The 2016 Marshall County Master Gardener class was intended to refine and reshape the current Master Gardener (MG) program in Marshall County. The main intent was to increase the number of active MG's and increase their community outreach. Now, less than two years down the road the program has achieved just that. The Master Gardeners are now a larger, more active group that has become a formal association entitled the Marshall Master Gardener Association or MMGA. The association now has formal bylaws, formal officer roles, a checking account for fundraising, committee officers and most importantly increased output. The graphic below shows the MMGA's statistics for fiscal year 2018.

Since completion of the class, the MMGA has completed many noteworthy programs. You will find some of the highlights summarized below.  

Fruit Tree Pruning Series- In the spring of 2018 the Master Gardeners started providing live, hands on demonstrations of how to prune fruit trees in clientele's own orchards. 

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Plant Fair- This is the MMGA's yearly fundraiser. The proceeds from the plants sold are used to create scholarships for horticulture students, community projects and provides continuing education opportunities for MGs. 

This is the largest event the MMGA does. The MG's provide opportunities for clientele to ask questions at the event, as well as, provide cards covered with information and tips for growing each plant. Many clientele utilize this opportunity to ask the MG’s gardening questions. Also, many clientele have been introduced to Extension Services at this event. 199 people signed in at the 2018 Plant Sale. 

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Youth Education- The MMGA has completed countless programs with children. They use hands on techniques to teach children how food is grown, basic botany and much more.

(Picture on left) MG's taught students how to grow vegetables in raised beds at South Marshall Elementary School. 

(Pictured Below) The MG's taught girl scouts how to grow food. In this lesson, the girls learned how to harvest sweet potato vines.

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Supplemental Nutrition Education Program Garden-
MMGA has a 50x60ft garden plot where they grow vegetables to donate to Marshall Countians who are in need. The produce is bagged, Kentucky Proud recipes are added and then the bags are delivered to the Marshall County Health Department. The Health department distributes the bags to WIC (Women Infant Children) program recipients. 

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The volunteers also reported personal benefits from participating in the program.

88% of MMGs who completed the survey indicated that they developed skills they can use in other areas of their lives, developed more confidence in teaching, developed confidence in addressing needs of clientele,  learned how to work more effectively with people, and believe they help extend the outreach of the KY Cooperative Extension Service.

94% adopted 2 or more Extension recommended practices on their own gardens, see the MG service as a reliable source of home horticulture information in the county and believes the Master Gardener program greatly improves the KY County Extension serivce connection to the local community. 

100% indicated they became more aware of Extension's role in addressing the needs of local residents. 

To conclude, the Marshall Master Gardener Association works hard, helps the community, nevers stops learning, betters the Extension Service and has fun while doing it!