Some of my fondest memories growing up in Whitley County involved working with my father in our family garden. I can remember countless times having to go with him as a child to attend different Master Gardener Meetings as well as volunteering our time in the community helping others to be successful in their horticulture endeavors. The KY Extension Master Gardener Program is a wonderful program that we have now revamped and are working to grow here in Whitley County. The program, at one point in time, was very successful in Whitley County. The program had numerous graduates that were very active throughout the community doing a variety of service projects. Due to unfilled positions, and perhaps a global pandemic the Master Gardener program was put on hold in our County. 

     A personal goal of mine when I began working as the Horticulture Agent in Whitley County was to get the Master Gardener Program reestablished and actively meeting again. On April 11th, 2021 I hosted an interest meeting at the Whitley County Extension Office that was open anyone and everyone in our county with an interest in Master Gardener. After discussing what the program would consist of as well as showing them the outlined schedule of classes, and reviewing the requirements/expectations, the folks in attendance were excited to get started. The group decided on a start date of June 7th, 2023 and this June meeting would begin a year-long journey through the Master Gardener Program content. The Extension Master Gardener Program was created and designed to meet an increase in requests from home and backyard gardeners for various types of Horticulture information. 

     Participants that are completing the Master Gardener Program must attend 10-12 Classroom-Setting Sessions throughout the year, pass the Final Exam with a score of at least a 70%, as well as complete a required 40 hours of volunteer work/ community service in Whitley County. All of these requirements take time, a lot of it.. however, in our first year working with Master Gardeners, we have 13 clients that are actively participating and making great strides in completing the program and fulfilling their obligations to the contract. This is awesome news and a huge success for the Horticulture Program here at the Whitley County Extension Office. These 13 individuals will be awesome additions to the program as volunteers in numerous capacities. These future Master Gardeners will be a part of our team assisting in community service projects, assisting with the horticulture needs in our office landscape, raised bed gardens, and demonstration plots for the community. I envision these individuals being able to lead a variety of clubs (Garden Club, Youth Master Gardeners, 4H Programs for youth, etc), lead an assist with various horticulture programs and classes, as well as generate more publicity for our programs around our community. 

     I am very proud of the current status of the Whitley County Master Gardener Program. I look forward to continuing to build this program as it grows into a wonderful organization that is extremely active throughout the community.