Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Jefferson County Master Gardeners in Service: Community Garden Coaching by Nancy O’Brien

Community Garden Coaching, photo by Nancy O'Brien

You might be wondering, “what is a garden coach, anyway?” A garden coach provides specialized gardening information to manage garden problems. Jefferson County Master Gardeners are available to provide coaching for neighborhood associations, fraternal organizations, schools, businesses or church groups that have or sponsor a community garden. For example, a Master Gardener coach could come to a community garden and work individually with each plot owner to figure out how to get maximum harvest from their space.
All coaches are Colorado State University certified Master Gardeners who provide scientific, fact-based information on the best horticultural practices for Front Range gardeners. The coaching session can be customized to meet the needs of a particular garden group. For some groups, it might be helpful for the coach to give a short program on a specific garden topic to an entire group of gardeners prior to the individual sessions.

Garden coaches can provide demonstrations, advice, and how-to information on topics such as:   
  • Seasonal Garden Tasks
  • Organic Pest & Weed Control
  • Tomatoes 101
  • Attracting Beneficial Insects to the Garden
  • Companion Planting; the Myths and the Science
  • Succession Planting
  • Vegetable Garden Basics
  • Container Gardening
  • Starting Your Garden From Seed
  • Composting 
  • Organic Fertilizers, Amendments, Mulches and Cover Crops
  • Extending the Gardening Season
  • Planting Garlic
  • Putting The Garden To Bed
There is a fee for this service. For more information, or to schedule a coaching session for your community garden, please call Jefferson County CSU Extension at 303-271-6620, or email your request to nancyogolden @msn.com. We look forward to hearing from you!