Ellen Alexander has been volunteering at Meerkerk Gardens for 13 years after a career in law, business, and working for non-profits. She satisfies her interest in rhododendrons with weekly hands-on work (i.e. maintenance) at Meerkerk, learning from staff and fellow volunteers, and through observation and study. Ellen implemented and managed Meerkerk's docent program from 2021-24. She is currently a Board member and treasurer.

June Davis is a Certified Professional Horticulturist (CPH) and a garden consultant with 25 years in the nursery industry. June is currently on the Meerkerk Board, chairs the Education Committee, and is a active member of Meerkerk's Horticulture Committee

Kim Baxter: A lifelong gardener and Whidbey Island based Master Gardener since 2021, focusing on home vegetable gardening with an emphasis on drought tolerant adaptations.

Lisa Phillips:

Eric Conn has been gardening on Whidbey Island for nearly 30yrs. In school he studied Organic farming, Biodynamics, Biointensive, Permaculture, Food forests, and Natural farming, getting an Environmental Studies degree in Sustainable Community Design, with a focus on Sustainable Food Systems. He and his wife Britt started Full Cycle Farm 16 yrs ago, and now they farm full time growing a wide variety of crops, including vegetables, fruits, flowers, nuts, herbs, cover crops, and poultry.

A Certified Professional Horticulturist (CPH), June Davis is one of WGW's popular instructors on all things gardening. She is a garden consultant—The June Garden—with 25 years in the nursery industry. As Sales Manager for Skagit Gardens, she worked with breeders to introduce new plants to the market. She gardens on Whidbey Island.

Judy Feldman - Director of the Organic Farm School on Whidbey Island
Rachel Piggott - Owner of Island Harvest Farm on Camano Island since 2015. Rachel focuses on growing a variety of flavorful, high-quality produce. During her career in the social work field, she discovered a love of growing and eating fresh food. Eventually, it became clear that growing food for her community was the best way to be a positive part of the community, so long story short, she is now a farmer on Camano Island!
Dave Thomas - A Master Gardener for 43 years, Dave has been the "Field Boss" of the Lord's Garden in Oak Harbor for 30 years. Food grown through the Master Gardener programs provide fresh vegetables and fruit to those in need in the Oak Harbor and Coupeville communities.
Dave Thomas - Dave has over 60 years of gardening experience and has taught popular classes on vegetable growing, trees, pruning, and more. He has been the "Field Boss" of the Lord's Garden for 21 years, providing fresh vegetables and fruit to those in need in Oak Harbor and Coupeville, Washington.

Sue has been a Master Gardener here on Whidbey since 2018. She has grown strawberries in 7 states from hot weather to Alaska. Her gardening experience includes home gardens and indoor planting in all those states. As Executive Director, Sue enjoyed (and learned a lot) overseeing the development and maintenance for the new community garden and trail with small plots, large fountain area, butterfly segment, dry gardens and 474 roses on the 11-acre property at Rosewood Retirement Community in Bakersfield, CA. Retired now, her best efforts have been continuing her small home beauty and bounty landscape here on south Whidbey (with lots of strawberries!).

Erica Browne Grivas is an award-winning garden writer and speaker with more than two decades of experience translating the beauty and science of plants into stories that educate, inspire, and delight. A lifelong gardener with a background in landscape design and nursery work, she shares practical, sustainable ideas for home gardeners. Her work has appeared in The Seattle Times, Horticulture, Better Homes & Gardens, and American Gardener, as well as industry publications. She is active in the horticultural community as a Tilth Alliance Sustainability Steward, Western Director for Garden Communicators International, and a board member of the Northwest Horticultural Society.

I retired after 30 years with Pacific County Fire District #1 on the Long Beach Peninsula—10 years as a volunteer and 20 years as a paid EMT/Firefighter. I served as the department's Training Officer, teaching classes at the local community college and other fire departments, and worked on behalf of the Washington State Fire Marshal to test and certify firefighters.
I live in Oysterville, at the northern end of the Long Beach Peninsula, on 20 acres where I maintain a large experimental garden tailored to our maritime climate. I use numerous small raised beds to trial different crops and grow a variety of heritage and unique varieties.
I also raise Emus, Blackbelly sheep, heritage turkeys, and chickens. This is my 12th year as a Master Gardener, and I truly enjoy the ongoing challenges and rewards of growing diverse crops in this coastal environment.

