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2019 Annual Report

I am proud to share the 2019 Annual Report of the Oregon State University Extension Master Gardener Program.

*****You can access the entire report HERE. ****

It has been a stellar year of accomplishments across the state, due to the hard work and dedication of the volunteers, faculty, and staff associated with the program. I am particularly proud of the work we have done over the past year, focused on equity and accessibility, as well as food justice. In 2019, Master Gardeners donated 52.5 tons of fresh, healthy produce to local food banks and food pantries across the state. Much of this food was grown in the 121 gardens where Master Gardeners volunteer as garden mentors, coaches, and educators. But, a lot of this food came from the personal gardens of Master Gardeners who participate in the Plant a Row for the Hungry program that was started by the Garden Writers of America (now Garden Communicators International).

In terms of our work to advance equity and accessibility in the program there are four items I would like to highlight:

  • The Oregon Master Gardener Association dedicated the first leadership day of 2019 to advancing diversity and cross-cultural understanding. They hosted a full day training, led by Gilda Montenegro-Fix of ‘Celebrate Diversity’. The training was attended b about 40 volunteers from across the state, and was extremely well-received.
  • The Portland Metro Master Gardener Program hosted a half day training on diversity, at their annual Fall Recertification event. The training, entitled ‘A Diverse Garden is a Healthy Garden – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in your role as an OSU Master Gardener volunteer’, was led by the City of Portland Office of Equity and Human Rights. More than 300 volunteers participated in the training, which elicited strong feelings (mostly positive) from many in attendance. I was lucky enough to attend, and look forward to sharing my experience in a future blog post.
  • In 2019, many Master Gardener coordinators made the decision to reduce the minimum number of volunteer service hours needed to become a Master Gardener volunteer, in an effort to remove structural barriers to participation in our program. The national minimum for required service hours is 40 hours. However, Oregon’s average requirement for volunteer service hours was between 60-65 hours. With the reduction in required hours, we now have an average requirement of 50-55 hours.
  • Since 2009, we have collaborated with Lettuce Grow (now a program of Growing Gardens) to offer sustainable gardening programs in 14 adult and two youth correctional facilities across Oregon. Over 780 students have graduated from this program. Of those who have been released, the recidivism (return to prison) rate is around 4%. This is substantially less than the statewide average recidivism of 31%.

There have also been challenges in 2019, particularly in terms of faculty and staff turnover and coverage in three regions of the state. At the end of 2019, the program lacked faculty coverage in the North Coast (Clatsop and Tillamook), Central Gorge (Hood River and Wasco), and Eastern Oregon (Union and Baker) regions. However, I am happy to report that the staffing outlook has improved at the start of 2020. We have receive approval to hire a Professor of Practice for the North Coast Counties. And, there are plans to hire a Professional Faculty to oversee the Master Gardener Program in Wasco County. This still leaves Hood River, Union, and Baker Counties without faculty leadership. But, one step at a time, and I am grateful to pause and celebrate the victories with staffing in three counties with more than 200 active volunteers.

I am also thrilled to share that I have received permission and financial support to hire a 0.60 FTE Outreach Program Coordinator to support work in the Statewide Master Gardener Program. This person will work in three main areas to support Master Gardener Program Coordinators in Oregon:

  • OSU Extension Community Horticulture Web Content Development and Maintenance
  • Statewide Master Gardener Program Administration
  • University Compliance for Master Gardener Coordinators and Volunteers

So, after a long drought, in terms of University support for the Master Gardener Program, we are starting to see real and meaningful investments in the Program, at the county and state levels. Over the past year, there have also been investments to increase the FTE of three Master Gardener Program coordinators across the state. These investments have helped to better align the position descriptions and compensation of these coordinators, with the work that they actually do. Ultimately, I am hoping that these investments help to promote long-term stability in staffing within the Master Gardener Program, in ways that will ultimately benefit the volunteers and general public that we serve.

