Extension
It Starts With Us
Author: Kara Back
Major Program: Master Gardener
Taylor County had its first Master Gardeners' class on the 6th of September. The Master Gardeners' Program was one of the reasons a horticulture agent was hired for Taylor County. Upon arrival, the agent was asked numerous times when the program would be held. During the month before the agent's second year, the first two classes of the program were held. The importance of the program is the heart of extension's mission; teaching individuals to be teachers / leaders within t
Author: Kathryn Wimberley
Major Program: Master Gardener
SITUATION: Demand for home horticulture information continues to increase for Kentucky county Extension offices. The Kentucky Extension Master Gardener (EMG) Program develops trained volunteers to assist county Extension staff in meeting this need for research-based information and public outreach.LONG-TERM OUTCOMES: The public has a positive perception of EMG volunteers as reliable sources for home horticulture information.EMG Volunteers extend the educational outreach of the Cooperat
Author: Susan Fox
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Lyon County Master Gardeners provide local leadership in horticulture education. This year they were one of the host counties for the State Master Gardener Conference held in McCracken County. They organized the Lightning Round presentations for the conference, prepared a native seed packet for the goodies bag, entered the Search for Excellence competitions for programs and outstanding individual Master Gardener.A program to teach sustainability and horticulture to Caldwell and Lyon County 4
Author: Jamie Dockery
Major Program: Master Gardener
Over 100 active Extension Master Gardener volunteers oversee 15 educational projects in our community. These include demonstration gardens, therapeutic gardening, educational classes, horticultural exhibits, and a call in horticulture helpline. In the past year our Master Gardener volunteers served 18,291 individual clients and provided 5062 hours of educational service for a total value of over $122,196.00
Author: Gary Bell
Major Program: Master Gardener
Barren, Metcalfe, and Monroe Counties are home to a combinedpopulation of over 60,000 residents. Discussions with homeowners, program councils, and current Extension Master Gardener volunteers indicate that there is a growing interest in home & consumer horticulture. Barren, Metcalfe, and Monroe County Cooperative Extension Services hosted a joint Extension Master Gardener volunteer training class over 14 weeks in the fall of 2018. Agents as well as University of Kentucky Specialist&rsq
Author: Andrea Stith
Major Program: Master Gardener
Barren, Metcalfe, and Monroe Counties are home to a combined population of over 60,000 residents. Discussions with homeowners, program councils, and current Extension Master Gardener volunteers indicate that there is a growing interest in home & consumer horticulture.Barren, Metcalfe, and Monroe County Cooperative Extension Services hosted a joint Extension Master Gardener volunteer training class over 14 weeks in the fall of 2018. Agents as well as University of Kentucky Specialist’s
Author: Kevin Lyons
Major Program: Master Gardener
Barren, Metcalfe, and Monroe Counties are home to a combined population of over 60,000 residents. Discussions with homeowners, program councils, and current Extension Master Gardener volunteers indicated a growing interest in home & consumer horticulture.Barren, Metcalfe, and Monroe County Cooperative Extension Services collaborated to host an Extension Master Gardener program. The volunteer training class consisted of 14 sessions during the fall of 2018. Agents and University of Kentucky Sp
Author: Annette Heisdorffer
Major Program: Master Gardener
Daviess County has a thriving Extension Master Gardener Program with 60 members contributing 7,181 hours of community service in 2018 by consulting with individuals, conducting classes, assisting agents with programs, and helping to maintain the local botanical garden. With the expertise of the Extension Master Gardeners, Extension Agent for Horticultural Education, and the Daviess County Public Library, the Seed Library was developed for Daviess County residents. The purpose of the
Author: Nicole Rhein
Major Program: Master Gardener
Marshall Master Gardener Association Recognized at State LevelThe Marshall Master Gardener Association (MMGA) was awarded the Kentucky State Master Gardener “Search for Excellence Award” for 2018. This award is given to one Master Gardener Association that exemplifies excellence in community education through demonstration gardens and research. The award application was submitted by a committee consisting of MMGA officers: Doug Pardy, Barbara Ray, and Kathy Nord.Pictured: The committ
Author: Erika Wood
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Master Gardener program is a volunteer organization dedicated to teaching and training people about horticulture related topics. This program is a part of the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service and assists county extension agents in providing education and outreach in the community. Master Gardeners are required to undergo training and complete 40 hours of volunteer service in their first year before becoming certified. After the first year, Master Gardeners are requi
Author: Kathryn Wimberley
Major Program: Master Gardener
