{"id":523,"date":"2017-04-03T18:12:44","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T18:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/girdnergraphics.com\/bcmg\/?page_id=523"},"modified":"2026-01-06T12:57:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T18:57:56","slug":"history-of-bcmgs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/girdnergraphics.com\/bcmg\/history-of-bcmgs\/","title":{"rendered":"History of BCMGA"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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 A little history……..<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Texas Master Gardener program, an educational volunteer initiative of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service<\/a>, began in 1978 at Texas A&M University<\/a>. It was inspired by the success of a similar program in Washington state, which Dr. Sam Cotner, an Extension vegetable specialist, highlighted. The first Texas class was held in Montgomery County in 1979. The program’s aim was to extend horticultural information and resources to communities by training volunteers to assist the Extension Service. <\/span><\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

The first Master Gardener Class in the State of Texas was held in 1979 in Montgomery County and drew about 25 people. The 50-hour course was held in the evenings and taught by Extension Agents and specialists from Texas A&M using a manual compiled from Extension publications and news articles. Volunteer Service was optional, but class members were encouraged to work on Extension projects. By the end of the decade, five more counties had Master Gardener programs: Harris (1986), Dallas (1986), Tarrant (1987), Bexar (1989), and Denton (1989).<\/span><\/p>\n

The Texas Agricultural Extension Service made an official commitment to a Texas Master Gardener program in 1987 with the hiring of a statement coordinator. At that time, guidelines were developed for the program, including a minimum of 50 hours of formal training and 50 hours of volunteer service to become a certified Texas Master Gardener.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Here’s a more detailed look at the program’s history:<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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  • 1978:<\/strong> Dr. Sam Cotner describes the success of the Washington Master Gardener program at Texas A&M. <\/span><\/span><\/span>
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  • 1979:<\/strong> The first Texas Master Gardener class is held in Montgomery County. <\/span><\/span><\/span>
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  • Early 1980s:<\/strong> Galveston and El Paso counties start their own Master Gardener programs. <\/span><\/span><\/span>
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  • 1987:<\/strong> The Texas Agricultural Extension Service makes a formal commitment to the program, hiring a state coordinator. <\/span><\/span><\/span>
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  • 1991:<\/strong> The Texas Master Gardener Association, a statewide, non-profit organization, is formed. <\/span><\/span><\/span>
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  • 1990s:<\/strong> The program experiences significant growth and expansion across the state. <\/span><\/span><\/span>
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  • Today:<\/strong> The program has over 7,000 volunteers across 112 counties, making it one of the largest volunteer organizations in Texas. <\/span><\/span><\/span>
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    The program’s success is attributed to its ability to address the need for horticultural information and resources at the local level, while also providing a platform for community engagement and volunteerism. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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     A little history…….. The Texas Master Gardener program, an educational volunteer initiative of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, began in 1978 at Texas A&M University. It was inspired by the success of a similar program in Washington state, which Dr. Sam Cotner, an Extension vegetable specialist, highlighted. The first Texas class was held in Montgomery County in 1979. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"class_list":["post-523","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girdnergraphics.com\/bcmg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girdnergraphics.com\/bcmg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girdnergraphics.com\/bcmg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girdnergraphics.com\/bcmg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girdnergraphics.com\/bcmg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/girdnergraphics.com\/bcmg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12323,"href":"https:\/\/girdnergraphics.com\/bcmg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/523\/revisions\/12323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girdnergraphics.com\/bcmg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}