Sowing a Seed and Sharing the Benefits: The Randall Master Gardeners

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Have you ever wondered how to start a garden in your backyard or to learn gardening with water conservation in mind? Taking the class “Gardening with the Masters” will answer these and even more questions, which is how April Wade, President of the Amarillo Area Master Gardeners (now known as the Randall Master Gardeners), got her start.

“What I did to get involved with Master Gardeners was take the class offered at the public library called ‘Gardening with the Masters,’” says April. “These classes were on a variety of topics including grass and vegetable gardening. This was when I knew I wanted to be involved.”

In 2004, April became an intern for the Randall Master Gardeners.

“I learned so much and have not stopped since,” she says.

The Texas Master Gardener program began in 1978 as an extension garden training program at Texas A&M University with five more counties starting up Master Gardener programs by the end of the decade including Dallas, Harris, Tarrant, Denton and Bexar. The hiring of a statewide coordinator by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service in 1987 secured the decision to begin a Texas Master Gardener program.

During the same time, the groundwork was laid out with the guidelines for participating in the program and the completion of a 500-page training handbook. In 1991, the statewide organization was founded as the Texas Master Gardener Association.

Since 1998, there are more than 4,000 certified Master Gardeners statewide and a total of 54 County Master Gardener programs. Texas-wide, the Master Gardeners Association is run through the Texas A&M University system. The local program is called the Randall County Master Gardeners and it operates out of the Canyon office. Anyone living in any county can participate in the Master Gardeners program as long as he or she attends intern classes and completes 50 hours of volunteer service.

The process for becoming a certified Master Gardener starts with contacting the extension office, filling out an application and becoming an intern, and then completing 50 hours in instructional classes and 50 hours of volunteer service.

“The internships start in January and usually meet Tuesday and Thursday nights and some Saturdays,” says Pattilou Dawkins, a local Master Gardener.

The instruction portion teaches vegetable gardening, soil and plant nutrition and water conservation. The volunteer service includes a minimum of two hours at the vegetation booth at the Farmer’s Market, along with volunteering at the High Plains Food Bank or working the booth on the first Saturday in May at Garden Fest held in the Amarillo Botanical Gardens, along with several others.

“Every time you work as an intern it is a great foundation for learning more information,” says April. “When we go to a garden, we learn from each other, which plants to cut back and why you cut them. It’s all an educational opportunity and there are so many opportunities to volunteer.”

The Randall Master Gardeners have several gardens including two in the Amarillo Botanical Gardens, the Meditation Garden and a new addition the edible landscape, as well as the Red, White and Blue Veteran’s Garden, Randall County Extension Center gardens, Randall County Courthouse gardens and the beds at Texas AgriLife, to name a few. The Randall Master Gardeners have also designed and prepped the Madame Queen garden for the public’s viewing.

Spreading new helpful information and teaching youth about gardening is perhaps the pride and joy of Master Gardeners.

“My experience with the program has certainly been positive,” says Pattilou. “I enjoy being able to help others and that is the most important part.” From teaching classes to doing public demonstrations, the Master Gardeners have access to several teachable moments.

“I start many of my classes asking kids where they think their vegetables come from and many of them don’t know, and I believe it takes hands-on learning to really show them,” says April. “I think what motivates me to be involved with master gardening is the teaching and learning. It’s all about the sparkle you see in their eyes when you’re talking and they make a new discovery or the information you give someone, they take and grow something. You’re never too old to learn something.”

The Master Gardeners have the opportunity to bond over newly-discovered gardening information and sharing meals together consisting of vegetables that they have grown in their own gardens.

“It’s planting the seed and letting other people benefit from it,” says Pattilou. “It has been so fulfilling to me to see the kids grow something they can eat and seeing their excitement.”

Gardening is trial and error; being able to learn from mistakes in order to share information with others is an important part of the process.

“I have planted things and they die, but that’s a part of it. It is all about learning and trying new things. With gardening, there is no failure. When something dies, it doesn’t fail. It’s an opportunity to learn why it didn’t work and how to do it differently,” says April. “The Master Gardeners are like a family and there are so many things that we learn from each other each day.”

To participate in upcoming classes for the Randall Master Gardeners program, applications are welcomed through the last day of November. Visit their website here.