SITUATION:Demand for home horticulture information continues to increase for Kentucky county Extension offices. The Kentucky Extension Master Gardener (EMG) Program develops trained volunteers to assist county Extension staff in meeting this need for research-based information and public outreach. LONG-TERM OUTCOMES:The public has a positive perception of EMG volunteers as reliable sources for home horticulture information.EMG Volunteers extend the educational outreach of the Cooperat
Author: Traci Johnson
Major Program: Master Gardener
Educational programs that strengthen self-reliance skills are a continued priority identified by the Oldham County Extension and Agriculture Councils. In Oldham County, residential area makes up just over half the county’s land area, according to the last 2012 Census of Agriculture (48% farmland, 52% residential land). Home garden and landscape skills are important for residents in terms of both growing their own food and maintaining property values. Programs covering th
Author: Keith Hackworth
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Floyd County Master Gardener Program is an outstanding opportunity to develop community horticulture volunteers. In order to become a certified Master Gardener volunteer, participants must complete a minimum 12-week training, which consists of 24 hours of core subject courses including: Cooperative Extension/Volunteerism, Botany, Soils, Plant Pathology, Entomology, and Pesticides/Pesticides Safety/Environmental Issues. They must also pass a final exam with a seventy-five percent score and vo
Author: Jessica Bessin
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Extension Master Gardener Program is part of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service and is designed to expand horticultural knowledge among the community through the use of trained volunteers. Extension Master Gardeners are required to complete 40 hours of approved volunteer service related to horticulture within one year after completing the training as well as attend 20 hours of continuing education. In the spring of 2019, the Mercer and Boyle county horticulture agents off
Author: Alexis Amorese Sheffield
Major Program: Master Gardener
Master Gardener ProgramThe Extension Master Gardener Program is part of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service and is designed to expand horticultural knowledge among the community through the use of trained volunteers. Extension Master Gardeners are required to complete 40 hours of approved volunteer service related to horticulture within one year after completing the training as well as attend 20 hours of continuing education. In the spring of 2019, the Mercer and Boyle county
Author: Erika Wood
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Spring Lawn and Garden Fair is a program run by the Pennyroyal Master Gardener Association.The fair takes place at the Hopkins County Extension Service and offers a variety of activities including educational talks and demonstrations relating to horticulture, lawn and garden vendors, plant sales, and activities for children. The purpose of the fair is to educate local residents about different topics relating to horticulture, as well as raising awareness of the Master Gardener program
Author: Erika Wood
Major Program: Master Gardener
In the past three years, the Pennyroyal Master Gardener Association has held a spring and fall plant swap at the Hopkins County Farmers Market. The purpose of the plant swap was to give the community an opportunity to come swap plants with one another. Participants brought plants they were willing to give away and then could pick from plants donated by other participants to take home. A wide range of plants were brought to the swap and included the following: herbaceous perenni
Author: Keith Hackworth
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Floyd County Extension Master Gardeners In-Training are already doing outstanding community service. The final step for the twelve individuals to become full Master Gardeners is to complete their forty hours of volunteer service by April 2020. Most of these individual are well on their way to completing their required hours of service. Most are doing community service projects by working with raised bed gardening at two local nursing home facilities, two senior housing sites, two low income
Author: Lorin Fawns
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Mason County Master Gardner Association includes 10 active members and meets the second Monday each month having many great programs that provide countless hours of education to clients. The Association has created and maintained a butterfly garden at Old Washington Park, maintains the landscape at the Mayslick Flag Pole, participates in University of Kentucky flower trials (where over 20 different flowers are planted and records are kept of their quality). The information is used for resear
Author: Chelsey Anderson
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Cumberland County Master Gardeners have completed a lot of interesting projects this year. They have a total of 449 volunteer hours spread across 13 individuals. This is equivalent to $11,418.07 in savings to the Extension Service (independentsector.org). They have assisted with a homeschool JR Master Gardener group, volunteered at the Farmers’ Market on Saturdays, worked on landscaping at Dale Hollow State Park, gave out a local scholarship, volunteered for PRIDE Clean-up, etc.
