🌱 Central Gorge Master Gardener Association 2025 Year in Review

5 Key Takeaways from 2025

Rooted in Education & Growing Gardeners

Guided by our mission to empower sustainable gardening through education and stewardship, we welcomed 21 newly certified Master Gardeners and recertified 55 members. Together, we contributed 3,852 volunteer hours and made over 3,200 community contacts. From in-person and Zoom classes to OSU webinars and 91 plant clinics (plus new Farmer’s Market clinics!), we continued showing up wherever gardeners gather.

Growing Food, Skills & Community Connections

The FISH Food Bank Garden had a banner year, producing 2,901 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables while hosting youth groups, service organizations, and volunteers of all ages. We improved efficiency, expanded composting systems, installed signage, and continued adapting to changing weather patterns — all while keeping education woven into the work.

Community-Powered Fundraising & Shared Resources

Our in-person plant sale sold nearly all 3,952 plants and raised $7,766 in net profit, with a strong focus on education, mini-talks, and children’s activities. Our Tool Lending Library more than doubled checkouts — jumping to 374 loans in 2025 — helping more neighbors garden affordably and confidently.

Demonstration Gardens That Teach & Inspire

From the Learning Garden and Pollinator Garden to the Library and Parkdale Memorial Gardens, our demonstration spaces remained living classrooms. We also took a major step forward by approving and funding our new Outdoor Learning Center, with construction beginning in 2026 — a long-term investment in hands-on education for the Gorge.

Stronger Outreach, Visibility & Leadership

Through Garden Gatherings workshops, community fairs (including 500+ contacts at El Grito), radio broadcasts, monthly newspaper articles, and growing social media engagement, we continued expanding our reach. We celebrated award recipients, honored longtime volunteers, launched a Memorial Tree project, and remained steady under the thoughtful leadership of our coordinator, Megan Wickersham.

Growing Our Impact: 2024 → 2025

Community Connections Expanded
2,500 → 3,200 contacts
An additional 700 neighbors reached through clinics, workshops, fairs, and events.
Food Bank Harvest More Than Doubled
1,273 lbs → 2,901 lbs donated
An increase of 1,628 pounds of fresh, locally grown food for families in need.
Tool Lending Library Usage Soared
175 → 374 loans
More than double the checkouts — helping more community members garden affordably and confidently.
Volunteer Hours Remained Strong
4,161 → 3,852 hours
While slightly fewer total hours, overall community reach and food production significantly increased — showing deeper impact per hour volunteered.

Full 2025 year in Review

Mission statement

Dedicated to empowering our community to cultivate sustainable gardening practices through education and environmental stewardship.

Vision Statement

To promote lifelong horticultural learning by offering continuing educational programs, public demonstration gardens and community informational events.

Membership: The year started with 52 recertifying members, 12 associate members, and 23 trainees of which 21 became fully certified. Volunteer hours totaled 3,852 with 3,214 contacts.

Classes: We held 11 classes in person at Hood River Valley Christian Church, with the option to join on Zoom. Approximately 40-50 attended each week in person, and 5-15 attended each week on Zoom. Our improved audio/video equipment helped make the presentations more audible for Zoomers. This system will continue to be fine-tuned. We also completed 4 online class modules, with some MGs choosing to complete additional modules on in-person class topics. Education hours totaled 1,971.

Webinars: OSU continued to offer the Level Up series with speakers once per month, and these were attended by some of our members.

Plant Clinics: Plant clinics were held in person at the OSU Extension plant clinic office. A total of 91 (including 32 Saturdays and special events) were offered and staffed by 73 MGs. Extra clinic work was also completed by volunteers outside of clinic hours when the workload exceeded the time scheduled for the clinics. A total of 176 questions were answered in office. Saturday plant clinics were continued at Ace Hardware and Tum-A-Lum in Hood River, and we added monthly clinics at Hood River Library and White Salmon Library. We also added several clinics at the Hood River Farmer’s Market. These clinics attracted 25-40 contacts per session, so we will continue with that location in 2026.

