Take a Gardening Class at Rutgers in Court House

What: horticultural education program for home gardeners

When: Tuesdays from 6 to 8 p.m. from Feb. 6 to May 14

Where: 355 Courthouse – South Dennis Road

Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cape May County is offering Gardening Education and Rutgers Master Gardener Volunteer training beginning February 6, 2024. The Gardening Education Series is open to anyone who wishes to learn more about gardening. 

This course, designed as a horticultural education program for home gardeners, costs $250 to attend and is mandatory for participation in the Master Gardener Volunteer Training Program in Cape May County. 

Online classroom instruction will run Tuesday evenings, February 6th through May 14th, from 6:00-8:00 pm. Sessions will consist of two-hour lectures with question-and-answer sessions following the lecture. The program consists of 16 content expert lectures and additional prerecorded webinars and elective content. 

Topics include but are not limited to botany, soils, entomology, IPM, plant pathology, trees and shrubs, pruning, turf, weeds, vegetable production, small fruit, tree fruit, composting, and herbaceous plants. 

During the course, participants will have the opportunity to apply their understanding through a variety of activities and discussions.  

In Cape May County, this course serves as part of the certification process for becoming a Rutgers Certified Master Gardener Volunteer. For those students who wish to continue to become trained Rutgers Master Gardener Volunteers, there will be additional classes, field trips and training after May 14, 2024. Attendance in the Gardening Education Series is mandatory for becoming a Rutgers Master Gardener Volunteer in Cape May County. 

To become a Rutgers Master Gardener in Cape May County, students must complete 60 hours of training that consists of 32 hours from the Gardening Education Series and 28 additional training hours that will include, but are not limited to, local field trips, in person presentations, online recorded content, quizzes, and volunteer training. 

To register, please click here.

For more information, please call Jen Sawyer Caraballo, ANR Program Associate, at 609-465-5115, ext. 3615 or email sawyer@njaes.rutgers.edu.