CCMG is a hard-working chapter dedicated to educating ourselves and the public about safe and sustainable and effective garden practices. But we also have a lot of fun, from our monthly meetings that include refreshments, social time, raffles and show-and-tells, to field trips, garden tours and enjoying each other's company as we work on garden projects.

To learn more about becoming a Master Gardener, here are some actions you can take:

• Contact the Christian County MU Extension office to sign up for a training class in the fall or simply ask questions. Classes are held over a six-week period, with each class about three hours long. After graduating from the class, you are an intern who must complete a total of 30 hours of education and volunteering over the next year with our chapter. We offer three $100 training scholarships to new graduates to reimburse them for half of the $200 Master Gardener training. To apply once you have completed the training, use the form found under Resources.
• Call our Master Gardener Hotline at 417-581-3558 from 9 to 12 a.m. mid-March to mid-October to leave a message for the Master Gardener on call. This member can answer a lot of your questions.
• Talk to our new members chair. Ask the Extension office's receptionist and office manager for an email or phone number.
• Attend a monthly meeting of our chapter to get to know our members. Register to attend our programs at 417-581-3558. We meet the fourth Monday of most months at 6:30 p.m.
• Visit the Extension Master Gardener program website to learn more about the program and to sign up for online training.

Master Gardener is a pretty impressive title to have. Even better is Advanced Master Gardener. Now, Master Gardeners can earn "advanced training" credits (beyond what they pick up at monthly meetings and even seminars and workshops).

Advanced training must be taught by an instructor approved by a designated Extension coordinator for your area of the state. The instructor must be a qualified horticulturist or well-known authority in the field of horticulture. If you accumulate 30 hours of advanced training covering at least three horticulture disciplines within five years, you may earn the title of Advanced Master Gardener. No more than 10 hours per discipline can be applied to the 30-hour total, and hands-on training experiences are preferred. In other words, it's a workshop where part of the presentation is a lecture or formal presentation and another portion has some type of hands-on feature. Note that advanced training can come from sources other than Master Gardener chapters. Other horticultural organizations, a well-known horticulturalist and colleges and universities are other sources for advanced training. Just be sure your regional Extension coordinator for advanced training approves one of these other sources.

What are the horticulture disciplines referenced above? The Policies and Procedures lists them as:

• Plants and their environment
• Plant propagation
• Soils, plant nutrition and nutrient management
• Vegetable gardening
• Fruit production
• Establishment and care of woody ornamentals
• Pruning ornamental trees and shrubs
• Herbaceous ornamentals
• Managing lawns and turf grass
• Landscaping your front yard
• Insects
• Preventing and managing plant diseases
• Using pesticides safely around the home and garden

If you're a CCMG member and would like to earn the Advanced Master Gardener certification, let the executive board know, and we'll see what we can do to help you find approved training.