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Barbara Low

Apr 29

OMGA Joy of Gardening Conference

By Beet 2025 05 May

Hi everyone,

Our OMGA 2025 Joy of Gardening Conference registration is now open!

Treat yourself this summer to a 2-day educational event at this year’s Oregon Master Gardener Association Joy of Gardening Conference, July 11-12 at the OSU Alumni Center in Corvallis.

Dr. Leslie Madsen, OSU Master Gardener™ Statewide Program Manager, will deliver opening remarks on Friday July 11 at 9 AM: The Master Gardener Program 2025 and Beyond!

Next, we are lucky to have two fantastic Keynote speakers lined up.

Saturday, July 12 at 9 AM features: Garden Future: Dr. Brooke Edmunds and LeAnn Locher.

Many of us see firsthand the impact of extreme weather events and climate change in our gardens. To help Oregon’s gardeners, the OSU Master Gardener Program has launched a new statewide climate resilience education and outreach project called Garden Future. Learn about the resources available to support Master Gardener volunteers to lead this project.

The Joy of Gardening Conference has something for everyone.  Over 30 instructors are scheduled to speak on a variety of topics from Drought Tolerant Landscaping and Houseplants to Home Orchards and Lilies. There is something for everyone.

NEW this year OMGA is offering sessions to assist Master Gardener Associations welcome new members, obtain grants and sponsors, improve websites and social media outreach, employ best practices for Demonstration Gardens, promote Seed to Supper Programs, and improve leadership skills.

For Fun there will be a Garden Trivia Live with prizes! Join in the fun and test your garden knowledge.

Master Gardeners can earn recertification credits for all classes.

Please share the attached flyer and Conference catalog with your membership. Distribute it on Chapter Facebook, at Plant Sales and other outreach venues. Spread the word far and wide!

To register visit our website at: https://omga.org/joy-of-gardening-2025/

Thank you for your support! Register Today!

Chris Rusch

Oregon Master Gardener Association President

Apr 29

Blue Heron Park Earth Day Event 2025

By Beet 2025 05 May

Jackson County Master Gardeners (JCMGA)  participated in the annual Blue Heron Park Earth Day Event on Saturday, April 19th.

 

It was a beautiful day and we had several JCMGA volunteers attend to work our information booth. People from the community came to our booth with general gardening questions and to find out what JCMGA is and what we do.

The attendance was down from last year – likely because it was held the day before Easter. Nonetheless, we had a great time, and enjoyed the opportunity to engage with the community.

A BIG THANK YOU to our volunteers – Lindsey McNab, Kathy Apple, Michael Hornbeek, Lynn Kunstman, Nicole Morgan, Mark Potts and myself (along with my husband, Vic).

We couldn’t have done this without their willingness to put in their time and efforts.

 

Apr 29

Seeking New Apprentice Coordinator(s) UPDATE

By Beet 2025 05 May

Gretchen King has volunteered to work with another person(s) to fulfil this position.

We are looking for a volunteer or a team of volunteers to organize Wednesday refreshments this year!  This position is titled Apprentice Coordinator, and is greatly appreciated throughout the summer.

From mid-May through October, there are many MG volunteers who work together in the Demonstration Gardens at the SOREC Extension on Wednesday mornings.  As a way of saying thank you to them, JCMGA provides snacks and drinks.  When that bell sounds at 10:30, people and a cheese-loving dog congregate.  This is a wonderful social hour, as well as a time to enjoy great refreshments.

You would arrange to have the snacks and drinks available from 10:30-11:30 a.m.  Drinks typically are water and lemonade.  Marcie Katz provides the large drink containers for you to fill.  Money for the drinks and food comes from the JCMGA budget.

We hope that you will consider filling this position, or organizing a team to do the job.

