Thanks to WSU’s cooperative extension agents, worms in Thurston County are thriving in a whole new kind of ground. Coffee ground. When three local coffee houses asked for advice on composting coffee grounds, “Our Master Composter and Master Gardener volunteers decided to experiment,” says Bob Smith, coordinator of the Thurston County Master Gardener program. The group composted about 270 pounds of coffee grounds donated by local espresso bars, 60 pounds of which was fed to worms. The rest was composted in regular bins.

“If coffee grounds are not worms’ food of choice, they certainly must be high on the list,” Smith said. For several years, Thurston County Master Gardeners and Master Composters have worked closely with county officials to test and promote various forms of home composting, including worm composting of kitchen scraps. “The worms produced excellent compost,” Smith says. Composting is just one of the environmental issues the Washington State University Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program has tackled since its inception in 1972, when it was established to handle an overwhelming number of gardening questions in the metropolitan Seattle area. The program’s initial concept was simple: WSU faculty would train volunteers to answer questions and diagnose problems for home gardeners.

Last year the state’s 3,378 master gardeners helped nearly 350,000 people at community plant diagnostic clinics, farmer’s markets, and flower and garden shows. They also offered advice on radio talk shows and in local newspaper columns. Today, in addition to gardening tips, the program addresses environmental issues such as native plant revegetation, water quality protection, and pest control. The Thurston County Master Gardener Foundation received an $11,000 grant from the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority in 1994 to start a native plant salvage program. Collaborating with 20 organizations in the county, volunteers collected plants from sites scheduled for development and replanted them along streams and around wetlands as buffers.

The project, now an independent extension program, has a core of 200 volunteers who recover native plants such as snowberry, shore pine, and sword fern and relocate them to new sites. While some sites are along riparian corridors, plants are also used in demonstration landscapes around commercial properties and homes. Both locations reap the benefits of these diverse plants, which intercept storm water, recharge the aquifer, and preserve wildlife habitat. The Dirt Works, a demonstration garden in Olympia, offers gardeners the opportunity to see 23 different gardens, including those that make use of native plants. Similar projects have been established in other counties around the state. “We have been asked by the Northwest Stream Center Habitat Restoration Team to take seedling trees home to nurture until they are large enough to survive on their own for stream restoration,” said Jan Rainsberger, Master Gardener coordinator in Snohomish County.

Master Gardeners in Spokane County distribute educational materials on water quality issues, and they offer a training program in sustainable landscaping. Master Gardeners in Skagit County recently completed a video, “Keep it Clean: Environmentally Sound Gardening,” which promotes water quality enhancement.

Thrifty water use and water quality protection are common themes in many of the state’s Master Gardener programs. Katherine Baril, WSU Jefferson County extension educator, says water quality and environmental stewardship are the reasons for their training programs. “Our annual secret garden tour focuses on gardens with native plants and low water use,” Baril says. Currently the group is working with the city of Port Townsend on a Puget Sound water quality grant that would reintroduce native plant species and restore a wetland in the city.

Master Gardeners tackle pest control issues with an integrated pest management (IPM) approach. IPM involves regular monitoring of plants to determine when and where treatments are needed. When a problem arises, various cultural, biological, and chemical strategies may be employed.

At the WSU Mount Vernon Research and Extension Unit demonstration garden, master gardeners use row covers to reduce carrot rust fly and cabbage maggot to reduce the use of pesticides. Drip and soaker hoses conserve water. “IPM can dramatically reduce pesticide use,” says Van Bobbitt, WSU Cooperative Extension community horticulture coordinator. According to Bobbitt, the University of Maryland entomology department was able to reduce pesticide use in 26 residential landscapes by 94 percent with an IPM approach.

“Master Gardeners take science from the University and help people put it to practical use,” Bobbitt says in summary of the program. Dedicated volunteer educators use their love of gardening and extensive training to address serious environmental issues. They also help low-income families grow their own food and offer gardening classes for children, he adds.

— Dennis Brown