Have Spade and Gloves Ready

I just put my application in to be considered for Bowie County's Master Gardener program. It is a joint program through Texas A&M. Though I would think they would take volunteer labor when it is available, apparently this isn't the case. This is a big deal and there is a selection process. I'm thinking of Rush Week for potential gardeners. 

Part of the application was a several page questionnaire. And, like all Southern activities thus far, it came with a litany of personal questions designed to see if I was a serial killer would be a good fit. 

Please explain your volunteer history for the past twenty years, use additional paper if necessary. I homeschooled. Doesn't that count? I raised kids, co-oped classes and homeschool events, was part of Polly's Girl Scouts, was one of the "Volunteer Moms" with the karate studio. And the list goes on. However, none of this was plant-based. 

Please explain your professional experience for the past twenty years. Use additional paper if necessary. Honestly, I could have written a six-volume set on this one, but I kept it simple: Homeschool mom (it's work), real estate broker/agent, owned a property management company for a spell, freelance writer.  

Please explain your horticulture experience. Include both floral and food. Use additional paper if necessary. And this is where it got tricky. I've managed to grow a tomato in Phoenix and spend under $1200 in water doing so. I think that should count for something. Instead, I embellished my one year of Texas experience. I've successfully grown a bumper crop of jalapenos. Plus, I've planted tulip bulbs two years in a row. I wrote all of the above paragraph with a lot more words and made it sound glamorous.

If selected, what do you wish to accomplish being part of the Master Gardener Program? I want to grow more than one tomato a summer for starters. But I didn't put that down. Nor did I put down, I wanted a reason to leave my house once in a while. Instead, I kind of paraphrased their mission statement and added a few more flowery sentences. Hopefully there was enough fertilizer on my answer to grow into a real opportunity.  

There was two more pages of questions along these lines. I don't know what the program is looking for in their selection of folks. Candidates will be selected by the end of January. Right now my fingers are crossed I'll have a chance to play in the dirt and learn a few tricks along the way.