Posts Tagged: UC Master Gardener Program
Hispanic Heritage Month Happenings
UC Agriculture and Natural Resource (UC ANR) and the UC Master Gardener Program are joining the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, From Sept. 15 through Oct.15, Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated nationally to acknowledge Latinos' contributions and vital presence in the United States.
Over the coming weeks UC ANR will hold several zoom forums with topics ranging from how to stop the implicit bias towards Latinos and other ethnic groups, what do we need to know to better understand the Latino community. To the indigenous migrant workers, who are they? What are the most pressing needs? These communities were hit hard by COVID-19.
Registration is required for these events (links provided below), however they are being recorded and posted to the Hispanic Heritage Month 2021 website for those who can't make it.
Hispanic Heritage Month Honorees
We are celebrating three Latino UC ANR professionals in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. Congratulations to Liliana Vega, Leticia Christian, and Gersain López, each have an informative, short 2 minute video explaining their work and will be part of a forum on Sept. 29. They were chosen for being Latino professionals who serve their communities while always upholding UC ANR's public values of academic excellence, honesty, integrity, and community service. Watch the honorees videos below.
Zoom Forums
All the zoom forums will be from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and moderated by Ricardo Vela, manager of News and Information Outreach in Spanish (NOS).
The below events will be presented in English. Links to join will be sent to registrants prior to each event. Registration Required: https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=35590
- September 15, zoom forum, 1-2:30 PM
One size does not fit all! – Myths, Stereotypes and Discrimination against Latinos.
Guest speaker: Victor Villegas /Oregon State University/Latino advocate.
Testimonies from: Christian Gomez Wong, Beatriz Nobua-Bherman and Bertha Teresa Felix-Simmons. - September 22, zoom forum, 1-2:30 PM
Indigenous Migrant Communities – “The forgotten ones in the age of COVID19”
Guest speakers: Arcenio López/ Exec. Director Mixtec Indígena Organization Project (MICOP) - September 29, zoom forum, 1-2:30 PM
Meet the HHM 2021 Honorees
Guest speakers: Katherine E. Soule /Liliana Vega – 4-H; Tuline N Baycal/Leticia Christian – CalFresh Healthy Living, UC; Jairo Diaz/Gilberto Magallon/Gersain Lopez – Desert Rec.
The below events will be presented in Spanish. Links to join will be sent to registrants prior to each event. Registration Required: https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=35503
- October 6 zoom community forum in Spanish, 1-2:30 PM
Be better parents, how to make your kid a leader.
Guest speakers: Claudia Diaz – 4-H youth development advisor. - October 13 zoom community forum in Spanish, 1-2:30 PM
How to have a successful vegetable garden
Guest speaker: Master Garden Volunteers from Contra Costa County UCCE. - October 15 zoom community forum in Spanish, 1-2:30 PM
The power of a nutritional meal
Guest speakers: Susana Matias Medrano/Nutritional Science & Toxicology/ UC and CE Berkeley
Registration and Website Links
Please help us make this year's celebration a success, spread the word about the events.
Those interested in attending the September forums should register here.
For the Spanish community forums, please register here.
For more information, Zoom backgrounds and phone wallpapers
- Hispanic Heritage Month 2021 (Main page) http://ucanr.edu/hhm-2021
- Hispanic Heritage Month 2021 (Recursos, Resources) http://ucanr.edu/hhm-2021-recursos_resources
- Hispanic Heritage Month 2021 (Recetas) http://ucanr.edu/hhm-2021-recetas
- UC ANR Honorees Page https://tinyurl.com/ycpcdufh
Questions, Contact:
Ricardo Vela, rvela@ucanr.edu, (951) 660-9887
UC ANR, local nonprofit grow community health in Inland Empire garden
A volunteer recovering from a drug addiction gives time regularly to help stay sober. An older person uses outdoor spaces to stay active, physically and socially, despite mobility issues. And a mother of four strives to teach her children what carrots look like before they become capsules in plastic bags.
