Volunteers help members of the general public with their gardening questions and problems at various locations during the growing season. Please click on the links below to sign-up:

• Bethesda Davis Library: every Saturday 10:30 am-1:30 pm.  

• Brookside Gardens: every Wednesday 10:00 am-1:00 pm, every Saturday 10:00 am-1:00 pm, and every Sunday 1:00pm-4:00pm.

• Burtonsville Praisner Library: second Tuesday of each month 10:00 am-1:00 pm, fourth Friday of each month 10:00 am-1:00 pm

• Gaithersburg Library: every Saturday 12:00 pm-2:00 pm.

• Germantown Library: every Wednesday 6:00pm-7:30pm.

• Kensington Farmers Market: on the second and fourth Saturday of each month 9:00am-1:00pm.

• Kentland's Farmers Market: on the first Saturday of each month 9:00am-1:00pm.

• Olney Farmers Market: on the first Sunday of each month 9:00am-1:00pm.

• Quince Orchard Library: every Saturday 10:00 am-1:00 pm.

• Twinbrook Library (Rockville): on the first and third Saturday of each month 10:00 am-1:00 pm.

• Silver Spring FARMFRESH Market: on the third Saturday of each month 9:00am - 1:00pm.

• Wheaton Library: every Thursday 1:00 pm-4:00pm.

Pease contact the Plant Clinic Coordinator if you have any questions regarding a specific plant clinic location. Coordinators' email addresses may be found in VMS.

Committee Co-Chairs: Jeanette D'Amour & Ann Claxton

At the invitation of various community groups within Montgomery County, MCMG volunteers support community event leaders on topics of interest and create awareness about our organization.

Please check this webpage regularly for future volunteer opportunities.

Committee Chair: Ken Ross

Volunteers demonstrate various Urban Gardening techniques on the first Saturday of the month from April to November at Fresh Farm Market in Silver Spring. Urban Gardening activities attract both adults and children - on average 100 to 150 people - who stop by to learn about gardening.  Many of our visitors leave with a free give away item - like bulbs to plant, a houseplant to care for, herbs or micro-greens to grow, or a hanging pot for a plant.  You can sign-up for Urban Gardening Activities here. 

Committee Co-Chairs: Ann Claxton & Lana Shea

Volunteers staff the Virtual Email and Phone Hotline or volunteer at the Ballard Room, located in Derwood, MD.  Volunteers research the answers to questions received via phone, email, and diagnose samples that are dropped off at our location in Derwood, MD.  Please get in touch with Steve Dubik if you are interested in learning more.

The goal of Bay-Wise is to educate and encourage residents to care for their landscape in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner. We offer advice on these Bay-Wise core strategies:

•  Fertilize wisely and only when needed

•  Control stormwater runoff

•  Water efficiently

•  Mulch appropriately

•  Compost indoors and out

•  Recycle yard waste

•  Manage pests with Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices

•  Select appropriate plants, with emphasis on native plants

•  Encourage wildlife

•  Protect the waterfront

Volunteer Opportunities

1. Bay-Wise advanced training class (12 hours of content and site visit training) is required to lead a certification team on a site visit. Training should be available beginning the Spring or Summer 2025.

2. Bay-Wise monthly training updates: any MG may sign up for these once-a-month trainings for continuing education hours. Click here to sign up for an upcoming zoom training, or watch a video of a prior training.

3. In the meantime, you can get some valuable experience with our Bay-Wise team:

• • Have your yard Bay-Wise certified (complete the Bay-Wise yardstick application);

  • Come along on a Bay-Wise site visit;

  • Volunteer at a Bay-Wise community table; and,

  • Volunteer to plan and help with a native plant sale.

Send an email to mcmgbaywise@gmail.com to get started. 

Committee Co-Chairs: Linda Barrett & Ann Claxton

The USDA defines gleaning as collecting farm crops left in fields that have been mechanically harvested, or from fields that wouldn't be profitable to harvest. Working with Manna Food Center, Community Food Rescue (CFR), HarvestShare and other organizations dedicated to reducing food insecurity in the county, Montgomery County Master Gardeners harvest thousands of pounds of otherwise unwanted fruit and vegetables each year and help distribute it to local “agencies that serve people who may not know where their next meal will come from.”