If you are a Master Gardener faculty or staff member, and have questions about your position description, position expectations, workload, or other factors, please feel free to reach out to me. I do not control budgets, and can not immediately fix an issue, should it exist. But, I can be an advocate on your behalf, or can be a sounding board for options that might help to prioritize or manage workload. There are also many senior Master Gardener coordinators who you might want to reach out to for their input and perspective. I know that we all want to see each other succeed. Do not be afraid to reach out and ask for help.

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Customer Service Skills for Master Gardener Volunteers

Yesterday, I received a disturbing phone call. A former colleague, who I have great respect for, let me know that he has heard multiple, independent, negative reports about the Master Gardener Program in his community. In one case, he heard of a Master Gardener yelling at a community member. In other cases, Master Gardeners were seen as rude or demeaning.

This is a difficult call to respond to. My colleague heard this information second-hand. Thus, it is hard to judge the veracity of these second hand reports. My colleague also didn’t have names to share. Thus, it is difficult to go to the source of the issue, and to address this matter, directly.

Unfortunately, in my 12-years of experience as Oregon’s Statewide Master Gardener Program Coordinator, I have occassionally (very rarely) seen a volunteer behave in a way that is not in line with the Volunteer Code of Conduct.

The first line of the Volunteer Code of Conduct reads:

“When volunteering as an Oregon State University Extension Master Gardener, I will:

  • Represent OSU Extension, the OSU Extension Master Gardener Program and my individual county or local program with professionalism, dignity and pride, and be responsible for conducting myself with courtesy and appropriate behavior.”

Those words: professionalism, dignity, pride, and courtesy all suggest the type of behavior that we expect and require of Master Gardener volunteers. But, these words can have very different meanings to different people. Some of our volunteers may not have participated in the professional workforce, or they may be retired from work for quite some time. Some of our volunteers may have been high level supervisors when they were working, and are unaccustomed to serving in role that requires well-developed customer service skills. And in some cases, long-time and excellent volunteers may be going through a significant life change that impacts their ability to provide stellar service to the gardening public. This Journal of Extension article provides options for working with volunteers who might be experience medical issues that impact their ability to volunteer (see scenario #3).

Four Customer Service Skills for Master Gardeners

Let’s set the stage by what we mean by the words professionalism, dignity, pride, and courtesy.

First, it should be clear that yelling or other aggressive or belittling behavior will NEVER be tolerated in the Master Gardener Program: towards the gardening public, other volunteers, or Extension faculty and staff. Volunteers who behave in this way should be removed from the situation. Suspension or expulsion may be warranted, depending upon the severity of the situation. In other cases, the volunteer may simply need the time and space to collect themselves and to calm down. If you would like advice on how best to handle a difficult volunteer situation, please consult trusted colleagues who are Master Gardener coordinators. As the statewide Extension Master Gardener coordinator, I unfortunately have extensive experience in dealing with these types of situations, and can provide a list of options that would be appropriate for your situation.

Master Gardeners are volunteers who support the general public’s efforts to learn or improve their sustainable gardening skills. Basic customer service skills are crucial to helping others.

If you think it could be useful for your group, you may want to give your Master Gardener volunteers one hour of continuing education credits for reading this post (included embedded links) and watching the customer service videos.

Customer service skills for Master Gardeners include:

  • Patience: People who reach out to the Master Gardener Program for advice or support are often confused and frustrated. They may have tried their hand at gardening for the very first time, and failed. Or, a plant that they truly value may be in decline. Being listened to and handled with patience goes a long way in helping others feel at ease, and to have confidence that you can help alleviate their current frustrations. Your attitude will help to set and guide the tone for others, and can help steer interactions towards a more positive path.
This UM Extension video discusses the importance of keeping a positive attitude, when working with the public.

2. Attentiveness: The ability to truly listen is crucial to providing great service for a number of reasons. Not only is it important to pay attention to individual gardeners’ experiences, but it’s also important to be mindful and attentive to the feedback that you receive. Listening is a skill that can be developed with practice.

This UM Extension Video discusses the importance of listening, for successful customer service.