Plant Sale: The 2025 plant sale was successful, selling almost all of our 3952 plants. Our gross income was $12,611 with expenses of $4,845 and a net profit of $7,766. Unlike 2024, the sale was an in-person sale only at the MG Greenhouse at the Extension. The in-person sale was easier to organize than the hybrid model of 2024 with the advantage of concentrating on providing more education via mini talks and children’s activities. We continued to use Vanguard plugs (720) for some herbs and annuals, and once again grew annuals and herbs (1152) in the greenhouse at Apple Core Form & Cut Flowers. MGs seeded 1980 plants in the MG Greenhouse.

Five seed starting/up potting parties were held at Apple Core Farms with 1 MG assisting Paul. Nine seed starting/up potting parties were held at the MG Greenhouse with between 4-12 volunteers at each session. Four MGs managed the greenhouse, keeping the plants watered and monitored for disease. We did have an aphid outbreak which started in Vanguard’s Calendula. These plants had to be destroyed.

A new propagation group was formed, selling a few plants with the idea of expanding this program next year. We also expanded our bareroot native plant offerings to 100 plants and experimented with potting them in bags. Due to the difficulty in watering, we will consider traditional gallon pots next year.

Projects: All of our projects continued in full force this year.

FISH/Spirit of Grace Garden: In 2025 the FISH Food Bank garden raised 2901 pounds of vegetables and fruits for the food bank. Simultaneously, it was a site for youth education and service. Rachel Fuller, an OSU Extension intern, worked over the summer helping us to improve efficiency and organization in the garden. She developed a stream-lined approach to management of planting, weeding, pest control, and amendments, setting up spreadsheets for various tasks. The general composting and vermicomposting row continued to be built out along the back fence, and we initiated year-round management of the food waste from the food bank. We seeded and transplanted about Memorial Day, later than typical, and plan to continue this, reflecting weather changes. We are completing the transition to field management by cover crops followed by tarping. Signage for the garden was mounted. This included both large educational signs and small row signs. The remainder of the National Association of Conservation District grant was spent on efficiency measures such as better tools and silage tarp, as well as some additional educational materials.

Youth groups who participated at the garden included the Leos, Cub Scouts, Hood River Alliance Church, Klahre House, Little Oak Montessori School, 4H, and HRVHS. Adult groups included Fish Food Bank, Providence Hospital, and Key Bank.

Holiday Greenery Event: Thirteen Master Gardeners (including 1 friend and 1 husband) were in attendance at the Holiday Greenery Event this year. Sixty-six items were created for donation to FISH and WAGAP. Prior to the event on Sunday Nov 30, we had a bow-making event at the Spirit of Grace meeting room where four MGs created 40 bows in 1 ½ hours! We received thank yous from community members around the Gorge, and staff at both locations shared photos of their displays. We also now have the verbiage for signs and tags in both English and Spanish for those who receive these items.

Learning Garden: Most work parties continued to be staffed by a core group of MGs with a couple of new additions from the recent MG classes. Maintenance of the garden has been stressful due to not enough MGs attending work parties. It was very helpful to take advantage of the school system’s community workday in April when we had 28 student volunteers to make some good headway on major maintenance, refurbishing, and weeding garden features. During goal setting in the Fall, we decided to try to have two large community volunteer group sessions in April and July 2026.

The specific areas of focus this year were:

Herb Garden: Lovely herbs were planted in the raised portions of this garden and a new brick design was completed for the part torn up in the recent past for the patio project. Rock from the Japanese Heritage Garden was moved to the north end of the herb garden and Extension building in preparation for new gravel in the Japanese Garden in Spring 2026.
Pollinator Garden: New native plants were added to the pollinator garden along with additional compost and flagstone stepping in the spring and summer.
Raised Beds: Sugar pumpkins were planted in the raised beds in anticipation of the community pumpkin event offered in October as part of the Garden Gathering series. Wood framed trellises were built over all three beds, and new irrigation lines were installed.
Outdoor Learning Center: The prior Compost and Bioswale areas have been redesigned as an Outdoor Learning Center in development. See description below.

