Master Gardeners: A one-stop shop for horticulture questions

Have you heard of the Master Gardeners of Solano County? Do you know who 
we are and what we do?
We are homemakers, teachers, professors, and people from every walk of 
life. The Master Gardener program is a group of 88 active volunteers 
under the guidance of our county-funded Master Gardener program 
coordinator, Jennifer Baumbach. She is the only paid person managing the 
Master Gardeners.
The office that houses us is known by many different names: UC 
Cooperative Extension, Solano County Cooperative Extension, and 
Cooperative Extension.
These are all the same entity. We are also part of the program that 
includes 4-H clubs, Livestock and Natural Resources, Small Farms and 
Urban Horticulture, and Nutrition, Family and Consumer Science. Most 
people dont realize what a rich and diverse unit this is.
We Master Gardeners are known for our passion of gardening and teaching 
others what we have learned. This past year we have come in contact in 
excess of 3,000 county residents, helping you with gardening questions 
big and small.
To become a Master Gardener requires 50 hours of classroom studies over 
16 weeks of UC Cooperative Extension training in horticulture. Classes 
are taught by professors in the UC system, in the field, and Master 
Gardeners.
The trainees are taught fruit tree growing, safe use of fertilizers, 
ways to use less pesticide by employing integrated pest management, 
water usage, soil management/modification, and pest and weed 
identification, to name a few.
Once we pass the written test and graduate, we are ready to pass this 
knowledge on to you, the public.
Some of the events that you will find the Solano County Master Gardener 
volunteers at include:
The libraries in the county where we give talks on gardening once a month.
Dixon May Fair, Solano County Fair, Lambtown and Morningsun Herb Farm.
We had a workshop at Foster Lumber Yard on making a container and 
growing your own vegetables.
Weve spoken at the Napa Camellia Society, Vaca Valley Garden Club, 
Geranium Club and Leisure Town Womans Club.
Master Gardeners are part of Suisun Valley Family Farm Fun Days, 
Fairfield Health Fairs, Fairfield Tomato Festival, and the Solano County 
Resource Conservation District plant sales in Vacaville.
Weve led garden tours in most Solano County cities as well as working 
with elementary schools.
We write garden articles that are published in the Daily Republic on a 
weekly basis.
Our Seed for Thought quarterly newsletter is completely created by the 
Master Gardeners.
We write articles for the Vaca Valley Garden Club newsletter.
If you have a plant or insect problem and cant visit us in person, you 
can e-mail your problem to us at mgsolano@ucdavis.edu or call our 
hotline 784-1322.
You are welcome to walk into the office at 501 Texas St., first floor, 
Fairfield, and someone will help you with you plant or insect problem.
We designed and planted the Childrens Memorial Garden at the Solano 
County Childrens Health and Social Service Facility, 275 Beck Ave., 
Fairfield. We maintain this garden every month during the spring, 
summer, fall and as needed during the winter months.
Once a year we hold a workshop on propagation where you learn how to 
grow plants so you can create more of the plants you like without having 
to purchase them.
We have had workshops on rose care that included not only how to care 
for them but how to prune them so you will have wonderful roses.
Last year, we held a public plant exchange where you bring in plants you 
no longer want or that you wanted to share and exchange for other unique 
plants.
This way you got to choose from different plants. Maybe one you might 
not have thought you would like, or ones you would like to have but just 
hadnt purchased because you were not sure what they would look like or 
if they would fit in your garden.
Our wreath workshop is the only project that we charge for. But you make 
a beautiful wreath from cuttings we have gathered. You also get to add 
natural decorations and a bow of your choice that we supply. This way 
you have a beautiful wreath you have made yourself to hang on your door 
or above your mantel.
Let the Master Gardeners of Solano County be your resource for all 
things gardening.
Betty Victor is a Master Gardener with the University of California 
Cooperative Extension office in Fairfield. If you have gardening 
questions, you can call the Master Gardeners office at 784-1322.

Comments

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