Retirement doesn’t have to mean slowing down, instead you can take this free time to learn something new. If you're a gardener looking for a New Year filled with new friendships, community service, and learning, the Master Gardener Program could be a perfect fit.

Despite the name "master" gardeners are not experts, at first. Master Gardeners are volunteers with a purpose to educate the public in good garden practices all while doing good in the community. There's a Master Gardener Program in every state in the country. They are run by the state's land grant university. In New York, the Master Gardener Program is operated through Cornell Cooperative Extension, a non-profit educational organization connected to Cornell University.

Cornell Cooperative Extension exists to educate and support local communities by sharing research-based information on gardening, agriculture, nutrition, and environmental stewardship. Master Gardeners are trained volunteers who complete coursework through Cornell and then give their time back to the community, answering gardening questions, maintaining demonstration gardens, growing flowers and vegetables for donation, and helping educate the public. The program combines hands-on learning with meaningful service, turning a love of gardening into a way to make a real community impact.

Expert level garden information is only useful if it factors your climate, so the program operates on a county level. In this segment, I visit East Meadow Farms, a demonstration garden run by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County. To find your local program click here:

If retirement has left you wondering how to fill your days with something meaningful, becoming a Master Gardener checks every box:

If you don't have the time to commit to the master gardener program but love to garden, be sure to reach out to ask questions or report problems in your garden. Your local cooperative extension has the knowledge and resources to diagnose problems that are unique to your neighborhood.