Hello Gardeners,
I am very excited to announce that JCMGA has been awarded funding from the Rural Older Adult Mini Grant that we applied to earlier this year! This grant is through the Oregon Health Authority and its goal is to help support social engagement among isolated rural and remote older adults. I see great opportunity for gardening to fit into this grant’s goals.
Horticulture therapy is an emerging practice to use gardening for improving mental health. Hospitals have shown quicker recovery times when patients have greenery in their rooms or a window with a view of nature. There have been studies showing a boost in mood when plants are just in the room with us! Beyond making us happier, working with plants has been shown to reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and improve memory. Horticultural therapy focuses on learning new skills, activating the senses, building social connections, and improve coordination.
Our programing funded by this grant will take place in the rural libraries of Jackson County as meeting locations. Cohorts of about 6-10 participants will meet for six weeks doing various gardening activities based on horticultural therapy ideas. Activities range from learning to grow plants indoors, creating art with plants, and using herbs for a tea party. We hope that people will form lasting connections with their groups as well as foster a love for plants.
As we age, we have to change the way we garden and enjoy our plants. This program is designed with that in mind. My grandma is a lifelong gardener but when she entered her 90’s she had to take a big step back from her outdoor plants. I helped her grow plants in containers on her porch and set her up with some indoor plants. She has been so happy to continue her lifelong love of plants in a way that is easier on her body than outdoor gardening was. I hope that people leave this program with the knowledge and skills to keep gardening and adapt the way they garden to fit their needs. I also hope participants make some new friends along the way.
Do you want to get involved?
If so, please contact me at grace.florjancic@oregonstate.edu. This new program is a short 6-month grant, so we are quickly getting this ball rolling!
Hello Gardeners,
This winter has been milder in the valley than last winter. You may be thinking, “Spring has sprung!” like the groundhogs have said. That gardening itch may be starting to tickle you into getting outside and prepping your beds! But you may want to hold off for a little bit longer for more consistent warm weather.
We hear the phrase “Leave the leaves” in the fall, but what does it mean for us gardeners in the spring? The purpose of leaving our leaves in garden beds is to provide habitat for our gardens’ insect friends to survive the winter months. Tall stalks from flowers are also used as overwintering habitat for insects. Many native beneficial insects need these to remain in gardens to help them maintain healthy population levels. If we remove our leaves and tall stems too early into spring, we are removing some of these insects that haven’t had a chance to emerge into the warm weather, thus depriving our gardens of their benefits.
When is it late enough to remove your garden leaves? In a perfect world for the beneficial insects, the leaves would be able to stay year-round; however, that is not realistic for many gardens. Dried leaves close to houses or trapped under shrubs could be tinder for summer fires. Wait as long as you can to let the most insects develop and emerge from overwintering. This could be well into April or even into the beginning of May!
Leaving the leaves is great for our insect friends but there are some circumstances where removing the leaves in fall could be a good idea. Orchards and vineyards often face disease issues spread by their fallen leaves. When the spring rains come, they splash up fungal spores onto the newly budding leaves. Removing leaves in your orchards and vineyards can help prevent diseases spreading this way. If you want to put those leaves to good use, you can add them to an ornamental garden bed away from your crop area.
Let us leave the leaves for a little length longer!
Hello Gardeners,
I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season and started the year off on a good foot! We are entering a very busy time for us Master Gardeners. The 2024 training class has started, with Practicum soon to follow. Our community education classes will be kicking off this month, as well as more upcoming ways to volunteer!
Upcoming Classes!
Rose Pruning: February 17th from 10:00am – 12:00pm. In Person Only.
Have roses you are not sure how to prune? Join the Master Gardeners in our Rose Demonstration Garden as we teach you the ins and outs of pruning the perfect roses. Register here https://beav.es/SGR.
LAST MG Trivia Night: February 21st 6:00pm – 7:00pm. Online Only.
Play trivia against MGs across the state for a chance to win a gift card to an Oregon-based gardening company. This month’s trivia will be about Oregon native plants. Trivia is fun, and also counts towards your continuing education hours! Register here https://beav.es/qkN.
OSU MG Training Modules: February. Self-Paced. Online Only.
The online modules used for the MG training class are available for Current MGs to review for free! If you would like to access the videos to use as continuing education credits, please email Grace at grace.florjancic@oregonstate.edu to receive the registration link.
Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities!
Plant a Row Food Donation
The Master Gardeners will be collecting home grown produce at SOREC to donate to ACCESS Food Pantries this summer. If you have the garden space, plan ahead of time to reserve a bed or section for produce to donate. Last year we collected over 700 pounds of fresh produce. This is one way we can help make a more food secure Jackson County!
