Husband started his master gardening course through the county

[tsuki]

agricultural department for the cost of the books.

He came home with three large tabbed books put out by UF with information on everything from lawns and shrubs to citrus, vegetable and fruits. The books are amazing, and even though he has maintained a vegetable and fruit garden for over 20 years, he was blown away by the information in the first session.

Those of you with the time, it might be worthwhile to see if your county has a master gardening program.

[bvar22]

1. Starkraven (my wife) took Master Gardeners last year...

..through our local County Extension.
I believe it costs about $100 here....books, lunch, lectures.
IIRC, the course was about 6 weeks long, a couple of 8 hr days/week.
It was a good deal.

County Extensions ARE ultimately funded by large corporations, and tend to have a bias promoting the latest hybrid varieties, pesticides, and chem based fertilizers, but Starkraven found our County Extension Master Gardener class to at least acknowledge that some people wish to pursue a completely organic approach, and several other people in the class were also of the same mind, so she had some friends in the class with which she could talk things over.
She took what she could use, and left the rest.

We moved to a very rural, Dark Red area (Central Arkansas) in 2006.
The biggest problem with her Master Gardner experience was the Social element of very Republican women who tend to dominate this organization in our area.

She came away with tons of information and some very good ideas for our gardens.
Unfortunately, NOW I have to listen to how I've always done everything wrong.

[tsuki]

2. We live in GlenBeckistan. But it is strange. They don't trust the

corporations either. Heirloom seed and organic products are available.

The price is the same, but I was wowed by the books. They are specific to our area and soil conditions. The class finishes in April. They have an organization that meets once a month, and to keep your certification, you have to do 50 hours a year volunteering.

[Zoigal]

3. Love your description of the area in which you live ie GlenBeckistan....z

[Blue Gardener]

4. I took the class in 2004

I learned A LOT! They covered many topics, including gardening without pesticides and herbicides. There is a big emphasis on composting and conserving water. I've had a very good experience with the program here in Iowa.