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Impact Report

For plan Plant Management Systems: Urban Horticulture (Otero County)
Date October 23, 2009, 4:56 pm
For Objective Short-term Show short-term objectives
Impact Report Otero County 2008 and 2009 Master Gardener’s Class As in 2008, the 2009 Otero Master Gardener’s Classes began September 8th and will continue every Tuesday for twelve consecutive Tuesdays until November 17th. Twenty two residents of Otero County make up the majority of the new class with three to ten members of the existing Otero Master Gardeners Association attending also. The class participants are acquiring skills and information for growing healthy gardens, fruit trees, berries, lawns and ornamental trees and shrubs resulting in bettering their nutrition and saving them money through home-grown fruits and vegetables, while providing them a healthier environment through the cultivation of ornamentals in and around their homes. The classes, Basic Botany, Trees & Shrubs, Weather, Entomology, Soil, Weeds, Wildlife Damage Management, Fruit and Nut Trees, Berries, Urban Forestry, Turf Grass, Plant Pathology, Pesticides, and Growing Vegetables in Otero County, are being taught by NMDA Wildlife Damage Control, NMSU specialists, and one class by 3 local growers. The Otero County Agricultural Agent set-up the schedule, secured the speakers, made copies of the speaker’s power point presentations, tests, and other handouts for the class members, oversees and helps with the room set-up and take down, and grades the class tests. So far, as a result of this training, 100% of the participants responded that all the classes increased their knowledge of the particular subject matter taught, 93% responded that they expected to use the information taught in all of the classes, 89% responded that the overall rating of all the classes was excellent, and 11% responded that the overall rating of all the class was good. Otero Master Gardeners Association The Otero Master Gardeners Association is comprised of vegetable, fruit and nut tree, growers and home landscape hobby horticulturists who sell their produce at farmers market, share and trade with their neighbors, or just enjoy the fruits of their labors with their families. All members of this organization have completed the series of Master Gardeners class and have the option of attending any of the subsequest classes during their membership. This organization meets once a month to share their horticultural successes, problems, and questions, plan advanced classes for their group, organize horticultural and botanical field trips, and organize their various community service activities. The agricultural agent gives a short presentation at each meeting on an unusual insect, plant disease, or other agricultural anomaly that has been brought into the extension office that month. The agent also oversees and participates in the organization’s general activities which includes: information tables at the Otero County Fair, Earth Day, Arbor Day, Holloman Air Force Base activities, helping with the set-up of Master Gardeners classes, and responding to incoming horticultural calls, E-mails, and walk-ins to the Otero Extension Office when the Agricultural Agent is on leave or attending extended out-of-county meetings. The Cooperative Extension Service gets a double benefit from this organization by the members attending the full course of classes prior to becoming members and any subsequent classes they wish to attend members of the community (Master Gardeners) receive valuable horticultural information which they not only employ in their home gardens and landscapes but also share on a regular basis with the community through their numerous community service projects.