During the spring, summer and  fall growing seasons, these organizations find gleaning opportunities with local farms and gardens and coordinate the demand from nonprofits and charitable organizations that provide this nutritious food to those in need, reaching out MCMG's to harvest and deliver the bounty to the selected non-profit or charitable organization.

Volunteer Opportunities

Please click through to view available opportunities and volunteer for Seed Starting tasks.  Please check this webpage regularly for future volunteer opportunities for food rescue/gleaning at Pope Farm.

Committee Chair: Robin Kogelnik & Cat Kahn

The goal of Therapeutic Horticulture (TH) is to bring hands-on experience in the garden or with nature to an audience of special needs/elderly County residents who are either no longer able to be outside gardening or need assistance to do so. Through projects incorporating plants, flowers, vegetables, and herbs, we hope to invigorate their senses, promote their awareness of the natural world, and foster creativity and socialization.

Therapeutic Horticulture Opportunities

​To learn more details about the overall Therapeutic Horticulture program, including: 

• A detailed overview of the TH program;

• TH volunteer FAQ;

• TH Meetings & Workshops;

• How to Visit or Volunteer in a Therapeutic Horticulture Program; and

• Location and Schedule listing of all TH Programs,

Please click through to the  Therapeutic Horticulture Committee webpage and review the relevant sections. 

Committee Co-Chairs: Wendy Band, Lisa Diamond, Carol Logun, and Eleni Clark

Montgomery County Master Gardeners host several Youth Gardening volunteer opportunities within our Hands On Education Program to teach nutrition, garden with the children and send harvested food home with them.  Details can be found by scrolling to the end of the webpage linked.

You can sign-up to volunteer at the White Oak Youth Garden here. 

Committee Chair: Emma Brennan, Mary Lou Johnson, and Kara Singh

Master Gardeners maintain demonstration gardens at six locations in the county showcasing examples of what Montgomery County residents can do in their own yards: Derwood Agricultural History Farm Park, Montgomery County Agricultural Fairgrounds, National Library of Medicine Herb Garden at National Institutes of Health, Woodend Sanctuary’s Learning Garden at Audubon Naturalist Society, USO Warrior and Family Center at Walter Reed National Military Center, and Beall-Dawson 19th Century Medicinal Garden. You can learn more about each Demo Garden by reading the detailed descriptions elswhere on this website.  To volunteer at a Demo Garden, please contact the relevant co-chair.  Contact details can be found on VMS.

Nature Forward Woodend Learning Garden - Committee Co-Chairs: Janet Owens & Joy Adler

Volunteer opportunities exist on Thursday mornings and Friday mornings from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. between April and November at the Master Gardener demo gardens located at the Nature Forward Woodend Learning Garden in Chevy Chase, MD. Specifically:

• Master Gardeners collaborate with Nature Forward to cultivate and maintain the Learning Garden that consists of 5-6 raised garden beds, an orchard, and hugelkultur beds. MG volunteers also assist in the child-centered garden activities that are conducted during the camp sessions.  

• MGs also have the opportunity to learn about and tend the Blair Garden, a native plant area adjacent to the Woodend Mansion.

Each year, Woodend Demo Garden participants hold several open houses for the public.  These showcase sustainable urban food gardening and demonstrate the benefits of adding native plants to our landscapes.

Note: Unless approved by the MCMG Coordinator, MCMG volunteer service hours will only be awarded at these two garden areas. 

Beall-Dawson House Medicinal Garden (Rockville, MD) - Committee Chair: Betty Cichy

This small garden, located on the grounds of the historic Beall-Dawson House in Rockville, features herbs and other plants that were used as medicines during the last half of the 19th century. Master gardeners plant and maintain the garden during weekly work sessions, which are held Wednesday mornings at 9 a.m. during the growing season. 

Derwood Demo Garden - Committee Co-Chairs: Mary Jo Eagen & Wendy Thomas

Volunteers work in the Garden which is located at the Montgomery County Agricultural History Farm Park every Tuesday (Main Garden) and Thursday (Shade Garden)  9 am to 12 pm, from the first Tuesday in April through the last Tuesday in October. In the warmer months of summer, we work from 8am. to 11am.

