LA County Master Gardener Training 2010

Los Angeles County Master Gardener Training Program is now accepting applications for 2010.

The dates are 13 Saturdays, March 6 – May 29, 2010

January 15:  Last Day to Request Application Packet

January 31:  Last Day to Submit Completed Application, LiveScan Fingerprinting, and Payment

WHO CAN APPLY
• Any resident of Los Angeles County with an email address and computer access.  Most communication will be by email and websites.
• Anyone who wants to help teach low-income and limited-resource people how to grow more nutritious vegetables and fruits.
• We especially invite residents of inner-city neighborhoods and bilingual gardeners.

HOW TO APPLY
• You MUST be on either or both of our resource elists – 1) Community Gardening and Food Security, or 2) School Gardening.
• If you’re not, then email ydsavio@ucdavis.edu and indicate which elist you want to be on (you can be on both).
• If you’re already on either or both elists, email gjmitche@ucdavis.edu to receive the application survey, LiveScan form and list of LiveScan locations for required fingerprinting and criminal background check by Department of Justice.  This must be done now for us specifically, regardless if you’ve done it for another agency.  Note differences in prices and hours available, as some require appointments. Because we are a nonprofit organization, there is no additional fee.
• By January 31, 2009, submit completed application packet.  1) Email completed application survey, 2) Sign, date, and mail last page of the application survey, 3) Mail copy of LiveScan form completed and signed by Live Scan operator (Keep a copy for yourself), 4) Mail check for $150 made payable to “UC REGENTS.”  [Note:  Low-income residents pay only what they can afford—see application survey for details.]

WHAT WE’LL DO
• Accept 50 participants from some 200 applications.  Main criteria for acceptance:  1) prior community service (not necessarily in gardening),
2) passion for helping low-income gardeners, 3) experience giving presentations and working with people of diverse backgrounds, and 4) initiative in starting and carrying through with projects.
• Notify you by February 12 whether or not you’ve been accepted into the program.  Please don’t contact us before then.
• Teach you how to garden successfully.  Topics and garden activities will cover basic plant science, propagation, fertilization, irrigation, soil, compost, vegetable and herb and fruit gardening, flowering plants and trees, Integrated Pest Management (diseases, weeds, insects, small animals), tools, how to start community and school gardens, and outreach techniques.
• Provide you with Volunteer and Continuing Education opportunities all over Los Angeles County.

WHAT YOU’LL DO
• As soon as you’re accepted:  1) Establish a Yahoo group ID (if you don’t already have a Yahoo email address, we’ll give you instructions).  You can use either your existing email address or your new Yahoo email address to receive all your MG email via our private, member-only Yahoogroup.
• Prior to the first class:  Become familiar with our Common Ground public website and our private MG Yahoogroup website.
• Attend 13 classes on Saturdays, March 6 through May 29, 2010, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, at our office, 4800 E. Cesar E. Chavez Avenue, East Los Angeles.  Meetings start promptly at 9:00 am.  Some meetings will be at other garden sites; we encourage carpooling with classmates.
• Give gardening workshops at community gardens, school gardens, senior gardens, housing development & other low-income gardens.
• Answer gardening questions at gardens, on the phone at our office, or by email from your computer.
• Help with program activities and workshops at the UCCE office in East Los Angeles.
• Post all your volunteer and continuing education hours on our online Statewide MG Volunteer Management System (we provide instructions).
• Starting in June, attend monthly MG Continuing Education meetings on the second Saturday of every month at different garden locations.

WHAT YOU’LL GET
• California Master Gardener Handbook, University of California publication.
• Certificate of Completion of Class Instruction—after completing the 13-week training program and passing the take-home, open-book examination.
• Monthly Continuing Education meetings with speakers and activities on in-depth gardening topics.
• Frequent emails of Volunteer and Continuing Education opportunities and other program information.
• Annual recertification as an active MG after you post online at least 50 Volunteer hours and 15 Continuing Education hours by May 31, 2011.  [Future years’ requirements are 25 Volunteer and 15 Continuing Education hours.]
• Joy and satisfaction that you’re helping other gardeners grow more nutritious vegetables and fruits, you’re making new friends, and we’re all working together to beautify our neighborhoods and “Green LA”!

For More Information:
Email: gjmitche@ucdavis.edu
Phone: 323-260-3348

Common Ground Garden Program
University of California Cooperative Extension Los Angeles

School Gardens in the News

1) Brooklyn, NY
From School Yards to School Gardens

Students at 10 Brooklyn schools will be toiling in the soil this summer and fall, growing vegetables to feed their classmates as part of an effort to get student-grown foods into the school cafeteria.

“We want to eat the stuff we grow,” said Aidan Israel, 7, a student at Public School 107 on Eighth Ave. in Park Slope, who has been helping cultivate peas, kale and basil in the school’s yard. “It tastes fresher than the stuff in the store.”

2) Tasley, VA
Program introduces children to gardening benefits

Nine years ago, the Eastern Shore Master Gardeners Chapter began, composed of trained volunteers whose purpose is to help educate our community about the art and science of gardening here on the Shore.
Since then eight more classes have received training. Each class develops a unique project designed for public education, such as the historically accurate colonial kitchen garden at Ker Place in Onancock, and the Pungoteague Elementary School gardening project.

3) Fayetville, NC
Homegrown education: School program teaches gardening skills

Jares is one of hundreds of young people participating in the Communities in Schools FirstSchool Gardens program of Moore County. The program began two years ago. Today, there are five schools growing vegetables and fruits with four more gardens planned.

4) New Zealand
Sustenance & sustainability
Sometimes Marfell hits the news for the wrong reasons: chemicals found in a children’s playground that was once a city dump, a school sports field ripped up by vandals, the dodgy connections of some residents.

But it leads the pack in other respects. Last June, Marfell was the first New Plymouth suburb to plant a community garden. A year on, things are flourishing.