- Author: Lisa Nedlan
April is National Volunteer Appreciation Month. We have twenty-five active Master Gardeners in our Program. We volunteer many hours each month to support the mission of the UC Master Gardener Program.
“Our mission is simple: To extend research-based knowledge and information on home horticulture, pest management, and sustainable landscape practices to the residents of California."
You can find us at local seed and plant exchanges, working and providing information at local demonstration gardens, like the Trinidad Native Garden, Humboldt Botanical Garden, and the Annie B. Ryan House and Garden, “Ask a Master Gardener” tables at the Farmer's Market, offering presentations, answering your Help Desk questions, writing articles for the Coastal Gardener Newsletter, volunteering at school gardens and more.
There are over 6,000 Master Gardeners throughout California. Master Gardeners receive extensive training from the University of California to provide research-based information to the public. In exchange for training, we volunteer in our communities, continue to learn, utilize our skills and interests, and grow.
Would you like to volunteer, need advice, and learn about sustainable gardening practices? Visit the UC Master Gardeners of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties.
Learn more about Master Gardener Programs by clicking on this link.
Want to learn more about becoming a Master Gardener? Click here.
We are planning a training class for January 2025. Use this link to let us know you are interested in this class.
- Author: Gemma Miner
Dear 4-H Volunteer,
Thank you!
Thank you for your dedication, courage and your conviction, for bringing your sense of adventure to share and learn alongside the youth that you mentor.
Thank you for your compassion and your awareness, for seeing the need and responding. Thank you for sharing your skills and knowledge to help improve lives and build the capacity of youth to learn and grow.
Thank you for providing opportunities and education – and for knowing that the experiences you share, and the people you encounter, teach you more than you could have imagined.
Thank you for your patience, respect and perseverance. But most of all thank you for your kindness, and for being the inspiration youth need to thrive.
Whether you are a youth volunteer or an adult volunteer, your dedication and support is priceless. The snapshot below quantifies your contribution in time and economic impact, but we know it is so much more than that.
You and I may never know the exact, direct impact you made to help propel a youth member toward a successful life—but that, my friend, is your true purpose. It is your dedication, contribution, talent, time and gifts that make 4-H the amazing organization that it is.
On behalf of the University of California Statewide 4-H Youth Development Program, we thank you for your dedication to help youth lead happy, healthy, thriving lives.
In gratitude,
Gemma Miner
Academic Coordinator for Volunteer Engagement
4-H Runs on the Power of Volunteers
/span>/h2>- Author: Judy McClure
It can be challenging for a serious gardener to pass a shredding machine and not stop and use it to transform ‘paperwork’ into worm compost bedding. Sorry, your Master Gardener papers are no longer potential bedding material. Since the Statewide Office staff has embraced making the volunteer time submission and the annual recertification process as paper free as possible you’ll need to locate another source of worm bedding. Entering your volunteer experiences, completing the three recertification forms and submitting the insurance payment is now fast, easy and paperless.
Gardening tasks, family obligations and professional obligations fill our June days, leaving just a few precious moments for completing the Master Gardener recertification process. Why bother taking the time to recertify? During the past year you probably experienced the joy of learning about a new plant, memorized another botanical name, or identified an invasive pest. You most likely attended a monthly meeting or an advanced training developed specifically for Master Gardeners, plus your network of friends expanded to include new gardening buddies. Recertify by June 30 to assure you do not miss any of the many learning opportunities waiting for you in the 2012-13 program year.
During the 2012-13 program year the Statewide office will provide you the opportunity to attend advanced horticulture and IPM trainings and assist with planning the 2014 Conference. Your local program most likely has a wealth of rewarding opportunities available for you to educate and inspire the home gardener. Unfortunately, there will probably be another new invasive pest waiting to make your acquaintance.
Take a few minutes to document in VMS the valuable hours you contribute in your community. Not only do your individual volunteer projects have a significant impact on your local community, they also assist Pam Geisel and Aubrey Bray in prioritizing program development and training needs on the statewide level. As individual counties and the UC system continue to face financial challenges, your hours are a vital component in securing future funding. During the past year you chose to contribute your valuable time to the Master Gardener program. Now it is the time to verify that the benefits of your volunteer projects are recorded and acknowledged on both the county and statewide level.
Following the completion of recertification and the entering of your volunteer hours, enjoy a snack of fresh fruit or vegetables. The vegetable scraps make a wonderful addition to the worm compost bin. Don’t have a worm compost bin? Recertify and I guarantee before long a fellow Master Gardener will introduce you to the wonderful world of worms.
Thank you, for being a part of the UC Master Gardener program.
- Author: Judy McClure
It can be challenging for a serious gardener to pass a shredding machine and not stop and use it to transform ‘paperwork’ into worm compost bedding. Sorry, your Master Gardener papers are no longer potential bedding material. Since the Statewide Office staff has embraced making the volunteer time submission and the annual recertification process as paper free as possible you’ll need to locate another source of worm bedding. Entering your volunteer experiences, completing the three recertification forms and submitting the insurance payment is now fast, easy and paperless.
Gardening tasks, family obligations and professional obligations fill our June days, leaving just a few precious moments for completing the Master Gardener recertification process. Why bother taking the time to recertify? During the past year you probably experienced the joy of learning about a new plant, memorized another botanical name, or identified an invasive pest. You most likely attended a monthly meeting or an advanced training developed specifically for Master Gardeners, plus your network of friends expanded to include new gardening buddies. Recertify by June 30 to assure you do not miss any of the many learning opportunities waiting for you in the 2012-13 program year.
During the 2012-13 program year the Statewide office will provide you the opportunity to attend advanced horticulture and IPM trainings and assist with planning the 2014 Conference. Your local program most likely has a wealth of rewarding opportunities available for you to educate and inspire the home gardener. Unfortunately, there will probably be another new invasive pest waiting to make your acquaintance.
Take a few minutes to document in VMS the valuable hours you contribute in your community. Not only do your individual volunteer projects have a significant impact on your local community, they also assist Pam Geisel and Aubrey Bray in prioritizing program development and training needs on the statewide level. As individual counties and the UC system continue to face financial challenges, your hours are a vital component in securing future funding. During the past year you chose to contribute your valuable time to the Master Gardener program. Now it is the time to verify that the benefits of your volunteer projects are recorded and acknowledged on both the county and statewide level.
Following the completion of recertification and the entering of your volunteer hours, enjoy a snack of fresh fruit or vegetables. The vegetable scraps make a wonderful addition to the worm compost bin. Don’t have a worm compost bin? Recertify and I guarantee before long a fellow Master Gardener will introduce you to the wonderful world of worms.
Thank you, for being a part of the UC Master Gardener program.
- Author: Russell D. Hill
Merced County 4-H member and State Ambassador, Austyn Smith is spearheading a campaign to thank all of those who have supported 4-H over the last several years. In doing so, she has developed a Thank-A-Thon and is inviting members and volunteers to participate. Check out the flyer below. You may contact Austyn, using her email, at avsmith09@yahoo.com.