When did the Master Gardener Program Begin in Ashtabula County?
The planning of the Ashtabula County Master Gardener program began in fall of 1997 when Phyllis O’Brien, Betty Hansen, and Laurie Markle assisted David Marrison, OSU Agriculture Agent, in developing the framework for this program. All three ladies are residents of Ashtabula County but were trained through the Lake County Program. It was through their hard work that the philosophy and framework for the Ashtabula program was developed. The 1998 class of Master Gardeners were selected in January of 1998 and then trained in conjunction with the Cuyahoga, Lorain, and Lake County programs. The Master Gardeners completed their training in May, 1998 and then developed their educational outreach program. Fourteen individuals were selected to be members of the 1999 Master Gardener Class and were trained at the Ashtabula County Extension office during the winter of 1999. Nine residents were members of the 2000 Master Gardener Class. Thirteen memebers were trained in 2001, ten in 2003, eight in 20
