PERRYVILLE – The mission of the Missouri Master Gardener Extension Program is “helping others learn to grow.” The Master Gardener program provides in depth horticultural training to individuals throughout Missouri who then volunteer their time applying what they have learned to help others in their communities to learn about gardening and environmental education. The Master Gardener Program throughout Missouri promotes and raises public awareness of the University of Missouri Extension as a source of unbiased, research based gardening information.
Through activities such as Extension newsletter articles, workshops, speaker’s bureaus, garden show booths and demonstration projects, Master Gardeners provide gardening information to thousands of Missourians each year throughout the state.
To become trained as a Master Gardener, an individual must attend a 30 hour classroom Core Course training. Then the Master Gardener trainee is required to give 30 hours of volunteer service back to their community in approved University of Missouri Extension activities.
The core course training will be held on Thursdays for 13 weeks. The first seven weeks will be October 19 thru December 7, 2023. Training will break between Christmas and New Years and then finish January 18 thru February 22, 2024. The classes will be held at Cape Girardeau County Extension Office in Jackson, Mo. in the evening from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. There will be face to face instruction, hands-on activities and at least 4 field trips (scheduled separately). The cost of the class is $200, which includes the Master Gardener Core Manual, state fees and speaker fees. Registration deadline is October 16, 2023.
The program will cover the subjects of plant anatomy, soils and fertility, annuals and perennials, fruits and brambles, vegetable gardening, lawn care, insects, landscaping, propagation, and plant disease. Partial scholarships are available based family income.
Registration is encouraged online https://extension.missouri.edu/events/master-gardener-training-cape-girardeau-county
For more information, contact Donna Aufdenberg at 573-243-3581 or aufdenbergd@missouri.edu