Library Garden: There was a solid routine of upkeep, and we of course see our friends, the stalwart plants which brighten the library’s south entrance garden. We have maintained our once-a-month cleanup from March to November but have not made any particular innovations. We weeded, pruned, dead-headed, and made minor repairs. Mostly, we have deepened our presence in the garden with a core group of volunteers/friends. The goal in 2026 is doing more creative work implementing an exciting revision of our general plans: less weeding and trimming, more informative signage, design, mapping and collaboration with library staff and always with a focus on teaching the public more about waterwise gardening in our climate. The emphasis will be toward creative projects and away from labor.

Parkdale Memorial Garden: This garden continues to be maintained as a joint effort between the Parkdale Garden Club, Parkdale Grange, community members, and CGMGA. The garden contains memorials to our veterans, Gold Star families, and members of the community that have passed. The annual ice cream social was held in August with good attendance.

Outdoor Learning Center: Discussion continued about an outdoor educational area on the east side of the Extension building, and it was decided to name this the Outdoor Learning Center. A committee formed to re-evaluate the design completed in 2023 and to discuss other possible plans. It was decided that this undertaking needed to be done by a professional designer, so Matt Farmer of Natural Designs, Inc. was hired and completed a design in September. Bids for concrete work and decking were obtained and the project was presented to the CGMGA membership in November. The project was approved with a vote of 46 in favor and one not in favor to spend not more than $55,000. The bid for concrete work was awarded to John Frazer of Stamp the Earth LLC, and work will begin on the project in January 2026. The decking bid was awarded to Michael Mortensen of Michael Mortensen Construction & Painting and construction will be in Spring 2026.

Greenhouse: The CGMGA greenhouse and shade house were constructed in 2017-18 with CGMGA funds and labor.

In 2025 the greenhouse continued to provide 3 major functions. The first two are the interlocking education of propagation (mainly seedling production) and growing of plants for the Chapter’s annual plant sale. The third is to provide a facility for miscellaneous education and community outreach efforts …. a main one being the Holiday Greenery Event with Master Gardeners and guests producing holiday wreaths and swags.

In addition to its regular annual operational efforts, some minor maintenance was required. The swamp coolers were cleaned and lubricated and some minor worktable repairs will be needed in the coming year prior to operations beginning for the plant sale. Signage on controls was improved.

Educational Outreach: The Ed outreach team consisted of 8 committee members and met once a month. This was our second successful year of Garden Gathering workshops. We held 8 months of workshops. We offered two locations for the same class on different days to diversify the audience. Classes were held monthly at the Extension property and we switched off between using the Hood River Library and the White Salmon Library for evening class offerings. Average class size was between 10-47 attendees and all locations were popular. Popular classes were seed starting, tree health, drip irrigation and the movie, ” Kiss the Ground” held at the Hood River Library. We offered popcorn too!

We were present at the following events this year: Dia De Los Ninos, Hood River Concert in the Park, El Grito and Tree Fest.

Once again, we sold t-shirts and fleece jackets to approximately 30 members and trainees. We also bought some small frisbees to hand out as swag at the Concert in the Park and El Grito. Next year we plan to add customized seed packets for our gorge climate to the swag mix.

Our Ed writing team produced an educational article for every month of the year and did an outstanding job.

Website: The new website is going well and will undergo a new branding cleanup in January. This year we were able to share our plant sale plant selections on our website for people to browse through as well as feature our newspaper articles. We connected all our social media to Linktree so those reading our posts on social media can link right to the website.

