•December 2, 2015•

It turns out that Master Gardeners are made, not born – and your opportunity to become a University of Illinois Extension Master Gardener volunteer begins in January.

Applications are now being accepted for the Master Gardener training program, which starts Tuesday, Jan. 26 at the Coles County Extension Office in Charleston. The weekly training sessions, held on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., will continue through April 12.

Once new Master Gardeners have completed their 60 hours of daytime classroom training, they give back to the community by volunteering at least 60 hours to educate area residents about gardening in all its many forms.

“A lot of people think they need to be an expert gardener to enroll as a Master Gardener trainee, but all you really need is an interest in gardening and a willingness to share research-based gardening information with our neighbors throughout the community,” said Kathy Reiser, County Director of the Coles-Cumberland-Douglas-Moultrie-Shelby Extension Unit.      Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.