Extension
It Starts With Us
Author: Kathryn Wimberley
Major Program: Master Gardener
Due to closures of traditional UK Cooperative Extension programs from the Covid-19 Pandemic, the standard flower show of the county fair was canceled. The idea from McCracken County Cooperative Extension Service County Manager prompted creation of a virtual flower show. All participants were able to do this while safer at home. McCracken Horticulture Agent and advisor to McCracken County Extension Master Gardeners (MCEMG) asked for their input on the idea. MCEMG created a committee to deve
Author: Traci Johnson
Major Program: Master Gardener
With a population of nearly 67,000 people, residential/suburban areas make up over half of Oldham County. With this high population comes a great demand for home garden and landscape information. Extension Master Gardener volunteers help address this need through a variety of volunteer work in Oldham County. Their work helps support Extension’s mission of teaching self-reliance skills as well as supporting tourist destinations in the county through their volunteer servic
Author: Chris Ammerman
Major Program: Master Gardener
The worldwide health pandemic has forced individual life choices to change and thus increasing the demand for locally grown fresh produce, meat and eggs. Empty shelves at the supermarket has shifted the consumers focus toward the farm stand and self-sustaining agriculture. Local farmers markets have become the consumer’s choice to provide safe, fresh and nutritious food for communities across the state, and Grant County is experiencing this trend as well.A Green Thumb program w
Author: Deborah Stumbo
Major Program: Master Gardener
80% of Pike County residents own their own home and have enough property to do anything from a small patio garden up to a large family garden. Our residents have one of the highest medical problem rates in the state and nation. With the current conditions due to the Covid epidemic, many of our groceries have limited fruits and vegetables. This year many of our residents indicted an interest in growing their own vegetables that are not touched by multiple people. A large n
Author: Annette Heisdorffer
Major Program: Master Gardener
Extension Master Gardener volunteers, trained by the Extension Agent for Horticulture Education in Daviess County, play a vital role in providing science-based, gardening information to the public. The Green River Area Extension Master Gardener Association (GRAEMGA) Executive Committee took a leadership role in deciding to conduct key community partner interviews as part of their strategic planning process for determining their upcoming projects and programs. Extension Specialists fr
Author: Kathryn Wimberley
Major Program: Master Gardener
Current Horticulture Agent is a lifetime master gardener from another state came to McCracken County Extension in 2009 with the idea of smaller programs to provide educational information in horticulture to the county. The plan was to add friendlier, easier outreach. One new idea was to build the volunteer numbers. For each year, over the next 10 years, the master gardener training was offered. This brought new volunteers to PAMGA, at an average of 5 people per year. Some stayed
Author: Amanda Sears
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Madison County Master Gardener Club meets once a month for continuing education and to help retain volunteers. Historically, each month different members or someone from the community speaks to the group about a horticulture topic. Due to COVID 19 the group was unable to continue to meet face to face. The Madison County Horticulture Agent organized ZOOM meetings each month during the pandemic to help keep the members engaged. The Agent chose topics based on ideas from the group, put together
Author: Stephen Lewis
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Jefferson County Master Gardener program had to suspend in person classes due to Covid-19 pandemic after only its first class. However, it was reconvened in the October, with a new virtual format. All classes were presented on Zoom and for the first time students were able to receive University level education from the comfort of their homes. Classes were twice a week for 7 weeks and contained presentations on topics from the Kentucky Master Gardener Manual. There were 25 participants who co
Author: Erika Wood
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Extension 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 Gar
Author: Chris Ammerman
Major Program: Master Gardener
The worldwide health pandemic has shifted outreach options and the steady uptick in positive cases linger doubts over the heads as to when we will see the end. In an effort to provide some positive energy into an otherwise dreary winter season, local Master Gardeners virtually collaborated to create a bulb starting initiative to place some spring blooms in the homes of the citizens of Grant County.Lead by Extension Master Gardeners, a take home planting and propagation program was develope
Author: Sharon Flynt
Major Program: Master Gardener
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Kentucky Horticulture agents, headed by Andrea Stith and Amy Aldenderfer, started the Horticulture Webinar Wednesdays as an alternative to in-person horticulture lessons. The live webinars are Wednesdays at 2 p.m. ET and 1 p.m. CT. Utilizing a volunteer scheduling website, agents, specialists, and other experts were recruited to present a 30-45 minute lesson to the public, with time at the end for questions. All the presentations were recorded,
Author: Kristin Hildabrand
Major Program: Master Gardener
In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, several people turned to gardening as an outlet for their mental health. In response to this situation, both horticulture and agriculture extension agents across the state banded together to offer the Extension Master Gardener (EMG) program virtually for the first time. Agents utilized the Zoom and Microsoft Teams platforms to plan out the virtual Extension Master Gardener program. Individual committees were formed to look at promotion, program schedul
Author: Keith Hackworth
