The Master Gardener program began in Washington State in 1973 to further the educational needs of the gardening public. As an adjunct to the Cooperative Extension Agent (associated with land grant universities), the program is staffed with interested hobby gardeners who receive a certain amount of training in exchange for a set number of volunteer hours. The volunteer hours originally were restricted to answering general gardening and pest and disease questions which had previously occupied the time of the extension agent. They have since come to include any number of community outreach services, including the MG hotlines, plant clinics, gardening classes and planting and maintaining community demonstration gardens.

The title is complimentary and is not intended (nor is it permitted) to be used professionally, although many MG's develop an even stronger passion for gardening as a result of the program and progress from there to more professional gardening occupations. There is a GW Master Gardener forum that is quite active and includes MG's from across the country and in Canada. If you are interested in joining this very worthwhile program, you might want to visit and read through some of the posts.

Here is a link that might be useful: WA Master Gardener program

Hi Pam,

Thank you so much for your kind response. Yes, now I see the MG forum on Gardenweb. Doink! I never noticed it before. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Janice

Janice - just in case you return-
You must be willing to do a lot of work so that you can volunteer your time. There is the initial training, ( mine was very good - I learned a great deal. Then you must be willing to continue to go to update training in order to maintain your master gardener status. You also must be willing to volunteer your time ( 20 - 30 hrs a year) You must report all of the hours on a regular basis to your MG coordinator. If you have lots of free time it is a great place to meet nice people and learn about plants.

All the work you do you are never allowed to include in you professional credentials that you are a MG -- Gardengal is right on --The title is complimentary and is not intended (nor is it permitted) to be used professionally -
You are basically an unpaid extension of the County Extension Offices.

Enjoy your experience.. Mike

Hi Everyone,
I really love the thought of learning and sharing my knowledge with others about something so meaningful to me. But the truth is that the time requirement is something that I lack because I work full time. I will tuck the master gardener plan away and wait until the time is right. Meanwhile, I will continue to learn & share on my own. I really love the Gardenweb. So many nice & knowledgeable people here.

Hi Janice,

I have recently become interested in doing the Master Gardener program. Did you ever get a chance to go through it yourself and if yes how was it?

Eric