Hood River Heights Front Yard Garden Tour: We held our second Annual Hood River Front Yard Garden Tour featuring eight gardens in the Heights and downtown neighborhoods, identifying sustainable gardening practices, native plants, food production and lawn alternatives. Building on our resource development from last year, Master Gardeners in plant clinic identified fifteen additional OSU publications and resources to highlight on educational QR code signs throughout the tour.

On September 13th, nine Master Gardeners joined homeowners to host over 130 visitors, answering questions and providing gardening information and resources. Community members mentioned that they enjoyed connecting with other residents, learning garden concepts, asking questions of Master Gardeners and being inspired by the variety of gardens.

Community Fairs: We staffed booths at the Trout Lake Fair (43 contacts), TreeFest (51 contacts), Dia del Ninos (300+ contacts), El Grito (500 contacts), and Hood River Concerts in the Park (100 contacts).

Tool Lending Library: The Hood River Library continued to host a check out system for garden tools supplied by CGMGA and residing in their ‘Library of Things’. Check-outs more than doubled from 2024. A summary is below:

Year	Number of Check Outs	Most Popular Tools
2023	105
2024	175	Soil tester, Hand tiller, Hoe
2025	374	Soil ph tester, Bow rake, & Soil blocker

OMGA: The Oregon Master Gardener Association continues as the umbrella organization of the County Master Gardener Chapters. Charged with supporting the activities of the Chapters, OMGA’s efforts through the year tend to be providing advice and assistance on an “as requested” basis for Chapter business activities and direct support from the OMGA Treasurer regarding state and federal reporting and tax documentation.

The three major activities that OMGA conducts continue to be the same: 1) A mandated statewide educational event currently titled “Joy of Gardening”; 2) End of year recap and budget planning; and 3) A retreat to codify the goals and plans for the next year.

OMGA’s Educational Conference, “Joy of Gardening” was conducted as a two day event in July on campus at OSU and attended by nearly 300 participants from around Oregon and SW Washington. A comprehensive view of the conference including speakers and class presentations can be viewed on the OMGA website at https://omga.org/joy-of-gardening-2025/ .

OMGA supported the MGs of Josephine County as their Chapter was disbanded by OSU as a result of the Josephine County Commissioners decision to defund the Extension program in the county. Among other support activities, OMGA received and held the Chapter’s funds. It was announced at the OMGA retreat that the Josephine County MG Chapter is in the process of reforming.

CGMGA received a grant of $1000 from the Karl Carlson Memorial Fund and the OSU Extension received the Extension Educator grant.

Publicity: With input from membership, the Social Media Crew (SMC) created brand identity guidelines for CGMGA this year. Traditional and social media has been using these new guidelines for a consistent look and feel of posts going out through publicity. Use of the guidelines will expand to other areas in 2026. Photos with captions of CGMGs in action continue to be featured in traditional and social media as they are an effective way to keep the CGMG program and volunteer activities in the public eye. The SMC is following our local elected officials’ social media accounts and have invited them to follow CGMG on ours. This effort is to ensure they are aware of what we do and how we bring value to the community. Feature articles about CGMG events were posted on traditional and social media throughout the year. The SMC continued CGMG outreach with 985 Facebook followers (up from 929 last year) and 442 Instagram followers (up from 380). In addition, we increased the number of Instagram posts to 58 (up from 39 last year) and the number of Facebook posts to 87 (up from 46) and our Facebook engagement through link clicks increased from 110 in 2024 to 352 in 2025.

Radio Broadcasts: We continued our participation in a bi-monthly radio show Mid–Columbia Today on AM 1340/98.3 FM KIHR in Hood River and News radio 1300/103.9 KACI in The Dalles. A format change at Bi-Coastal Media may have changed the coverage in The Dalles. Current gardening topics and Master Gardening programs and projects were the primary focus with miscellaneous garden topics added from time to time at the host Mark Bailey’s discretion.

