Since 2000, the Extension Master Gardener (EMG) Program has been offered to Pulaski County and surrounding counties.  

     Master Gardeners are required to volunteer hours of service back to the community or in efforts that help Cooperative Extension. Over the course of this fiscal year, the Lake Cumberland Master Gardeners have volunteered almost 1150 hours of community service. Using hourly wage data from the Independent Sector, this amounts to roughly $24,600.

     Not only do Master Gardeners help maintain three public gardens, but they also teach classes, set up booths at important community events, help with 4H clubs and events, and are looked to as experts and leaders in the community. Master Gardeners also provided a local seed lending library that distributed over 200 seed packets during the growing season 2019 and 2020.

     During 2020, many of their large outreach events were cancelled due to COVID-19, like the Green Living Fair, Earth Day events, and setting up an educational table at Lowe’s. However, they helped assemble Grab N Go bags that were distributed to community members.

     Master Gardeners are also required to obtain CEUs to keep them up-to-date on horticulture topics. This group has earned over 265 hours of CEUs this year.   In addition, two attended the State Master Gardener conference in September 2019 where they presented their activities at Sky Hope Rehabilitation Center

     Advanced Master Gardeners have taken the lead on a couple of large projects: public plantings of native plants and coordinating the new 4H Horticulture Club. Two Master Gardeners, for the first time in Pulaski County, trained a 4H Horticulture Club team where they competed in the Horticulture Contest at the Kentucky State Fair in August 2019. This has been a 12-month commitment, meeting monthly with the kids, coordinating activities, and keeping it fun.

     Overall, Lake Cumberland Master Gardeners have lost some members due to life changes but the group seems to be doing well even with slightly fewer active members. They are sought out to teach or consult so are viewed as important in this community.