Please let me know if you are interested in working with Gretchen King as the Apprentice Coordinator, contact Barbara Low barbaralow@msn.com

Apr 28

JCMGA Annual Picnic 2025 Saturday, June 28th

By Beet 2025 05 May

We are very fortunate to have Robert Coffan as the guest speaker for our Annual Picnic again this year. Last year, he gave a wonderful presentation on the Western monarch butterfly.

Robert Coffan is Co-founder of Southern Oregon Monarch Advocates, and also the founder and former chair of Western Monarch Advocates. He has a BS in hydrogeology and is a former adjunct professor at Southern Oregon University. He is also a pretty good grandpa!  Robert has lived in the Rogue Valley for 25 years. He passionately enjoys researching the biodiversity of the basin.  He is fascinated by the beauty and life processes of the monarch butterfly (as well as other pollinators), and has joined forces with others to help restore their habitat and bring the population back. Robert never loses sight of the importance of preserving and caring for this beautiful, diverse part of the world we call home.

His presentation this year will continue to focus on the importance of the monarch butterflies.  His presentation is titled “Our Western Monarchs: Will they be Listed as “THREATENED,” and Why Should We Care?”

In 2019, the known population of Western monarchs had plummeted to a scant 20,500. This 99.4% loss in the last 20 years was then followed by another severe drop, bringing the total known population to less than 2,000! What happened and why? Will they be listed as “Threatened”? Can they recover? What can we do to help? Robert Coffan’s presentation will include an introduction to the iconic monarch butterfly, issues that plague our migrating Western population, actions we can take to help restore the monarch habitat, and how we can help many other pollinators throughout the seasons too.

Join us for a seated indoor presentation on June 28th at the Extension, followed by a picnic and festive activities! Take your photo with “Big Boy”, the world’s largest monarch caterpillar, or try your hand at the bean bag toss. How many bees and caterpillars will you help get into the milkweed patch? The winner gets all bragging rights!

 

We hope to see you at the Annual Picnic and we will learn more together about the Western monarch butterfly!

Mar 30

JCMGA Announcements April 2025

By Beet 2025 04 April

 

April

  • Blue Heron Park Earth Day Event – April 19th
    • JCMGA will have an information table at this event. If you are interested in working at the table that afternoon, contact Barbara Low barbaralow@msn.com
  • OMGA Awards Nominations due April 15th (see the article)
  • Tree Planting and FREE Lunch – April 22nd (see article)

May

  • Spring Garden Fair – May 3 and 4 at the Mace Building at the Expo.
    • Save the Date – Mark your calendars!
  • Medford Open Streets Event – May 31st
    • JCMGA will have an information table at this event. If you are interested in working at the table that afternoon, contact Barbara Low barbaralow@msn.com
Mar 30

President’s Corner

By Beet 2025 04 April

Spring has arrived!

We had a brief false-spring teaser, but soon we will start warming up and our plants will begin growing, getting ready for summer.

Our Jackson County Master Gardeners Association Practicum students, Class of 2025 have been busy planting a wide variety of seeds, both vegetables and ornamentals. They have also started transplanting seedlings in preparation for our JCMGA Spring Garden Fair on the first weekend of May.

Students and their mentors are monitoring the growth of these plants – watering, fertilizing, cataloging growth rate, and employing integrated pest management – to ensure that we have healthy plants to sell. We are very fortunate to have a great bunch of mentors and students who are working well together and learning from each other in order to become better home gardeners. We all enjoy sharing our gardening knowledge and are open to learning from each other.

In preparation for the Spring Garden Fair, we have started to recruit volunteers to work in various aspects of the event. Some of these workstations involve minimal to medium physical activity. Most of the shifts will be 4-hours in length.  Besides the Practicum plants, there will be many vendors as well as a Children’s Activity area.