Gary Ketcheson moved to Whidbey Island in 2011 after a career as a Hydrologist with the US Forest Service, managing soil and water resources. To cultivate his interest in growing plants, he became a Master Gardener in 2013 and is a regular volunteer at the Greenbank Demonstration Garden. He shares his knowledge and interest in soil conservation by teaching soil classes for Master Gardener trainees and is a Board Supervisor for the Whidbey Island Conservation District.

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Don Krafft spends a lot of time thinking about microbes, mulch, and what makes compost really work. A Master Gardener and former Master Composter, he blends hands-on experience with soil science to help gardeners build healthier soils and simpler systems. If it rots, feeds the soil, or improves plant health, Don is probably interested.

Long time Gardener, newly certified Master Gardener

Hailey Lampe runs Cruising Climate, a regenerative, native plant nursery and landscape design studio in Port Townsend, WA. She supports people in achieving their backyard, homestead, and farm goals through landscape designs and one-on-one coaching. Vital to supporting these goals and helping folks grow habitats are the native plant starts she propagates at her regenerative food forest- “The Hedgerow by Cruising Climate.” Some of the goals she loves helping people reach are:
-Growing more food at home
-Installing edible landscaping (a food forest)
-Growing pollinator gardens
-Making better compost
-Fostering backyard habitats
-Implementing soil care routines throughout the year
-Creating rain gardens
-And more 🙂

Julie became a Master Gardener in 2024. A life-long gardener, she relishes seed collecting, propagating and dividing plants, and attempting to grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers from seeds. Her passion is flowers, flowers, and more flowers.

Cathy Lofton-Day: A scientist by profession and an amateur gardener throughout her life (as time permitted), Cathy has tended small ornamental, vegetable and fruit gardens in various locations across the US. Retirement brought her love of science and passion for gardening together through the Master Gardener program. Now she is working to improve her gardening skills and her own little ecosystem in Northwest Washington.

Seth Luginbill currently serves as the Noxious Weed Program Coordinator for the Island County Noxious Weed Control Board. Seth's background is in botany and natural resource management.

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Like many Master Gardeners, Laura has a passion for gardening and sharing valuable information with others to increase their access to healthier food, communities and environments. Prior to becoming a Master Gardener, Laura worked in public education and since retiring, she explains that instead helping schools implement evidence based practices to support students with disabilities, she is now helping people implement evidence based practices to support the successful gardening and protect our environment.

Deb earned her B.S. in Horticulture from South Dakota, so not a lot of her degree applies to the Pacific Northwest other than basic botany. She spent 20 years in the Navy, traveling the world and learning different ecosystems, and she appreciated that the Navy funded her explorations. She has been a Master Gardener since 2006, and also has a teaching certificate in the sciences, hence her love of teaching. Deb appreciates feedback and is always seeking to enhance her classes.

Anza Muenchow has perfected the art of culinary horticulture by growing food at her two-acre Maha Farm for the past 15 years. But beyond her farming expertise, she is also passionate about improving fresh food access for her community, especially low-income families. And, as a Master Gardener since 1992, she is the go-to expert for other Master Gardeners who want information on crop varieties and maximizing their harvests. Anza also volunteers for Master Gardeners at South Whidbey Tilth.

Idonna’s path to master gardening and watercolor painting meandered past corporate accounting through Arctic aviation and a general contractor partnership before she gently landed in a forest on South Camano Island 15 years ago.

She completed her Master Gardener internship in the spring of 2023 because she wanted to learn more about the17-acre forest where she lives and to share that information. She is delighted to be here today and do just that!

Besides working in the woods, Idonna paints outdoors in the summer with the Roaming Artists. When the weather isn’t friendly, you’ll find her studying the forest and creating botanical watercolors with a much smaller paintbrush at her kitchen table.

