Kay County OSU Extension Graduates 5 New Master Gardeners

On November 17, 2020, five potential new Master Gardeners took a 100-question exam to prove they had a green thumb. Everyone passed with merit. Class members were from all over Kay County and the surrounding area.

The course was just wonderful, I learned so much and met so many nice people”, said Cheryl McCulloch of Blackwell.

Over the past few months, this group of lifelong learners have met weekly 10 times at Pioneer Technology Center to learn from Oklahoma State University Extension Professors and Staff on gardening related subjects. Subjects include vegetable gardening, plant disease diagnostics, insect identification, and annual and perennial flowers. What can sometimes seem like an overwhelming amount of information is broken up into one-day courses.

Anyone interested in gardening or plants should take the training if they can”, said Becky Hatton of Ponca City, “I really enjoyed it, and the speakers from OSU are very enjoyable.”

After course completion, graduates join the Kay County Master Gardener organization that volunteer in Kay County communities. Kay County Master Gardeners amassed over 1000 volunteer and continuing education hours in Kay County in 2019. In addition to volunteer work, Master Gardeners have access to classes and training through OSU to continue their education even after their graduation.

We are looking at scheduling another class for fall 2021. If you are interested in taking the Master Gardener Training, please contact the Kay County OSU Extension office at 580-362-3194 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Pictured: Left to Right:, Desa Ennis of Kildare, Ron Baker of Burbank, Cheryl McCulloch of Blackwell, Mary Riddle of Ponca City, Becky Hatton of Ponca City, and Shannon Mallory, Kay County OSU Extension Agriculture Educator.

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