Apply Now to become a Master Gardener Volunteer
Applications are now available for the 2019 Hancock/Washington Counties Master Gardener Class. The 2019 training will be held at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Office, 63 Boggy Brook Road, Ellsworth. Classes are held every Friday from January 25 through May 17, 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. There will also be two additional Tuesday evening classes (April 16 and April 23, 5:00-8:15 p.m.).
If you commit to this program, you are expected to attend at least 80% of the 17 classes, pass the final exam, and work actively on an established Master Gardener Volunteer project for at least one year following completion of the training.
Deadline to apply: Wednesday, January 2nd, 4:30 p.m.
About the Master Gardener Program
The Hancock/Washington Counties Master Gardener Volunteers program provides 17 weeks of training in horticulture and volunteerism. Our goal is to prepare you to effectively volunteer on a gardening-related community project for the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. In doing so, you will hone your gardening skills while giving back to your community!
In Hancock and Washington Counties, there are between ten and fifteen different predetermined Master Gardener Volunteer projects each year. You are expected to volunteer a minimum of 40 hours on an existing MGV project within one year of completing the training in order to become certified as a Master Gardener Volunteer.
The nature of these community volunteer projects is as follows:
- grow organic vegetables in community gardens for food pantries, soup kitchens, and limited income housing facilities (Ellsworth, Seal Harbor, Hancock, Cherryfield)
- care for and conduct educational outreach from public ornamental gardens (native plant or pollinator gardens in Ellsworth, Blue Hill or Southwest Harbor)
- conduct children’s gardening programs (Mount Desert, Eastbrook)
- glean produce from farms and deliver it to hunger relief organizations (throughout Hancock and Washington Counties)
- plan and lead public workshops on relevant gardening topics for small groups
conduct inventories of and eradicate invasive plant species from local natural areas.