Help! Help! Where You Can Find It

by Barbara H. Emerson.

Barbara H. Emerson is Technical Information Coordinator for Amchem Products, Inc., Ambler, Penna.

The vegetables and fruits most commonly grown by home gardeners are widely adaptable. However, new gardeners are often puzzled by what later becomes second nature.

This country is so large that one encounters in it a wide range of growing conditions. Temperature, soil, rainfall, growing season length, and other climatic factors vary. A gardener moving from one section to another may have to adjust earlier knowledge to the new situation.

As gardeners become more experienced, they are often aware of things that were overlooked in the beginning years, or develop a keener interest in special aspects of really fine gardening. Fresh problems and different possibilities appear. New varieties are introduced and may behave differently. Answers are constantly sought.

By far the largest number of gardeners turn to other gardeners with their questions and requests for help. Relatives, neighbors, or other friends are nearest, easiest to talk with, and familiar with the conditions being discussed.

This is usually good. Such people have already learned much through their own experiences. But they, too, may need help with certain problems.

Unlike any other country in the world, every resident of the United States has available at little or no direct cost a constant source of dependable gardening and food preservation assistance the Cooperative Extension Service. This is a publicly Supported, informal, out-of-school educational organization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the land grant university (State college) system.

There are home economists and agricultural Extension agents or farm advisors in most counties, and State Extension specialists on various subjects. All have close communication with their State university's professional workers for detailed information.

The Cooperative Extension Service provides personal consultation by phone or at the county office, and information materials such as bulletins, circulars, fact sheets, and newsletters prepared by county agents and university or USDA personnel. Most of the publications are free, although there is a nominal charge for a few of the more elaborate ones.

USDA publications are available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. The Superintendent of Documents provides free price lists for various subjects. For example, List No. S13001 on "Home Gardening of Fruits and Vegetables" covers culture and storage of fruits and vegetables. Some USDA publications are available from members of Congress.

You also can obtain USDA publications from the Consumer Information Center, Pueblo, Colo. 81009. Available publications are listed in a quarterly catalog called Consumer Information, which is free on request.

A soil testing service may be available through the county Extension office or commercial testing laboratories. For a few dollars a gardener can get precise advice about fertilizing and improving soil in which vegetables and fruits are grown.

Some county Extension offices offer clinics, workshops, or other programs in home gardening and food preservation. They may also provide information by radio, TV, or tapes.

Vegetable and fruit demonstration or trial grounds are maintained by the horticulture, vegetable crops, or pomology departments of many State universities.

All this information is as close as your telephone. "County Extension Service," "Cooperative Extension Service," or "Agricultural Extension Service" is usually listed in the phone directory under county government offices or the State land grant university.

Each State has at least one agricultural experiment station. These stations are responsible for much of the research done on home gardening problems. Your county agent can guide you to what is helpful at the experiment stations and similar institutions such as research centers and plant introduction stations. One particularly helpful related organization is the New York State Fruit Testing Cooperative at Geneva, N.Y. 14456.

Horticulturist Bill Scheer visits with Master Gardeners in Washington tomato demonstration plots.

There are master gardener programs in Washington, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Illinois. Other states have similar programs or are setting them up.

These courses are conducted by Extension Service personnel to further educate expert gardeners who, when finished with the certification course, can volunteer their advice to novice gardeners.

Some State-wide programs, such as in Pennsylvania, California, and Massachusetts, furnish paid experts, as do a sizable number of cities with large community gardening programs. Typical agencies most likely to be helpful to community gardeners are the Parks and Recreation Departments, Housing Development which may provide assistance and land, and Public Works which can commission open spaces.

Teachers in local Vo-Ag schools are another source of garden information. Some private and State-supported colleges have daytime courses open to the general public. An increasing number of adult evening schools include courses in vegetable gardening and fruit growing.

Correspondence courses that are helpful are offered by some colleges and universities and listed in the Directory of American Horticulture which is published by the American Horticultural Society, Mount Vernon, Va. 22121. The price is $5.

This directory also lists addresses and often phone numbers for most professional, semi-professional, and specialized trade associations in the field of horticulture; garden club associations; horticultural libraries generally open to the public; major garden centers; and national, State, and regional horticultural organizations.