A new club

in town is perfect for kids who like digging in the dirt and helping others.

The Junior

Master Gardener program, designed by Texas A&M University's Extension

Service, has arrived in Georgia, and Fayette is one of the first counties

to participate.

Chapters are

sprouting up through the University of Georgia's Extension Service.

The program

is modeled after the adult Master Gardener program, a volunteer training

for people who love gardening and community service. In the adult program,

participants complete a horticulture training program and work as volunteers

at a county Extension office.

Junior Master

Gardener is similar to 4-H. It stresses leadership and community service.

Along the way, the students also learn about gardening.

"The curriculum

can easily be adapted for use as a club, by parents who home school their

children or by church groups," said Krissy Slagle, a program assistant

with the Georgia Master Gardeners.

"The lessons

in the manual are horticulture-based," Slagle said, "but they

cover many other areas. For example, one lesson teaches math skills using

fruits and vegetables."

Students get

certificates for each completed chapter and must complete eight chapters

to become certified Junior Master Gardeners. Each chapter includes club

work, homework and a community service project.

One of the

first clubs in Georgia is in Fayetteville.

Suzanne Rocus

runs the Fayette County club, along with the local Extension Service program

assistant and a handful of volunteers. The club started after Rocus won

a program manual at a gardening conference.

"Our Master

Gardeners were interested in starting the program, and our county agent

supported the idea," Rocus said.

Rocus wanted

to offer the program through the school system, but with 13 elementary

schools, it wasn't feasible. She started one chapter and has meetings

twice a month at the county extension office, averaging 18 students.

The children

take the community service mission seriously. They bagged tree seedlings

to be donated at the annual Christmas tree recycling event. And to show

their appreciation to the county offices where they meet, the club planted

flower boxes to decorate the building's exterior. And in their current

project, they plan to grow vegetables for needy people.

The club recently

competed in and won ribbons at the Southeastern Flower Show.

"The program's

not only about gardening," Rocus said. "The manual is full of

wonderful activities that cover everything from ecology to enriching reading

skills. The kids recently made apple sauce from fresh apples."

Junior Master

Garden clubs are each as unique as their members. "Most of the children

in our club come from families that enjoy gardening, and they all love

to get dirty," Rocus said.

Roemer's students,

however, have the green thumbs in their families. "Parents keep telling

me not to send plants home if I want them to live," she said.

Roemer, who

has completed her required Master Gardener volunteer hours, plans to extend

her pilot chapter. "I'm going to continue the club another eight

weeks," she said. "I just love it."

Learn more

about the Junior Master Gardener program at https://jmg.tamu.edu ,

or phone 770-460-5730, extension 5412.

Sharon Omahen

is a news editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural

and Environmental Sciences.

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