Extension Master Gardeners (EMG) are volunteer educators serving across the country in local communities. Backed by the University of Kentucky, Kentucky EMGs are dedicated to outreach and on a mission to support successful gardening through science-based horticulture information. 

Nine new EMGs In-Training were trained during Fall 2023 in Pulaski County.  

EMGs are required to volunteer hours of service back to the community or in efforts that help Cooperative Extension. During 2023-24, 30 Lake Cumberland Master Gardeners reported just over 1220 hours of community service. Using hourly wage data from the Independent Sector, this amounts to roughly $34,800. Master Gardeners are also required to obtain CEUs to keep them up-to-date on horticulture topics. Lake Cumberland Master Gardeners earned about 109 hours of CEUs this year. 

Master Gardeners held two Native Plant sales, sponsored a Birdhouse Contest, helped create a cut flower garden at an assisted living facility, set up at an Earth Day Event at Somerset Community College, organized and executed the first annual Natives & Heirloom Fest, participated in a youth outreach activity at a local farm’s Kid’s Day event, and collaborated with the 4-H agents creating a new club called the Multimedia Art Club. One Master Gardener has created her second, 6-part educational series for the 2024 growing season on raised bed vegetable gardening using the Pulaski County Extension’s demonstration garden. Her previous series had 20 to 25 participants at each session.   

Three Lake Cumberland Master Gardeners represented the group at the 2023 Kentucky State Master Gardener Conference, an important event to learn what other EMG groups are doing and to network and make connections across the Commonwealth. Lake Cumberland Master Gardeners plan to host the event in 2025.

Master Gardeners have also forged a new relationship with Mill Springs National Battlefield. On Public Lands Day in September 2023, a Master Gardener spoke to a group of 25 volunteers who planted natives around the visitor center. The National Parks employees and local EMGs will develop signage and possibly more interpretive plant information.

 The Lake Cumberland Master Gardener Association (LCMGA) sponsored many of the Tree Week activities and LCMGA members helped plan and coordinate events during that week. 

One Extension Master Gardener Volunteer found her passion for native plants in the process of fulfilling CEU requirements for the program in 2019. For the next 4 years, she gave of her time, effort, and personal money to grow and sell native plants to be used as a fundraiser for the Lake Cumberland Master Gardeners.  In 2023, she started her very own native plant nursery in Pulaski County.

Overall, Lake Cumberland Master Gardeners have lost some members due to life changes. However, new trainees are continually brought into the program to ensure a strong, sustainable program in the future.