CMGA General Info

Christmas Amaryllis with Orchid to the right. Below Ruth Benson's holiday bears.
Photo by Loni Shapiro.

Welcome to the Coconino County Master Gardeners Association blog. The mission of the Master Gardener Program is to create a corps of well-informed volunteers, and to deliver quality horticultural education programs adapted to our regional high elevation environment. The purpose of the association is to provide support for those volunteers and Master Gardener graduates, continuing education, and opportunities to participate in community programs that increase the visibility and participation in the Master Gardener Program.
The Coconino Master Gardener Association (2009) began in 2009. This blog contains information on:
-How to become a member
-Volunteer and Education hours reporting
-Calendar of Events
-General gardening information articles
-Master Gardener Association Documents and forms
-References and Resources
-Interesting Websites and Blogs
-Old Gardening Etcetera columns
-Recipes
-Book Reviews
-How to contact Board or Committee Members
Meetings are held monthly on the 2nd Thursday from 600pm - 8;30pm. We meet at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church at 1601 N. San Francisco. This includes continuing education and a business meeting.

Reporting Master Gardener Hours

All master gardener trainees and certified master gardeners need to report their hours.
Beginning in 2010 certified master gardeners need to have 6 Education hours and 12 Volunteer hours in order to maintain certification.The on line reporting system allows you to report Education or Volunteer hours. You can sign in to record hours in the right hand column under Recording Volunteer and Education Hours. Just click on the U. of A.
If you have any questions or concerns about the new reporting system, please contact Brenda Smith (A - M) or Sue Madden (N - Z). Their contacts are listed at the bottom of the blog under Contacts.


Ideas for hours------
--Attend monthly meetings
--Work on an association committee
--Work at an informational booth for the Master Gardeners
--Be a speaker about gardening topics at a variety of venues
--Host a garden tour
--Work at a fundraising event (Plant Sale - Garden Tour).
--Work at a MG site (Olivia White Hospice, the Arboretum, Riordan Mansion, or school gardens (many others)). Check out the Assoc. Doc. & Forms under Volunteer Sites.
--Work in the Extension office
--Write an article for the newspaper column -Gardening Etcetera
-Volunteer with the Seed Library
Be creative! There are many ways to fulfill your hours. Just remember for volunteering it needs to be a non-profit endeavor or an approved for profit site.

Change in Contact Information

Have you moved or changed your e-mail address, but would still like to be contacted about high elevation gardening information from the Extension? The Coconino County Extension Master Gardener Program has a site that will let you change your information on-line.

Click here to change your contact information!

Event Calendar

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

11/9 Meeting and Election

 For those who missed a great meal/snack we had a large crowd for Frank Branham’s – Cooking from the Garden on Thursday evening. In addition to the wonderful food we got cooking ideas and recipes which I will put on the blog for those who could not attend. I will add the recipes next week.

Frank has been our leader (CMGA) for the last 3 years and with the help of Nancy has made a big difference in our marketing and fundraising capabilities for garden grants.  They were crowned King and Queen of gardening, cooking, and fund raising at the meeting for the association. Over the last 3 years we had 2 successful Plant Sales, and 3 years of Garden Tours. In addition to those we have beautiful cups, t-shirts, and aprons to sell. Cheryl Bloom helped to develop that area of fundraising with Frank’s encouragement.

The elected officers for 2024 are,

Cheryl Blume                   President

Holly Button                       Vice President

Andrea Guerette             Treasurer           

Marilyn Canteloupe        Secretary

We also have many new chairs of committees. These will appear at the bottom of the blog starting on January 1, 2024.

On a personal note I want to than Frank for his work on food, and gardening in the Flagstaff area. The first restaurant my realtor took me to in 1997 was the Cottage Place. From there everything else was downhill. My family spent many evenings celebrating special occasions there, from holidays to anniversaries, birthdays, and even experiencing the food of Flagstaff’s history during a special event. I attended many of his cooking classes and brought the recipes home. He offered much to those who like to cook and those who want to make a living from it with teaching. He always supported the gardening community by purchasing as much local as he could or growing it himself. After taking the Master Gardener class he began volunteering at Olivia White Hospice Garden adding more food to the garden and protecting it from critters. In retirement he continues to help at the Flagstaff Family Food Kitchen.

Thank you Frank (and Nancy) for all you do for the Flagstaff community gardeners and cooks!

Loni Shapiro

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