Judge Rick Davis has proclaimed Oct. 11-17 as Arkansas Master Gardeners Week and Mayor Ruth Carney proclaimed it Arkansas Master Gardeners 27th Anniversary.
The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service was started in 1988. Garland County was one of the four original counties that were in the program. The counties were Garland, Pulaski, Jefferson and Saline. Of the 75 counties in Arkansas, 67 have Master Gardener programs with more than 3,000 volunteers participating. The initial training was started by Janet B. Carson, a horticulture specialist for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. She still serves as the coordinator of the Arkansas Master Gardener Program.
Garland County Master Gardeners has approximately 200 members who provided 14,537 hours of volunteer labor to the city and county, with a labor evaluation cost of $327,815 during 2014. In addition, Master Gardeners had 8,685 education hours. It is anticipated the hours and labor cost will be approximately the same at the end of 2015.
Garland County Master Gardeners are involved in 15 volunteer projects involving manual labor, in addition to providing education for the community through learning events at the Brown Bag Lunches held at the Garland County Library; the Ask a Master Gardener booth set up weekly at the Farmer's Market; work with students at the local schools through the Young Gardeners of Garland County; and have an annual spring plant sale.
The Master Gardener program provides avenues to continue education through a yearly state meeting, a yearly leadership training course, a Southern Regional Conference held every two years, and an International Conference held every two years.
Society on 10/04/2015