Be a master gardener

Carbon County gardeners looking to have fun, expand their knowledge and then share it with others are invited to become master gardeners.

A series of classes will kick off next month.

"We're often asked 'Why did you become a master gardener?'" says Slate Altenburg of West Penn Township, who has been a master gardener for six years.

He says the answer is pretty easy to understand.

"Most of us became master gardeners simply to have more fun with our own home, garden, lawn or landscaping, as well as get new ideas."

Altenburg is encouraging others to take the classes and get involved in the program.

One of the tasks of being a master gardener is manning the hotline.

Available during the growing season, county residents with gardening questions can make a phone call and get answers from the "experts."

Altenburg finds working the hotline fascinating as well as fun. If someone calls and the master gardener manning the phone line doesn't have an answer, they will research it and get back to the caller.

That could mean studying a bug or a leaf under a microscope or following up with the experts at Penn State.

Becoming a master gardener and learning to solve problems for others has been a boon to Altenburg, not only for the wealth of knowledge, but sometimes to his wallet.

"The class will encourage participants to focus upon a small home project and relate the content to their own personal use," says Altenburg.

"For example, each participant will learn the correct way to take a soil sample, send it to Penn State for analysis and understand how to adjust the soil for their own project.

"For years I fed my lawn a large dose of Scotts Turf-Builder and lime when I felt like it regardless of the lawn's need or growing season. The cost of the course is $195, which I have more than saved on wasted fertilizer."

The next round of master gardener classes begins Oct. 18 and runs through mid-February, depending on snow days.

They meet from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays, usually at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center on Lentz Trail in Summit Hill.

There are occasional field trips, however, focusing on topics such as native plants and hands-on pruning.

"One of our all-time favorite classes is plant propagation," says Altenburg.

"The fun starts when many of our master gardeners bring their perennials and house plants to class for the participants to divide, clip and propagate."

After completing their training, new master gardener apprentices will be required to volunteer 50 hours over the course of a year to the Carbon County Extension Office.

This could include manning the hotline, working at the pollinator garden or the raised bed propagation garden, or presenting "Garden Club" programs for residents at The Summit at Blue Mountain or Mahoning Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

Local master gardeners have also worked with the Penn State Pesticide Education Department, and have brought the "Mr. Yuck" household poison prevention program to county residents through the Blue Mountain Health Fair, Safe Kids program and at the Carbon County Fair.

They also do short programs at schools or for civic groups in the county.

For more information or to register for the master gardener classes, contact Diane Sniscak at the Penn State Extension-Carbon County office, 529 Lentz Trail, Jim Thorpe; 570-325-2788, ext. 3804.