UT Extension Month & National Ag Week - Master Gardeners

Tennessee Master Gardeners are hard at work!

2,500 Active Master Gardeners in Tennessee

39 County-based Programs

25 Hours of Service Returned to Community (after the first year)

8 Hours of Annual Continued Education



MG's in TN
The Tennessee Extension Master Gardener Program is a volunteer service program that serves state citizens with home horticulture information!

The program trains and certifies volunteers who provide community service through county Extension offices. Master Gardeners are trained, certified volunteers for the University of Tennessee Extension County Offices.

Tennessee Extension Master Gardeners (TEMG's) are trained volunteers that help UT Extension share the latest and greatest gardening information! All volunteers are trained with 40 hours of horticultural classes and return 40 hours of volunteer community service through their Extension office. 

The Master Gardener Program is offered by The University of Tennessee Extension. Its main goal is to increase the availability of horticultural information to improve the quality of life with community garden/landscape programs. 

This could only be possible through the training and utilization of local volunteers!

Nationally, there are approximately 94,865 active Master Gardeners volunteers in US and Canada with an estimated 5,197,573 volunteer hours (2009 statistics).

MG's in Greene County

• Boys & Girls Club - BSMGA members, along with the children plant and maintain 20’x50’ fenced raised bed garden to produce vegetables and fruit for the children to take home.
• Junior Women’s Bazaar Fall Fundraiser - BSMGA members sold many different garden related items they hand-made themselves from garden favorites.
• Kid’s Day on the Farm - BSMGA members familiarize local 3rd grade students with the growing, harvesting, and preservation of foods they eat.
• Greene County Fairgrounds - BSMGA members maintain (plant, mulch, weed)  two beds at entrance to fairgrounds.
• New Hope Cemetery - BSMGA members maintain restoration project in an African-American Cemetery near Tusculum College.
• Dickson-Williams Mansion - landscaping of the grounds in a period-era setting.
• Greene County Fair - BSMGA members assist in receiving entries for judging.  Some members also participate as judges for entries.
• Christmas Parade float - BSMGA members hand out birdseed bags as a promotional effort for the program.
• Farm to Fork - annual fundraiser to benefit the Mission Tabernacle Soup Kitchen's community demonstration gardens!
• Annual Spring Plant Sale fundraiser held at the Greene County Fairgrounds.  Plants for the sale are grown by BSMGA members at the UT Research & Education Center greenhouse. Local heirloom tomatoes adn hard-to-come-by herbs are some local favorites!
• Mission Tabernacle Soup Kitchen - BSMGA members grow fresh produce in an organic garden behind Tabernacle Presbyterian Church to provide fresh food to be served toarea citizens.
• UT Extension Master Gardener Lab - BSMGA members schedule time to occupy the lab at the Extension office, fielding gardening calls and walk-in customer  questions.

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