MGV program
New York State Master Gardener Volunteer Program
Through local Cornell Cooperative Extension county offices Master Gardener Volunteers help New York citizens to improve their lives and communities through gardening.
Certified NYS Master Gardener Volunteers have completed a minimum 45 hour Qualifying Course covering a broad range of horticultural topics and serve as volunteers under the supervision of a sponsoring CCE county program.
More than 2,300 Master Gardener Volunteers in 46 counties collectively contribute nearly 100,000 hours of service annually. Hundreds of new volunteers are trained annually. If you enjoy gardening and would like to advance your skills to help improve your community and the environment through gardening, contact your local CCE office to find out how you can become a Master Gardener Volunteer.
Please see the sidebar for other sub pages.
I am wondering if this is only available to citizens in the New York area… or is there other affilitations with Cornell… in other geographic locations as well, that I might be able to participate? I have a keen interest in this sort of thing and I travel quite a bit, so I would like to coordinate something along this line with my travel schedules. I would be greatly appreciative, if someone could let me know. Thank you. Alan White.
Hello Ms. Bushway… I just wanted to thank you for the information you supplied to me, regarding my inquiry above. I have made contact with our local Associations and am becoming actively involved with them in Master Gardener Volunteer work. Your information was most helpful and your help was greatly appreciated… Thank you again!
I woulk to enroll in courses in order to be a MGV.How do I do this
Forgive the spelling on my last message. I am interested in enrolling in the MGV program.Please send applicable information.
I am a member of the Lake Mahopac Garden Club.
I would take the next MGV classes.
Thank you. Liz Benediktson
In New York State and most other states the Master Gardener program is a volunteer service program. The Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Master Gardener Volunteer (MGV) program is managed by individual counties in New York State there is no volunteer opportunities out of the state office. Volunteer training occurs at different intervals for each county. Host counties select applicants from their pool of residents of that county. It is “unlikely that a county” will select an applicant from another county. Core horticulture training is the first requirement of the Master Gardener Volunteer Program, followed by an agreement to volunteer at the host county for one or more years. Once you stop volunteering you are no longer a Master Gardener. It is not a certificate program.
Find out if your county has the resources to support the Master Gardener Volunteer Program by visiting the counties site which we link to from:
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/gardening/counties.html
You might also be interested in distance learning classes from Cornell. The content of our Organic Gardening course is very similar to the Master Gardener Volunteer training program: http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/education/index.html