Wendy's WanderingsWendy Wilber

March 7, 2019

Anniversary Spotlight on Brevard County

Brevard County on Florida’s Space Coast is home to Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach, and the UF/IFAS Brevard County Master Gardener Volunteers. Brevard is one of the original three counties that started their Master Gardener Volunteer program in 1979.

The Brevard MG program is coordinated by long-time Extension agent Sally Scalera. When asked about the Brevard County MG program’s greatest accomplishment, she is quick to say that it is the educational outreach provided by multiple plant clinics.

“Brevard County is 73 miles long and consists of a mainland, Merritt Island, and barrier islands," Sally said. "Because our population is so spread out, Master Gardener volunteers have been staffing MG clinics at libraries and other locations since at least 1990." She says that since they began tracking electronically, the Brevard County Master Gardener volunteers have assisted a total of 114,005 residents at just one of the clinics.

Brevard Master Gardener volunteers give expert advice at number of plant clinics; the plant clinic at Patrick Air Force base has been staffed by Bert Orcutt (MG of 32 years!) since before memory. They also assist with My Brevard Yard, performing site visits to help homeowners make their yards more Florida-Friendly. And a number of Brevard MGs assist with a grant from Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program to compare the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus run-off between Florida-Friendly landscapes and conventional landscapes.

Extension agent Syl Rose began the Brevard MG program in 1979, other agents taught the program in the '80s and '90s, and then Sally Scalera took over in 1995 and hasn’t looked back. Sally is especially proud of the environmental education that her 127 Master Gardener Volunteers do in Brevard County. Brevard County MGs are very active across the county and a favorite activity of theirs is to take a "Zip Trip" to visit fellow MGs' landscapes to get ideas and give encouragement. Her new class of 28 trainees will join in to help in 2019.

-- Wendy Wilber

Brevard County Master Gardener volunteers working in Anderson Park

Brevard County Master Gardener volunteers working in Anderson Park, Tarpon Springs with agent Sally Scalera (third from the left in the bandana).

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