Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 13, 1992 TAG: 9203130193
SECTION: LAWN & GARDEN PAGE: LG-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But restoration of the funds, proposed by the General Assembly on March 5, is no guarantee the program will survive, said Jacqui Brown, an Extension Service horticultural technician in Roanoke County and Salem.
Brown said she understands the $5.8 million restoration is only a proposal and "the governor could veto everything."
The $5.8 million falls considerably short of the $12 million originally cut from the Extension Service's budget. It also is well under the $9.2 million the service asked the General Assembly to restore to its budget.
John Arbogast, the Extension Service horticultural agent in Roanoke and chief Master Gardener trainer in this area, said loss of $12 million would eliminate the Master Gardening program along with the entire Consumer Horticulture Program.
This could threaten trained agents, who back up the approximately 100 people trained as master gardeners in the Roanoke area.
They could continue their work as individuals and through the Master Gardeners' Association formed by those who completed the program in the Roanoke Valley.
But even with that group, Arbogast said, the master gardeners still would not have the resource backup of the Extension Service.
The Master Gardening program began in Virginia in the 1970s and was introduced in the Roanoke Valley in 1987.
Extension Service offices recruit people to take the program and guide them through 50 hours of classroom training.
Each person who takes the training pays a $30 fee to cover the cost of materials. Arbogast said that in some areas of Virginia businesses sponsor people for the program and pay the fee. However, this has not caught on in the Roanoke Valley.
The purpose of the program is to produce a network of trained volunteers who want to learn more about gardening and make their communities better places to live by sharing their knowledge with others.
"The whole program is based on the barter system," Arbogast said. "Each person in the program must return at least 50 hours of volunteer community service."
That service can be performed in a variety of ways. In the Roanoke Valley, for instance, master gardeners tend the Fishburn Rose Garden at the Mountain View Recreation Center on Memorial Avenue in Roanoke.
They recently planted a number of rose plants given to the garden by Jackson & Perkins, a rose producer in Medford, Oregon. Arbogast said this donation of roses was negotiated by the master gardeners.
Some of the other community service performed by the master gardeners include judging 4-H projects, giving gardening programs in schools, assisting Roanoke City with its annual survey and inventory of street trees and helping care for flower beds on public grounds.
One of the master gardeners, Dr. Melvin Maxey of Salem, began his community service in 1990.
During that year he spent 70 hours - 20 more than the requirement - answering the phone and gardening questions in the Extension Service office, working at the Fishburn Rose Garden, judging 13 4-H gardens, judging the canned goods display at the Salem Fair, visiting two homes to advise the homeowners about gardening problems and doing telephoning for 4-H clubs.
This completed his community service, but Maxey, like most of the master gardeners, continued to lend his expertise.
During 1991 he worked with five 4-H gardeners at the G.W. Carver Elementary School in Salem and again judged canned goods at the Salem Fair.
Maxey's major contribution in 1992 is as a main organizer of a gardening club based in Salem.
Statewide, the master gardeners perform a variety of activities in different communities.
In some places, they establish and manage farmers' markets. They create or participate in programs for the handicapped, senior citizens or those who don't speak English.
Master gardeners also help people understand how food is grown, processed and distributed. They present gardening information through programs for the general public.
by CNB