The Okanagan Master Gardeners (ex-Summerland Master Gardeners) were established in 2003 as an educational outlet for the Friends of the Summerland Ornamental Gardens (FoG). During a Strategic Planning Exercise undertaken by the FoG Board in 2003, it was recognized that informed gardeners could do much to support the purposes and aims of the Gardens. The Board agreed to sponsor a Master Gardener Basic Program, based at the Summerland Ornamental Gardens. In this, they were supported by a Board member who was a Qualified Master Gardener trained at VanDusen (Rita Arnicans) and one Director (Linda Sears) who agreed that the timing was right to provide interested gardeners with the knowledge to provide free, informed gardening advice to the Okanagan gardening public.
To establish the training program, much work was required: block out a schedule; find qualified people to deliver the various teaching modules of the course; find enough students to make the program cost-effective; modify the Basic Program supplement to reflect local growing conditions, and convince various gardening centers and nurseries of the benefits of having volunteer advisors on hand to help people choose the correct plants for their gardens. Never let anyone say that ground-breaking is easy. Throughout, we were fully supported by the FoG Board, the VanDusen Basic Program Training Facilitator (Doreen Godwin) and other members of the provincial Council of the MGABC. Without their support and information, this training never could have been launched in the Interior of the province. A beneficial outcome of this pioneer endeavour was subsequent changes to bylaws and structure of the MGABC that made it truly representative of all MG chapters in the province.
In January of 2004, the first Basic Training Program was held in the old house at theSummerland Ornamental Gardens, with 16 students who were keen to learn as much as possible about local gardening conditions; they came from throughout the Okanagan, from Osoyoos to Kamloops. Some drove as much as 3 hours each way, once a week, to participate! Included in those students were two Master Gardeners, previously trained at VanDusen, whose activities had lapsed and who chose to renew their training. Also included were a Master Gardener (Advanced Training) from Kamloops, who audited all the sessions, and one student whose goal was to establish a Master Gardeners chapter in the Kamloops area. (In 2009, that goal was met when Leslie Welch was instrumental in establishing the Thompson Shuswap chapter of the MGABC.) All the lecturers gave freely of their time and expertise, and two VanDusen-trained MGs resident in the Okanagan (Carol Boan and Barb Jordan) agreed to act as mentors, along with Rita. It was an exciting three months for everyone involved, and in the first year, students provided 1193 hours of advice to the gardening public.
A second training program was held in 2005, again at the Summerland Ornamental Gardens, with 10 students. During that growing season, 1758 advice hours were logged. However, the reduction in number of students was an indicator that a breather was advisable, so no training was held in 2006. In 2007, the Program Coordinator approached the Continuing Studies Coordinator at Okanagan College in Penticton, who agreed to provide the Basic Program training course as part of their curriculum. Although 15 students took the course, only 4 were Qualified MGs as of 2010. We found that a College course did not meld well with the volunteer aspect of Master Gardeners, and future training at that venue was not considered.
In the fall of 2004, and in subsequent years, our MGs have attended a Fall Update in Summerland, an all-day event that has included guest speakers, lunch, door prizes and a Business Meeting. Our broad geographical distribution precludes easily arranged monthly meetings, so this meeting has provided our members with self-education hours and a chance to interact. In addition, we hold a Spring Sign-up, often with a guest speaker and a Business Meeting.
From 2003 to 2008, the Program Coordinator was Linda Sears, who worked to establish Master Gardeners in the Okanagan and Central Interior. In 2007, she was granted a seat on the MGABC Council as a voice for the Interior of the province. This was a tremendous boost to our local efforts, because we now had interactions with other MGs in the province as well as guidance in matters of protocol. However, one person can only wear so many hats, and it was past time to delegate, so in 2007, she drafted Bylaws for the soon-to-be chapter of the then-Summerland Master Gardeners, which were accepted by all members. Since then, we have grown into a more recognizable chapter, and many MGs have stepped forward to take on administrative roles. In 2006, Janis Thompson took on the work of Clinic Planner; since 2007, Joy Campbell has ably handled that responsibility. In 2008, Caroline Hill became the Program Coordinator, and in 2009, members agreed to change our chapter name to Okanagan Master Gardeners, which is more reflective of the area we serve.
In 2008, the Basic Training Coordinators in Kelowna (Lorrie Henderson) and Kamloops (Leslie Welch) ran programs for 20 and 24 students, respectively. For the Kelowna training, Lorrie approached many gardening centers and other grant-givers to support our costs, as by this time, lecturers were expecting to be reimbursed for their efforts. Lorrie raised an impressive amount of donations to support the training costs.
In the life of our chapter, attrition does occur. Sadly, we lost one enthusiastic Master Gardener to death in 2005, and several who withdrew because other priorities arose in their lives. A few have moved away, and we hope they will continue their activities in their new homes.
In 2009, a new Board of the Friends of the Gardens cancelled the Affiliation Agreement with the Master Gardeners because their priorities did not include us. Fortunately, the Okanagan Master Gardeners have established a presence in our area, and continued to provide advice at gardening centers, be involved with community renewal projects, and provide our expertise.
History of the Okanagan Master Gardeners from 2003 to 2010 was prepared by Linda Sears in 2010 (MGABC Council Representative, Okanagan Master Gardeners)