Ask a Master Gardener, Become a Master Gardener, Community Gardens, Garden Tour, General News, Hot Line, Hotline, Uncategorized

Celebrating 40 years of Master Gardener magic

A young bird lover admires a Master Gardener-crafted birdhouse at a community event. (Master Gardener Association of San Diego County archives)

The Master Gardener Association of San Diego County has been a steady presence for four decades, helping local residents learn about home gardening, landscaping and pest management

BY MICHAEL HARRISON AND DOM FIUME
(This article originally appeared in the July 8, 2023 edition of the San Diego Union-Tribune)

Has it been 40 years? The time went by so fast. 1983! That year, Michael Jackson was extolling the charms of Billie Jean; somewhere in a galaxy far, far away, the Jedi were returning; and the Jeffersons were moving on up.

In our neck of the woods, a handful of local volunteers were building something incredible for the people of San Diego County.

In June of 1983, 34 University of California (UC) trained volunteers graduated and became the first of our county’s Master Gardeners. They promised to serve the public in all areas of home horticulture and pest management with research-based programs and the helping hands to assist in implementing best gardening practices.

The first time the public heard of San Diego’s “master gardeners” was in a 1982 article on spongy moths in the San Diego Evening Tribune. Then-urban horticulture adviser Vincent Lazaneo (soon to be the first adviser for the program) told the reporter that his office would “…recruit people for a ‘master gardener’ program who will be trained to go out in the community to speak on horticulture and pest management.’”

Carol Graham, a charter member of the association, sets up the Ask-A-Master Gardener booth at the San Diego County Fair. (Master Gardener Association of San Diego County archives)

 

Those original 34 Master Gardeners were determined to have a big impact. Almost immediately, they formed a partnership with the Horticulture Department of Cuyamaca College. With a donated quarter-acre of land and the cooperation of department staff, important research on a variety of vegetables — including tomatoes, artichokes, pole beans, potatoes, cucumbers and rhubarb — took place over the subsequent decade. The results of the cooperative effort created new processes that found their way into commercial use and national publications, such as Sunset Magazine. Their important work and the ever-expanding effort at public outreach set the Master Gardener program on a meteoric expansion that continues today.

The core of dedicated active Master Gardeners has grown to about 350 UC-trained volunteers. Every two years, a new class brings fresh minds, new perspectives and state-of-the art technological skills to the ongoing activities of the group.

“Horticulture and pest management” are still fundamentals of the Master Gardener program. However, expansion of the organization’s public outreach efforts over the past 40 years mirrors the changing times. We now reach into every part of our community with specialized committees and events:

  • We offer programs to residents of memory-care facilities to stimulate forgotten sensory experiences.
  • We provide lessons and advice for campus growing areas to more than 300 schools.
  • Master Gardeners support over 100 community gardens.
  • We assist individuals with sensory, physical or age-related limitations in building fully accessible gardens.
  • We provide guidance on converting water-guzzling front yards into colorful, sustainable, water-wise landscapes.
  • We offer grants to partner organizations so they can encourage families to embrace homegrown produce.
  • Our free Master Gardener volunteer-staffed hotline provides quick research-based answers to residents’ gardening questions.

Where there’s a gardening need, San Diego’s Master Gardeners work to fill it.

Master Gardeners share ideas with the public through many platforms, including portable exhibits. (Joe Boldt)

In 1993, the Master Gardeners took a big step by incorporating, thereby establishing their status as the nonprofit Master Gardener Association of San Diego County. Looking back, MGASDC has much to be proud of. Forty years ago, the organization could have taken a limited view of assisting in “horticulture and pest management,” but the world kept changing and the Association kept pace. New realities, like climate change, a persistent drought, changing demographics, the explosion of a digitized world and a prolonged pandemic have all impressed upon association membership the need to adapt and grow.

When asked what his proudest moment was, retired UC Cooperative Extension Coordinator Scott Parker responded, “Let’s Grow Together San Diego.” This interactive website was created when we all quickly pivoted from person-to-person contact to remote connections. The transition from primarily a repository of valuable gardening information to a site where individuals and organizations could access science-based lessons and home activities materialized in just a week. The quality of Let’s Grow Together San Diego was recognized by larger community organizations such as the County Office of Education, San Diego Unified School District and San Diego County Public Library System, all of whom accepted the offer of free, UC-reviewed materials created by local Master Gardeners.

Master Gardener plant sales are held annually in Balboa Park’s Casa del Prado building, room 101. (Master Gardener Association of San Diego County archives)

Today, San Diego Master Gardeners’ impact can be felt far and wide: at the San Diego County Fair, where Master Gardeners field questions about every aspect of plant care; in our schools, where they are encouraging children to develop an appreciation for the earth and its bounty; staffing Demonstration Gardens in Balboa Park and at The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch, County Operations Center, and Paradise Hills Native Garden, giving everyone a chance to see what is possible for backyard gardens.

Tens of thousands of San Diegans have had the pleasure of in-person interactions with Master Gardeners at one of the association’s big events such as plant sales, Master Gardener seminars and area garden tours. A 40th anniversary fall celebration at the County Operations Center will showcase all that MGs do for the community, with workshops, presentations, a plant sale and so much more.

Although the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County reveres its past, the organization always looks to the future. Retired program Adviser Vincent Lazaneo asserted, “The MGA is a flexible organization and can respond to the evolving needs of the gardening community.”

In other words, “Get ready, San Diego. The best is yet to come!”

Harrelson has been with the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County since 2012. He practices low-water landscaping at his home in Jamul and enjoys creating beautiful living spaces from what his 1 acre provides naturally. Fiume has been a San Diego Master Gardener since 2008. He enjoys growing unusual Mediterranean climate plants and vegetables.

Spread the word. Share this post!