3. Curiosity: In many ways, being a Master Gardener is like being a plant detective. The gardener who is asking for help will give clues as to what could be wrong, if the volunteer asks the right questions and listens carefully to their responses. Cultivate a sense of curiosity in Master Gardener work, rather than the sense that Master Gardeners should immediately know the answer(s). Another great thing about fostering a sense of curiosity is that it breaks down barriers between Master Gardener volunteers and the gardening public. Master Gardeners who assume an air of authority or expertise limit conversations to a one way transmission of knowledge. Assuming an air of authority can also come off as being rude and dismissive. Curious Master Gardeners, on the other hand, invite the gardening public into a dynamic conversation, and put people at ease.

This oldie but goodie video from the Metro Area Master Gardener Program demonstrates the right way and the wrong way to work with gardeners who phone the plant clinic desk.
In this video, the Metro Area Master Gardeners demonstrate the importance of asking questions and getting more information, so that the volunteer can research the issue. A good answer, and not a quick answer, is what Master Gardeners should work towards.

More on Curiosity and Attentiveness: In 2019, I took the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science intensive workshop. It was a life-changing experience for me, that I wrote about in another blog post. During the workshop, I learned how to begin to listen deeply to others, and especially to those that I did not agree with. The skills of curiosity and attentiveness can be learned, are not easy to maintain, and get better with practice. These skills are directly transferable to all walks of life, including work in the Master Gardener Program. [I wish I could send everyone to the Alan Alda workshop! I truly felt that I was learning from a Master . . . because I was.]

In this PBS News Hour video clip, Alan Alda discusses the importance of curiosity and attentiveness to effective communication.

4. Collaboration: Collaboration is essential to the success of the Extension Master Gardener Program. We receive too many queries, and reach so many people, that no single Master Gardener can do it all. Master Gardeners who eschew collaboration, and instead take a dictatorial approach to their volunteer shifts, can come off as bossy. Often, other volunteers may request not to work with that individual. Tips on how to work with a ‘bossy’ volunteer can be found in Scenario #2 of this Journal of Extension article.

This Metro Master Gardener video does a great job of demonstrating how to make new volunteers feel welcome, and how to work together as a team on the plant clinic desk.

A Note on the Master Gardener Dress Code

One of the things I love most about working in a College of Agricultural Sciences is that the dress code is decidely relaxed. But, there can be cases when volunteers are a bit too relaxed with their attire, when working as a Master Gardener volunteer. Volunteers should dress in an appropriate and professional manner suitable for the activity or location.

  • “Office casual” is appropriate for speaking engagements, indoor plant clinics, and schools.
  • Gardening work clothes are appropriate for working in demonstration gardens and some outdoor events.
  • Always wear your Master Gardener badge (or intern badge) when working as a Master Gardener volunteer.
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Tips for 2019 Master Gardener Program Reporting

2019 MG Annual Report

It is once again time to submit your 2019 Annual Report for your local Master Gardener Program. Reports are due by December 22, 2019.

If you would like to preview the 2019 reporting fields, please check your email for October 29, 2019 (10:57am) for the more instructions, and for a pdf entitled ‘2019 MG Annual Reporting Questions Preview’.

Each year, I ask Master Gardener Program Coordinators to provide 1-2 paragraphs describing the accomplishments of your Master Gardener Program and 1-2 paragraphs describing the challenges your program faced in 2019. Here are a few tips for submitting a compelling report that will help to showcase the positive impacts of the Extension Master Gardener Program around the state.

  • This year, I would like you to pay particular attention to calling out any accomplishments or challenges associated with broadening the participation of under-represented groups in your local Master Gardener Program. The last time that we took a census of Master Gardener volunteer demographics (Langellotto-Rhodaback and MIller 2012), the majority of our volunteers were Caucasian (95.2%), female (73%), and between the ages of 56 and 85 (74%). Thus, groups that have historically been under-represented in our program include other racial or ethnic groups, men, and younger participants.
  • When completing these sections of your report (accomplishments and challenges), please focus on the OSU Extension Master Gardener Program in your area, and not on the Master Gardener Association that supports your efforts. You can highlight notable collaborations that have helped to broaden your Extension Program’s outreach and impact. But, try not to focus on activities and accomplishments that are entirely (or nearly so) an Association activity, such as a Master Gardener Plant sale.
  • Do not spend time reporting the number of new Master Gardeners that were trained or the number of perennial Master Gardeners that recertified. You report these numbers in other parts of the Program report survey. There is no need to report them again, when you are detailing your program accomplishments and challenges.
  • If you evaluated program impacts over the past year, to assess potential changes in knowledge, perspectives, or behavior, as a result of your Master Gardener training, or another educational program, make sure to include this important data.
  • Other items that you might want to consider reporting include:
    • a new approach to Master Gardener training or educational programs, to make the offerings more dynamic and hands-on
    • novel or advanced training opportunities that were offered in your area
    • key partnerships with community organizations in your region

