Enrollment, Retention, and Activity in an Online Master Gardener Course

An online version of the OSU Master Gardener training course was launched in the fall of 2006. Student retention in the online course was comparable to retention in on-site trainings. Students who were most active in the course, measured as the number of optional assignments and quizzes completed, were more likely to score higher on the final exam. Online courses have the capacity to broaden the reach of Extension and to allow individuals who traditionally could not take advantage of programs to become a part of the Extension community

An Online Resource Site for Extension Master Gardener Coordinators

Developing an online resource site for Extension master gardener (EMG) coordinators is an ongoing project for Extension collaborators. Begun in 2014, the website includes peer-reviewed resources focused on best practices in volunteer management and program administration. The website is organized according to nine resource categories (e.g., program planning, engaging and teaching adults) and three resource types (i.e., readings, PowerPoint files, templates). In this article, we identify criteria used by peer reviewers and describe the processes for identifying potential resources, building site content, and making the website more accessible

An introduction to being a Master Gardener volunteer

The Oregon State University Extension Service Master Gardener Program is a voluntary educational program designed to meet the community’s gardening needs. This publication provides an introduction to the program and the Master Gardener position.Published January 2010. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalogKeywords: volunteer, plant clinic, pest control, gardeningKeywords: volunteer, plant clinic, pest control, gardenin

Growing your own

A publication containing advice on a wide range of gardening topics, including composting, container gardens, fall/winter gardens, fertilizing, insect pests, plant diseases, planting guidelines, raised beds, site selection, slugs, soil improvement, tilling, warm-season crops, watering, and weeds. Includes regional tips for various parts of Oregon.Published April 2011. Replaces GROW. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalogKeywords: soil preparation, gardening, pest control, Oregon, vegetable

What Are the Economic Costs and Benefits of Home Vegetable Gardens?

Home vegetable gardens are often promoted as a way to cut household costs by providing low-cost access to fruits and vegetables. How much can gardeners expect to spend and recoup from their efforts? An analysis of published data suggests that home vegetable gardens are profitable, if the fair market value of garden labor is excluded from calculated costs. On average, home vegetable gardens produce $677 worth of fruits and vegetables, beyond the cost of$238 worth of materials and supplies. Local environmental conditions, gardening practices, and crop choices will influence the actual net value realized by individual gardeners

Generating Potential Solutions for Dealing with Problem Volunteers

Extension agents are often required to work with challenging volunteers or to problem-solve difficult volunteer scenarios. However, many Extension agents receive little to no training in conflict management. At the 2013 Extension Master Gardener Coordinators\u27 Conference, a breakout session was held to discuss the management of difficult volunteers and related issues. Master Gardener Coordinators were given several potential problem volunteer scenarios to discuss, so that potential solutions could be developed and shared. Although we were not able to measure the efficacy of the potential solutions, they represent the combined wisdom and experience of Master Gardener coordinators from across the country

The First Nationally Unifying Mission Statement and Program Standards for Extension Master Gardener Programs at Land-Grant Universities

Started in 1973, by 1996 the Extension Master Gardener (EMG) program had been independently established in all 50 states. It was not until 2006 that an Extension Master Gardener National Committee was formed to facilitate cooperation, communication, and collaboration among EMG programs. In response to requests from EMG coordinators, a task force was appointed to develop nationally relevant resources and a set of national program standards to support and guide EMG Programs. Here we report on the development and adoption of national program standards and a unifying mission statement for EMG Programs in the United States

Protecting garden fruits from spotted wing Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii)

This publication describes what home and community gardeners can do to monitor and responsibly manage spotted wing drosophila in their tree fruits and berries.Published April 2011. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalogKeywords: pest, berry and grape, Drosophila suzukii, spotted wing drosophila, tree fruit, home garden, insec

Garden Pollinators and the Potential for Ecosystem Service Flow to Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture

Hedgerows, flowering strips, and natural areas that are adjacent to agricultural land have been shown to benefit crop production, via the provision of insect pollinators that pollinate crops. However, we do not yet know the extent to which bee habitat in the form of urban gardens might contribute to pollination services in surrounding crops. We explored whether gardens might provision pollinators to adjacent agricultural areas by sampling bees from gardens in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area, and estimating typical foraging distances in the context of commercial- and residential-scale pollination-dependent crops up to 1000 m from garden study sites. We estimate that garden bees could forage outside of the garden in which they were collected, and that when pollination-dependent crops (commercial-scale or residential-scale) are nearby, 30–50% of the garden bee community could potentially provide pollination services to adjacent crops, if urban bees readily cross boundaries and forage among habitat types. Urban gardens might thus be well-positioned to provision neighboring farms and food gardens with pollination services, or could serve as a refuge for pollinators when forage is scarce or crop management practices are inhospitable. The actual capacity of gardens to serve as a refuge for pollinators from agricultural fields depends upon the extent to which bees forage across habitat types. However, relatively little is known about the degree to which bees move among habitat patches in heterogeneous landscapes. We thus propose a research agenda that can document the extent to which gardens contribute to pollinator health and pollination services at the interface of urban, peri-urban, and rural landscapes. In particular, more data is needed on how landscape context impedes or promotes garden bee movement between habitat types