Page 79 - Abilene Living

Most weekend gardeners fnd tranquility from plunging a trowel into the earth, pulling up a heaping amount of fresh soil, holding a plant at its base while sliding its roots from the pot, and then patting down the dirt. They stand back, smile, and feel hopeful for the fourishing beauty the new plants will bring. Weeks go by. Nature turns against the small plants, and the gardener gasps at the insects taking up residence on each leaf. They bolt to the nearest garden cen-ter and are bombarded with things to try. As they fnd the cure to be worse than the problem, they throw down their gloves, swearing they will just try again next year.

Then there are the novice gardeners that refuse to throw in their trowels, who seek answers and knowledge from a local source located in Abilene for almost sixteen years. The Master Gardener program through the Texas AgriLife Exten-sion Service, which is part of Texas A&M University, has led over 500 beginner gardeners through classes on topics ranging from soil amending to rain water collection. After the twelve week program and a required number of volunteer hours, the gardeners can return to their landscapes armed with knowl-edge, answers and a community of fellow Master Gardeners willing to help at the drop of the frst bloom.

“Most people really love the fellowship, because you

get to know other gardeners and they’re all just great people because they’re gardeners,” laughed Kathy Feagan, nine year Master Gardener and 2011 Master Gardener president. “With this program it’s kind of a threefold thing; learning, teaching and fellowship. We do a lot of community projects, and teach people as well as beautify areas.”

The desire to learn and spread the information through the community was what sparked the founding of the Taylor County Master Gardener program. Fred Perkins started the original class of Master Gardeners in 1995. He has since served as president of the Master Gardeners group seven of their sixteen year existence.

“I saw it in a magazine back in 1988 and I started bugging the county agent. He said he didn’t want to start the program right then,” said Perkins, specialist in vegetables, Earth-kind, roses and rain water harvesting. “We got a new county agent in 1993 and I followed him in the offce and said I want to be a Master Gardener. In November of 1994, he fnally said, “Fred, if we can get ten people we will have a Master Garden-er program.” Our frst class was twenty-two people and we’ve had a class every year, sometimes two classes a year.” Perkins was also instrumental in designing the original demonstration beds outside of the Taylor County Extension