The "Grow It Eat It" event in May and the "Harvest Festival" in October also provide Master Gardeners with opportunities to volunteer.  Please look for details on "Grow It Eat It" and the "Harvest Festival" in the Major Events section of this page.

Montgomery County Agricultural Fairgrounds - Committee Chair: Pamela Bates

While the highpoint of our year is the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair each August, the County Fairgrounds have recently become the site of the Master Gardener Discovery Day event.  Our Master Gardener team plants and maintains 3 garden areas that are visited by people attending many other events held at the Fairgrounds. The team works on Tuesday mornings from April to early October. We start in early spring by reviewing our past year and planning our upcoming season. In addition to gardening, we also explore a variety of gardening and environmental topics with little research presentations we prepare and present to each other.

If you are interested in signing up to volunteer with our group, please contact Pamela Bates or anyone that you know who is working on the team.  

Note: If you are interested in signing up to work a shift during the annual MoCo Agricultural Fair, stay tuned to GroupsIO for the notifications, instructions, and the link to the signup sheets about a month before the Fair begins. 

National Institutes of Health - Committee Chair: Sandy Occhipinti 

The National Library of Medicine Herb Garden is located in front of the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus in Bethesda. Volunteers meet on Wednesday mornings, starting at 9 a.m., April through October. 

In order to access the NIH campus easily, volunteers must apply for an extended visitor badge, a process which involves a background check and fingerprinting.

USO Garden - Committee Co-Chairs: Michaela Barnes & Yumiko Miura

Volunteers have the opportunity to work in the garden every other Wednesday morning for 3 hours. We also lead twice a month sessions with the hospital therapists conducting planting activities for patients going through their PTSD program. And, we have one time activities like a kids program at Easter and a booth at the base's Earth Day celebrations. We support the occupational and physical therapists in their vegetable garden a few times a year leading  the staff and patients through planting, caring for and harvesting fruits and vegetables.  

To get access to the base you need either a Military/DoD badge or to go through the bases process to get on base. A yearly badge requires a background check but is free.

Master Gardeners make presentations that educate county residents about safe, effective, and sustainable horticultural practices to build healthy gardens, landscapes and communities.  

Committee Chair: Currently Vacant

During the annual Montgomery County Agricultural Fair in August, Master Gardeners meet with the more than 3,000 visitors who visit the Fairgrounds Demo Garden during the nine-day event. Volunteers answer visitors’ questions about the many annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees in the garden, and provide advice on visitors’ own gardening issues.

All MCMGers are welcome to sign up for a 4 hour volunteer shift.   If you are an intern or have never worked the Fair in previous years, we will be sure to pair you up with an MCMGer who has worked the Fair before. For more information, please check GroupsIO starting in July.  If you are interested in signing up to work a shift during the annual MoCo Agricultural Fair, stay tuned to GroupsIO for the notifications, instructions, and the link to the signup sheets about a month before the Fair begins. 

Note: In the months leading up to the Fair each August, our Demo Garden is maintained by the Fairgrounds Demo Garden Committee, a small but dedicated group of about a dozen Master Gardeners.  For more information and to learn how to get involved throughout the year, please scroll up to the 'Demonstration Garden' section of this webpage and review the Fairgrounds Demo Gardens details.

Committee Chair: Pamela Bates

The annual Fall Harvest Festival, co-sponsored by the Master Gardeners, is traditionally held on the first Saturday in October.  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.  To volunteer, please click this link.

Committee Co-Chairs: Taffy Turner & Mike Welsh

Overview

Students 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 has 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. The program has three tracks:

1. Environment track: Soils, Habitat, and Who Polluted the Potomac stations

2. Nutrition track: Parts of the Plant and Go with the Grains stations

3. Agriculture track: Dairy, Goats, and Ag Products stations

Master Gardeners assist in this major annual event, which is held at the Agricultural History Farm Park (18410 Muncaster Road, Derwood). All Master Gardeners, seasoned and brand new, are welcome to join and participate in the CEWA program. 

The following dates are available for volunteer sign-up in 2025: 

● August 27 - Goodie Bag Stuffing

● Week 1 - October 7, 8, 9, 10

● Week 2 - October 13, 14, 15, 16

● Week 3 - October 20, 21

● Week 4 - October 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

Volunteer Sign-Up

We are using SignUp (the leading online SignUp and reminder tool) to organize our

upcoming CEWA event.  

