Garden Buzz is a new gardening column coming to the Appen Media Group newspapers and social media. Guest columnists will be certified Master Gardener Extension volunteers and members of the North Fulton Master Gardeners. Master gardeners will write about their diverse areas of expertise, including roses, daylilies, fig trees, fairy gardens, herbs, insects, and plants for water gardens, just to name a few of the many possibilities. Future columns may also address several ways to certify your garden as a wildlife habitat, how to conduct a proper soil sample, how to create a no-dig garden and other information.
We North Fulton Master Gardeners are very excited to partner with Appen Media group on Garden Buzz, another opportunity for us to provide horticultural education to the North Fulton community and beyond. If you have suggestions for future columns, please email us at northfultonmastergardeners@gmail.com.
So, what is a Master Gardener?
The Georgia Master Gardener Extension Volunteer (MGEV) Program connects the University of Georgia Extension, plant enthusiasts and communities across the state. MGEVs share UGA Extension consumer horticultural programming about selection and care of plants for ornamental value, recreation and home food production. A Master Gardener is a volunteer educator who is trained and supervised by UGA Extension, representing the university in educational events, activities and programs. Master Gardeners teach community members how to use plants and gardening to improve their environment, personal health, and quality of life. More information about how to become a Master Gardener can be found at nfmg.net/becomeMG.html.
We are a small group of people (about 105 or so!) living primarily throughout North Fulton County who enjoy plants and people. North Fulton Master Gardeners, Inc (NFMG) is a Georgia nonprofit organization whose purpose is to educate its members and the public in the areas of horticulture and ecology to promote and foster community enrichment.
Over the years, the North Fulton Master Gardeners have provided gardening community education classes in Alpharetta, Roswell, Sandy Springs, and Farm Chastain (now transitioned to a virtual learning format due to the pandemic); gardening education for young children; university and college scholarships for horticulture students; and local demonstration gardens maintained by the North Fulton Master Gardeners and Garden Faire, which will return April 29, 2023, to a new venue at Wills Park in Alpharetta.
In response to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, the North Fulton Master Gardeners went virtual with our pre-recorded Fall 2020 Gardening Lecture Series. The 2021 David Gibby International Master Gardener Search for Excellence (IMGSFE) Awards have recognized the North Fulton Master Gardeners for our efforts in the face of a global pandemic in successfully providing horticultural education to the North Fulton community and beyond through virtual webinar technology. The First Place Award in the Workshops/Presentations Category was made on September 15, 2021, during the virtual International Master Gardener Conference. View our video here.
More than 5,800 people have attended one or more of the 43 free NFMG Garden Lectures live-streamed on Zoom or Facebook since May 2020. An additional 25,000 people have viewed the videos on www.youtube.com/northfultonmastergardeners. Please check out our YouTube video library.
The North Fulton Master Gardeners in collaboration with the UGA Extension in Fulton County are continuing to provide horticultural education to the North Fulton community and beyond through free virtual gardening education programming. The Spring 2023 Gardening Lecture Series begins Sunday, March 5, 2023, and will be available through live Zoom webinars and Facebook Live.
Each class emphasizes practical gardening activities at the time of year that is best suited for that activity. You may register for all five classes or just pick specific classes. Please register in advance at https://bit.ly/Spring2023NFMG-GardeningLectureSeries to assure your place. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about how to join the webinar. If you cannot attend the live webinar, you can register anyway so you will receive a recorded link to the class. Don’t miss these incredible opportunities to learn more about gardening in metro Atlanta.
We hope you will become a Garden Buzz reader!
Happy New Year 2023 and happy gardening!