Author: Gina Ligon
Major Program: Master Gardener
Come Hike the TrailsA little over 100 acres, the Boone County Environmental and Nature Center is a valuable community resource. The pristine resource is home to pollinator plots, a wildlife viewing area, vernal ponds, old and newer forests, a lake, and shelter houses for outdoor programming. Recently revived, the one acre demonstration garden displaying commercial production for vegetables and cut flowers, a high tunnel, small orchard, blueberry row, and raspberry row. A forage
Author: Robert Smith
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Kentucky Home Master Gardeners take their leadership seriously as well as their generosity. Their philanthropy is allowed because of the hard work they put into their sole fundraiser called the Blooming Bardstown Garden Tour, Silent auction and Plant Sale. This event, held the second Saturday of June is in its 16th season and continues to add to the tourism component of Nelson COunties economy. This year they raised over $5000 dollars (down from years past because of the th
Author: Stephen Lewis
Major Program: Master Gardener
The How to festival is an event put on by the Louisville Free Public library where the community can come out and learn 50 different topics in 5 hours. Presenters and experts from various local organizations and businesses share their expertise freely with the public in 45-minute workshops. Master Gardener volunteers had a significant presence at this event. The Jefferson County Master Gardener Association is a volunteer group that works closely with extension to provide agricultural educa
Author: Stephen Lewis
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Master Gardener Program was created by extension to help answer horticulture questions from home gardeners but it has blossomed into a vital resource for urban garden communities. The 2019 Master Gardener class lasted 14 weeks and covered several topics from organic gardening to entomology taught by university professors, industry specialists, and master gardeners. The class of 41 completed their final exam and graduated to the level of interns where they must complete 40 volunteer hours to
Author: Sharon Flynt
Major Program: Master Gardener
GO NATIVE: Scott County Master Gardeners Garden EXPOIn March, 2019, the Scott Co. Master Gardeners’ annual GARDEN EXPO returned with the theme of GO NATIVE. The Expo had 151 attendees who all took part in the demonstrations, classes and vendors such as: raised bed gardening, the history of PAWPAWS, and how to grow them, Good For You Dessert food Demonstration, Salad Dressing recipe SNAP healthy foods, composting, soils, seed swap and sale; how to construct a garden wreath
Author: Paul Andrew Rideout
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Master Gardener Program is alive and growing with over 80,000 volunteers nationwide donating over 5 million volunteer hours with over 1 million direct contacts. In Kentucky, there are 1445 active volunteers donating over 43,000 hours with 83,000 direct contacts. Henderson County Master Gardeners have 53 active members donating 1390 hours of service the community. Education is their mission and Henderson MG's do it well with programming in the elementary schools teaching yo
Author: Erika Wood
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Master Gardener program is a CAFE featured program and a major initiative for participating counties. Many Master Gardener volunteers assist county agents by accepting samples, completing homeowner site visits, fielding phone calls from homeowners, and/or providing general diagnostic assistance. As diagnosis of plant problems is a challenging and often intimidating process, many volunteers are timid to participate in these programs. In order to provide Master Gardeners with additional educat
Author: Samantha Anderson
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Laurel Oaks Garden Club based in Mayfield has a documented history of services to the horticultural needs of Graves County. Through discussions with multiple leaders of the Laurel Oaks Garden Club, Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Samantha Anderson, identified the need for the restoration of the Extension Master Gardener Program in Graves County.During the course of the program, participants completed a minimum of 24 hours of classroom instruction. At the conclusion of
Author: Kimberly Leonberger
