About the Program
Who are Extension Master Gardeners?
Extension Master Gardeners are trained volunteer educators. They work within their local communities to encourage and promote environmentally sound horticulture practices through sustainable landscape management education and training.
As an educational outreach component of Virginia Cooperative Extension, the Master Gardener program brings the resources of Virginia’s land-grant universities – Virginia Tech and Virginia State University – to the people of the commonwealth.
All volunteers are trained and have at least 50 hours of horticultural classes and return at least 50 hours of volunteer community service through their local Extension office.
Since 1979, Virginia Extension Master Gardeners have served communities throughout the Commonwealth by providing unbiased and research-based horticultural information to home gardeners.
Master Gardeners provide a resource for all Extension program areas and for professionals from many other agencies. They provide communities with locally identified programs, including answers to individual questions via hotlines and plant clinics; radio, newspaper, and computer links; educational programs to meet targeted needs; education for the preservation of historic landscapes; urban tree planting programs; and guidance in making the natural environment accessible to all residents regardless of disabilities, incomes, or where they live.
Mission: Sharing knowledge. Empowering Communities.
Vision: To be the Virginia Cooperative Extension volunteer organization extending horticulture and environmental outreach across the Commonwealth.
Core Values:
- Respect - The environment, each other, and those we serve.
- Accountability - Wise stewardship of resources. To our organization, our community, and each other.
- Collaboration - Willing to work with a diverse group to reach a common goal. Actively seeking out partners.
Virginia Extension Master Gardeners are volunteer educators.
Extension Master Gardeners do not provide free gardening labor--they work to provide research-based horticultural information to Virginia home gardeners.
Want to learn about the projects Master Gardeners do? Check out these spotlighted projects:
- Extension Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia received the 2024 Governor’s Volunteerism and Community Service Award for a program focused on horticulture education within the public school system.
- Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Hanover County are fighting food insecurity and reducing waste by gleaning thousands of pounds of fresh produce for local food pantries.
- Rapidan River Extension Master Gardeners provide hands-on education for removing invasive species through a Giving Day-funded project.
- A fruitful partnership between Bedford Master Gardeners and the Bedford YMCA provides gardening and environmental education to children in after-school programs.
Ed Olsen
Consumer Horticulture and Master Gardener Specialist
Contact: edo@vt.edu
M.S. Ed., Virginia Tech, 2010
B.S. Horticulture, Virginia Tech, 1990
Grace Stern
State Coordinator
Contact: emgoffice@vt.edu
B.S. Horticulture, Virginia Tech, 2021
Devon Johnson
Communications Project Coordinator
Contact: dvj@vt.ed
M.A. Virginia Tech, 2017
M.A. Virginia Tech, 2017
B.A. Virginia Tech, 2014
Contact
- Questions about gardening should be directed to your local Virginia Cooperative Extension Office or to your local Extension Master Gardeners
- Ed Olsen edo@vt.edu
Partners
- Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Virginia State University College of Agriculture
- Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station
- Virginia Agricultural Research and Extension Centers
- Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and Environment
- Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine
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Contact
If you have questions, please contact your local VCE office.