While these San Bernardino County residents enjoy their hours within their community garden, the lessons and inspiration they derive travel much farther – forming the branches and roots of a stronger, healthier community.
Hence the name of this unique place in Ontario, the Seeds of Joy Community Garden.
“The goal is to not just grow in the garden, but to grow the community outside the gates as well,” said UC Master Gardener Elizabeth McSwain, whose nonprofit, Caramel Connections Foundation, has nurtured this project from its beginnings in 2018 as a small plot within the Huerta del Valle Garden.
The programs and classes were so well-received that McSwain and her partners and volunteers opened in April 2021 a much larger, 1-acre space within Anthony Muñoz Hall of Fame Park.
As a self-described “green heart with a brown thumb,” McSwain said the success of the garden would not be possible without the support of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) staff and volunteers.
McSwain, a restaurant owner, founded Caramel Connections Foundation in 2016 to offer culinary and healthy eating classes at the local Boys & Girls Club. During her first-ever visit to a community garden to attend a “herbs as medicine” class taught by UC Master Gardener Valerie Dobesh, McSwain had a life-changing conversation at an information table.
Maggie O'Neill, the UC Master Gardener program coordinator for UCCE in San Bernardino County, patiently answered McSwain's many questions about the program, which trains volunteers to spread research-based knowledge on home horticulture, pest management and sustainable landscape practices.
“In regards to planting the seed in my heart, I can never say enough about Maggie,” McSwain said, “because Maggie's passion and her knowledge about gardening made me feel like…even though I didn't have the skill set, she made me feel as if I would be a good candidate for the Master Gardener program.”
McSwain graduated from the program in March 2021, equipped with the expertise to better support the volunteers and participants in an ever-blossoming variety of programs that serve a broad swath of the community.
“One of the key founding principles of this garden from the very beginning has been inclusivity and making sure that all community members feel welcome, celebrating many cultures, ethnicities and religions,” O'Neill said. “Elizabeth has made sure that the partners and organizations that are supporting this garden are equally diverse and inclusive so that the community members are able to see themselves represented in the people who are helping to bring this garden together.”
Seeds of Joy now features a Zen garden with succulents to raise drought awareness, a Read in Color Little Free Library emphasizing diverse cultural connections, a composting/vermicomposting bin system to highlight waste diversion (with a small orchard), a story time area for children, an outdoor classroom, a space for yoga classes, and an outdoor community kitchen that helps produce meals for facilities serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
“With food insecurity being such a major problem for San Bernardino County in general, even prior to COVID, the current epidemic of poor nutrition in our children is weakening the strength of our community,” McSwain explained. “We hope to play a part in helping to fix that in some way – healthy food and fitness are powerful essentials that are often overlooked.”
Residents of low-income housing units across the street will have priority for reserving plots in the heart of the garden – approximately 30 raised beds for growing fresh, organic produce. Although completion of those beds has been delayed due to COVID impacts, applications have already been coming in.
“Ultimately our goal is to teach Inland Empire families what's involved in maintaining an edible garden,” McSwain said. “We provide them with the basic tools.”
In addition to UC Master Gardener-led classes, other UC ANR programs are contributing to this educational hub within a historically underserved neighborhood. The Master Food Preserver Program volunteers will be offering workshops on how to safely preserve the community garden's harvests, while EFNEP (Expanded Food and Nutrition Program) educators will teach about eating nutritious, delicious food in a budget-conscious way.
“Our programs are a great complement to the garden and to each other because we teach people how to grow their own food, then teach them how to preserve it and how to make lifestyles changes for healthier, happier families,” O'Neill said. “With all of these classes offered free to the community through the UCCE, we are able to add incredible value to an already great project.”
Already, O'Neill has been showing community members how to “companion plant” – maximizing the limited space residents have to work with, by placing ecologically compatible plants next to each other so that they can mutually flourish.