Seed to Supper Instructor
Seed to Supper is a 6-week basic veggie gardening course for folks in the county facing food insecurity. Classes typically run in spring but can happen throughout the year, depending on location and instructor availability. Instructors are provided training for the course, teaching materials, and workbooks for all the program participants. Seed to Supper instructors must be current certified Master Gardeners. Reach out to Grace Florjancic if you are interested in becoming a Seed to Supper Instructor, at grace.florjancic@oregonstate.edu.
Plants for Gramps Volunteers
This is a new program we plan to pilot in the summer of 2024. Plants for Gramps is going to be horticultural therapy activities for rural older adults. We are hoping to offer 6-8 activities for each group of participants. We are working to team up with libraries to hold the program meetings. This means you could volunteer to help folks in your local community! Fingers crossed the grant funding to launch this program gets approved! Instructors for this program need to be currently certified Master Gardeners. Reach out to Grace Florjancic if you are interested in volunteering as an instructor in Plants for Gramps at grace.florjancic@oregonstate.edu.
Spring Garden Fair
This year’s Spring Garden Fair will be on May 4th and 5th here at SOREC! There will be many ways to help us prepare for this event, as well as staffing for the event. Keep an eye out and ears open this month for opportunities to get involved.
Hello Gardeners,
The cold and snowy weather is the perfect time to think about next year’s veggie garden. What do you like to eat? How much will your family eat? How much can you grow in your garden? These are the questions we think about when planning our gardens. I encourage all of you growers to also think about how you can dedicate an extra row, bed, or section of your veggie garden for food donations.
One of the Master Gardener program priorities is local food production and access in Oregon. A large component of that is food security for all Oregonians. There are lots of ways a more food secure Jackson County can be achieved. One way we, the Jackson County Master Gardeners, help out is through produce donations to ACCESS Food Bank. Last year we donated 1,108.5 pounds of produce! Much of that donation came from our Plant a Row Campaign.
The Plant a Row Campaign encourages people to grow an additional row of veggies for the purpose of donation. This past summer we collected and weighed produce donated at SOREC on Wednesdays. Our contact with ACCESS picked up our donations with their food van. That food gets distributed throughout the county at various ACCESS sites. We are hopeful that more people will participate in this campaign next year to increase our positive impact within Jackson County. You do not have to be a Master Gardener to donate produce through our Plant a Row Campaign, so tell your neighbors!
While the Master Gardeners partner with ACCESS Food Bank, there are many other groups that offer food pantry services in the county. If you cannot make it to SOREC to drop off produce for our collection day, consider dropping off produce to your local pantry. Here is a list of food pantries in the county https://accesshelps.org/food-pantries/. Reach out to see if they will accept your homegrown produce.
Hello Plant Clinic People,
The Medford Water Commission has decided to make a small change in the water treatment process for their water supply. They will be raising the pH of the water from about 7.1 to 7.8 by adding sodium hydroxide (NaOH). While this change is unlikely to impact garden plants, there is a chance that over time some plants could show signs of nutrient deficiency due to the higher alkalinity in the water. Plants that are acid-loving, like blueberries, may be impacted. It’s something to keep in the back of your mind when you think you have a case of nutrient deficiency on your hands in the upcoming years.
Medford Water Commission: https://www.medfordwater.org/Page.asp?NavID=642
Michigan State University: https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/water_alkalinity_and_ph_what_they_mean_in_regards_to_water_quality
Hello Gardeners,
We are in those cold winter months where family and friends gather to celebrate. There is much for the Jackson County Master Gardeners to celebrate this year also.
- We have completed a total of 8,981.8 volunteer hours this year!
- Plus, an additional 1,133.4 hours of Continuing Education Credits!
- 65,914 people in the County were reached through our efforts!
- 1,108.5 pounds of produce were donated, largely from the Plant a Row Campaign and our Veggie Demonstration Garden!
Thank you to everyone who helped make this year a success. All of your hard work really demonstrates our impact as an organization. As we continue to expand what we do as an organization, these numbers will continue to grow. I am looking forward to working with you all again next year!
Speaking of next year, what’s new for the Jackson County Master Gardeners in 2024? In addition to our current volunteer opportunities, we will be expanding into a few new areas.
We are happy to announce the initiation of our Friends of the Demonstration Gardens volunteers. These volunteers are folks who are not Master Gardeners but are still interested in getting some hands-on education and practice volunteering in our Demonstration Gardens. This will expand our reach within our community and help our GEMs keep their gardens in tip top shape. If you are interested in helping coordinate this group of volunteers, reach out to me (Grace Florjancic) at grace.flroajncic@oregonstate.edu!
