When I retired from teaching eleven years ago, I had a list of activities I wanted to do: writing sparkling children's books that would have all the publishers clamoring to publish me, taking piano lessons, finishing the counted cross stitch I'd started 18 years ago, organizing and labeling drawers full of photographs, volunteering at Lincoln Log Cabin and taking the Master Gardener training. Hey ‑ two out of six ain't too bad ...

Partaking in the Master Gardener training and volunteering with MG has proved to be one of the most fulfilling of my leisure‑time activities. To see if you meet the criteria, try taking this quiz.

1. Are you at least 18 years old? Never fear ‑ we won't ask your actual age!

2. Do you enjoy puttering around with plants? Would you like to study and learn more about them?

3. Would you be interested in receiving 60 hours of training, incorporating the latest field research from

University of Illinois professors on a myriad of gardening topics, including soil types and enrichment, landscaping and lawn care, pruning practices, vegetable and fruit care, insect and disease management, flower and orna­mental cultivation, composting and much more?

4. Would you enjoy interacting with other gardeners, swapping plants and ideas?

5. Are you available one day a week (probably Wednesdays) for 13 weeks starting January 20, through April 7 for the training? The training this year will be at the Effingham Extension office and you can carpool with others from Coles County. http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/champaign/hort/mgonline.html

6. Would you like to have your very own huge BRAND-NEW-hot-off-the-press manual and/or CD encompassing all the above topics? New option: if you can't attend the face-to-face meetings, the course is now offered on the Internet. The $250.00 fee includes the Master Gardener manual on CD. For further information on this option, go to this site: http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/champaign/hort/mgonline.html. If you would like to talk to one of our members who did her training online, call the office and they will put you in touch with her.

7. VERY IMPORTANT: After the training, are you able to repay the training by giving back 60 hours of volunteer time during the following year? This can take many forms, such as working in the Idea Garden, answering gardening ques­tions phoned in to the Extension Office, giving talks to community groups, writing articles for the newspaper, judging 4‑H entries for the fair, taking gardening classes, working at our semi-annual plant sales (warning: we are usually our own best customers!), attending monthly MG meetings, helping with our annual Spring Into Gardening Conference, etc.

If you answered affirma­tively to all seven questions, you really ought to sign up. Occasionally more people apply than the local office can accept, so you fill out a brief application and go through a short interview process. If you don't make it this time, your name will be kept on file and you are encouraged to reapply next year.

Applications will be taken now through November 25, with interviews and selection in early December. You can call the Extension office at any time to request an application (345‑7034) or go online to print one off http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/coles/mg/downloads.html.

If you call before or after office hours, leave a message and someone will get back to you or mail an application. If you want to stop by in person, the office is northwest of the fairgrounds off Illinois Route 316 in the Northwest Plaza, 707 Windsor Road, Suite A.

A bit of MG history: The first program began in the state of Washington in the early '70s and has since spread to all 50 states. It is an all‑volunteer organization sanctioned by Land Grant colleges in each state and functions as an extension of the college, or university. In Illinois, the program is sponsored by the University of Illinois and is under the direction of the Cooperative Extension Service. You would be a part of 94,865 active Master Gardener volunteers in the US and Canada with an annual estimate of 5,197,573 volunteer hours!

One thing Master Gardeners are NOT ‑ we do not consider ourselves experts in all areas, nor are you expected to be. Although I enjoy focusing on houseplants and prairie plants, I still have a lot more to learn in those areas. People often ask me questions out of the blue, and often I need to tell them I don't know the answer, but I can look it up (we're accumulating a superb reference library in the office), or they can call Extension office.

If what I've described above appeals to you, why not give the Master Gardener pro­gram serious consideration this year? You'll be glad you did!

Fall Tree Walk—Eastern Illinois University—Saturday, Oct. 24th 9:00am-?

Join Master Gardener Jon Collins in a tour through the north portion of EIU's campus. See many of the trees at or near their prime fall foliage colors, along with many mature trees growing in a landscape setting. This leisurely tour will include a narrative with a mix of identification hints, natural history snippets, folklore, and more.

Registration 8:45-9:00a.m. for this FREE event is on the east side of Old Main (the big castle on Lincoln Ave. /Rt. 16)

Free parking available across from Old Main on 7th St. Look for the EIU water tower. Park in any space except those with a parking meter. The full tour will take about 3 hours.

This will be a leisurely stroll through campus. However, if anyone gets tired or needs to leave before the tour finishes, the parking lot is never very far away.

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This column is based on information and materials available at the U of I Extension office, located at 707 Windsor Road, Suite A, Charleston, 61920. If you have any questions about yard, garden or indoor plant care, write to the office, or call the Master Gardeners at 345­-7034.

If you have any horticulture questions, call the U of I Extension office 345-7034. Volunteer

Master Gardeners are in the office on Monday and Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m.

This column is based on information and materials at the University of Illinois Extension office, located at 707 Windsor Road, Suite A., Charleston, 61920; phone 345-7034; or web site: www.extension.uiuc.edu/coles/