Here is how to sign up to volunteer in 3 easy steps:

1. Click this link to see our SignUp on SignUp: https://signup.com/go/bjKtddm

2. Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like to volunteer.

3. Sign up! It's Easy - you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password

on SignUp (SignUp does not share your email address with anyone).

Volunteer Orientation

In September, an email will be sent to all volunteers who have signed up. This email will

include a mandatory orientation video that all new and previous volunteers must view.

Description of Available Volunteer Activities

• • • Goody Bag Stuffing: Each child gets a bag filled with fun materials pertinent to the program. Volunteers assemble the bags from items set up on tables. Assembly begins at 9:00 AM in the multipurpose room at the Extension Office. Continental breakfast will be served.

    • Desserts, Fruit/Veggie, & Snacks: Bring up homemade desserts, fruits/veggies, and snacks for the day. Please sign up only if you are also volunteering at an activity station that day.

    • Reception (desk/phone help): Answer the phone and take messages.

    • Logistics - Bus/Lunch Unloading: Assist students from buses, direct them to designated areas, and help get lunches to appropriate stations.

    • Teacher - Ag Products: Teach about products that are made from corn.

    • Teacher - Dairy: Teach about milk production and processing.

    • Teacher - Goat: Teach about goats/goat products.

    • Teacher - Go with the Grains: Teach about whole grains.

    • Teacher - Parts of the Plant: Teach about the parts of the plant that we eat.

    • Teacher - Who Polluted the Potomac? Teach Potomac River history and the results of pollution.

    • Teacher - Soils: Teach about the importance and function of soils and run the rainfall simulator.

    • Teacher - Habitat: Teach students about the resource needs of wild animals.

    • Shepherd: Escort groups between stations.

    • Time Keeping: Keep the time of each station rotation, following the guidelines of the master timekeeper. Signal teachers at regular intervals of the remaining time, and possibly shepherd groups.

You will be able to sign up for multiple days for CEWA Volunteer sessions, and you can sign up for food assignments as well. Please only sign up for one non-food slot each day.

What to Expect

• Parking is plentiful in the large parking lot!

• Check-in is at 9:00 am in the lobby. This will allow enough time for you to check in, be directed to your station, set up, and be trained if needed. You will have time to meet the other MGs, Extension staff, and other volunteers!

• Each day, breakfast (mainly) or lunch is served.

• All teaching positions for each area have a script. Please arrive on time, dress for the weather (many stations are outside). The students have a break for lunch around 11:55 - 12:20 pm, which is also time for volunteers to have a break & a snack.

Volunteer Service Hours

• Goody bag assembly (2-3 service hours)

• Desserts, fruit/veggie, & snacks (1 service hour per day)

• Teaching, shepherd, and timekeeping (4 service hours per day)

CEWA Scripts

The CEWA Committee Co-Chairs have prepared scripts for volunteers to use during the event:

• Ag Products

• Dairy

• Go with the grains!

• Goats

• Habitat

• Plant parts

• Soils & Stream Buffer

• Who polluted the Potomac?

Committee Co-Chairs: Mark Traversa & Gayle Greene

Host MGs can volunteer to invite other MGs visit their gardens as a teaching opportunity for the hosts and a learning opportunity for the attendees. The day and time of the Open Garden are decided by each host, and from experience, weekday mornings are typically the most popular, being relatively free of traffic issues.  Hosts are asked to provide a brief description of their garden for inclusion on the invitation, as well as a plant list with Latin and common names to be available if visitors ask. Refreshments are optional. For more details, please review the Open Gardens webpage. 

Available Volunteer Service Hours

Hosts may log up to 3 volunteer service hours for preparation, compiling plant lists, etc in VMS. Mulching, weeding and general garden maintenance cannot be counted for service hours.  

For more information contact: Taffy Turner.  You can find Taffy's contact details by logging into VMS and searching the directory.

'Willing To Serve' Volunteer Opportunities

If you are Willing To Serve, please share your details and the unique skills and talents you can contribute to fulfill our MCMG mission. 

Membership Meeting - Room Setup & Take Down

Please check the Monthly Meetings & Events page and Groups.IO to confirm the location of upcoming meetings and events and learn more about in-person volunteer opportunities that are available.