Alaska Master Gardener Volunteer Guide

Cooperative Extension is the resources and expertise of the University of Alaska Fairbanks

• Home Economics

• 4-H & Youth Development

• Agriculture

What is the Alaska Master Gardener Program?

• A program to train Alaskan gardening volunteers• One of the most important Extension programs• In 2005 there were more than 1,000 Master Gardener Programs

Nationwide!• Multiplies the outreach efforts of UAF

Master Gardeners are essentially “volunteer faculty”!

What does it take to become an Alaska Master Gardener?

1. Complete the Alaska Master Gardener course2. Complete 40 hours of gardening related volunteer service

after you complete the course.

This square foot school garden was started by Mike McDougal in Eagle as part of his Alaska Master Gardener Volunteer service.

An Alaska Master Gardener does NOT:

• Use the Master Gardener title for business purposes

• Begin counting volunteer hours until after completing the Alaska Master Gardener Course work

After you have completed the Alaska Master Gardener Online Course:1. Decide what you would like to do for your volunteer hours

(examples can be found on the next two pages)2. Go to:

http://www.uaf.edu/ces/mastergardeners/online/volunteer/3. Complete the “Alaska Master Gardener Volunteer Proposal”

found at the above site.4. After you have completed your volunteer hours, fill out the

Volunteer Time Sheet and email it to: master.gardener@alaska.edu

5. This can be found at: http://www.uaf.edu/ces/mastergardeners/online/volunteer/

6. You must complete your volunteer hours within 1 year of completing your course work, but you may not start your volunteer hours until after you have completed your coursework.

How do Alaska Master Gardeners Volunteer?

You may wish to complete your volunteer service online

Examples:•Write for http://alaskamastergardener.blogspot.com/ •Develop a PowerPoint Presentation for the Alaska Master Gardener Online Course•Write gardening articles•Develop gardening lesson plans and quizzes for K-12 audience

Alaska Master Gardeners volunteer their time to help train, educate and serve fellow Alaskans who are interested in gardening in Alaska.

Other examples of how you can fulfill your volunteer hours:

• Work on a gardening project locally in your community• Start a 4-H Garden Club or help start a School Garden• Assist non profits with gardening projects• Answer gardening questions at your local extension office• Start a community garden or help maintain one• Teach a gardening workshop to the public, at a school, or to a club• Help with beautification projects in your community• Do you have another idea of how you can fulfill your volunteer hours?

Great! Please describe it in the “Alaska Master Gardener Volunteer Proposal.” We will let you know if it is appropriate and help you find the best person to talk with to make it happen.

Alaska Master Gardeners volunteer their time to help train, educate and serve fellow Alaskans who are interested in gardening in Alaska.

How do Alaska Master Gardeners Volunteer?

Top 18 Most Popular Master Gardener Volunteer Activities Nationwide1. Staffing booths, displays at community gatherings2. Horticulture advice by Extension Phone3. Food Security Projects like Plant-a-Row, Harvest for the hungry4. Staffing Diagnostic Clinics in libraries or Garden Centers5. Maintenance of community gardens6. Presentations to garden clubs or civic groups, ect.7. Teaching Gardening Skills in schools, local communities, ect.8. Developing, maintaining demonstration gardens9. Horticulture therapy projects10. Media-based projects e.g. articles in newspapers, magazines11. Working with inmates12. Youth focused projects13. Research/Field trials14. Water quality projects15. Assisting at annual symposia16. Teaching short courses17. Developing or maintaining a website18. Administration of the local Master Gardener program

If you’d like to learn more about what other Master Gardener Volunteers are doing Nationwide, then check out: “A National Survey of Master Gardener Volunteer Programs.” April 2005

http://www.csrees.usda.gov/nea/plants/pdfs/survey_master_gardener_programs.pdf

Are you curious how Master Gardeners are volunteering Nationwide?

As an Alaska Master Gardener Volunteer, you should:

Develop your own set of Research Based, Alaskan gardening resources.

Research based information can be found from:

• The Alaska Master Gardener Online Course

• UAF CES website: http://www.uaf.edu/ces/ (go to publications and search for over 300 publications)

• www.Extension.org - a great way to get answers to questions

• www.extension.org/search where you can search almost 1,000 Cooperative Extension sites!

• Identification guides for plants, insects, spiders, birds and mushrooms

• Be WARY of just any ol’ internet resource

• Listen, listen, listen!

• Be friendly and enthusiastic

• Let them talk until they stop (sometimes the best clues come from other information)

• Loneliness drives many of our client inquiries

• Ask if they are an organic or nonorganic gardener

As an Alaska Master Gardener Volunteer, you should:

An Alaska Master Gardener is someone people trust for gardening information.

Be sure your information is trustworthy .

As an Alaska Master Gardener Volunteer, you should:

An Alaska Master Gardener is someone people trust for gardening information.

Be sure your information is trustworthy .

• Give recommendations based on research based information (this is a liability issue)

• If you don’t know the answer to their questions, ask if you can get back to them later. Be sure to get back to them…even if you don’t have an answer.

• Consult other Master Gardeners

• Consult a Cooperative Extension Agent (who will likely contact a Master Gardener!)

• Ask them to let you know the results. . .

And don’t forget. . .Alaska Master Gardeners should have FUN while teaching other Alaskans about gardening!

This material is based upon work supported by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Award No. 2009-41580-05332. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author (s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service programs are available to all, without regard to race, color, age, sex, creed, national origin, or disability and in accordance with all applicable federal laws. Provided in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Fred Schlutt, Director, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Alaska Fairbanks. UAF is an AA/EO employer and educational institution. To simplify information, trade names of products have been used. No endorsement of named products by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service is intended, nor is criticism implied of similar products that are not mentioned.

For questions about Volunteering Email: master.gardener@alaska.edu or Call: 1-800-478-6822 ext. 3281