July 13, 2005
Teen sows seeds for career
16-year-old Derrick Timerman 13 hours from obtaining Master Gardener qualification
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Derrick Timerman is 13 hours from another step toward his dream.
Just 16, he is nearly done with the volunteer work required to be a Master Gardener, a rare feat for a teen. He can then check that accomplishment off as he works toward his ultimate goal of owning a nursery or landscaping business as an adult.
Last fall, Timerman began in the Master Gardener program, which is part of the Michigan State University Extension. He attended class once a week for months to learn the basics of "everything" as he termed it.
"I was the only one in my group who was not retired or in their 40s, then there was this 16-year-old student," said Timerman, who will be an 11th grade student at West High School in the fall.
After completing class work, future Master Gardeners must complete 40 hours of volunteer work. Timerman logged some hours at the Home and Garden Show this April and has been adding more hours by volunteering at the Children's Garden this summer. This large and varied garden is located behind the Traverse Area District Library, where a network of Master Gardener volunteers maintain it.
Working with his mentor, Linda Czajka, an Advanced Master Gardener, Timerman is completing an internship there three days a week. His duties include weeding, deadheading, pruning and answering questions from visitors. He is also identifying and labeling each plant in the garden, a major assignment for the summer.
"The library gardens are amazing, so many plants," Timerman noted.
Timerman connected with Susan Kuschell, chairman of the Children's Garden, on the Garden Walk last summer, unwittingly sowing the seeds of a future internship. Attending with his grandfather, John Frasier, the Traverse City forester, Timerman noticed that a Harry Lauder's Walking Stick shrub was growing wrong.
"It's supposed to grow all curly and I asked Susan if it was growing right," Timerman recalled. "I said it wasn't because it's supposed to be curly. Susan said, 'Who are you?'"
In addition to an encyclopedic knowledge about plants and gardening, Timerman has an unusual focus and determination for a teen.
"I'm impressed with how much he knows and I like his friendly demeanor," Czajka said. "He is easy to get along with and very good with the kids."
Timerman began gardening years ago and maintains five gardens at his house. These include a 16-foot by 16-foot vegetable garden, three perennial gardens, a fruit garden of raspberries - both golden and black - and blueberries. He also landscapes around his house.
"When I first started gardening with my grandpa, they just expected me to grow out of it," said Timerman, who fills his room with plants in the wintertime. "But I took it and flew."
Aspiring to have a greenhouse for his latest passion - orchids - for now Timerman makes do with five florescent lights in his bedroom. He closely monitors these plants' humidity and light and recently dropped $80 at the orchid show. A recent trip to Costa Rica had him in orchid nirvana because the plants grow wild in that tropical environment.
"Orchids are so different than any other plant you see and it's the largest flowering group in the world," he noted. "There are 4,000 species out there, not including the hybrids."
Timerman plans to attend the Career Tech Center's Agriscience/Natural Resources program his senior year. Either way, once he earns his Master Gardener credentials, Timerman plans to continue gardening as both a hobby and a livelihood.
"I like gardening, it's relaxing," he said. "And it's never ending so I know I'm not ever bored."