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The Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association is a member-managed nonprofit organization dedicated to the educational mission of promoting good and sustainable gardening practices. Each Master Gardener has completed an in-depth training program, including hands-on activities in gardening and public education, and has made a commitment to participate in WMMGA-sponsored public programs each year. WMMGA is an Affiliate of the national Master Gardener program of the American Horticultural Society.

 

 

Find out more!



Learn more about WMMGA by reading the October 2024 issue of The Grapevine, our monthly newsletter for members.

What Does Being a Master Gardener Mean?

 

 

What does being a Master Gardener mean?

Proud for sure! Master Gardeners have learned a lot and passed a rigorous course in horticultural fundamentals that consumed a big part of our lives while 
we were doing it, then followed it with an extensive period volunteering on an array of projects.


Challenged! There’s always something new to learn or some new problem on the horizon. Keeping up or feeling pressed to “know” the answer can be daunting. Just remember, even the experts don’t know the answer to everything. The answer is often, “I don’t know but I’ll find out.”


Empowered! As Master Gardeners we’ve learned how to research and investigate, and each of us have developed a network of others we can draw on to find answers. Every new class taken or problem figured out builds on the foundation of the fundamentals we learned in the training course.


Connected! Many of us enjoy gathering with the people we’ve gotten to know thru WMMGA, based on shared interests and experiences, and developed many lasting friendships.

 

 

 

 


 

Our Master Gardeners Chat with the Fabulous 413!




On September 5, 2024 the Fabulous 413 hosts spent some time with an organization of folx who want you to grow stuff too, and maybe even grow it better. In South Hadley at Full Circle Gardens, Sharon Farmer, Marjorie Gerard, and JoAnne Palmer of the Western Massachusetts Master Gardener’s Association are fostering a slew of plants, and gearing up for their internship program, which is now taking applications. We'll discover how their branch of our state’s weirdly unique spot in the national network of organizations is doing its part to tackle hunger and climate change


What Master Gardeners Do

 

Like the plants we love, Master Gardeners continue to grow and learn. Being a Master Gardener isn’t a static, one-and done accomplishment. It’s an active commitment to being involved by helping people with their gardening problems in a sustainable way. This takes many forms such as holding the spring symposiums, being at a community garden, or talking at a local library, among many others

 

Read more ...

Gardening Questions? Ask A Master Gardener!

 

 

PHONE HOTLINE: Call the Hotline with your gardening questions at any time: 413-298-5355. WMMGA Master Gardeners will answer your questions and call you back! Please leave your name, your question, your phone number (or email address), and the best time to reach you on the answering machine any day of the week. We will call you back when we have an answer to your question.


EMAIL HOTLINE: Send an email to askwmmga@yahoo.com. What we need to know to answer your question.


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The Pollinators Garden at Grow Food Northampton

 

The Pollinators Garden at Grow Food Northampton (GFN) was launched in 2017 when the Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association (WMMGA) was invited to take responsibility for one 20’ x 20’ plot, directly adjacent to a healthy stand of sumac and Japanese knotweed. An initial gift of mostly unlabeled pollinator seeds and plants from Nasami Farm (Native Plant Trust) and the Northampton Community Garden got the project off the ground (or in the ground). Since that time, the Garden has grown fourfold to 1600 square feet. More than 60 species of pollinator-friendly plants have emerged or been installed over the past five years. We continue to work to contain the more exuberant, fast-spreading species, to protect light and space for more delicate plants, and to ensure that the Garden will attract a range of native pollinators. We hope that this guide will be helpful to other gardeners in western Massachusetts who wish to install pollinator-friendly spaces in their yards and gardens.


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©2024 Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association