Want to learn the secret to successful succulents, tasty tomatoes, primo pepper plants and year-round crops of leafy greens? Sign up this week for a new class that begins Jan. 21 at EAC’s Gila Pueblo Campus here in Globe, taught by County Extension Agent Christopher Jones. Listed as AGR230, Gardening and Landscape, the weekly class will continue on Friday mornings through May, from 9 to 11:50 a.m., at the campus located at 8274 S. Six Shooter Canyon Rd. “We will have expert guest speakers from Gila County and the University of Arizona give lectures on specific topics, and provide hands-on activities to make this course exceptionally informative and well-tailored to southern Gila County,” said Jones, who has a wide array of expert garden and landscape contacts throughout Arizona.
The cost for the course includes standard tuition and fees required by Eastern Arizona College. Enrollees age 55 or over; make sure to ask about the senior tuition waiver. The text is the Arizona Master Gardener Manual, available online from UA Cooperative Extension Publications for $45. Register at Gila County Community College in person, by phone at (928)-425-8481 in Globe, or at https://www.gilaccc.org/. January 21 is the last day to register for classes.
This class also provides the training and opportunity to become a Master Gardener volunteer for Gila County. A Master Gardener receives certification after successfully completing the course, registering as an official UA volunteer and remaining active by conducting at least 50 hours of volunteer educational service in the following 12 months. Enrollees with a disability may request a reasonable accommodation, such as a sign language interpreter, by contacting Mori Farmer, (928) 474-4160. Requests should be made as early as possible to allow time to arrange the accommodation. For more information about the class and project, call Chris Jones at (928) 402-8586.
Over the past 18 months University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Gila County hosted an excellent garden-centric weekly webinar series exploring a variety of horticultural and natural resource topics applicable to our corner of Arizona. The easiest way to connect is via convenient ‘click here’ direct hotlinks at extension.arizona.edu/gila, where you can view previous programs from the past 18 months ranging from ‘Winter Gardening’ and ‘Compost Tea’ to dozens more topics. Cooperative Extension’s website above has an array of links to programs, talks and resources. Links are also conveniently posted each week on Facebook, where you can join Chris Jones and a local network of gardeners and green-thumbed followers at facebook.com/gilaextension. Want to be added to Mr. Jones’ email invite list for these gardening and horticulture workshops? Call Chris at 928-402-8586 or email ckjones@email.arizona.edu.
