Introducing the Master Gardener Interns

Introducing the 2017 WSU San Juan County Master Gardener Interns! – Contributed photo

Congratulations to the 19 community members who competed 60 hours of classroom and online training to become WSU San Juan County Master Gardeners.  As Master Gardener Interns, these volunteers will contribute 50 hours of service in their community, helping to identify plant problems, insects, and diseases, and provide research-based gardening information at Farmers Markets, Information Booths and the County Fair. They answer questions and provide guidance on a wide range of topics including vegetable, fruit and perennial gardening, healthy soil and composting, and help identify and solve plant problems.

Welcome to the following new interns:

• Lopez Island: Gail Carroll, Heike Deubner and Molly Bill
• Orcas Island:  Myla Sherburne, Tony Suruda, Leslie Hutchinson, Vicki Leimback, Jodi Spitali, Haley Winchell, Carolyn Wiltz, and Lisl Thomsen
• San Juan Island:  Mary Grove, Janet Ames, Nancy Larsen, Diane Gloe, Mo Sloane, Alexis Reifenstuhl, Sandy Ryan and Jenny Harris.

The new interns join the 80+ current WSU San Juan County Master Gardeners who work within the community to offer the following services: 

• Provide gardening information and resources at the Farmers Markets on San Juan and Orcas, and at information booths at Driftwood Nursery on Orcas and Sunset Builders on Lopez. 
• Grow food for the Friday Harbor Food Bank at the Master Gardener Demonstration Garden. Master Gardeners gave over 1,000 pounds of produce to the Food Bank last year.
• Diagnose plant problems and identify plants and insects at plant clinics. To get your plant problem or question answered, drop off your plant samples at the WSU Extension office located at 221 Weber Way, Suite LL, Friday Harbor, or bring your samples to a Master Gardener table at the Farmers Market on San Juan or Orcas, or to Sunset Builders on Lopez.
• Cultivate and sell hundreds of unique varieties of vegetable starts and perennials at the annual Master Gardener Spring Plant Sale. This year’s sale is Saturday, May 13, at the Mullis Center, 9am-noon.
• Provide information and fun activities at the San Juan County Fair, August 16-19^th.  Come check out the Master Gardener information booth!
• Coordinate and sponsor the Master Gardener Annual Gardening Workshop, a day-long event open to all. This year’s keynote speaker is Linda Gilkeson, a noted authority on Pacific Northwest gardening.  There are 9 workshops to chose from throughout the day. Saturday Oct. 7th, at Friday Harbor Middle School.
• Provide native plants at the annual Master Gardener Native Plant Sale – pre-order native plants in January and February and then pick up on Orcas, Lopez or SJI in mid-March (2018 date TBA)
•     Expand the Orcas Island School vegetable garden with the addition of a native plant demonstration garden, focusing on the importance of native plants and pollinators.
• Develop a heritage fruit tree orchard on Lopez to preserve older fruit tree varieties.

To download a plant diagnostic or plant/insect Id form, find them on the WSU Extension Master Gardener page.

For more information, visit the Master Gardener Foundation website for our calendar of events.

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For questions about the Master Gardener Program or about gardening, call our office at 378-4414. The next Master Gardener Training session will be in 2019. Call us to get on the list!

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