Extension Master Gardener Association of Rowan County

What it reported doing in 2025

The Healthy Living Demonstration Gardens - A Community Space for Urban Agriculture: An expected ten-year project in conjunction with the City of Salisbury NC and the Rowan County Cooperative Extension Service, commenced in 2025 to convert an asphalt parking lot into a demonstration and teaching garden to benefit the surrounding communities and the citizens of Rowan County. The two acres of demonstration and educational gardens will provide new green space that replaces a former vast expanse of asphalt parking lot, providing new access to information on how to grow healthy food. It will incorporate fruit trees, shrubs, vegetable gardens, and perennials. Plans include a rain garden that will filter pollutants out of runoff and improve the health of Grants Creek Watershed, the watershed that flows through the heart of Rowan County before emptying into High Rock Lake, and declared impaired by the NC Division of Environmental Quality. The Healthy Living Demonstration Garden has been professionally designed to educate visitors about the interrelationships between families of vegetables, fruits and other edibles such as herbs. To help visitors understand these relationships, the Master Gardener team plans to offer a self-guided tour booklet with pages of evidence-based information about plants in the various sections of the garden. The gardens will also include a 24'x48' greenhouse which will become an educational center for urban agriculture, designed for hands-on learning and experiential understanding of growing healthy food while protecting our environment. The greenhouse is scheduled for installation in 2026. To date, all utilities are in place. The engineering plans have been purchased and approved by the city of Salisbury and a deposit has been made on the greenhouse kit as of 2026. Getting into urban farming educates citizens on the effort that goes into producing our food and gives people some perspective on where their food comes from before they purchase it in their grocery store. In summary, the gardens will offer 1) Fresh produce and fruit to sample and learn how each grows, 2) Educational programs for children, adults and aspiring gardeners, 3) A teaching greenhouse to experience plants growing from seed and propagation, 4) A demonstration pergola area for shaded hands-on learning, and 5) Accessible paths and gathering spaces for all to enjoy. The Extension Master Gardener Association of Rowan County is currently in the process of soliciting grants and donations to fund this massive endeavor which will be an ongoing effort. Expenses will accelerate starting in 2026 as the project ramps up. The project is expected to impact primarily the 36,000+ citizens of Salisbury NC and more directly, the Franklin area of Salisbury with its immediately surrounding neighborhoods of Milford Terrace, Milford Hills, Milford Knoll, and Holly Park which are mix of single family and multi-unit apartment complexes.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 31.1%; rating input score 31
• Program expense ratio: 80.6%; rating input score 81

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 61.4%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.06; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: Limited
• Revenue growth: Limited
• Asset growth: Limited