- Author: Cris L. Johnson
Ventura Master Gardeners are offering this series of workshops at locations throughout the county and are available to the public at no cost.
For a flyer with dates and locations, click here.
To register, click here.
- Author: Cris L. Johnson
On January 26 the UC Venturay County Cooperative Extension's (UCCE) Master Gardeners will present "Pruning Dormant Fruit Trees and Selection and Care of Garden Tools," the first of four seasonal Home-Garden workshops. This workshop will be devoted to teaching pruning techniques for trees and crops and proper garden tool maintenance.
Time: 8:15 am - 12 pm
Location: Hansen Agricultural Center
14292 W. Telegraph Rd.
Santa Paula, CA
Fee: $25 (includes workshop, continental breakfast and snacks)
Contact: Leah Haynes, 805-645-1450
To Register Online: Click here
For more details, see the flyer here.
Scheduled upcoming workshops are:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 - "All About Tomatoes & Composting and Worm Farms"
Saturday, August 17, 2013 - "All About Roses & Plant Propagation"
Saturday, November 9, 2013 - "Your Edible Garden in Winter & Disease Control Strategies for Dormant Fruit Trees"
These workshops provide timely garden specific information geared to home gardeners through presentations by UCCE advisors, Master Gardeners and other agricultural experts and hands-on learning.
Docent-guided tours of the Hansen Agricultural Center Faulkner House are available and the Master Gardener's Potting Shed will be open for business for those interested in purchasing plants.
- Author: Cris L. Johnson
The UC Ventura County Cooperative Extension's Master Gardeners want to show you how add your own personal touch to the holidays at their "Creating Holiday Gifts from Your Garden" workshop. Learn how to make soaps, lotions, olive oil and other hands-on from the garden gifts.
The workshop will be held at the historic Hansen Agricultural Center in Santa Paula and the small registration fee includes presentations by UC Cooperative Extension advisors and experts and a continental breakfast.
This seasonal event is part of their Home-Garden workshop series where certified Master Gardeners and other experts share their gardening knowledge with the public.
To register and learn more about this workshop check out this flyer.
- Author: Cris L. Johnson
Recently "Ventana" a monthly magazine focusing on fine living in Ventura County published a four page spread on the program. The article describes the program and features a beautiful pictorial of Master Gardener projects and the Hansen Agricultural Center.
The author also spent time talking with our Master Gardener program coordinator, Leah Haynes, and some of the program volunteers. According to Leah Haynes, "There are 165 volunteers in Ventura County who put in at least 15,000 hours of community service a year."
This article in the September 2012 issue can be found at the Ventana website.
The Master Gardeners were also featured in the Local section of the Ventura Star, Tuesday, August 14, 2012 edition. The two-page article, entitled "Course to Teach Cut-Flower Skills" describes the Master Gardener flower cutting workshop that was held at the Hansen Agricultural Center in August. Sixty-five people attended this event which featured a presentation by a Master Gardener on the science of planning and growing cut flowers, soil preparation, seed and plant selection.
Check out the Ventura Star to search for this article.
Every year a new group of Master Gardeners are trained who then give back to the community with knowledge and service. Our office is proud to be associated with these dedicated volunteers and look forward to seeing them spread their seeds of gardening know-how in the county.
- Author: Cris L. Johnson
So far 58 applicants have applied for 35 opening in this year's comprehensive gardening program. Interviews are currently being conducted and those chosen for the program will receive over 80 hours of horticulture education in basic botany, plant pathology, integrated pest management and irrigation techniques.
Master Gardener trainees in turn perform 50 hours of apprenticeship and volunteer in Master Gardener projects to earn their certification.
Master Gardener volunteer efforts can be seen in the county at the Goebel Center in Thousand Oaks, the Camarillo Ranch House, Ormand Beach Wetland, the Hansen Agricultural Center in Santa Paula, Conejo Valley Botanical Gardens and other locations in Ventura County.
Have a pesty problem or other gardening issue? The program operates a Help Line for home gardeners on Tuesdays and Thursday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Volunteers draw on their knowledge, a comprehensive database of relevant information, advisors and other UC experts to dispense useful information to county gardeners. The Help Line volunteers can be reached at 805-645-1455 or by email at mgventura@ucdavis.edu.
Not a Master Gardener, but would like to attend seminars and workshops? The Master Gardeners conduct four seasonal Home Garden workshops annually on a variety of garden related topics designed for the home gardener. The next workshop in November has a holiday theme, "Creating Holiday Gifts from Your Garden," and features fun hands-on projects and demonstrations. For more details about this workshop, please see this flyer.
Want more information on the Master Gardener program? Please click here to link to Master Gardener webpages.