This brief excerpt is part of a greater report on WSU Extension programs, to the Yakima County Commissioners.
The WSU Yakima County Master Gardener Program has accomplished increasing outreach to county residents. In 2025 we implemented a Library series, presenting gardening topics of interest at various libraries throughout Yakima. This new series of classes complement our annual in-the-garden weekly series and our Fall Symposium. Our adult educational topics include our 9 Program Priorities; of special interest in our county are Water Conservation and Wildfire Preparedness.
Our Answer Clinic continues to sharpen their skills with internal training to increase their ability to serve the public. Their hours continue to be open to the public Monday, Wednesday and Friday from April through October. They have recently updated their website, software and hardware systems. The public can now submit an online question and submit photos on our county website under “Ask a Master Gardener”.
Our total class outreach participation for 2024 was as follows:
- 3,079 YOUTH participated in classroom, greenhouse, STEAM activities or Farmer’s Market Youth monthly table events.
- 2,840 ANSWER CLINIC walk-in’s, Farmer’s Market engagement, Central WA State Fair or special educational table events.
- 564 ADULTS attended educational events.
- 3,186 POUNDS of fresh produce was grown and donated to area food banks.
Our 117 current certified Master Gardeners are about to be joined by 34 new applicants for our fall training and spring certification.
Below is a chart of how MG volunteer time has increased over the last few years. I’m excited to add our 2025 numbers at the end of this year.
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
| Volunteer Time | 8,681 | 10,844 | 11,295 | 12,601 |
| Continuing Education Hours | 1,221 | 1,243 | 1,537 | 1,538 |