Master Gardeners worldwide are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the program’s founding, and Snohomish County Master Gardeners are celebrating a birthday too — the 40th birthday of the Jennings Park Demonstration Garden, located at Jennings Memorial Park in Marysville.

The garden, at 6915 Armar Road, includes one acre of the extensive park that Master Gardeners began developing in 1983.

Volunteers put their hours of classroom training to practical use to help community members see what using best gardening practices can do in a garden. The 28 individual gardens include a rose, fern and cottage garden, as well as vegetable gardens.

The vegetable gardens not only help home gardeners understand ways to improve growing their own produce but also directly benefit the community by providing thousands of pounds of fresh produce — including tomatoes, squash, carrots, cabbage and broccoli — to the Marysville Food Bank.  Last year 3,450 pounds of produce were given to the food bank.

With volunteers from across the county, Snohomish County Master Gardeners are extending a special invitation to community members to visit the garden this summer. The park opens at 7 a.m. daily. You can visit with Master Gardeners who volunteer in the garden on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. until noon, or arrange for a tour by calling 425-357-6010.

The Master Gardener volunteer organization has groups in all 50 states and Canada. Founded in 1973 in Washington state, it is sponsored by Washington State University and county extension offices.   For more information about participating in the Master Gardener program, call 425-357-6010, go to the website or visit the office at 6705 Puget Park Dr., Snohomish.