Major Education Events

This one-day conference focuses on sharing information which will help local gardeners create and maintain sustainable gardens to enjoy now and for years to come.  The Spring Conference is open to the public and offers multiple presentations by experienced Master Gardeners.  Please see the flyer below for more details and to register.

If you are interested in learning more about the MCMG 2025 Spring Conference, send an email to mcmgspringconference@gmail.com to be added to our mailing list.  We respect your privacy and will only use your personal details to contact you regarding the upcoming Spring Conference.

Since 1994, Montgomery County Master Gardeners have maintained a Demonstration Garden at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds. Every August, thousands of Fairgoers stop by to learn how they can improve their own gardens.

Master Gardener volunteers are on duty each day during the Fair to answer questions about the wide variety of plants in the Demonstration Garden and the Master Gardener program. They also conduct tours through the garden, and provide helpful gardening information, including common problems with landscape and vegetable gardens, great choices for sun and shade native plants, proper use of pesticides and herbicides, and proper use of fertilizer to protect the water table and the Chesapeake Bay. Scavenger hunts for young visitors help them have fun while they learn about pollinators, good bugs & bad bugs, and cool plants.  You can see our garden first-hand via this video from the 2021 Fair.

You can find additional information about the Fair, including dates and directions, on the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair website.

Mark your calendars for September 21, 2024, because Garden Discovery Day is happening at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds (501 Perry Pkwy, Gaithersburg, MD), and it's shaping up to be an extraordinary day for kids in grades K-12 to dive into the magic of nature and the great outdoors. We're excited about Discover Gardening, a special adventure for our 3rd to 5th graders.  They will get to:

• Wander through our stunning gardens with Master Gardeners, soak up some garden design know-how, and then get their hands dirty planting their very own gardens.

• Marvel at the diverse range of plants, learning all about their favorite spots to grow and their prime planting seasons.

• Get up close and personal with science, exploring how sunlight, water, and soil variations play a role in plant life.

Participating in Discover Gardening marks all the boxes for the Girl Scout Junior Gardener badge and the
Cub Scout Bear Adventure: Fur, Feathers, and Ferns badge.

The annual Fall Harvest Festival, co-sponsored by the Master Gardeners, is planned for Saturday October 7, 2023.  The Harvest Festival is open to the public and provides an educational and recreational celebration of Maryland’s rich agricultural heritage.  Master Gardener activities include children's garden-related games, tussie mussie workshop, tours of the demonstration garden, and a plant clinic.  The Fall Harvest Festival is held at the Agricultural History Farm Park located at 18400 Muncaster Road, Derwood, MD 20855.  

Many young people today are unaware of the benefits agriculture provides and of their responsibility to be good stewards of the land.  Close Encounters with Agriculture ("CEWA") provides a rare opportunity for these students to enjoy a hands-on learning experience, which can really have an impact on their lives. The children go home and teach their parents about the things they learned, increasing the benefits of the program even further.  Read more about the experiences directly from children who attended CEWA in Spring 2022.  The event is held at the Agricultural History Farm Park. 

The program has three areas:  

1. The Environmental track, which includes Soils, Aquatics, Wildlife Habitat, Watershed Conservation, 

2. The Nutrition track, which encourages healthy eating, including "what part of a plant we eat" , and 

3. Production Agriculture, featuring sessions on dairy, goats, horses & corn and learning where our food comes from. 

CEWA has been in existence since 1992.  It has become a much sought-after field trip for students, and every year we have a wait list within 2 hours of the signup.  The children are divided into three large groups for their four-hour visit.  Each group begins at one of three activity centers: Nutrition & Plant, Production Agriculture & Barn, or Environment.  Each of these centers includes short lessons taught by Master Gardeners & 4-H volunteers, local farmers, Extension or Soil Conservation employees. Once the group has completed all the stations in one center, they are guided to the next activity center until they have been to each area with their Goody Bags. We use a variety of teaching methods, including demonstrations, hands on learning, models, relay races, and games, to make the learning experience as effective and fun as possible.