Volunteer opportunities will include:

  • Entry Table – putting on wrist bracelets
  • Children’s Activity Area – helping children with a variety of activities
  • JCMGA Raffle Table – monitoring the raffle baskets and raffle ticket cans
  • JCMGA Fundraising Table – monitoring the items on the table
  • JCMGA Information Table – passing out free information sheets/brochures and answering general gardening questions
  • Roaming the Spring Garden Fair areas to answer general questions about the event
  • Directing traffic to have vendors leave on Sunday
  • Gate Keeper – making sure that people have a wrist band when entering

It takes many people pulling together to make this event successful.  Marcie Katz and Lucy Pylkki are the chairs for the Spring Garden Fair and have done a terrific job organizing this event.

This year our Spring Garden Fair will be held at the Jackson County Expo in the Mace Building on May 3rd and 4th. Mark your calendars and make sure to visit our Practicum plant area for a great variety of vegetables and ornamentals.

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Barbara Low at barbaralow@msn.com.

Mar 30

JCMGA Working Groups Summaries

By Beet 2025 04 April

Community Outreach Working Group

  • Community Gardens Grants are available. May 15th is the due date to submit an application for a grant.  Go to https://jacksoncountymga.org/community-garden-grants/  for details.
  • JCMGA will have an information table at the upcoming Earth Day Blue Heron Event on April 19; at the Spring Garden Fair on May 3-4; and at the Medford Open Streets Event on May 31.
  • School Grants will be available later this year.

Fundraising Working Group

  • They have been working on fundraising opportunities.
  • They will have a table at the Spring Garden Fair. Make sure to stop by to see what is available.

Garden Working Group

  • They have been preparing for Spring.
  • The Vegetable Demonstration Garden is being moved to a new location on the SOREC grounds.

 

Marketing & Technology Working Group

  • New members have joined the group.
  • We are working on several technology projects.

 

Member Services

  • The 2025 Membership Chapter Directory is nearly completed.
  • They are preparing for the JCMGA Annual Picnic

 

Program Support Working Group

  • Volunteer Classes

One of my goals this year is to offer more trainings for you volunteers to boost your skills in all the great work you are already doing. This May, MG and Small Farms Coordinator Evie Smith will be traveling to Jackson County from Lincoln County to present to us. These classes all count as volunteer hours (Educational Event Planning – Indirect) and continuing education hours.

  • Finding Reliable, Science-Based Resources- May 28 Afternoon (Time TBD).In this workshop, we’ll discuss how to determine if a gardening resource is scientifically-based, explore several resources for finding science-based gardening resources, and practice strategies for searching for reliable information. Please bring your laptop, tablet, or a device you can easily use for searching the internet. This is great for our presenters, Plant Clinic Mentors, and anyone interested in digging to find great sources of information.
  • Best Practices for Adult Education- May 29 Morning (Time TBD). Wondering how to better engage participants in your Master Gardener workshops? In this workshop on best practices for adult education, we’ll talk through 5 strategies for developing and delivering engaging, memorable educational experiences for adult learners. You’ll get to spend some time thinking about how to put these strategies into practice, so Come to this session with an idea for a gardening topic or class you’d like to teach in the future! This continuing education credit counts towards our Growing and Belonging goals! In the VRS you can log this under continuing education – Growing and Belonging. We strongly encourage our volunteers to get at least an hour a year in the Growing and Belonging category to make our organization stronger.
  • Seed to Supper

Seed to Supper is underway this April! We have 15 eager participants from Rouge Retreat’s three shelters. We are meeting at Hope Village to learn about veggie gardening this spring. There has been prep work of getting supplies ready and instructors prepared to teach throughout March. Now it is time to teach! We are excited to foster this relationship with Rogue Retreat and teach Jackson County Residents.

Spring Garden Fair Working Group

  • They are working on the upcoming JCMGA Spring Garden Fair at the Jackson County Expo May 3-4. Make sure to save the date!
  • They are currently looking for volunteers to help work the event. Please contact Barbara Low at barbaralow@msn.com if you are interested in volunteering.

Winter Dreams Summer Gardens Working Group

  • They are working on the presentation schedule for the 2025.