The Kentucky Extension Master Gardener Program began in the late 1980’s and was initially active in a few urban counties. Today (data averaged over FY2015&16 reports) the program is active in 50 Kentucky counties with 1,445 active volunteers who contribute in excess of 43,000 service hours and provide research-based plant information in over 83,000 direct contacts with Kentucky residents each year. Using values for volunteer time specific to Kentucky (www.independentsector.org; $21.16/volunteer hour), Master Gardeners contribute over $900,000 in annual service to the Commonwealth. These volunteers play a vital role in assisting local Extension offices in providing information to citizens on lawn and garden issues by phone, email, and/or at extension offices, public meetings, demonstration gardens, and in partnerships with civic organizations and schools in the community. Master Gardeners directly teach over 300 classes each year in county extension offices and in the community.  When Master Gardeners were surveyed from around the state about their experience with the program, over 80% believe the Master Gardener Program greatly improves the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service's connection and outreach to the local community. Over 70% indicated participation in the program increased their knowledge and adoption of home horticulture practices.

In Northern Kentucky, Boone, Campbell, and Kenton counties collaborate and work together to educate, guide, and mentor volunteers to become educators and leaders in our communities. Each year, a new class is offered in one of the three NKY counties to host the class and then rotates following each class. The 15-week program meets weekly for a total of 40 hours, which includes college level instruction from Extension Specialists, agents, and staff and community professionals followed by hands-on lab. For the 2018 class, Campbell County hosted and 18 new volunteers will be graduating and beginning their volunteering journey. Upon completing the class evaluation, 80% shared that “they are very confident that they can find research-based answers to gardening questions”, 90% shared that “their knowledge about gardening in general has increased because of the MG training”, and 90% also shared “that their knowledge level about the Cooperative Extension Service and the role it (CES) serves in the community has increased because of the training”. 

Following the Kentucky Extension Master Gardener Program guidelines insures Extension that we are providing research-based information to volunteers and in return we cultivate volunteers who have completed the program along with the requirements of a background check to fulfill programming and outreach into our communities. Today, NKY Master Gardeners has 130 active volunteers who have completed over 700 volunteer hours which has saved our NKY counties about $15,000 dollars. With our continued support and collaboration in NKY, we will continue to grow knowledgeable volunteers to implement programming to better the lives of Kentuckians.