Certified Garden Master course - LIVE Stream

I took my master gardener course from Helen Atthowe in 1996 and my advanced master gardener course in 1997.  Not only was it excellent, but in visiting with other Master Gardeners around the US, it was extremely excellent.

Master Gardener programs are run by ag universities which are (cough cough) strongly influenced by chem ag companies.  Helen complained about this leash wrapped around her Master Gardener programs.  She left all that behind several years ago and for the first time ever she is teaching this Garden Master course.

Helen was an intern for Masanobu Fukuoka. While teaching she managed an organic market garden.  In time, she managed a 2000 acre commercial organic farm.  And now runs a profitable, commercial food forest.

I want to make sure I’m understanding this and not loosing my mind. I can become a master gardener for only 200 bucks?  WoW!!!

The people attending the course, in person, will become certified garden masters.  In my opinion, this course will be about three times better than when Helen taught the Master Gardener course.

For $200 you can watch the course, live.

I'm sure you were counting down the minutes until someone asked this question, so I'm going to ask it now so it's out of the way...

I'm at my day job during the time of the livestream. Is there any way I will be able to watch a recording of the livestream at some point when I am available and not doing that day job stuff, even if it's just going to be temporarily available? Like, for the next week following the course or something like that? Is there any way that would be possible?

Same question regarding whether the recordings will be accessible afterward, as I cannot take the whole week off work. Very excited for this!

Hi Stephen and Lina,

You two did not see the thread that Paul put out a week or so ago, when he was contemplating this project.  They will video tape them entire course and then edit down to a viewable format.  He has all the people lined up to do this.

Sincerely,

Ralph

So I'm a bit confused about the live part. After reading Ralph's comment I went back to the first post asking for a thumbs up (I was one of the thumbs upers) and read all the comments. I see that Paul said there, that the current plan was to edit the video and make it on demand. But what I'm not clear on is by buying the live stream am I getting only a live stream now and later an on demand video will be sold separate or does buying the live stream give me that and if the video editor people don't fall through I get the on demand later??

Either way I put in the $200 because I said I would before and if I had to rebuy the on demand video again later I would cause honestly I'd pay $500 to watch Helen give this class on video. But I'm wondering if we can get a better clarification on this or am I just the only one not understanding? This may be as I suspect I may one of those gilligan's Paul talks about.

I'm so excited!

If I recall correctly from one of Paul's podcasts, when Paul took his Master Gardener Course back in the day he got a huge binder full of reading material/resources. Are those materials (or something similar) being given to the in-person participants, and if so, would they also be available to the live-streamers as an optional purchase?

As for the recording:  we will definitely be getting some sort of recorded thing uploaded.  It might take us a month or two - how long it takes depends on a bunch of variables that we will look at when the event is done.

Kirk Gallant wrote:If I recall correctly from one of Paul's podcasts, when Paul took his Master Gardener Course back in the day he got a huge binder full of reading material/resources. Are those materials (or something similar) being given to the in-person participants, and if so, would they also be available to the live-streamers as an optional purchase?

Checking with helen ....

paul wheaton wrote:

Kirk Gallant wrote:If I recall correctly from one of Paul's podcasts, when Paul took his Master Gardener Course back in the day he got a huge binder full of reading material/resources. Are those materials (or something similar) being given to the in-person participants, and if so, would they also be available to the live-streamers as an optional purchase?

Checking with helen ....

Just coughed up the readies to attend the course online.  Will get sorted with doing night shift. Missoula (MST) is 18 hours behind Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time (AEDT).  If we need to get some paperwork/ reading material, it could be sent out as a Zip file which will mean that there is a choice to save paper or not.  Split screens and other techy wizardry means that reading and watching/ listening can be achieved with not too much trouble.  It may then be available as a bonus down the track for another Kickstarter....... Just putting it out for consideration.

I'm looking forward to the eventually-edited, on-demand option but maybe I'll be able to take a peek during the live event too!

This will start on sunday evening before the course begins.  An hour or two.

