Franklin County’s largest ever Master Gardener Volunteer (MGV) class recently completed the ten week MGV training course, with all class members passing the final exam! The MGV Class of 2018 has 60 members representing all geographic areas and socioeconomic segments of Franklin County. These individuals completed 70 hours of coursework and will now serve as interns for the 2018 growing season, completing a minimum of 50 hours of volunteer service at different horticulture education projects throughout Franklin County. The class will formally graduate and become full-fledged Master Gardener Volunteers at the end of 2018.

With the addition of these 60 MGV Interns, Franklin County now has the second largest MGV program in Ohio, with 247 volunteers.  In 2017, Franklin County Master Gardener Volunteers performed 14,429 hours of volunteer service valued at $348,316! During the same year, Franklin County Master Gardeners completed 3,288 hours of horticultural continuing education and grew, harvested, and donated 10,479 pounds of fruits and vegetables to food-insecure audiences in Franklin County.