Join us in celebrating 50 years of the WSU Extension Master Gardener Program! The Master Gardener Program was established in Pend Oreille County (POC) in 1996. Going forward twenty-one new Master Gardener trainees completed basic training in January 2006, joining more than forty “veteran” volunteers.
The Master Gardeners in POC had started doing annual Garden Tours as far back as 2004, at least. One of our Master Gardeners who graduated from our first Master Gardener class, Kay Bettencourt, was the tour organizer until 2019, just before COVID-19 hit. Garden Tours featured visiting various gardens in POC, where participants got to experience and learn different techniques, e.g., how to create a waterwise garden.
In 2005 POC Master Gardeners documented over 2000 hours of volunteer service to local communities.
Since around 2006 Master Gardeners have had an annual plant sale. Offerings include annuals, perennials, bedding plants and vegetable starts, bird boxes and garden art. The Master Gardeners also staffed an information booth during these sales to answer gardening questions pre-COVID times. All proceeds from these sales are dedicated to funding educational programs in POC. Due to COVID-19 in 2020, our plant sales have since shifted to online ordering, which is now our annual Hanging Baskets fundraiser.
Plant Clinics opened in POC as far back as 2006 where community members began bringing their home and landscape problems to the Master Gardeners for free diagnosis and advice. We now offer our community members gardening advice and troubleshoot garden problems by email at pocmg@outlook.com.
When the WSU Extension Office relocated to its current location in around 2015, plans started to be formed to create a Demonstration Garden onsite. Since then the Demonstration Garden has been used to conduct hands-on classes. Food harvested from the garden is donated to the local food bank.