Plus, each evening will have an hour or two presentation.  

I missed the original post for thumbs up but am happy to see this option since flights from Maine were $500+ and out of my budget. Buying in now!  

Will I get a certification at the end of the course?

Brigitte Doneux wrote:Will I get a certification at the end of the course?

If you attend in-person.

Ponied up the funds! Can't wait but will most likely need to catch the replay video of it all due to work obligations.  Still love the idea of doing this virtual for all of us that can't make the trip.

Sorry, I can't do streaming, Zoom, live classes, or anything internet intensive, as I live out in the boonies with no option but satellite internet = not only slow but bandwidth limited.

Lina Joana wrote:Same question regarding whether the recordings will be accessible afterward, as I cannot take the whole week off work. Very excited for this!

I'm also someone who thumbed up too quickly without grasping that this was livestreaming and not videos to watch at our leisure. I, too, am working most of that week. Can the livestream "video" be replayed, as someone asked, later in the day or the following weekend, or

I feel like I am taking a lot of big leaps to pull off this event.  I can promise that there will be video that you can watch later.  I cannot promise when at this time.  Nor can I make any promises about quality.

The equipment arrived and we discovered we needed cables.  We will be doing our first tests in the next few days.

Sorry if I'm slow to understand here, but I didn't see a clear "yes, pay for the live stream and you'll also get a download of it so you can watch it when you want." That's what I was expecting when I thumbs-upped the original post. Sorry if my expectations were wrong and I shouldn't have committed.

Reason I want downloadable vs. streaming: I watch/listen to stuff like this during my morning commute, currently on your Podcast #226 (started from #1) so I can eventually join the "I've listened to ALL your podcasts" crew. I wouldn't be listening to all of those either if I didn't have them all downloaded, it drains my data and going over costs me money. It's harder to save my place and come back to it with streaming too.

So I don't care if it is edited, but I do want to be able to watch it at my leisure and repeatedly (without data drain) if I'm so inclined. Tell me I get a downloadable version of the live stream and cash is on its way! If not, definitely consider me at the front of the line for the edited version if it is offered as downloadable.

Thanks for all you do Paul!

Streaming is what we are for sure offering.  

If we get to the point that a couple of hundred people put their coin in, then I think we can explore offering more options.

I will feel like I have better answers when we have done tests with the new equipment.  And better answers still when the event starts.  And even better when the event is over.

paul wheaton wrote:Streaming is what we are for sure offering.

Ok, thank you for clarifying.

Count me among the folks that will be happy to pay for a recording but can’t watch live.

paul wheaton wrote:The people attending the course, in person, will become certified garden masters.

Is there a difference, between a certified garden master, and a certified Master Gardener?

Gary Numan wrote:

paul wheaton wrote:The people attending the course, in person, will become certified garden masters.

Is there a difference, between a certified garden master, and a certified Master Gardener?

Yes!

Helen taught an excellent master gardener program for 17 years.  I took her first class.  In that first class, she was required to teach a lot of pesticide stuff.  And she was forbidden from ever suggesting that organic practices might be better than non-organic.  And with each passing year, these types of restrictions got more extreme.  

Then she quit and went on to massive organic operations and commercial food forests and more.  And now she wants to teach this sort of thing again BUT the right way.  Without all the gags and restrictions.  We have decided to call this new class "The Garden Master Certification Course."

Paul,

I just read your "oh no oh no" email and would be happy to loan the money for any short fall for the equipment/editing. I tried purple mooseaging you but it didn't work. Let me know if you'd like to chat privately and where I could reach you.

Kirk Gallant wrote:Paul,

I just read your "oh no oh no" email and would be happy to loan the money for any short fall for the equipment/editing. I tried purple mooseaging you but it didn't work. Let me know if you'd like to chat privately and where I could reach you.