Companion gardening is a fitting analogy for the power of collaboration – with local officials, community and corporate partners, and organizations such as UC ANR – in growing spaces and resources for the benefit of the entire community.
“Partnering with the Master Gardener program and the Master Food Preserver Program and EFNEP is the perfect partnership in that we're all trying to do the same thing,” McSwain said. “We're trying to help people make better choices and to give them the tools so that they can live better lives, and not necessarily have to rely on spending $500 at the grocery store to get organic products, and making a choice between paying your light bills or buying food.”
McSwain welcomes all community members to participate, engage, and visit the Seeds of Joy garden, located at 1240 W. Fourth St. in Ontario.
“I don't want it to be a secret garden,” she said. “We want the community to know that it's there for them, that it's there to enhance their life – to reduce the disparities in our community and to be able to just spark a love of gardening and bring joy.”
In addition to support from UC ANR programs, Seeds of Joy is made possible by the City of Ontario (Mayor Paul Leon, City Council, and former City Manager Al Boling), American Beverage Association, Beola's Southern Cuisine, CalRecycle, Huerta del Valle Garden, Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP), Inland Empire Resource Conservation District, Kellogg Garden Products, Mercy House, San Bernardino County, SLJ Pro Audio Services – among a host of other community partners.
National Volunteer Month: Gardeners with Heart - Diversity Equity and Inclusion Leaders, Part 2
In April, we celebrate National Volunteer Month, honoring all of the contributions that volunteers make in our communities. All month long, the UC Master Gardener Program will feature stories of exceptional volunteers, or Gardeners with Heart, making a difference in California's community, school, demonstration, and research gardens. While the past program year presented many challenges to program delivery, the surge of interest in gardening has never been higher. The passion and support of UC Master Gardener volunteers have been essential in the program continuing to serve our mission.
Today, we celebrate Gardeners with Heart whose diversity, equity, and inclusion leadership has transformed program delivery, outreach, and administration. These volunteers embody the UCANR Strategic Goal to Improve Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) through their commitment to serving audiences historically underinvested by Extension and developing the community engagement and cultural competency of their fellow volunteers. Because of the nature of COVID-19 restrictions, many of our Gardeners with Heart nominated in the community stewardship category also display outstanding technological skills, using new virtual platforms and approaches to support their efforts.
Jennifer Kwoon – Los Angeles County
Jennifer is an amazing UC Master Gardener Program volunteer from the Los Angeles County class of 2019! She's always looking for ways to use her skills to help the UC Master Gardener Program grow and be more helpful to the diverse communities here in Los Angeles County. Before the pandemic, Jennifer could often be found volunteering at the Alhambra Farmers' Market, sharing gardening information with our community. As a fluent Mandarin speaker who also understands Cantonese, she has helped the program reach Chinese-speaking community members with which the program previously had limited interaction.
In recent months, Jennifer has been very active in Los Angeles County's recently formed UC Master Gardener Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force. Last fall, Jennifer approached UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) staff and offered to analyze program data to help us have a better understanding of the trends in diversity of UC Master Gardeners and trainees over time and of course, we were happy to take her up on this offer!
"I am deeply honored to be nominated for the 2021 UC Master Gardener Program Gardeners with Heart volunteer recognition. Like many people, the global pandemic changed my perspective on how I could still be involved and continue to serve my community in this year of isolation,” says Jennifer, “In addition to a lover of all things green, I am also a fervent proponent for justice and equity. So as a data scientist, it seemed like a natural step to assist the UC Master Gardener Program in Los Angeles County in analyzing years of UC Master Gardener Program applicant and volunteer data to help build a more diverse, inclusive, and welcoming program for all. The UC Master Gardener Program's DEI initiatives are a result of the combined efforts of many caring, dedicated, and extremely generous people. I am privileged to work among them and am continuously inspired by their warmth and commitment to the community.”
