CAUSES TV: DC Master Gardener Program

On this edition of CAUSES TV, Sandra Farber Bandier joins Dean Sabine O'Hara to discuss the DC Master Gardener program. The USDA Master Gardener program is a volunteer program affiliated with landgrant universities all over the United States. As your local landgrant university, we are proud of our network of master gardeners here in the District of Columbia. Farber Bandier is the DC Master Gardener coordinator and green roof manager. The episode was taped last summer on the UDC green roof located on our Van Ness campus. 

The Master Gardener program is active in all 50 states of the US and in Canada. The program was established to assist Cooperative Extension in reaching the wider public beyond the farming sector, providing information and training on topics such as plant pathology, entomology, soil quality, plant propagation and pruning. 

Our master gardener volunteers utilize the research-based information that we offer to educate district residents on best practices in horticulture and environmental stewardship; and we are expanding the food plants, or agriculture, component of our master gardening program, do to the fast growing interest in Urban Agriculture here in the District. In return, participants are required to dedicate volunteer time to demonstrate their knowledge of horticultural practices, answer questions, provide information, speak at public events and participate in community gardening programs. 

To date, more than 400 District residents have been trained in the Master Gardener program. For more information, contact Sandra Farber Bandier.