WSU Extension

Thurston County

Connecting People, Resources and Knowledge

For over 100 years, Washington State University has been connecting with you, your neighbors, and your community through our Extension programs. Every day, Thurston County Extension works to extend the university’s knowledge—addressing real-world issues to help find new opportunities for our farmers, natural resource managers, families, young people, and business leaders to become successful and thrive.

County Programs

WSU Master Gardener Program

Master Recycler Composter Program

Thurston County 4-H Program

SNAP-Ed Program

Agriculture Program

Water Resources & Habitat Program

Children’s Garden Program – Registration Now Open

Gardening/Composting/Recycling Question and Answer clinic is open year-round!

Looking for reliable gardening and composting info?

Check out our resources page for free research-based resources.

Contact Us

3054 Carpenter Road SE

Benoschek Building
Olympia, WA 98503
360-862-2189

For directions and complete staff listing please visit our Contact Us page

Featured Content

Requiem for the Packaging King

It can hold the most delicate objects AND be detrimental to our environment. The Packaging King — expanded polystyrene foam or EPS — pollutes our water and takes hundreds of years to breakdown in landfills. Once broken apart, the polystyrene components crumble into small bits that contaminate our environment even further. Discover ways to reuse EPS and learn how it can be reprocessed into products with a longer lifespan. Future solutions include using textile waste and biomaterials as sustainable packaging filler.

Preserving the Salish Sea

Discover simple ways to help keep the Salish Sea beautiful and reduce plastic pollution. National Microplastics expert and WSU grad Julie Masura shares tips to help maintain this biologically diverse inland marine ecosystem. Together, we can make a difference in the health of wildlife, salmon, orcas, and other marine species.