gardening: asking or answering questions, sharing skills, diagnosing problems and always being interested in learning more.
Does this sound like you or someone you know? Here's the chance, for residents of Sacramento County: Applications for the 2025 UC master gardener training class open Sept. 10.
Sacramento County’s master gardener program does not train every year; the class of 2023 is the most recent one. Applicants must be residents of Sacramento County; other counties have their own training programs.
The application period closes Oct. 10. Informational “Meet the Master Gardeners” events typically are held in the fall; dates are not yet set. The fee for the 2025 training program also has yet to be announced.
Master gardeners are volunteers who educate the public via workshops, home and garden events, festivals, talks to community groups, and the Cooperative Extension's online and phone Help Desk, sharing UC research-based home horticultural information. They are especially visible at the State Fair information booth and at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, Sacramento County's demonstration garden. (Check them out at the next Open Garden at the FOHC, on Sept. 14.)
The training program generally starts in January and runs into May. Classes typically meet once a week, all day, and are taught by a variety of university specialists, horticulture advisers and community experts.
New master gardeners are required to put in 50 hours of volunteer time the first year; veterans have a 25-hour annual requirement. Twelve hours of continuing education per year also is required for all master gardeners.
Hint from me, a member of the 2020 class: Folks with a history of or interest in volunteering in any capacity -- church, school, community, whatever — do very well. People skills are important. It also helps if you enjoy a good research hunt. As my class was told, “We don’t expect you to memorize everything, but we expect you to know where to look it up.”
More information on the training program is here: https://sacmg.ucanr.edu/Master_Gardener_Training/
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Garden Checklist for week of Feb. 9
Be careful walking or working in wet soil; it compacts easily.
* Keep the irrigation turned off; the ground is plenty wet with more rain on the way.
* February serves as a wake-up call to gardeners. This month, you can transplant or direct-seed several flowers, including snapdragon, candytuft, lilies, astilbe, larkspur, Shasta and painted daisies, stocks, bleeding heart and coral bells.
* In the vegetable garden, plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers, and strawberry and rhubarb roots.
* Transplant cabbage and its close cousins – broccoli, kale and cauliflower – as well as lettuce (both loose leaf and head).
* Indoors, start peppers, tomatoes and eggplant from seed.
* Plant artichokes, asparagus and horseradish from root divisions.
* Plant potatoes from tubers and onions from sets (small bulbs). The onions will sprout quickly and can be used as green onions in March.
* From seed, plant beets, chard, lettuce, mustard, peas, radishes and turnips.
* Annuals are showing up in nurseries, but wait until the weather warms up a bit before planting. Instead, set out flowering perennials such as columbine and delphinium.
* Plant summer-flowering bulbs including cannas, calla lilies and gladiolus.