Recognition Event: The trainee recognition and awards ceremony took place on Nov. 13th at Riverside Church with approximately 53 members in attendance. Our Master Gardener of the Year, Jennifer Harty, was recognized as was our “Behind the Scenes” winner, Carol Brown. We had 21 trainees graduate and 55 Master Gardeners who recertified. In addition, we had 9 members who won chapter awards and 2 who won state awards, which recognized those who went above and beyond in their efforts. And we marked the longstanding commitment to the organization of 4 Lifetime Master Gardeners (10 years) and 4 Longevity Award (20 years) recipients. Many raffle prizes were given out, and we voted on 2026 officers and the budget, all while we enjoyed a nice evening of potluck fare.

Remembrances/Memorial Tree Project: No certified Master Gardeners passed in 2025. Jerry Mohar, a past member who was President at one time, passed in December. A small committee worked with metal artist Paul Casal to create a representation of a pear tree with hanging pears onto which we’ll memorialize members of our CGMGA chapter who have passed away. Several former volunteers from other OSU Extension programs will also be included. After his winter travels, Paul will continue working on this project. It was approved to move forward with this project with a $2,500 budget. This Memorial Tree will be displayed on the front outside wall of the extension meeting room.

Jerry Mohar: MG 2009-2014: https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/obituaries/obituary-jerome-mohar/article_f82daead-c144-4ad0-9b24-9807eb5eca8e.html

Coordinator: Our program coordinator is the wonderful Megan Wickersham. Megan is excellent at establishing a personal relationship with each and every Master Gardener that comes through her program. She continually strives to “better’ the program here in Hood River County to make sure that both trainees and returning Master gardeners are getting what they need out of the program. She has coordinated and helped to guide many programs including Fish Food Bank garden and Hood River Garden Tours this year to further our outreach with the county. She has navigated the OSU campus/extension staff conflicts and roadblocks to help CGMGA move forward with a new outdoor learning center. She is part of a yearlong leadership program with OSU to further enhance her skills as a leader in our county but also around the state of Oregon.

Links to articles/photos in the Columbia Gorge News: 30 Links

January 9 Home and Garden: Native Plants for your Winter Landscape: https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/free_news/january-2025-home-and-garden-native-plants-for-your-winter-landscape/article_43f9cf5e-ce11-11ef-b34b-cfb31daebc35.html

February 5 Home and Garden: Plan a Worm Farm for a Worm-Powered Spring Garden: https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/eedition/page-c-6/page_1a7a4ec7-cd30-5232-ba90-eb415ec8e779.html

February 24 Seed Starting Workshop Kicks Off 2025 Garden Gathering Series: https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/free_news/master-gardener-plant-clinics-resume-in-april/article_a939524c-0140-11f0-baa1-13014f7a5a36.html

February 26 Seed Starting: What to Know Before You Sow: https://centralgorgemga.org/?p=1031

March 5 Garden Briefs – Garden Gathering Returns: https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/free_news/garden-briefs/article_61227ac8-f8c2-11ef-8a28-57d93abdb428.html

March 11 Class Begins: https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/news/class-begins/article_a516d542-fe46-11ef-bafb-ab2282749081.html

March 14 Master Gardener Plant Clinics Resume in April: https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/free_news/master-gardener-plant-clinics-resume-in-april/article_a939524c-0140-11f0-baa1-13014f7a5a36.html

March 26 Eliminate Barriers for Better Living: https://centralgorgemga.org/?p=1102

April 2 Seed Starts: https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/news/seed-starts/article_9451f77c-5db5-41fe-a3e7-55cdce5e8789.html

April 9 Garden Gathering Series Continues with Drip Irrigation Workshop: https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/free_news/garden-gathering-series-continues-with-drip-irrigation-workshop/article_8d3c650b-97df-4ea9-98a8-984486ca5121.html

April 16 Central Gorge Master Gardener Plant Sale May 10: https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/news/central-gorge-master-gardener-plant-sale-may-10/article_89cc3bae-83c1-4e3f-b448-d9fe1c376baf.html