Center for Urban Agriculture & Gardening Education

DC Master Gardener Program seeks to enhance the ecological health and aesthetics of the urban environment by training District of Columbia residents to become Master Gardeners. Expert horticulturists and plant scientists teach the eight-week educational program, which includes a 50-hour service-learning requirement working under a professional gardener. The program also has beautification projects in all eight Wards of DC including schools, places of worship, nursing homes, and parks. The Master Gardeners give 9,000 hours back to the city annually. In return, participants dedicate volunteer time to teach horticultural information, answer questions, speak at public events and participate in community gardening programs. Upon completion of the program, graduates earn a Master Gardener Certificate. The program provides interested individuals with extensive training in topics such as plant pathology, entomology, urban soils, and plant propagation.

Urban Agriculture Soil-Less Certificate: Introduction to Urban Agriculture provides participants a glimpse into the past and looks at current trends in soil-less growing in today’s agricultural world. Participants will dive into the basic needs and choices of system design, material selection, the best options for fish and plants, and the implementation of the first steps. For more information, please contact mchezaji.axum@udc.edu. The launch date for this certificate program is TBA.

Urban Agriculture Technician Certificate is a set of two 15-hour certificate courses designed to provide participants with the knowledge and techniques necessary to maintain, repair and install critical fixtures of urban agricultural space and to master basic horticultural techniques and practices. The objective is to train individuals interested in agricultural employment to maintain, repair, and install critical fixtures of urban agricultural space and to master basic horticultural techniques and practices. Participants will learn to repair and install irrigation lines, build and install garden boxes, as well as perform basic maintenance on power tools and equipment. Participants will learn propagation and planting techniques for a variety of vegetable crops, pest identification and management, and harvesting skills. Also, techniques and strategies to reduce contamination of produce during handling and processing will be covered. Participants will learn how to use common agricultural tools correctly and efficiently. Upon completion of all intensives in the Urban Agriculture Technician Certificate, participants will have the basic skills needed to be successful agricultural workers or entrepreneurs. For more information, please contact mchezaji.axum@udc.edu.

Introduction to Agroecology and Sustainable Food Production is a 15-hour course repeated three times in the summer, consisting of interactive lectures, videos, and discussions. This course will provide a good overview of sustainable food production principles and is intended to provide sufficient information to get started or improve your sustainable food production. It is designed to encourage thinking in terms of climate resilience, rather than focusing on climate change, with discussions related to research and activities at UDC and elsewhere. The course is offered by Dr. Mamatha Hanumappa, CAUSES project specialist in specialty and ethnic crops, with well-known invited speakers. This is a non-credit, certificate course and is free and open to all. There is no prerequisite as it is intended to be a beginner-intermediate level course. Certificates will be issued after the successful completion of the course. Be sure to check back every year as the course is fluid and will cover different topics of interest each year.

Gardening and Nutrition Program provides support and guidance for DC school gardens. The center engaged 4-H nutrition volunteers and UDC students as volunteer resources. Volunteers engage to implement programming with the UDC students as well as to conduct nutrition workshops and activities. A space at the UDC Green Roof is cultivated to plant and grow seedlings to support the garden programs at schools and centers. Students are instructed on how to plant, maintain and harvest. For more information, please contact diego.lahaye@udc.edu.

UDC 4-H Soccer Program is dedicated to the promotion and organization of youth soccer at both the recreational and competitive levels. The program is devoted to the development of its players and coaches in order to allow them to reach their fullest potential and to instill sportsmanship and friendship while developing a healthy living, community, and leadership spirit among all of its members. Youth in the program are physically active daily as they practice and master the skills involved in becoming effective athletes. They receive guidance and encouragement from their coaches, parents, and school professionals. College athletes also provide guidance by talking to the youth about the importance of avoiding drugs and alcohol, and eating healthy food, to maintain optimal health to become great players. UDC 4-H Soccer program also includes healthy eating workshops presented by the Center for Nutrition Diet and Health. For more information, please contact diego.lahaye@udc.edu.

Check out UDC’s 4-H Soccer Program in action here.

enables the community to learn about how to turn their organic waste (food and yard waste) into valuable soil amendment known as compost. The training workshops teach participants how to easily and effectively make organic waste to compost that they could use to grow food.

Making compost keeps food and yard waste out of landfills where they take up space and release methane, a potent greenhouse gas. A CURII’s compost experts provide the community with thermophilic composting training during summer. The UDC community compost training is a seven-week long training, which students learn both theory and practice of composting by actively being engaged to make compost using one of the UDC food hub sites. Students meet once a week for 3 hours and bring their food and yard waste to the class to see how they can be turned into compost.