Tobey Nelson has a B.S. in Landscape Horticulture from Michigan State University and is a Certified Professional Horticulturist. She has been designing, installing, and maintaining gardens for over 30 years. Tobey focuses on "horticulture for a healthy planet" encompassing environmentally responsible approaches, such as drought-tolerant plantings, planting for pollinators, building soil health, and using non-toxic, nature-friendly garden products.

Jim Olson has gardened since elementary school. He grew his first veggie garden as a sophomore in high school. After retirement, he joined the King County Master Gardener Program in 2013. He is, or has been, part of all King Coung Master Gardener education series leadership teams and faculty. Jim currently leads the Redmond Saturday Market Plant Advice Clinic. He grows a bit of everything. He has a special fondness for growing orchids.

Mike Peronto, a Master Gardener since 2017, has been focused on climate change for the last several years. He is part of the leadership team of WSU’s Washington Education & Climate Action Network (WECAN) and leads the state wide Master Group of ‘CATs’ (Climate Action Teams).


Bobbi Peskuric is from Coupeville WA where she is retired with her husband, two dogs and cat. She became a Master Gardener in 2012 at which time she developed an interest in vermicomposting. She manages the worm bins at the Greenback Education Gardens and keeps several of her own. Besides tending worms, Bobbi enjoys playing the violin and paddling dragon boats.

Christina is a horticulture educator who has enjoyed a long career in landscape horticulture. Tuned to the art and science of horticulture, her work centers on sustainable techniques that tap into the cycle of the seasons so that our efforts become more of an enjoyable experience and less of a battle. She holds horticulture degrees from Michigan State and the University of Washington, is an ISA Certified Arborist and co-author of Pacific Northwest Month-by-Month Gardening.

Lisa started beekeeping on Whidbey Island over 20 years ago. She has worked with large beekeepers and other hobby beekeepers. Her bees have been all over the island, pollinating farms and small orchards. After becoming a Master Gardener Lisa embraced native pollinators as fiercely as her honey bees. Now she plants her gardens with an eye towards helping the pollinators in her yard.

Dave has been growing dahlias since the 1960s. He has over 60 years of gardening experience and has taught popular classes on vegetable growing, trees, pruning, and more. He has been the "Field Boss" of the Lord's Garden for 21 years, providing fresh vegetables and fruit to those in need in Oak Harbor and Coupeville, Washington.

Bill Thorness is a writer and gardener who’s been doing both in Seattle since the mid-1980s. He is the author of Cool Season Gardener: Extend the Harvest, Plan Ahead, and Grow Vegetables Year Round and Edible Heirlooms: Heritage Vegetables for the Maritime Garden, and writes for many regional publications, including The Seattle Times. He is also a King County Master Gardener.

Dan has a Bachelor of Science from The Ohio State University in Ag and about 50 years of experience in fruit horticulture. Dan and his wife Bernie have a little fruit farm on Whidbey Island - Muscle and Arm Farm where they grow and propagates a variety of heritage apples, fresh figs, Asian and European pears, plums, grapes and other fruits. Dan has been teaching seasonal fruit courses at the Pacific Rim Institute (PRI) in Coupeville, WA for about 11 years and was instrumental in starting the annual Cider Festival there. Dan offers consulting with local orchards and designs products when he's not farming.

Diana Wisen has been a WSU Master Gardener for 34 years. She has been a Skagit County Master Gardener trainer for 20 years, served as Chair of the Outreach and Education Committee and of the Speakers Bureau, and regularly teaches gardening classes to a variety of audiences.

Cynthia Woerner has spent her lifetime developing her artistic eye. Her photography journey started as a child who spent her time photographing the world around her. After graduating from college with a BFA in photography, she started her commercial freelance photography business and has been capturing all the smiles, events, and gorgeous scenery for over 25 years. In addition, she has worked for Meerkerk Gardens and the Skagit Valley Tulipfest promoting the gardens using her beautiful images. Her love of the garden and capturing the magic of the growing world has always been her passion!