Matt Milburn, left, and Michele Bakacs work in the butterfly garden at Davidsons Mill Pond Park, South Brunswick, April 22. FRANK WOJCIECHOWSKI School gardens are in high demand, as they cultivate more than fruits and vegetables.
Bringing lessons in science, the environment and the community out of the classroom, these gardens serve as a popular teaching tool.
“School gardens are a hot commodity,” said Jay Scott, a retired school principal who became a master gardener in 2008.
A home gardener for 25 years, Scott began volunteering after completing the Master Gardener Environmental & Community Stewardship Program in Middlesex County.
“There is magic in seeds,” he said. “A lot of kids have never seen that.”
Pat Evans, coordinator of the program, said since she became the program coordinator in 2004, the volunteers can “barely satisfy the needs for school gardens.”
She attributes this to the focus in schools on being “green.”
“There is more of an awareness regarding the environment and healthy eating,” Evans said. The key to the success of school gardens is for the students to maintain them and become “invested” in their growth, she said.
Schools are just one place that master gardeners can be found sharing their knowledge of horticulture. They can often be seen speaking at garden clubs and churches, as well.
“We get lots of requests for speakers on anything related to horticulture,” Evans said.
Popular topics at this time of year are spring gardening and pruning. And Evans said lectures about composting have been particularly popular.
Diane Larson, coordinator of the Master Gardener Program in Monmouth County, has seen the program evolve during the 17 years that she has been with the county.
“The biggest change is more toward vegetable growing, organic gardening and community gardening,” Larson said.
Nick Polanin, state coordinator for the Rutgers Master Gardener Program, said although the basic training has not changed over the years, classes have been added in organic and sustainable approaches to the craft.
Evans noted the movement toward pesticide-free gardening.
“People are looking for alternatives,” she said. “A lot of people want to eat what they grow.”
Through integrated pest management, master gardeners aim to use the least toxic treatments for pests. They also test soil for toxins such as lead.
Larson said the fruits and vegetables grown in the garden at the Rutgers Cooperative Extension in Freehold are donated to local food banks, especially the Open Door Food Pantry in Freehold. The gardeners started growing tomatillos and hot peppers in response to requests by the pantry’s patrons, who are largely Latino, Larson said. The garden also produces potatoes, onions, radishes and peas.
Monmouth County Freeholder Lillian Burry said the program is “committed to improving the community by providing local food banks with fresh vegetables.”
Evans highlighted a unique project that volunteers are engaged in at the Veterans Memorial Home at Menlo Park in Edison. Through horticulture therapy, veterans are able to garden in raised containers that they can reach from their wheelchairs. She said veterans “love it,” as it gets them out of their routine.
Susan Roberts, a master gardener from Old Bridge, volunteers at the veterans home in Menlo Park. She said the gardening project helps the veterans.
“It helps them remember good experiences, and they socialize,” she said.
A retired teacher, Roberts went through the Master Gardener Program in 2005 after years of growing her own vegetables and herbs.
Community and school gardens keep volunteers in high demand, in addition to the Master Gardener helpline. Gardeners can call the helpline with a wide range of problems, from weeds to insects, Larson said. Master gardeners are available to answer questions and provide advice.
Polanin said the Master Gardener Program came about in Washington in the 1970s out of a need to answer homeowners’ questions regarding gardening. The concept of giving expert gardening advice grew and spread across the country, and the program ultimately became affiliated with universities in each state. In New Jersey, the first Master Gardener Program was started in 1984 in Bergen County through Rutgers University.
Most programs consist of 20 or more twice-weekly classes that last between two and three hours and cover a wide range of topics, Polanin said. Plant selection, diseases, insects and soils are all part of the curriculum. Students in the program are typically required to attend 80 percent of the classes and complete a minimum of 60 hours volunteering — with 20 of those hours spent on the helpline — to be certified as master gardeners.
Because most of the classes are taught in the daytime, retirees, stay-at-home mothers and fathers, and part-time employees comprise most of the students, Polanin said.
Evans said the profile of the typical master gardener has changed over the years. What used to include primarily older, retired women now incorporates a more diverse group in age, gender and ethnicity. This diversity has led to the introduction of new vegetables into the community, along with expanded eating habits, Evans said.
Prior gardening knowledge among enrollees in the program “runs the gamut” from very experienced gardeners to those with no experience at all, Polanin said. He added that even experienced gardeners learn along the way.
Although some students go through the program for employment related reasons, most people are looking for the social aspect of volunteering and helping others, Polanin said.
Donna McEvoy, a master gardener based in Middlesex County, said the social aspect of the program came as an “added bonus.”
“Since 1984, over 7,000 people have gone through the Master Gardener Program, and 3,000 are still active,” Polanin said.
Through public presentations — both formal and informal — master gardeners give a “huge value” to the community, Polanin said.
To remain certified, master gardeners must complete 10 hours of continuing education and an additional 30 hours of volunteering annually.
Through the Master Gardener Program in Middlesex County, participants are required to attend three-hour lectures weekly for sessions in the spring and fall, in addition to applied learning in the summer session that includes the creation of demonstration gardens.
“You turn your knowledge back into use by the community,” Scott said.
Like a treasured family heirloom, gardening is passed down from one generation to the next.
Pat Scarano, a volunteer based in Middlesex County, learned to garden from her grandmother and is teaching her grandchildren “a love of the environment.”
Tom Lang, coordinator of Monmouth County’s Junior Master Gardener Program, passed along his passion for gardening to his children and grandchildren, and said he hopes that they too will plant gardens.
“I like seeing the excitement on kids’ faces at harvest,” Lang said.
Master Gardener Plant Sale
The annual plant sale sponsored by Rutgers Master Gardeners will take place 9 a.m.-5 p.m. May 15 and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. May 16 at the Monmouth County Agricultural Building, 4000 Kozloski Road, Freehold.
Spring Garden Day is an annual event featuring thousands of plants, from flowers to shrubs. Throughout both days, talks on a wide variety of gardening subjects will be offered, along with a panel of gardening experts who will answer questions.
Among the many Rutgers Master Gardener programs that this event benefits are community gardens, school gardens, Junior Master Gardener classes and gardening lectures.
Cash and checks only will be accepted.
For more information, visit monmouth.njaes.rutgers.edu/garden.
Master Gardener Programs
Monmouth County
Diane Larson, Master Gardener Program Coordinator
732-431-7260, ext. 7262
Helpline: 732-303-7614
Middlesex County
Pat Evans, Master Gardener Program Coordinator
732-398-5278
Helpline: 732-398-5220
Ocean County
Pat Harry, Master Gardener Program Coordinator
732-349-1245
Helpline: 732-349-1245