Seed to Supper is making a comeback! This 6-week gardening class is designed for those in our county of lower incomes to teach how to veggie garden on a budget. This program is important in helping create a more resilient and food secure Oregon. If you are interested in becoming a Seed to Supper instructor, reach out to me at grace.florjancic@oregonstate.edu!
We have a new initiative under construction and if the grant is funded, we will be charging ahead in the summer of 2024. The working title is “Plants for Gramps”, and it will take place in various Jackson County libraries. It will be a short workshop series based on horticultural therapy activities to help combat mental health challenges and loneliness in rural older adults. Our goal is to help folks be able to access the benefits of interacting with nature indoors and from home as well as connecting with new people to foster a sense of community. If you are interested in becoming a Plants for Gramps instructor, reach out to me at grace.florjancic@oregonstate.edu!
Thank you to everyone for your hard work over this past year. I know there are endless opportunities for the future, and it can be a challenge to make sure we accomplish all the exciting goals we have when taking on new initiatives and expanding old ones. I am available to discuss ideas about future endeavors. Drop me a line! By now you should all know my email: grace.florjancic@oregonstate.edu
Hello Gardeners,
As we move into November, the cold weather creeps up on us. We spend less time working out in our gardens, in favor of staying warm and cozy indoors. However, there are still plenty of things we can do to nourish and care for ourselves over the winter in preparation for a busy spring gardening schedule. Two important items on that list are 1) exercising and 2) assessing our tools.
Gardening is a great form of exercising from our arms down to our toes. Gardeners spend all growing season lifting, squatting, and pushing heavy objects across our gardens. We don’t want to lose any of our strength and flexibility over the wintertime. We don’t need to train like a sports star but throwing in a couple of exercises each week can have big results. Starting the morning off with an easy stretch or exercise can help awaken any joints that are stiff from lack of movement while asleep. There are many free resources for simple at-home exercises to help keep us in shape and prevent future gardening injuries.
Winter is also a great time to go through our tools and see what needs cleaning, sharpening, or replacing. Consider modifying your tools or replacing them to become more ergonomic. Many ergonomic gardening tools have either a curved handle or have the tool at a 90-degree angle to the handle. This shape reduces strain on our wrists. Ergonomic tools tend to have a wider handle for an easier grip. There are ways to add material like foam to tool handles to increase their size. Some larger tools like shovels have a round handle at the end for an easier hold.
Food Hero Exercises
Aerobic Activity – https://foodhero.org/magazines/older-adults-focus-aerobic-activity
Balance – https://foodhero.org/magazines/older-adults-focus-balance
Flexibility – https://foodhero.org/magazines/older-adults-focus-flexibility
Strength – https://foodhero.org/magazines/older-adult-focus-strength
Level Up Class
The Healthy Gardener – https://media.oregonstate.edu/media/t/1_bqwste6p
OSU
Walk With Ease – https://extension.oregonstate.edu/walk-ease
Better Bones and Balance – https://extension.oregonstate.edu/bbb/participant-resources
Ergonomic Tool Examples
Hello Gardeners,
As October begins, we approach the end of the Master Gardener volunteering year. I have had a great year getting to know our perennial Master Gardeners and experiencing the program for the first time with our new Master Gardener students. We had a great crew of students, many of whom will graduate on November 4th and continue on to be lasting volunteers in the Master Gardener Program. Thank you everyone for all your hard work in making this year successful and providing feedback and ideas to make next year even better!
Remember to record your volunteer hours!
Recording volunteer hours is important for every Master Gardener no matter how many or few hours you volunteered this year. Program Coordinators (like me!) track our numbers in our yearly reports to show our counties how awesome our volunteers are and all the amazing things you accomplish. The deadline for reporting hours is the end of October. The sooner you get those in the better!
OSU uses an online website to report volunteer hours called the Volunteer Reporting System. (Website Link: https://vrs.osumg.org/sec_Login/) This makes it easier to keep track of everyone’s hours to see who will remain certified to teach next year and which students have completed their hours for graduation. Here are helpful videos on how to use the VRS. (Videos: https://vrs.osumg.org/v_video_demos/)
Students need a total of 45 volunteer hours to graduate and become certified to teach others. Perennial Master Gardeners need 20 volunteer hours and 10 continuing education hours to remain or become certified to teach. Teaching can range from being a Plant Clinic Mentor educating the community on their plant problems; being a Seed to Supper instructor educating the community on veggie gardening on a budget; or a GEM leading Master Gardeners and students in the Demonstration Gardens, giving presentations to garden clubs through the Speakers Bureau, and much more!
It is not too late to complete your 2023 graduation or recertification hours!
Please reach out to me at grace.florjancic@oregonstate.edu so I can help you find ways to reach your goals!
Enjoy the cool fall weather,
Grace Florjancic
Oregon State University Extension