Jennifer's contributions have added a layer of awareness to the entire UC Master Gardener Program in Los Angeles, and in turn on every project, by highlighting the urgent need for improvement in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion in every aspect of our program. Jennifer offered her advanced data analysis skills to analyze anonymous UC Master Gardener applicant data from 2010 through 2020 to illustrate the gaps in our applicant selection process concerning diversity, equity, and inclusion. After Jennifer painstakingly analyzed ten years' worth of program data and presented her findings to the group, the DEI Task Force made practical suggestions based on those results. “Jennifer's work was foundational to allowing us to see where we need to improve our volunteer outreach to reflect the diversity of Los Angeles County better. She also promoted cultural competence, relationship building, and communication among our volunteers,” explains program coordinator Valorie Borel. Along with DEI task force members, Jennifer helped design a final project for 2021 trainees, which prepares them to support diversity, equity, and inclusion in their volunteer work.
Sherwood Demonstration Garden ‘Veggie Team' - El Dorado County
In 2019, the UC Master Gardener Program launched a partnership with Motherlode Rehabilitation (MORE), a non-profit that provides services to adults with developmental disabilities and empowers individuals with disabilities to enhance their quality of life. Twice a month, MORE clients visited the Sherwood Demonstration Garden to learn about gardening and nutrition with UC Master Gardener Program volunteers, including Kitty Howard and the Veggie Team: Deb Helleseth, Karen McNeil, Elissa Bunn, Gail Fulbeck, Barbara Brydon, Muriel Stephenson, Dave Hale, and Suzanne Surburg.
“When COVID-19 hit, MORE participants could no longer visit the garden, so the ‘Veggie Team' pivoted,” explains program coordinator Tracy Celio. Despite not being able to meet in person, UC Master Gardeners continued to engage MORE clients. A team of volunteers developed learning opportunities and videos to share about various gardening topics and projects like how to build a birdhouse and growing succulents. “Our partnership with the UC Master Gardener Program has had a significant impact on our clients. It opened up a whole new hands-on experience, and our clients learned about where food comes from, how it grows, and the miracle of harvesting. UC Master Gardeners treated our clients with such respect that they felt part of the community. While in-person activities had to pause because of COVID-19, UC Master Gardeners actively supported MORE clients. We can't wait to return in-person to the garden!” says Susie Davies, Chief Executive Officer at MORE.
In addition to this community partner work, the 'Veggie Team' kept the Sherwood Demonstration Garden thriving in 2020. Their work enabled the UC Master Gardener Program in El Dorado to donate large quantities of vegetables to local food banks, launch community training on Facebook Live, produce videos for the public, and develop contact-less gardening kits for existing community projects.
Thurman Howard – Riverside County
In 2020 UC Master Gardener Program volunteer, Thurman Howard, joined fellow UC Master Gardener volunteers in Riverside County to create a new program effort: Diverse Community Projects. Diverse Community Projects is an umbrella effort combining several existing projects with new ventures, designed to engage and support communities often underinvested by Extension. The project focuses on partnerships with organizations serving Black, Hispanic/Latino/Latinx, Asian and Asian American, Pacific Islander, Native American, and people with disabilities. "For many years UC Master Gardeners in Riverside County have been involved in reaching out to various communities to provide gardening assistance and information. However, we have become increasingly aware that several ethnic populations are either not served at all or who are considerably underserved," says Thurman.
According to fellow volunteer, Georgia Renne the team increased outreach to their existing project serving Women Infants and Children (WIC), a federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program. Currently serving nine WIC offices throughout Riverside County, the team is now working to expand its footprint. They have developed materials in Spanish, recruited bilingual volunteers and speakers, and partnered with Beaumont Head Start to provide education and bilingual assistance in a local children's garden. These efforts have increased UC Master Gardener Program contacts in the Latino community in Riverside by 1000%! In addition to work with WIC and Headstart participants, the Diverse Community Projects team, collaborates closely with Faith Temple, a predominately Black congregation located in an ethnically diverse community of Black, Asian, and Hispanic families. UC Master Gardener Program volunteers worked with congregants to develop a one-acre community garden and orchard and gardening programming in collaboration with Cal Fresh and the Faith Temple's garden committee.
