I live here, Warren, and have experience with the Master Gardener program in Massachusetts. That's my whole point. Sorry I can't document my experiences here for you, but why should I have to? Paghat made claims from across the country about a program she has no experience with and tried to pull some references from the UMass Extension service to back herself up, and what she's pull has little base in reality to the program I know. I don't presume to know how the gardening world operates where she is. And I get really stick of the sweeping generalizations about people who have gone through the MG program. Any organization has it's slackers. The MG's I know are knowledgable gardeners who help others learn, who work in the many public gardens in the state - and they do work. They aren't just in the program to list it in their obituary.
Then the program you "know" is one of your imagination. M-G has no affiliation with U-M becuase U-M jettisoned Mastergardeners from their former affiliation.
Round these parts, you put the plants in the gorund, & with some water & sunshine they tend to grow. I assure you the moon looks the same on both coasts, too.
There you go dissing Mastergardeners again. I call them amateur volunteers, which they are, & I claim that as such they do good work. You call them slackers. There's a world of difference bertween my assessement of their "volunteer service" & your assessment that some of 'em are "slackers." The ones who don't fulfill their volunteer obligations may have done wrong, but I never mentioned them even in passing -- & it could be merely that they have lives to attend to rather than being the slackers you demean them as.
I dunno whether you're lazy (likely you are), but you certainly are a dim bulb! You so despise the ACTUAL good work of M-G -- which I & not you listed (volunteering in p-patches that feed poor top of the list) -- that you have to IMAGINE this club by & for amateurs is more than it is. Perhaps YOU think being an amateur is a bad thing -- I'm an amateur herpetologist & an amateur gardener & quite happy with that status in those areas.
You even pretend you're friends with Lyle at U-M which would mean what if you weren't lying? That U-M didn't as I noted ditch the M-G affiliation? Because U-M most certainly did ditch M-G & that's the only reason they had to affiliate with another garden club instead of a university extension. You not only deny that rather simple reality reality, but you completely undermine, dismiss, ignore, or despise the actual volunteer service an organization by & for amateurs can do.
Hey, you're the one introducing non-sequitors along with your feces fixation where you have no facts. Your imaginary friendship with a professor at U-M who is a leader in the marijuana rights movement I agree has nothing whatsoever to do with Master Gardeners, but YOU name-dropped your fantasized buddyhood in the context of M-G as if it had anything to do with anything. IF you meant to imply M-Gs are the ones providing Lyle with his pot after the government stopped him from growing it himself, fine, he wants it for good uses & that'd be brave of M-Gs to take that risk -- if you're now saying they're not brave at all & have nothing to do with Lyle's garden needs, then why'd you drag him into the conversation, silly? (Yes, I know why, to build YOURSELF up, but that failed).
If on the other hand you meant to imply your imaginary friendship with Lyle proved the Univeristy of Ma didn't ditch the Master Gardeners exactly as I outlined, then you obviously know nothing whatsoever about the history of M-G in Massachusetts, because that's what they're most famous for -- losing their university affiliation. And other M-G volunteer services do worry they could be next to lose the right to boast of an association with university extensions across the nation.
I cannot agree with mere delusions of affiliations that do not exist but which you seeminglyl believe do exist. That you insist on your own fabrications but have had NOTHING to say about the GOOD work I outlined that volunteerism through the MG system can lead to is YOUR disrespect of what M-G really is. I have every respect for any M-G who helps feed the poor by hoeing in a p-patch or helps keep weeds out of public gardens or shows little kids how to start a worm bin. I don't think they should be using up university extension resources ANYwhere, as that makes them a drain on the public rather than an asset. So the University of MA did exactly the right thing jettisoning that affiliation, & I would be glad if Washington State U did the same thing here. M-G affiliation with public garden fundraising entities as now occurs in Massachusetts is a better model.
No, Paghat, you were the one to bring them up. I know full well who certifies Master Gardeners around here, and said so in my post in reply to Stephen.
Nice twist, Ratgirl. You're the one doing the dissing. Pay attention.
I hgave never once disparged the work of Master Gardeners.
- that
Find the post where I said anything against Master Gardeners. Go ahead. I'll wait.
You are the one who brought up the UMass Extension service. You are the one who brought up marijuana. You are the one who can't stick with a subject. Now do go on. And on. And on. And on. Because you just can't help yourself.
Better to go outside and garden, Ratgirl, it's what you are good at.
At the time I was working 12 hr swing shift...a little vacation and working around my work schedule, the class was easy to fit in, as was the required service, which was answering questions on the phone at the farm extension service.
What did I get out of it? Knowledge that I was helping people, interesting field trips to go to, meeting people with similar interests, plus gained a little know-how by inter-acting with knowledgeable people....The title and certificate were not the reason I went through the course.
Tarrant is on staff at UBC, a garden writer and a TV personality and wouldn't probably even think of being a Master Gardener.
Mark Cullen is a garden writer and TV and radio personality from a family gardening business (Sheridan Nurseries) and President of Greendale Garden Products Ltd. Ontarios largest distributor of garden supplies to the independent garden centre trade and probably wouldn't even think of being a Master Gardener either.
It would be like the Queen applying for proof of UK citizenship. I doubt she would bother.
there is a link for u that i think u might find interesting it is in pdf format so u need acrobat reader to view it. it is about a master gardeners conference. if u notice near the very beginning it mentions that one of the keynote speakers included david tarrant also on page 4 u will notice where it says april 21 "think spring" it mentions there about a welcome back to mark cullen who had spoken at a master gardeners event in
1995. hope this clears things up for u. also if u ever get a chance to watch any programs that they may have please do as u will find them both to be good speakers and very informative. have a great day, sockiescat. here is the link for you :) .
formatting link
of people are speakers at Master Gardener conferences that are not master gardeners.
Tarrant is on staff at UBC, a garden writer and a TV personality and wouldn't probably even think of being a Master Gardener.
Mark Cullen is a garden writer and TV and radio personality from a family gardening business (Sheridan Nurseries) and President of Greendale Garden Products Ltd. Ontarios largest distributor of garden supplies to the independent garden centre trade and probably wouldn't even think of being a Master Gardener either.
It would be like the Queen applying for proof of UK citizenship. I doubt she would bother.
I wonder if the Queen has a passport? How about GW?
There is a lot more than that, here they have a telephone hotline - the value of the advice varies with the individual. They teach gardening and have demo gardens for juvenile delinquents and the homeless shelter, they help at many local public gardens, they have an annual entry in the San Francisco Flower Show, they have an annual garden tour........lots more I don't know since I am not one but I know a few.
Here they spend 80 hours in classes to qualify and 50 hours a year volunteering.
It's too bad they call themselves Master Gardeners because many are poor/novice gardeners with no clue, most are good enough but inexperienced, a few are truely master gardeners.
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