Thanks for the offer.  I am hopeful that the email will get everything sorted.  

paul wheaton wrote:As for the recording:  we will definitely be getting some sort of recorded thing uploaded.  It might take us a month or two - how long it takes depends on a bunch of variables that we will look at when the event is done.

awesome - no pressure but thanks.  Just ponied the $200 which is a BARGAIN imho, but likely won't be there live.  Um.  Sorry but when are the dates - I scrolled but didn't see them...  Ta!  

Excited!!!  oh yes oh yes yes yes yes yes yes yes.  

Blammo!

Purchased this just this morning, and I'll keep my fingers crossed regarding the possibility of an on-demand version.

Totally in agreement that $200 is a small price to pay for what I assume will be a tremendous amount of knowledge and wisdom made available.

polly jayne smyth wrote:

paul wheaton wrote:As for the recording:  we will definitely be getting some sort of recorded thing uploaded.  It might take us a month or two - how long it takes depends on a bunch of variables that we will look at when the event is done.

awesome - no pressure but thanks.  Just ponied the $200 which is a BARGAIN imho, but likely won't be there live.  Um.  Sorry but when are the dates - I scrolled but didn't see them...  Ta!  

Excited!!!  oh yes oh yes yes yes yes yes yes yes.  

Polly,

The itinerary can be found here: https://permies.com/wiki/garden-master

Looks to go from January 10th - January 14th, with one evening presentation on the 9th.

Here's the Daily Schedule for in-person folk:

7:00am – breakfast
8:00am – summary of the day
8:30am – session 1
10:00am – session 2
noon – lunch
1:00pm – session 3
3:00pm – session 4
5:00pm – cleanup
6:00pm – dinner
7:00pm – evening presentations
9:30pm to 6:30am – quiet time

Would this be a good thing for newbies to watch, or will it go over my head if I have only a super basic understanding of gardening and permaculture? Put another way: Does this have any prerequisites? Thanks!

Just to be clear, this "Garden Master" class is definitely NOT a certified Master Gardener course!
It will be an organic, ecology, permaculture, regenerative agriculture class for gardeners, homesteaders, and small farmers.
It will be based on 35 years of ecological/organic on-farm research and the literature review I have been doing for the book I am working on called: The Minimalist Farmer: managing ecological relationships instead of just crops.
It will be practical, science-based, and should be accessible to all gardeners, even though there will be some new ecological/organic farming science and gardening ideas.

Thanks,    Helen Atthowe

Amy Hicks wrote:Would this be a good thing for newbies to watch, or will it go over my head if I have only a super basic understanding of gardening and permaculture? Put another way: Does this have any prerequisites? Thanks!

Amy,

I think if you have grown a garden one time, you will find this to be of value.  

I think that if you have grown a large garden for three years, you will find four times more value.  

I think that if you have never gardened before, this will be like drinking from the firehose - and very frustrating.  

Does this help?

Another way to put this:  if you watched my world domination gardening movies, and found them delightful, then you are very ready for Helen's course.

paul wheaton wrote:

Amy Hicks wrote:Would this be a good thing for newbies to watch, or will it go over my head if I have only a super basic understanding of gardening and permaculture? Put another way: Does this have any prerequisites? Thanks!

Amy,

I think if you have grown a garden one time, you will find this to be of value.  

I think that if you have grown a large garden for three years, you will find four times more value.  

I think that if you have never gardened before, this will be like drinking from the firehose - and very frustrating.  

Does this help?

paul wheaton wrote:Another way to put this:  if you watched my world domination gardening movies, and found them delightful, then you are very ready for Helen's course.

That is helpful, thank you! Looks like I should be good by had-a-simple-backyard-garden standards, and I have time to watch the WDG videos in the meantime. I'll be among the folks unable to watch live but looking forward to when the recorded videos are released!

Paul, et al.
I'll put up some cash, as I thumbs up-ed your first call out for live stream of Helen's course. The vids of the course would be a wonderful bonus.

Question:
Can you all figure out a way for the viewers to ask questions in realtime. Maybe have someone with a sort of chat stream open that us viewing would be able to ask questions and have that "someone" relay the questions at appropriate timing? just a thought.

Thanks.