Master Gardeners in your Community

Grow 1/Give 1

WCMGA’s Grow1/Give1 campaign, provides tomato and pepper starts grown by Washington County Master Gardeners™ to limited-income residents of Washington County. For our most recent report, click here: 2026 G1G1 Legislative Report

Working with food pantries across the county, we distribute starts of three different types of tomatoes (cherry, slicer, paste) and hot peppers (jalapeño, habanero, Thai) Because many recipients live in situations without yards for planting, we select seed varieties for plants that would grow well in small spaces. Additionally, we include grow bags filled with potting medium for those without yard space, fertilizer, and an instruction sheet in both Spanish and English.

The support of OSU Extension Family and Community Health Program and the Food Hero was been instrumental in supporting our start-up in 2022. Similarly, we receive generous donations of grow bags by Root Pouch, and a discount on soil to fill them from Tigard Best Buy in Town. Portland Nursery also allows us to purchase potting mix for the Master Gardeners growing the starts at a discount. With this support we have been able to expand to 8 food banks across the county.

HomePlate Youth Services

Washington County Master Gardener volunteers began leading workshops at HomePlate Youth Services in 2023.  HomePlate is Washington County’s only nonprofit provider of drop-in centers and street outreach for young people experiencing houselessness.

In the WCMGA gardening workshops at HomePlate Youth Services in Beaverton, youth alongside HomePlate staff get the chance to dive into short presentations and hands-on demonstrations. They gain valuable education and practical experience with vegetable gardening.

They explore a diverse range of topics like soil enhancements, planting seeds and transplants, slug control, container gardening, succession planting, weed and insect identification, fertilizing, harvesting techniques, cover crops, and any other topics requested by the youth or staff. The produce grown throughout the season is used in the evening meal programs or donated to those receiving HomePlate services, making every harvest truly meaningful.

Learning Garden Produce Donation to Oregon Food Bank

Produce from the WCMGA Learning Garden at Jenkins Estate has been donated to Oregon Food Bank partners since the Learning Garden started in 2016.  Donations average around 1000 pounds of produce per year.