Key challenges don’t always make it into the report, but they are helpful for long-term strategies to improve the Extension Master Gardener Program in Oregon.

If you would like to see how your data has been used in past reports, you can visit the Quick Stats Page on the OSU Extension Master Gardener website.

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New Option for Continuing Education Credit

In order to make more continuing education (CE) opportunities available to Master Gardener Volunteers we are now officially approving CE credit for reading approved research-based publications that relate to sustainable gardening. These publications will provide in-depth information on a variety of gardening topics that volunteers can draw on when working in the plant clinic or providing community education. In addition this process will encourage volunteers to read OSU and other research-based publications with the added benefit of familiarizing volunteers with up-to-date resources that can be shared with clients.

Each publication will qualify for one hour of CE.

Some publications may take more or less time to read but 60 minutes is a good average.

How to determine if a publication qualifies for CE.

Publications from the following sources are generally deemed appropriate: OSU Extension Catalog, other Extension Services, governmental organizations (i.e. Department of Agriculture, USDA, etc.).

Where possible, OSU publications should be given preference. Publications should relate to sustainable gardening, home horticulture, or backyard and local food production. Coordinators may want to provide a list of suggested and approved reading with web links. This will make it easy for volunteers to access the publications and should prevent them from finding out of date publications that have been archived.

Example of a suggested reading list for August from the OSU Extension Catalog

How to receive credit for reading research-based publications.

We want to ensure that you carefully and comprehensively read each publication, so that you are able to incorporate your new-found knowledge in your volunteer activities, as well as in your own garden. For each publication that you read, please report the following information in the Volunteer Reporting System (VRS), or turn in the following information to your Master Gardener coordinator.

  1. Author. Year. Title. Publication Number or other identifying information.
  2. Where you found or accessed the Publication
  3. What is the overall goal of the publication?
  4. List three things that you learned from reading this publication.
  5. List two ways you can use this information in your volunteer service and/or your own garden.
  6. Report 1 hour of CE per publication, in the VRS system (or the reporting system used in your county).

Example:

  1. Jones and Sells. 2004. Rufous hummingbird. EC 1570.
  2. I found it on the OSU Extension Catalog site. The direct link is https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/ec1570.pdf
  3. This publication teaches people about rufous hummingbird life history, behavior, and habitat.
  4. I learned:
    • Rufous hummingbirds migrate to warmer climates in the fall, because there is no nectar in northern climates in fall and winter. In fact, they follow manzanita blooms as they migrate. I had thought that they migrate because they can’t tolerate cold weather (which is probably also true, but I had not considered the nectar connection).
    • Rufous hummingbirds use spider webs to ‘glue’ together their nest materials. So cool!
    • Hummingbirds can live up to 5+ years. I had thought that their small size and high metabolism would promote a shorter lifespan.
  5. I will use this information to:
    • Tell people what to plant for hummingbirds:  bleeding hearts, red-flowering currant, salmonberry, columbine, fushias, orange honeysuckle.
    • Encourage people to consider how their cat might be impacting hummingbird populations.
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Selecting Prospective Master Gardener Volunteers

It’s volunteer recruitment season!

Every fall, most Extension Master Gardener Programs in Oregon open applications for their new class of volunteers. This might be a good time to take a look at the resources for Recruiting and Selecting new volunteers, on the national Extension Master Gardener Coordinators website.