Thurman worked with his team to support the 'Cultivating Inclusion Garden' located in Murrieta, Calif. to help address the need for vocational skills for people with disabilities. UC Master Gardener Program volunteers organize and train community volunteers on how to manage the citrus orchard and several raised beds for vegetables. Volunteers then work alongside adults and children with disabilities to care for plants and harvested produce to be donated to local food banks. From July 2020 to January 2021, this orchard produced over 2 tons of citrus for their local food pantries.
Finally, Thurman Howard's years-long personal relationship with the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians in the San Jacinto area resulted in the development of a community resource garden, the Soboba Elder's Garden. Thurman's approach to this partnership reflects his deep respect for community partners, humility, and understanding of the importance of trust-building. "At the beginning of this project,” says Georgia, “Thurman worked to visited with Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians tribal members twice per week to discuss soil building, project goals, and project budget.” As a result, the Soboba Elders' Garden today has become a huge success. The site now has multiple fields planted with seasonally appropriate crops, a robust composting and vermiculture program, and various types of irrigation. The Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians has nominated several members to complete the UC Master Gardener Program training and funded a full-time coordinator to deliver garden produce to tribal members. Current plans include planting a summer crop of corn, beans, pumpkins, and yams or sweet potatoes as requested by the Elders. In the late spring of 2021, members continue to harvest crops daily with a bumper crop of carrots, beets, mustard greens, onions, and three varieties of lettuces.
About National Volunteer Month and Gardeners with Heart
Special appreciation to UC Master Gardener Program coordinators Valerie Borel (Los Angeles) and Tracy Celio (El Dorado) and lead volunteer Georgie Renne (Riverside) for contributions to this story.
UC Master Gardeners ‘Garden Walks’ conserves millions of gallons of water annually in Marin
The Marin Municipal Water District has saved nearly 30 million gallons of water since it initiated a partnership with UC Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener program in Marin to teach residents how to conserve water.
The program, Garden Walks, was established in 2008 to help Marin conserve water in a district with limited supply. MMWD purchases about 75% of its water from reservoirs on Mt. Tamalpais and in west Marin, and the rest from Sonoma County's Russian River water system.
Garden Walks provides personalized information and advice to water district customers focused on improving their irrigation practices to conserve water. The part-time coordinator sets up about 150 appointments a year for UC Master Gardener volunteers to visit the homes of Marin County residents and teach them how to manage their outdoor water usage with conservation in mind.
“When we finish our visits, I hope that the client is more confident about being proactive in their garden,” said Pam Polite Fisco, the program coordinator. “We hope they will be saving water, will use natives and will encourage wildlife in their gardens.”
The volunteers, dispatched in pairs, spend about an hour at the homes. They walk the garden and talk with residents about grouping plants with similar water requirements, adding mulch to the soil surface and composting clippings, leaves and other green waste so it stays on the property.
The UC Master Gardeners teach the residents how to check their water meters and use the meter to help determine whether there are leaks in the system. They provide advice on water-conserving plants, such as natives or other drought-tolerant plants. They ask the residents to run their sprinklers and other irrigation systems to ensure they know how to manage the controls.
The majority of the water savings realized by the program stems from repairing leaks and cutting back on overwatering, said Steven Swain, UC Cooperative Extension horticulture advisor and the technical advisor to the Marin County Master Gardener program.
As part of their agreement with UC Cooperative Extension, the Marin Water District monitors changes in water usage and reports them annually on their website, allowing Swain to determine the program's impact.
The majority of water savings during the life of the program is attributable to just one quarter of the houses Master Gardeners visited; three quarters of participants were managing water sustainably.
“Sometimes, our volunteers just give the residents a pat on the back and compliment them for a job well done,” Swain said.
About 6% of the clients visited have hidden water leaks in their irrigation systems. These leaks can waste huge amounts of water if not caught, and account for a large portion of the water savings. Another 18% of clients are overwatering, which accounts for much of the rest of the savings.
