Barbara Low

A Busy Month

This month we have had a lot going on in JCMGA!

Our Board and working groups are busy leading and supporting our organization and keeping us moving forward.  I have the honor and pleasure of working with a great group of people at JCMGA!

• The Community Outreach Working Group is working on Community Gardens, Friends of the Gardens, Speakers Bureau, and School Grants.
• The Demonstration Gardens have pretty much been put to bed for the upcoming winter. Thank you to our GEMS and their many volunteers for their hard work this past year!
• The Gardening Working Group has been working on the beautiful murals on the Pods in the Meeting Place at SOREC.
• We are now voting for our 2025 JCMGA Board of Directors. Thank you to Marcie Katz for leading this committee. Please make sure to vote by November 3^rd.
• The Marketing and Technology Working Group helps the other groups with their communication and technological needs.
• The Member Services Working Group has been revising the 2025 JCMGA Membership Renewal Form – both online and the hard copy. They are also working on the OSU Class of 2024 Master Gardener Student’s Graduation.
• The Fundraising Working Group was busy organizing our Fall Festival which was held in September. They are now looking into grants and sponsorships to help fund some of our upcoming projects.
• The Program Support Working Group is planning for the OSU Class of 2025 Master Gardener Class.
• The Spring Garden Fair Working Group is planning for the 2025 Spring Garden Fair, which will be in the Mace Building at the Expo Center in Central Point.
• The Winter Dreams Summer Gardens Working Group just completed this year’s event.

On Friday, October 4, we held our JCMGA Fall Board Retreat. We reviewed and revised our JCMGA 2024 Strategic Plan. This plan helps us to keep focused on our goals and what we are doing to reach those goals.  Part of the Strategic Plan shows how the different working groups work together to reach our goals. During our retreat, we had some productive discussions and brainstorming. We were also able to start a draft of our JCMGA 3-year and 5-year plans.

There are exciting things happening in JCMGA!

On top of all that is going on with JCMGA, the Creepy Old House is being demolished.

If you would like to become more involved in any way, please reach out to the working group’s chairs or me, Barbara Low.   We would love to have you join us!

The Jackson County Master Gardener Association is very fortunate to offer a wonderful educational opportunity to its members and people in our community.  The Winter Dreams/ Summer Gardens Symposium (WDSG) is an educational opportunity for people to learn more about a variety of gardening topics.   We have gone from providing this as a strictly in-person educational event, to providing it as a virtual event.  We can now record the presentations and make them available to those who register for WDSG.  People are able to view the presentation(s) more than once from their home until the end of December.

This year we had 16 wonderful presentations on a wide range of topics.  Presenters hailed from California and across the state of Oregon.  We had several of our own JCMGA members as presenters as well – Regina Boykins, Bonni Engelhardt, Grace Florjancic, Marcie Katz, Susan Koenig, Lynn Kunstman, Barbara Low, and Marsha Waite.  A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR PRESENTERS!!

In 2022 we started asking Winter Dreams/ Summer Gardens participants to complete an evaluation survey.  Our working group uses the information gained from the survey to plan for the next event.  For those of you who participated in Winter Dreams/ Summer Gardens 2024, please complete and submit the evaluation survey which you will receive via email.  We rely upon your suggestions to improve and expand this event so it meets the needs of gardeners.

I want to thank this year’s Winter Dreams/ Summer Gardens Working Group for all their hard work.  Members include Colet Allen, Blake Elliott, Teresa Jarratt, Susan Koenig, and me.  They have spent hours brainstorming and planning the details for this event. They even spent an afternoon preparing flyers to mail to landscapers.  We have expanded our audience to include landscapers in Oregon so they can earn continuing education hours to recertify their landscaper’s licenses.

I also want to give a special shout out to:

• Nicole Smith – for her help in sending out the MailChimps and posting information on Facebook
• Tina Elliott and Sandy O’Neill – for their help with the social media
• Keltie Nelson – for her help in expanding our outreach
• JCMGA Board – for their continued support

A big “Thank You” to all who were presenters and/or hosts, and to those who attended the sessions.

 

I am continuing this series of articles and hope that you find them helpful and inspiring. In November, there is quite a bit to do in the garden depending on what you want to grow.  Time to make sure that we are ready for winter. By caring for our gardens, we are also caring for ourselves – physically, mentally, and emotionally.

The Jackson County Master Gardener Association has a great resource for gardeners to use. It is the Garden Guide for the Rogue Valley – Year-Round & Month by Month.  This great reference book for gardeners is mainly about growing vegetables, berries, and melons.

November is the time to:

• Time to provide protection for the watering system. Make sure to drain the lines and protect the faucets and valves from freezing.
• Check drainage in case of heavy rains.
• Tie trailing cane berries to wires. Prune fall-bearing raspberries.  Good time to apply manure to berries.
• Still time to plant garlic and shallots – weather and soil conditions permitting.
• Remember to keep a cold frame producing with lettuce and other greens.