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Floyd County Extension Master Gardeners continues outstanding programs and community service. At this point in the year and limited due to COVID restriction, ten master gardeners have completed 202 volunteer hours and reached 812 individuals through their efforts. Several are doing community service projects by working with raised bed gardening at nursing home facilities, senior housing sites, and low-income housing centers. The newest site is two raised bed gardens at the county’s hom
Author: Lori Bowling
Major Program: Master Gardener
Extension Master Gardener volunteers help to expand the outreach efforts of the Horticulture program in Boyd County. They are a vital part of Cooperative Extension Service in the community by helping to present educational programs using their gardening experiences and knowledge they have gained through the Master Gardener class and the educational programs they have at their monthly meetings. They volunteer to help plan and execute such extension programs as Farmers Market, the Holi
Author: Paul Andrew Rideout
Major Program: Master Gardener
Master Gardener Program; Re-Envisioned For several years, the Henderson Master Gardener program has seen declining numbers and declining active participation. Starting with over 60 volunteers in 2016, 2020 ended with only 21 active volunteers. The Master Gardener Association’s mission is education, but most members enjoy the social aspect just as much. Learning from each other. Mid 2020, the officers set up a committee to look at member recruitment and mem
Author: Kathryn Wimberley
Major Program: Master Gardener
Need: Due to Covid pandemic guidelines in early months of 2021, the Horticulture Agent, Horticulture Assistant, and the McCracken County Extension Master Gardeners (MCEMG) were faced with the challenge of how to conduct the annual flower show in Floral Hall of the county fair. Planning begins in January of each year for the June edition of the County Fair. An alternative to the usual was needed to fit last-minute decision by the Fair committee to hold the 2021 Fair. Agent and Assista
Author: Adam Leonberger
Major Program: Master Gardener
In order to supply affordable plants to the community, the Capital Area Extension Master Gardeners have held an annual plant sale for over 12 years. The Covid-19 pandemic has lead to an explosion of homeowners that started gardening that made this effort especially important. This sale not only provides county residents access to affordable plants, but also raises funds for their outreach activities and two academic scholarships for students studying horticulture degrees.The Ca
Author: Bethany Wilson
Major Program: Master Gardener
Extension Master Gardeners are required to volunteer hours of service back to the community or in efforts that help Cooperative Extension. Over the course of this fiscal year, even with lack of engagement events due to COVID, the Lake Cumberland Master Gardeners have volunteered over 1000 hours of community service. Using hourly wage data from the Independent Sector, this amounts to roughly $23,500. Not only do Master Gardeners help maintain three public ga
Author: Gina Ligon
Major Program: Master Gardener
Boone County Master Gardener Virtual Garden Tour Master Gardener projects and activities were reduced due to Covid-19, but this became an amazing opportunity for Master Gardener volunteers to show off their own landscapes. Nine Boone County Master Gardener volunteers chose to open their landscapes to our cameras. We viewed home vegetable gardens, to front landscape beds, dry creek beds to reroute water to stop erosion issues, and gardens that looked like magazine covers.  
Author: Annette Heisdorffer
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Extension Master Gardener Program develops leadership skills and contributes to the community. A strategic plan was developed by the Extension Master Gardeners, with the help of Dr. Nicole Breazeale, Department of Community and Leadership Development, and the horticulture agent to make the most impact with the volunteers’ time in the community through horticultural programs. The plan was started with a Ripple Effect Mapping session attend by 29 Green River Area Extension Master
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 15 classes of intense training in various areas of interest to a horticulture enthusiast. After the classroom training is complete a minimum of 40 hours of volunteerism is required to be given back to the community through extensi
Author: Amy Aldenderfer
Major Program: Master Gardener
State-wide Virtual Extension Master Gardener Program In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, several people turned to gardening as an outlet for their mental health. In response to this situation, both horticulture and agriculture extension agents across the state banded together to offer the Extension Master Gardener (EMG) program virtually for the first time. Agents utilized the Zoom and Microsoft Teams platforms to plan out the virtual Extension Master Gardener program. Individual co
Author: Richard Durham
Major Program: Master Gardener
Because of COVID-19 restrictions, Master Gardener Training was different in 2020. Training usually occurs at the county or adjacent multi-county level, and 10-15 programs may conduct training in any given period (usually fall or spring). In 2020, I worked with several extension agents for horticulture/Master Gardener coordinators to plan a virtual training. Amy Aldenderfer, Harden County extension agent for horticulture, led this effort with significant contributions from Kristin Hildebrand, ext
Author: Amy Aldenderfer
Major Program: Master Gardener
In October 2020, the Lincoln Trail Area Master Gardener Association, with the guidance and technology experience of the Horticulture Agent, presented a one-day, virtual state-wide Master Gardener Conference. There were over 125 Master Gardeners in attendance for 5 continuing education credits. There were 5 speakers, a virtual garden tour,and tips from local Master Gardeners. The conference was a huge success, given the new technology and the limitations on travel. The Lin
Author: Kathryn Wimberley
Major Program: Master Gardener
The Covid pandemic created a problem for continuing education opportunities for the Extension Master Gardeners. Having a virtual educational program was a good solution. What began as a short term stop-gap for in person programming during the 2020 Pandemic, has become a much-attended weekly horticulture program. Due to the continuing popularity of the Horticulture Webinar Wednesdays program a team of Kentucky Horticulture Agents have continued to present weekly Wednesday Webinars at 12:30 E
