WSU Master Gardeners spend over 100 hours in training and give back a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer service to become certified Master Gardener Volunteer Educators. Once certified, Veteran Master Gardeners continue their education and their volunteer service to their communities.
“The WSU Extension Master Gardener program grew out of the need for Washington State County Extension agents to respond to the growing interest in home gardening over 45 years ago,” the founders of the WSU Master Gardener Program recall in their short history of the WSU Extension Master Gardener Program.
Today, the purpose of the WSU Extension Master Gardener Program remains much the same. It is to train volunteers to be effective community educators in horticulture and environmental stewardship by providing science-based information generated from research at WSU and at other university systems.
Today’s WSU Master Gardener volunteers teach local community members to:
- manage their landscapes in a science-based, sustainable manner using integrated pest management (IPM) methods;
- address environmental and social issues such as proper recycling, water conservation, and water quality protection;
- work to reduce the negative impact of invasive species; and,
- increase public awareness of healthy living through gardening and the proper application of IPM techniques.
They do this through staffing plant problem clinics, maintaining demonstration gardens, providing educational and community outreach through teaching and mentoring adults and youth in a variety of settings and platforms, and by continuing their own education.
The WSU Extension Master Gardener Program is open to everyone with an interest in horticulture and environmental stewardship and a willingness to use their knowledge, experience and enthusiasm to make a positive impact in their local community.
For more information about becoming a WSU Extension Lewis County Master Gardener, please contact Jason Adams at (360) 740-1216 or via email at jason.adams@lewiscountywa.gov.