Who Are We?

We are a group of individuals of diverse backgrounds and interests brought together by our shared interest in gardening. Our mission as WSU Master Gardener volunteers is to provide research based information to our local community members about sustainable, scientifically supported horticulture methods for gardens and landscapes. We offer classes and demonstrations, operate three demonstration gardens, provide speakers for community groups, and operate weekly plant clinics at various locations in Clallam County, where we answer questions concerning plant problems and gardening methods.

Our membership is currently over 100 individuals. Although we are concentrated in the Port Angeles/Sequim area, we do have members ranging from Blyn to Forks, and including members of local Native American tribes.

Plant clinics

Plant clinics are opportunities for members of the public to get help and information for solving gardening problems. Several Master Gardeners are present at each clinic. Bring as much information as you can to the plant clinic, including samples and specimens. Plant identification or disease diagnosis will be greatly aided by excellent samples.

Plant clinics are held at various locations in the County during the growing season:

Mondays, 9 AM to 1 PM from the first week of March through the last week of October in the lobby of the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. 4^th Street, Port Angeles

During the winter, plant problems can be brought into the Extension Office in the Clallam County courthouse, Monday through Friday, 9 AM to noon and 1 to 4 PM. Plant clinic questions can be submitted to us by email as well. Good photographs should be included if the questions concern plant identification, plant diseases or insects. Include as much information as you can.

Demonstration Gardens

Three demonstration gardens are maintained by program members. The Woodcock Garden at 2711 Woodcock Road in Sequim is the site of plant clinics and educational programs called Class Act at Woodcock. The garden includes ornamental plantings, vegetable, and berry gardens, a small orchard, herb gardens, and shade and native plant displays.

The Robin Hill Garden between Sequim and Port Angeles (off Dryke Rd., 0.25 miles north of Highway 101) includes an orchard and organic vegetable gardens. This garden has contributed thousands of pounds of organic vegetables and fruit to local soup kitchens for several years.

Finally, the Olympic Peninsula Demonstration Garden  is currently being constructed. It features an extensive collection of lavender varieties, a dahlia garden, and in the planning stages are a rose garden, an ethnobotany garden, and other specialty features, as well as impressive hardscape installations.

Educational activities

Educational activities are presented throughout the year. The Brown Bag Green Thumb Garden Tips series runs year round every other Thursday from noon to 1 PM in the public meeting room at the Clallam County Courthouse in Port Angeles. 

The Class Act at Woodcock takes place every other Saturday during the growing season, from 10 to 11 AM at the Woodcock demonstration garden, 2711 Woodcock Road in Sequim.

 Master Gardener Volunteers for the Youth Enrichment Program (YEP) visit every second grade classroom in Clallam County every year to make a presentation about how plants grow from seeds. This program offers gardeners a chance to share their time and gardening talents with second graders throughout the school year and to present an interactive, introductory program on botany.  The interactive presentations include posters, pictures, a seed-to-plant puppet named Herbie, and planting five seeds in a root viewer.  The root viewer is left in the classroom for students to watch and study. The program now reaches over 700 students each year.    

In addition, Master Gardeners arrange a series of seminars in conjunction with the Soroptimist Garden show in Sequim, and prepare educational booths for the Clallam County Fair, Streamfest, and the Harvest Festival.

How to Join Us

The WSU Extension Master Gardener Program is open to everyone with an interest in gardening and a willingness to use their knowledge, experience and enthusiasm to make a positive impact on their local community. Contact the Muriel Nesbitt (mnesbitt@co.clallam.wa.us) or Lori Kennedy (lkennedy@co.clallam.wa.us) in the WSU Extension office for details on how to become involved in the Master Gardener Program. If you are looking for a way to expand your gardening knowledge, serve your community and continue your personal growth, we hope you will consider supporting this premier program of Washington State University through your participation

To join the Master Gardener Program you must submit an application and a Background Check form, and then successfully complete a training program.  The application forms should be submitted to Muriel Nesbitt, 223 E. 4^th Street, Ste 15, Port Angeles, WA 98362. After your application materials have been reviewed, you will be invited to come into the Extension office with other applicants for an interview with the Program Director and other Master Gardeners. When you are accepted for membership in the training class, you will be assigned a mentor from among the veteran Master Gardeners. Your mentor will help you get to know the members and the activities of the program.

Once you have completed the training, you will be a Master Gardener Intern. Interns are expected to contribute 100 hours of volunteer service over a period of two years, at least 50 hours during the first year. Volunteer activities include participating in plant clinics, working at our demonstration gardens, doing public education projects, and other things. Upon completion of the 100 hours, you become a Master Gardener veteran.

Training

Specific plans for the 2012 training do not exist yet. However, we will begin in February, probably during the week of the 13^th, and will meet all day on a Tuesday or a Thursday, every other week for 9 meetings. There will be classroom meetings as well as outdoor meetings at various locations. During the weeks in which there is no meeting, portions of the WSU online MG training will be assigned. Cost of training is likely to be in the neighborhood of $200. We do have limited numbers of scholarships available, and want to ensure that inability to pay will not prevent anyone from doing the training. In addition to the over 60 hours of in-person instruction and the online training, trainees will receive many other resources, including handouts, Extension publications, etc.

Training topics include basic botany, plant identification of local and other common plants, soils, fertilizers, composting, plant pests and diseases, pest control methods, pruning, crop rotation, plant propagation,  garden planning, and several other topics.

If space permits, auditors may be accepted into the class. Auditors will incur no obligation to contribute volunteer hours, will not be Master Gardeners, and will be charged $500 for the training.

Clallam County Gardening

Speakers Bureau

Radio and Newspaper

Links to
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                noxious weeds
                4h
                farms
                conserve district
                NOLT
                PAVG
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