The Kentucky Master Gardener Program is an intensive fourteen-week series of horticultural and leadership classes to train new volunteers to be better gardeners, stewards of the land, and community leaders.  Each person who completes the program must return 40 hours of community service through the Cooperative Extension Service during the first year after the completion of the program and 20 hours each year after that. Morgan County CES is thrilled to have 28 students currently in training. The participants vary greatly in age, experience, and backgrounds, but have already achieved common ground with their love of growing.  This has not gone unnoticed by local leaders who praised the program for giving longtime residents and the many newcomers to Morgan County an opportunity to meet and form friendships.  

 Already the volunteers have assisted the 4-H/FFA Youth Ag Day teaching 240 second and third graders about growing seeds and helping pollinators, revitalizing the Extension Learning Garden, and coordinating the county plant distribution of over 125 orders.  They are also implementing better and more sustainable methods in their own landscapes and gardens.

 The expected total of 1,120 volunteer hours from this group will be worth over $24,000 to Morgan County, not to mention the immeasurable social value of growing new friendships and community outreach.