Yellowstone County Master Gardener Association

04/18/2026

Wow, today's garden cleanup was outstanding! The busy garden clean up crew just got down to business and the square foot garden is looking all fresh for this year's growing season! Thanks to each and everyone that helped, now let's get growing.

04/16/2026

What an awesome tour the master gardeners had today at the MT State Park Pictograph Caves. Our guide Ben explained so much. I had been there many times, but today's experience was so educational.

04/01/2026

Are you ready for my next garden video? Since most of them are shot in our vegetable garden, I felt an orientation to our garden was in order. You'll learn about the raised beds we've used over the years, our drip irrigation system, the various structures in our garden (including how we move our hoop house to different locations!), how we keep track of where we're going to grow crops each year, and much more. And I've squeezed all of that into about 15 minutes. Whew! Here's a direct link to the video on my YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/OxXPDp5nc94. I hope you'll find it interesting.

04/01/2026

03/18/2026

02/04/2026

It’s been a warm winter, with little snow in the lower elevations of the greater Helena area. Botanical experts say it could be having an impact on several tree species and other plantlife.

02/04/2026

Are you familiar with winter sowing? That's where you sow seeds in containers this time of year and leave them outdoors for the rest of the winter. The seeds germinate when the time is right and don't need to be acclimated to outdoor conditions. That doesn't sound like it would work, does it? And yet it does! Winter sowing is the topic for this week's video. Here's a direct link to it on my YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/AA_C9mATGJs. I hope you'll enjoy it and give it a try. It sure saves me space under our indoor grow lights and it's so nice to get to do some seed-sowing as winter drags on...

02/04/2026

Another important program in our state is the Montana Biological W**d Control Coordination Project (MTBCP).

Did you know that over 1 million bugs were distributed in 2025? This program is a grassroots initiative designed to coordinate the use of natural enemies (specifically host-specific insects) to manage invasive and noxious w**ds across Montana.

The core mission and purpose is to provide leadership, coordination, and education for land managers to successfully integrate biological w**d control into their management programs. Its focus includes:

Coordination: Bringing together federal, state, county, and private land managers to standardize biocontrol efforts across the state.

Collection & Distribution: Organizing "collection days" where stakeholders gather approved biocontrol insects for redistribution to infested areas.

Monitoring: Using the Standardized Impact Monitoring Protocol (SIMP) to track the establishment of biocontrol agents and their long-term impact on w**d populations.

Education: Providing workshops, field guides, and factsheets to help identify "good bugs" and the specific w**ds they target.

The awesome coordinator of this program is Melissa Maggio and MTBCP is housed within the Missoula County Ecology & Extension Department. Melissa is up to her eyeballs in keeping up with this program and all of its demands, but if you are interested in volunteering to help, in learning more about the program or if your area might be suitable for insect distribution, you can find out more here: https://mtbiocontrol.org