Purpose

NC State faculty and staff train MGVs to be highly effective community educators providing unbiased, research-based, environmentally sound information about growing lawns, fruits, vegetables, trees, and ornamentals. They focus specifically on issues of importance in their local communities related to residential gardening and landscaping, including environmental stewardship, water conservation, water quality preservation, energy conservation, green waste reduction, home food production, wildlife management, sustainable communities, and health and wellness for children and adults.

MGVs expand Extension’s capacity to meet the needs of the gardening public. Our volunteers are motivated by the opportunity to participate in a quality horticultural course, receive answers to their own gardening questions, interact with people who have common interests, help others expand their gardening knowledge, and make a difference in their community. Major tenets of the program include the following:

1.  Local Needs.

Our programs and staff reflect the needs of the communities they serve. The land-grant university system was built to provide access to higher education and serve the needs of the common person. MGVs continue the land-grant university tradition by ensuring that the programs and people delivering them are available and applicable to all residents.

1. Critical Issues.

Projects must be relevant to the larger issues facing society—protecting environmental quality, ending hunger, building strong and safe neighborhoods, and growing healthy children.

1. Public Awareness. Extension and Master Gardener volunteers must let the residents, decision-makers, businesses, and communities of North Carolina know about the value of the work they do by illustrating its relevance to public goals.
   Extension Master Gardener Volunteers are vital to the Mission of Extension and a valued community resource for homeowners and residents.
   
   Becoming an Extension Master Gardener Volunteer begins with an application and interview process, then upon a mutual agreement, applicants begin their Master Gardener journey by taking a 40 hour course and final exam over a 3 1/2 month period.
   
   The next Master Gardener course for applicants will start in the late summer of 2025.
   
   If you are interested in receiving an application to become a Master Gardener, contact the Moore County Extension Director, deborah_mcgiffin@ncsu.edu, and you be added to the list and contacted once the applications become available.