- Author: Betsy Buxton
It's been a great few weeks since the Master Gardeners received the okay to resume our “booth” (a table actually) at the corner of Marin and Georgia Streets in downtown Vallejo every Saturday! The sunshine and the crowds of shoppers make for an interesting 5 hours, from 9 am to 2 pm, for the volunteers. Plenty of FREE parking, plenty of fresh, organic produce, and quite the variety of food booths make for an enjoyable midday session for all.
As a Master Gardener, you have an opportunity to acquire those hours needed for reinstatement for the following year easily with the added fun of people watching, shopping for farm-fresh produce, AND meeting with friends you haven't met yet who are interested in gardening.
Almost everyone walking by seems to have a question about gardening: why something didn't flourish as promised by the seller; where to find a particular plant; how to grow this or that, etc. Most of the time we can give an answer right away: sometimes it's a dive into the various books we have on hand; sometimes, one of the handouts will have the answer; sometimes, it's an answer right off the cell phone that one of us has. And, unfortunately, sometimes we write down the question along with the person's phone or email address to call back later with the answer – WE ALWAYS CALL BACK!
There are some subjects we don't cover, such as growing some plants, but we will try to direct you to a company, storefront business, or an internet search for the subject; we always politely explain since we are covered by the UC system, why we can't handle those gardening questions.
If you are a Master Gardener in Solano County and are interested in participating, go to our website and sign up. We have openings starting in July and would love to have you with us. Please remember that only 2 people per shift please and that we would enjoy having members of the 2020 and 2021 classes participate! Those of us who have done this for a while would be happy to sit with you; we may know a few tricks you don't, and we are always glad to learn new tricks from you!
For those of you reading this who are not Master Gardeners, please come and discuss your gardening with us, problems or not. We are there to help with suggestions of reading material, handouts on various subjects, both plants and insects, and subjects related to gardening. We learn so much from your experiences in your landscapes!
Hope to see you soon!!