 

Garden Guide for the Rogue Valley – Year-Round & Month by Month. This book contains a wealth of gardening information. You can purchase it at our local Grange Co-op or at the OSU Extension office for $21.00. It can also be purchased on-line at https://jacksoncountymga.org/shop/.  Note that a shipping fee will be applied.

 

Happy Gardening

Garden For Life

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JCMGA Mission – To learn, practice, and teach the art and science of gardening in the Rogue Valley.

1. Goal: Enhance and Support Master Gardener Program.
2. Objective – Support Master Gardener Training through speakers and practicum experience.
   • Practicum (Program Support WG and GWG)
     • Practicum Mentors
     • Garden Buds
       • Encourage students from Class of 2024 to participate
       • Get feedback from Grace on having Garden Buds
       • Could students sit at the same table each week – at least for part of the class to build a sense of a team
     • Friends of the Gardens (COWG)
       • Put on Facebook more often
       • Put signage on canopy when doing Information Booth at events
     • Spring Garden Fair
     • OSU Student Master Gardener Class – increase size (Program Support WG)
     • Seeds to Supper (COWG and Program Support WG) Winter 2025
     • Community Education Program (Program Support WG)
     • Working Groups working together (Joint Committees)
     • Measurement of achieving goal
       • Number of people attending
       • Feedback

1. Objective – Host the Winter Dreams Summer Gardens Symposium (WDSG WG and M & T WG)
   • Via virtual
   • Most or all presentations are recorded and available for participant viewing until end of December
   • Measurement of achieving goal
     • WDSG Presentations Survey Results

1. Objective – Enhance the Use of Speakers Bureau (COWG plus all working groups)

*  Encourage members to share their knowledge with others

• Target specific topics
• Measurement of achieving goal
  • We want to collect more specific data
    • Number of speakers
    • How many presentations?
    • What is the venue of the presentation?
    • Are we working with other groups in providing this service?
    • List of topics

1. Objective – Enhance utilization of the Demonstration Gardens (GWG)

• Rethink how to clean up enhance, and maintain all Demonstration Gardens

*   Friends of the Gardens

*     Offer year-round educational tours of the Demonstration Gardens

*   Garden Club invited tours (COWG and GEC)

*  Look into paid labor (GWG) – check with Jamie Davis

 

2. Goal: Promote wide dissemination of gardening information to the Community of Jackson County
3. Objective – Ensure communication vehicles are current. (M & T WG)

• Update JCMGA website
• Improve signage
• Implement the use of QR codes
• Publish Garden Beet monthly
• Utilize PSA’s regarding JCMGA activities
• Distribute OMGA Newsletter
• JCMGA Brochure
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Targeted Surveys (use data to make decisions)
• OLLI Classes
• Become more involved with other groups – such as helping with phone bank for Public TV

1. Objective – Becoming more visible in the community. (COWG; M&T WG; SGF WG)

• Medford Streets Project
• Blue Heron Earth Day Event
• Plant Clinic
• Spring Garden Fair
• Honey and Meade Event
• JCMGA Fall Festival
• Seeds to Supper
• Include other SOREC Groups
• Spanish speaker to represent JCMGA in community
• Speakers Bureau
• Jackson County Home Show 2025

 

3. Goal: Provides Scholarships and Grants for all levels of education and community
4. Objective – Expand Grant Writing opportunities – receiving grants

• Prepare list of possible items/activities we want to do – prioritize list
• Prepare list of possible grants
  • Grants Station program – through Tech Soup (Fundraising WG)
  • Cultivating Companions Grant – $10,000 received
  • OMGA Karl Carlson Grant – $250

1. Objective – Expand Grant Writing opportunities – giving grants (Fundraising WG and COWG)

• Look into possibilities
• Community Gardens Grants (COWG)
• School Grants (COWG)

1. Objective – Scholarship Opportunities – receiving scholarships

• OMGA Joy of Gardening Send-a-Friend Scholarship (MSWG plus other working groups)

1. Objective – Scholarship Opportunities – giving scholarships

• To attend the OMGA Joy of Gardening Scholarships (MSWG plus other working groups)
• OSU Foundation Scholarship
• Reimbursement of fees for attending class – Master Gardener Educational Scholarship

4. Goal: Enhance the Value of Membership (responsibility of all working groups)
5. Objective – Defining our purpose

• Relooking at inclusivity and kindness
• Focus on volunteers
  • How do we get more volunteers and keep those we have?

1. Objective – Expand our activities

• Annual Picnic with speaker
• Tours – Troon Vineyard
• Class Reunion – maybe tied to Annual Picnic
• Volunteer Appreciation – pizza
• Demonstration Gardens volunteers – Wednesday snacks
• Keynote speaker for any activity