In general, many Extension Master Gardener Coordinators report increased success with a training class, when they build in time to talk with or interview prospective volunteers. Taking the time to meet with and talk to prospective volunteers provides an opportunity to make sure that each individual understands the volunteer commitment part of the program, and also the general structure and goals of the program.

Our group has developed a list of suggested questions that you may want to ask prospective volunteers. Master Gardener Coordinators can also find the interview questions in the MG Recruitment Folder on Box.

If you have more applicants that you can accept into the program, you may find it helpful to rank each applicant’s answer.  This may help you choose among multiple applicants. 

The questions on the interview sheet are merely suggestions. You may modify these questions to meet the specific needs in your county. You may also want to ask prospective trainees to elaborate on their response to a particular question.

IMPORTANT:  You must not ask age, marital status, children, race, religion, or sexual orientation. Avoid any personal questions other than those on the interview sheet that are pertinent to the candidate’s gardening experience and ability to participate in the program.

If you are conducting group interviews, with multiple Master Gardener interviewers and multiple Master Gardener applicants, a warm-up activity may help to break the ice.  A few ideas for the warm-up:

  • Have the new people take five minutes by themselves and find three things they all have in common and one thing about each of them that’s unique. Similarities can be simple things like the same color hair, all wearing corrective lenses, or have dogs as pets, etc. They don’t have to be garden related. After five minutes have the group share what they found out about each other. While they are doing the activity, take the five minutes to discuss how your group will handle the interviews, such as who will go first, rotation of questions, etc.
  • Ask participants to share their first garden memory? (Grandmother’s flowers, first vegetable garden, etc.)

Wishing you the best for the 2020 training season!

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National Extension Master Gardener Report 2018

The Extension Master Gardener National Committee compiles a report of Master Gardener activity, every few years. Recently, they released the report for 2018, with all but three states reporting (Massachusetts does not have an Extension Master Gardener Program).

You can download a PDF copy of the report, below:

2018 Extension Master Gardener National ReportDownload

If you would like to compare the 2018 numbers with past reports, you can access the 2016, 2014, and 2009 reports, here: https://articles.extension.org/pages/27284/extension-master-gardener-public-value-reports .

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Does Your Master Gardener Training Class Schedule Meet State Standards?

In 2008, the Home Horticulture Working Group voted on and approved curricular standards for annual Master Gardener training for new volunteers. As you start to put your schedule of classes together for 2020, please take a moment to review the standards, and be sure that your class content aligns with current guidance.

Training must consist of at least 40 hours of training time. This time can include time in class, time spent on online course modules, and time spent on practical or hands-on activities.

More detail on the suggested content of each class can be found in the Master Gardener Coordinators Manual section on Course Content.

OSU Faculty and Staff who teach classes: please take a moment to update your information and preferences for the 2020 teaching season in the Instructor Database in Box. You might also want to check out the Basic Training Resources folder in Box. Both of these are in our shared Master Gardener Program folder in Box. You need to have an OSU email in order to access these resources. If you can not access these resources, please contact Gail.

Required Courses: In order to be certified as an OSU Master Gardener volunteer, all trainees must complete each of these three classes.

  • The OSU Master Gardener Program
  • Understanding Pesticides
  • Basic Botany

Plant Problem Diagnosis: Choose at least 2 of the following classes.

  • Diagnostics
  • Insect ID
  • Plant Pathology
  • Weed ID and Management
  • Vertebrate pest management
  • Resources for Master Gardeners

Sustainable Gardening: Choose at least 2 of the following classes.

  • Soils and Fertilizers
  • Compost
  • Integrated Pest Management
  • Sustainable Landscape Design
  • Organic Gardening
  • Gardening for Wildlife
  • Rain Gardens
  • Water Quality
  • Waterwise Gardening
  • Native Plants
  • Invasive Species

Backyard and Community Food Production: Choose at least 2 of the following classes

  • Organic Gardening
  • Vegetable Gardening
  • Small Fruits
  • Home Orchards
  • Herbs
  • Container Gardening
  • Compost

Elective Classes: Choose as many classes as are necessary to round out curricular content.

