Master Gardener Stuff

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Life isn't perfect, and neither am I! I have this voice in my head saying I should wait to write this until I have a perfectly composed post, organized thoughts, meaningful and specific things to say. I've waited for that day before and I find that it never comes... Instead the doubt and judgment manifest themselves as long absences from being present and sharing the jumbled mess that I actually am. No more!

Here's a quick, messy, placeholder of a post (and, just to let you know, I have another one coming right up, but slightly more interesting, according to my inner judge).

I'm in the Master Gardener program through the Virginia Cooperative Extension. I am loving it. I am learning more than I remembered that I could learn in three hours. I want to know more. I'm really bad about reading my homework beforehand, I just show up and absorb. But that's good enough for now - the papers will be there when I am ready for them later.

The first class was Botany - a fantastic subject taught by an amazing dynamic man named Dr. Alan McDaniel. What a fantastic teacher! He taught us about the magnificence and miraculous nature of plants... too much, too much! They amaze me.

The second class was Pesticides... Don't use them... they scare me. If you have to choose them, choose "Caution" on the label (least damaging) and AVOID at all costs "DANGER" or (worst of all) "DANGER: POISON" with the skull and crossbones. Wear plastic unlined gloves (is "unlined" the best way to say, not those fancy plastic gloves with the nice, cushy, absorbent-of-all-things-harmful fabric or feltish lining?). Just say no.

The third class was propagation. More plant amazingness. Grafting, layering, so much, so many ways for a plant to survive and thrive.

So much. I love it! This year is amazing already.