As Master Gardeners, quite often we find ourselves out in the community teaching classes. The topics of the classes are varied but, as a rule, are related in that we are providing information to help you become a more successful and responsible gardener.

At these classes, it’s always fun (at least for me) to ask, “what is a Master Gardener?” It’s especially fun to ask elementary school students this question. As you might guess, we get a variety of answers, from the predictable to the somewhat less predictable. The most common answer is usually something around these lines - someone who is good at gardening. The less common answers are always entertaining. But, one thing I always learn in these situations, is that there is a lot of uncertainty in the general public about what a Master Gardener is, so let’s see if I can clear up some of the confusion.

First of all, Master Gardeners (specifically Tulsa Master Gardeners) are volunteers who give of their time in service to their community. Master Gardeners come from all kinds of backgrounds. We have retired physicians, lawyers, nurses, teachers, mechanics, engineers, homemakers, and veterans, in addition to just about any occupation you can imagine. I say retired, because the majority of Tulsa Master Gardeners are individuals who have retired after long careers.

While our backgrounds are a mulligan stew of histories, one thing I feel most Master Gardeners have in common is that we are life-long learners. People who like new challenges, who like to serve others, and who like learning new things. Now you don’t have to be retired to become a Tulsa Master Gardener. We have individuals who are still active in the work force, but to do this does require a certain flexibility in your schedule since most of our activities are during what would be considered “work hours.”

n Tulsa, we are fortunate to have one of the largest Master Gardener organizations in the country with over 350 active volunteers. There are several steps you must take to become a Tulsa Master Gardener.

First of all, you need to come to one of our informational meetings to learn more about our program and to see if the commitments fit within your availability. During these meetings, you have an opportunity to fill out an application and schedule an interview. Each year we get about 100 applications for 40 open positions. Most people assume they need an extensive background in horticulture to join us, but that’s not the case. If you are accepted into our program, the first thing you will do is begin classes. These classes are held on each Wednesday, September through December.

In these classes, professors from OSU and in some cases other Master Gardeners, will instruct you on a variety of topics including soil science, vegetables, annual flowers, perennial flowers, shrubs, trees, etc. At the end of this training period, you become an intern for the first year. In this intern year, you volunteer alongside seasoned Master Gardeners to learn through hands on training on your way to become a full-fledged Tulsa Master Gardener. But what do we do as Tulsa Master Gardeners?

Well, we do a lot of different things. We maintain a Diagnostic Center at the Tulsa County OSU Extension office. This office is staffed by Master Gardeners from 9:00 - 4:00, Monday through Friday. Our Diagnostic Center is available to you so you can get your questions answered about horticultural issues you may be experiencing. You can call, email, or drop by to get your question answered. As you might imagine, we see some crazy stuff in our Diagnostic Center.

We also teach classes in elementary schools in the Tulsa area. We teach about worms, seeds, pollinating insects, trees, soil, and a variety of other topics. This is a major endeavor by the Master Gardeners since we are typically in front of about 15,000 students a year.

We are also engaged in teaching 3^rd graders about insects in our Exploring Insects event each year. During this event, students get hands-on experience with a variety of insects, learning about the important role they play in our eco-system. Students get to taste fried mealworms, paint with maggots, or imitate a dung beetle, among other activities. It’s a fun day, with lots of smiles, giggles, and a few hesitant moments.

A few years ago, we started our Seed to Supper Farm. On this farm, Master Gardeners get experience growing vegetables on a larger scale than they might in their home gardens. In this project, we not only learn about growing vegetables, but we also donate the produce we grow to area food pantries. Last year we donated about 11,500 pounds of produce. This year we have exceeded that total, so who knows what our total will be this year. But one thing we do know, area food pantries are getting some fresh produce for their clients they might not have otherwise.

A couple of years ago we began working with the Tulsa Boys Home. In conjunction with TBH, we teach the residents about how to grow their own vegetables and the rewards of those efforts. During the summer session we teach daily classes on all aspects of growing vegetables as well as information on the importance of pollinators etc. The boys now have several raised beds and are working on a large garden space in hopes of supplementing their food needs with fresh veggies from their own garden. While we teach concentrated classes during the summer, our commitment to work with them is a year-round activity.

In addition, we are working with Eden Village to help their residents start and maintain their own individual gardens at their new homes. As you can see, serving our community though horticulture is one of our prime motivators.

We pay for all of this through a variety of fundraisers during the year. Many of you are familiar with our annual plant sale in the spring. For Tulsa Master Gardeners, this is a “all hands on deck” event. Due to its popularity, this event continues to grow each year, and we are grateful for your support. During this event, orders are place online and then on plant pick up day, you can get your plants through our drive-through pick up system.

You may also have attended our yearly Garden Tour in which Tulsa Master Gardeners open up their landscapes so you can not only see some beautiful gardens but get ideas you can take back to your own garden. A fair amount of time goes into getting these gardens ready for the tour but it’s all worth it.

Master Gardeners also participate in other activities such as visiting area nursing homes and assisted living centers to provide horticultural related activities. You may have seen those beautiful planters in the Brookside area. Master Gardeners plant and maintain those in an effort to add a little beauty to the city. We also landscape all the Habitat for Humanity homes so that these new homeowners get more than just a house. And Master Gardeners maintain a Demonstration Garden around our office for the sole purpose of providing you with a beautiful place to wander and wonder if you will. Looking to take a break or looking for ideas for your home garden, our Demo Garden is for you. And let’s not forget our Lunch and Learn series in the spring and fall at the Tulsa Central Library and the Hardesty Regional Library. As you can tell, Tulsa Master Gardeners are a busy bunch. In fact, we logged over 40,000 volunteer hours last year in service to our community.

So, if you would like to join us, we have two of those informational meetings coming up: August 6^th @ 1:00 P.M. and August 13^th at 10:00 A.M. These informal meetings will be held in the auditorium of the Tulsa County OSU Extension office at 4116 E. 15^th Street. There’s no need to register, just come by. The presentation will last about an hour. We would love to have you join us! See you in the garden…and maybe in class!

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org. Photo: Tom Ingram