  • Herbaceous Ornamental Plants
  • Houseplants
  • Lawns
  • Localized Gardening (Coastal, Valley, High Desert, etc.)
  • Pruning
  • Woody Ornamental Plants
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Best Management Practices for Master Gardener Plant Sales

Since mid-August, an advisory group consisting of myself, OSU Extension faculty (Brooke Edmunds), OSU MG volunteers (Linda Coakley and Ruth Estrada), and ODA Invasive Pest Professionals (Beth Myers-Shenai and Chris Hedstrom) have been working on developing guidance for best management practices for MG plant sales. This effort emerged as a result of increased awareness of how plant sales and plant swaps might serve as venues for invasive pest introduction or spread. Given the focus of the Master Gardener Program, we wanted to work together to do our part to stem the introduction spread of invasives, while delivering high quality plants to MG Plant sale customers.

THIS DOCUMENT is what our group has developed. As questions related to this document arise, I will start developing an associated FAQ list. Please let me emphasize, however, that the intention is not to police plant sales, but to provide guidance on how we can all work together to truly practice sustainable gardening.

FAQs (new questions and answers will be added, as soon as possible)

Q: How quickly must Master Gardeners adopt the best management practices?

A: Of the three recommendations, only the first (‘Apply for and receive a temporary nursery license from the Oregon Department of Agriculture’) is a legal requirement to host a short-term plant sale in Oregon. That recommendation must be adhered to, immediately (and should have been adhered to, in the past).

The other two recommendations (‘Only sell plants that are free from pests’; ‘Only sell plants that are properly identified, cross-checked against state and local noxious wee lists, and tagged’) should be adopted as soon as is practical for 2019 plant sales, but should become standard practice for plant sales in 2020, and beyond. For example, if a large part of your 2019 plant sale inventory consists of donated plants dug from home gardens, or another similar source, you are not expected to dispose of those plants. But, for plant sales in 2020 and beyond, Master Gardener groups should be proactively planning for a different approach to procuring plant materials for sale.

Q: How will these best management practices be enforced?

A: It is not my intention to act as the plant sale police. If I hear of reports of Master Gardener groups using practices that contradict the plant sale best management practices, I will reach out to the key organizers in an effort to raise awareness of the issue, and to strategize on how to remedy the situation.

Q: Can we take stem cuttings from plants grown in garden soil, if the plant is healthy and pest-free?

A: Yes.  As long as a cutting is from the above-ground portion of a healthy plant (inspected to be disease and pest free), then risk of invasive pest introduction and spread is minimized. Movement of soil poses the greatest risk, and thus root cuttings should not be taken.

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2018 Master Gardener Program Reporting

The link for 2018 Master Gardener Program Reporting is now live. Please visit the link, and submit your local data, by Friday, December 21st.

REPORTING LINK: https://oregonstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bk3rLoeDe9337Yp

For your planning and reference, A paper copy of the reporting survey can be found HERE. However, please do not submit a hard-copy of your local data. Doing so requires me to type in everything, by hand. Please use the REPORTING LINK, above.

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Home Horticulture Working Group Retreat

The Home Horticulture Working Group received an OSU Extension Innovation Grant, to support a 2-day retreat for our group. The intention of the retreat is to:

 . . . create the time and space for deep conversations on future iterations of Oregon’s EMG program. We will review Oregon’s EMG program with an eye towards identifying structural changes that could be made to improve the experience for both coordinators running the program, and current and future EMG volunteers. An anticipated end result of this work is the development of a shared vision of inclusivity for the program, specific action items to make Oregon’s EMG program relevant and useful to a broader audience, and a potential redesign of the course, better suited for both coordinators and participants.

You can access the entire proposal, with full details, here.

The first step in planning our retreat is to choose a time and location for the retreat. Please note that we think we have enough funding to pay for lodging for about 20 rooms. If we get more than 20 folks who need lodging, We have two options that we are considering:

Please visit THIS SURVEY to let the planning committee know if you will be able to participate in the retreat, and then rank your preference for date and location. Please also let us know if you will need a hotel room.