CSU Extension Master Gardener class returns to Roaring Fork Valley

Aspen Public Radio aired a story today on a new partnership between CMC and CSU’s Extension Service that is offering a Master Gardener class at the college’s location in Carbondale, offering Roaring Fork Valley residents another option for learning. Click here to listen to Aspen Public Radio’s Elise Thatcher’s story. You an also read a transcript below.

It’s a sunny March day, but these lively gardeners are inside. More than twenty are packed into a classroom at the Colorado Mountain College campus in Carbondale. Jeff Pieper is their sensei, as instructor for this Master Gardener Program. The class has a mix of hands-on learning, like pruning trees, as well as class time and video lectures like this one. It’s taught by an expert in Fort Collins.

“Ok, everybody missed this… So this is Tamela,” Pieper explains, after questions about who the expert is. “This is Tony’s presentation, I think he’s sick. She said this at the very beginning but we were a little raucous.” The class bursts into laughter.

The lecture topic is weeds, and all the ways to prevent them, like using mulch and black plastic liners.

“Now listen, everybody has weeds, everybody needs to learn how to control their weeds,” says Pieper. “[Tamela] hasn’t talked much about organic weed control so that will probably be after lunch.” Click for full article.