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Master Gardener program is a CAFE featured program and a major initiative for participating counties. Many Master Gardener volunteers assist county agents by accepting samples, completing homeowner site visits, fielding phone calls from homeowners, and/or providing general diagnostic assistance. As diagnosis of plant problems is a challenging and often intimidating process, many volunteers are timid to participate in these programs. In order to provide Master Gardeners with additional educat
Author: Kimberly Leonberger
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Master Gardener program is a CAFE featured program and a major initiative for participating counties. The plant disease chapter of this program can be difficult for many agents to present due to the complex nature of the topic. In addition, many participants find the subject overwhelming, complex, and discouraging. Thus, a program was developed to increase understanding through hands-on experiences with plant disease samples and equipment which introduce participants to the microscopic organ
Author: Amy Aldenderfer
Major Program: Master Gardener
Hardin County has almost 40,000 households with over 105,000 residents. Extension Master Gardeners enable residents to access research based information as an extension to the county Horticulture Agent. The Extension Master Gardener Program consists of 12 classes of intense training in various areas of interest to a horticulture enthusiast. Each member was required to prepare a 10 minute presentation on a horticulture or Extension topic of personal interest. After the classroom traini
Author: Traci Johnson
Major Program: Master Gardener
Oldham County's population is just over 66,000. Residential areas make up about one-half of the county, and information about food and landscape production is in high demand. Extension Master Gardener volunteers help address this need through a variety of service work in Oldham County. Their work helps foster self-reliance skills, a goal identified by Oldham County Extension Council for the county plan of work.Master Gardeners complete the Extension Master Gardener program in ord
Author: Lindie Huffman
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Pendleton County Extension Office was selected as a pilot program for the state to administer the Junior Master Gardener Curriculum from Texas A&M University. Agents Lindie Huffman, ANR; Kenna Knight, FCS; and Shelley Meyer, 4-H; received training from the specialist of Texas A&M and began work to partner with Southern Elementary School, Pendleton County Public Library, and Transitions Drug Rehabilitation Center to offer gardening education and skills building workshops around the co
Author: Kelly Jackson
Major Program: Master Gardener
Master Gardeners is a program run by the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service to train citizens in many areas of horticulture. Upon completion of the Master Gardener education program, participants are expected to return 30 hours of community volunteer service through organized projects within one year to earn the title Master Gardener and 15 hours annually to maintain their volunteer status. During the 2018 program year Master Gardeners volunteered:731 hours of service in planti
Author: Kristin Hildabrand
Major Program: Master Gardener
Extension Master Gardeners are an asset to their communities. They are eager to learn new gardening trends and practices, exchange ideas with other gardeners, and possess a desire and passion for volunteering in their community on a number of service projects through educational programs. At the end of 2018, the Warren County Cooperative Extension Service gained 10 new Extension Master Gardener volunteers to the program after earning 40 hours of volunteer service. Warren County Extension Ma
Author: Richard Durham
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Extension Master Gardener training program generally involves approximately 14 weekly 2.5 hour sessions coordinated by county staff and delivered by county agents, state specialist, or local professionals. The coordinator must also develop and grade homework and/or quizzes and administer a final exam. As state coordinator I maintain, with the help of a few specialists, a training manual that is uniformly used for Master Gardener education throughout the state. However, we have ne
Author: Annette Heisdorffer
Major Program: Master Gardener
Extension Master Gardener volunteers deliver science-based horticultural information to help clientele grow and maintain vegetable gardens and landscape plants. They are a vital part of the outreach of the Cooperative Extension Service into the community. In addition, the Extension Master Gardeners seek this opportunity to fulfill their goal of helping others in the community through sharing gardening knowledge gained through the program. A total of 51 active Extension Master Garden