Considering the value of the water conserved by the Garden Walks program, the $40,000 annual cost to hire the coordinator is more than offset by the reducing amount of water the district must provide.
This program has received a number of awards, including the Marin Conservation League's Ted Wellman Water Award in 2010. In 2011, it received first place in the UC Master Gardener's Search For Excellence awards and the Community Outreach Award at the National Extension Master Gardener Coordinating Conference. Marin County residents have also praised the program.
“The Master Gardener team was friendly, professional and helpful and shared their positive attitude to their garden and their outreach,” said Fairfax resident ‘Julie' in a follow-up survey
‘Jean' of San Rafael said, “I'm a beginning gardener. They helped me figure out how to start off right.”
A number of California counties were inspired by the success of the Marin County Garden Walks program and have adopted similar efforts to visit homeowners and assess irrigation efficiency.
View a video about the Marin Garden Walks porgram:
LIVE: Planting Right with Plant Right Talk
UC Master Gardener Program and PlantRight have partnered for a LIVE Facebook and YouTube talk about invasive plants on Jan. 19at noon. Invasive plants harm the environment and cost California millions of dollars to monitor and manage each year. Almost half of invasive plants in the state get their start through the nursery trade, and many invasive plants are still legal to sell today. Educating people on the impact of invasive plants is just a small piece of removing them from the environment.
What is PlantRight?
PlantRight is a program that works together with the nursery industry, conservation, science, and government agencies to identify and help nurseries voluntarily phase out invasive plants. For each invasive on the list, PlantRight suggests safer, regionally appropriate alternative plants. PlantRight's goal is to teach everyone from landscapers to home gardeners how toplant “right”. Learn more about PlantRight at www.PlantRight.org. Stay up on the latest from PlantRight by following them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
UC Master Gardener Partnership
The partnership between the UC Master Gardener Program and PlantRight supports planting the right plant in the right place. The right plant in the right place leads to a healthier environment and healthier plants. Because of UC Master Gardener volunteer efforts, PlantRight can survey plant nurseries all over California. Armed with clipboards, cameras, and data sheets, specially trained volunteers collect and report to PlantRight. The information volunteers gather is vital to PlantRight for three main purposes:
- Tracking the sale of invasive plants currently on the plant list and retiring those that have been mostly phased out of retail.
- Helping PlantRight determine whether or not to add candidate plants to the plant list.
- Informing industry outreach strategy with information about sales in different regions and store types.
UC Master Gardener volunteers play a vital role in educating the public on right plant, right place, and helping PlantRight survey California's plant nurseries.
Planting Right with PlantRight, LIVE on Jan. 19
The UC Master Gardener Program is celebrating this great partnership by hosting a free LIVE talk titled Planting Right with PlanRight. No registration is required. The discussion will be live-streamed to Facebook and YouTube on Tuesday, Jan. 19 at noon. Guest speaker, Alex Stubblefield, PlantRight Project manager, will be educating us on invasive plants in California and offering plant alternatives as well as the importance of the annual plant survey.
LIVE talks are an authentic and interactive way to interact with our audience in real-time. Share the Facebook and YouTube Live opportunity with your friends on social media and tune in to the UC Master Gardener Program LIVE broadcast! In the comments section below, let us know what topics or questions you would like answered on Tuesday, Jan. 19, or ideas for future LIVE topics. The event will be recorded and available for later viewing for those who can't make it. Attention UC Master Gardener Volunteers: Whether you join LIVE or watch the recording, be sure to record your continuing education hours in the Volunteer Management System.
Ask your local UC Master Gardener
For more gardening help and local county resources, click here to Find a Program. You will be redirected to your local county website and contact information. UC Master Gardener volunteers, staff, and our extended community's health and safety is our number one priority. Many UC Cooperative Extension offices are offering only phone and virtual services but are here to help, be sure to check your local program for resources. Thank you for your understanding.