Hardin County has over 51,000 households.  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 training is complete a minimum of 40 hours of volunteerism is required to be given back to the community through extension related programming. Completion of both legs of the program is required to become a Master Gardener. To continue as an active Master Gardener, the volunteer must complete 20 hours of volunteer service and attend 10 hours of Continuing Education annually.  In spring of 2017, eleven Extension Master Gardeners started their volunteer internships.

For the reporting year, 28 volunteers have logged 2081 hours of volunteer service in the community. They have reached almost 16,000 individuals in Hardin County.  They have consulted with Habitat for Humanity recipients on gardening and lawn care; started and maintained a community garden at a community center; taught people how to cook and add fresh vegetables to their meals; made cheese; help teach the new Master Gardener Interns; taught classes on using online gardening resources; answered hundreds of horticulture questions through the Hort-line; planted, evaluated and maintained the Annual Bedding Plant Trial, maintained the Hardin County Office Display gardens and given tours.

Giving Back:
With the hours that the Master Gardeners volunteer to the Hardin County Extension Service, and all the work that they do, the Hardin County Extension Service saves more than $50,235.00 (About the salary and benefits for one Extension Agent or two horticulture technicians. (According to IndependentSector.org, the cost per hour of volunteer time is $24.14.) Through their fundraising efforts of the Plant Fair, they have also given three (3) $1000 scholarships to high school seniors going to college.

Long Term:
The Hardin County Master Gardener program started in 1993 with five (5) Master Gardeners completing the volunteer requirements. Today, the program has 32 active members and over 41,000 cumulative hours reported. The contributions to the Hardin County Horticulture program have changed dramatically in the intervening years. The volunteers started working on projects, mostly on community beautification, starting and maintaining gardens and representing Cooperative Extension at county events.

Today, the program is more dynamic, emphasizing education in any of the group's activities. The Master Gardeners teach classes in the Gardeners Tool Box Series, plan and execute an annual one-day Plant Fair that attracts thousands of gardening enthusiasts from the region, answer gardening related questions from the public and serve in county and regional leadership positions. They also contributed to the training and education of the current intern Master Gardeners.

Although, the total impact of this volunteer training program is hard to measure, the daily one-to-one communication about a passionate subject is truly respected by those that seek the information. The appreciation of the outcome is immense.