Sustainable Gardening Blog

Across the U.S. and in all the counties adjacent to D.C., Master Gardener
programs train volunteers to provide horticultural education in their
communities, then direct them into local Master Gardener organizations to create
and run such projects as: horticultural hotlines, community gardens,
demonstration gardens, community greening, and the teaching of such
environmentally responsible practices as composting, growing food organically
and watershed-safe lawn care. A professional horticulturist serves as
Cooperative Extension Agent, to advise the Master Gardeners and the public on
best practices, disease diagnosis, and the like.

In 2002, after a period in which these services had been discontinued, UDC
hired a new Extension Agent and Master Gardener Coordinator, but chose someone
whose sole qualification in horticulture was working as a check-out clerk at two
local gardening stores - Sandy Farber. She reinstituted a yearly training
program for about 35 people, but never created a Master Gardener organization to
fulfill the mission or any Master Gardener-initiated and directed programs.
Instead, she directs the graduates’ required 50 hours of "community service"
toward laboring in federal and private gardens around town, primarily the
gardens of the horticulturists who assist her in the training. (Because she’s
not qualified to conduct training herself, she relies on friends to do it and
rewards them with our free labor in their gardens. In fact, Ms. Farber told me
on several occasions not to "encourage any new projects" because it would dilute
the free help that her trainers receive.)

So, monies have been spent but there are no demonstration gardens, no
composting projects, no new community gardens, no teaching of sustainable
gardening or control of invasive species - NOTHING. So eager volunteers looking
to get involved go to nearby jurisdictions, all of whom have active Master
Gardener programs and websites that reflect them. (There’s not even a mention of
the program on UDC’s site.)

We Master Gardeners once asked Ms. Farber why DC doesn’t have a Master
Gardener organization or any Master Gardener projects and she responded, "You
can’t expect D.C. to have the kind of program they have in the rest of the
country," a response we neither understood nor agreed with. This disturbing
response points to the possibility that Ms. Farber and her supervisors might be
out of step politically with the city. (Another example was Ms. Farber scolding
one of us for suggesting that people attend the DC Green Festival, which she
said was "too liberal." Imagine our surprise when we attended and saw the large,
active contingent from the D.C. government at the event. I also had to wonder
about the role of right-wing ideology at play here when David Jefferson, Ms.
Farber’s immediate supervisor, gave me a small stipend to write gardening fact
sheets for the public and told me specifically NOT to promote an environmental
message or agenda.)

Realizing the unmet needs in the city, several Master Gardener graduates
began organizing in the summer of 2006 to create an organization that could then
fulfill our mission. While initially Ms. Farber ignored our work completely, in
time she realized that her ignorance of our activities was embarrassing her, so
she took draconian measures to reign us in. In an astounding show of verbal
abuse and bullying, she castigated us and ordered us not to contact anyone - by
email, telephone or in person - without her permission. She also forbade our
partnering with such highly esteemed environmental groups as Casey Trees, whom
she disparaged at length.

In response to Ms. Farber’s crackdown, we organized independently from UDC as
the DC Urban Gardeners, hoping to cooperate with UDC as equal partners and have
the freedom to accomplish things. In response, Ms.Farber initiated a public
smear campaign against us and threatened people who cooperate with us with
retaliation, including the withholding of Master Gardener certification for
graduates who cooperate with us and refusing to recommend funding for the school
garden project of another graduate, to cite just two examples. I’ve provided
Chairman Gray with specific examples of her campaign to thwart our works in an
email dated 10/12/07.

In the winter and spring of 2007 DC Urban Gardener president Ed Bruske and I
both sent several e-mails to UDC’s Dean for Community Outreach, Gloria
Wyche-Moore, asking her to call off Ms. Farber’s campaign against us and inject
some civility and professionalism into the situation. Although we were promised
a response, we never got one. Instead, UDC’s response to our complaints and
cries for help has been to attempt to get credit for its imaginary
accomplishments. What began as a successful campaign by Ms. Farber to win the
coveted and financially rewarding Cafritz Award in 2006 has been followed by
several glowing profiles about herself in the local press, which mirror the
claims made in her application for the prize.

Given our intimate knowledge D.C.’s Master Gardener program or more
accurately, the lack thereof, we were all surprised when Ms. Farber announced to
us that we have an "award-winning program" and asked to see the 6-page
application she’d submitted for the prize. Our request was rejected, so we can
only quote from the Cafritz Foundation press release, which claims that "Over
8,000 volunteer hours have been performed under her direction, which has saved
the District of Columbia $130,000 in labor costs." This can’t possibly be true,
since all those 7,000 hours would have to have been performed at D.C. schools
and recreation departments (not to mention performing duties otherwise performed
by employees). To the contrary, we estimate that well over 90 percent of our
volunteer hours were performed at federal facilities (National Arboretum and
U.S. Botanic Gardens) and private gardens (Hillwood Museum and Gardens, Tudor
Place, and the British Embassy). That’s just one claim; we trust that the full
6-page application would yield more fictitious accomplishments. Given Ms.
Farber’s successes in the public relations arena, we shouldn’t be surprised that
her superiors refuse to even speak with us - we insiders have very different
story to tell.

As volunteers, we’d rather be teaching D.C. residents about composting or
helping to green public spaces, assisting community gardeners, and so on. None
of us have anything to gain personally from speaking up about these problems,
but we believe that city residents have lot to gain from a change in personnel
at the Cooperative Extension Service, starting with a dean for Community
Outreach who actually supports the mission of the program and is responsive to
the public. DC’s Extension Agent should be qualified to give expert opinions,
and the Master Gardener coordinator should be someone who can work cooperatively
with adult volunteers, other city agencies, and local environmental
organizations, rather than fight turf wars and compile enemies lists. Please
correct this situation because as constituted, it’s a classic and sad example of
government waste, fraud and abuse.

Susan Harris, Garden Writer and Teacher, Takoma Park, MD, at 301/270-5481 or
susan@sustainable-gardening.com. 
Yes, I’m a DC Master Gardener who lives in Maryland. And one of the many changes
I’d urge is for DC’s Master Gardener program to give preference to D.C.
residents - which all other local jurisdictions do. I have, however, worked for
36 years in the District of Columbia while living either in or just outside the
city, and I want to help D.C.’s greening efforts catch up with those of so many
other major American cities.

Copies of previous correspondence regarding this matter are available on
request. And to learn more about our projects, visit www.dc-urban-gardeners.com and www.dc-urban-gardener-news.com. 
My biographical information is here: www.sustainable-gardening.com/About.php

On an extra note, one that’s not in my testimony, here’s the link to
the Cafritz Award that I referred to.  It comes with a cash award of
$7,500, plus life-long bragging rights and great press.