Lincoln, NE — For 50 years, the Nebraska Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Program has been teaching Nebraskans about the state’s landscape system, training volunteers to share science-based gardening knowledge and put it to work in their communities.
Terri James, an extension educator and coordinator of the Nebraska Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Program, said volunteers learn “little pieces of whatever the plants would be doing from botony to wildlife to disease.”
“Its all science based and then they are then able to go out and distribute that information within the community and be able to work within community projects applying that scientific knowledge then being bale to distribute that information for us,” James said.
Because plants and growing conditions vary depending on where people live in Nebraska, classes are taught across the state in 55 of the 93 counties. James said the training is designed to set volunteers up for success anywhere by focusing on how plants work, rather than only what a plant is, and by emphasizing the least amount of intervention needed.
“If you see one or two bugs on a plant, we give you that knowledge to make those decisions. Do you just pick them off and leave them no big deal? Do you need to apply a stream for water to kind of knock them down and get rid of them? Do you need to move into a horticultural oil or something or do you need to move into a chemical treatment? So really that whole stream and really that decision making is what we help teach so they can go out and apply that,” James said.
The program’s volunteers also contribute to food access efforts. In 2025, the program donated 44,000 pounds of produce to local food banks.
James said one of the most meaningful parts of the program is the sense of community among volunteers.
“They’ve all become my good friends and you know being able to have those common topics, being able to talk with them, and then being able to tie what you know and giving it back to your community I think really does hold something true in most of the masters gardeners hearts. They can take something they love that they may only do in their back yard and then going back into the community and give back,” she said.
There are more than 700 volunteers currently in Nebraska, and more than 2,000 have been trained since the program began.
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