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Jane Moyer

Legacy Tree Planting and Lunch

By Beet 2025 05 May

A beautiful sunny day. Check! A delightful group of Master Gardeners. Check! Leaving a legacy. Check! A yummy lunch. Check! An informative speaker. Check! As the saying goes, “The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit”.

A group of approximately 20 Master Gardeners, one son, and a few SOREC staff gathered on April 22 to celebrate Arbor Day by planting two native Western Redbud trees (Cercis occidentalis) at the west end of the Extension. These trees were chosen to replace the existing ones whose falling leaves and pods were filling the gutters and causing a fire hazard. Additionally, small critters were able to climb onto the Extension building roof from the overhanging branches and get into the building.

Western Redbuds grow to a height of only 10′-15′. They also are a four-season tree best known for beautiful pink blossoms in the spring. In the summer, their heart-shaped leaves are a rich green that turn yellow in the fall. The leaves appear after the flowers fade. It requires sun or light shade and little water.

The OSU Foundation sponsored the event and paid for one tree and the lunch. Master Gardener Annette Carter purchased the trees at Plant Oregon and JCMGA paid for the second tree. Grace Florjancic, our fearless JCMGA coordinator, claiming she loves to dig holes, dug two before the event began (THANK YOU, Grace!). Everyone who attended helped plant the trees. SOREC Director Alec Levin placed the redbuds in the holes. The soil around them was shoveled in by having each person doing one or two scoops. Master Gardeners Lucy Pyllki and Marci Katz were in charge of the lunch and decorations. Jennifer Milburn, Assistant Vice President of the OSU Foundation, spoke during the lunch, explaining the services the foundation provides. We all found it very interesting and informative.

All in all, the day was all we could ask for. A beautiful sunny day. Check! A delightful group of Master Gardeners. Check!  Leaving a legacy. Check!  A yummy lunch. Check!  An informative speaker. Check!      Photos taken by Sandy O’Neill

The Free Lunch Is Coming!

By Beet 2025 04 April

April 22! That’s Free Lunch Day! All Master Gardeners, both perennial and student, both active and inactive, are invited. Keep an eye on your emails for a Mail Chimp with all the details and a link for the required reservation. We’ll also be planting a legacy tree donated by the OSU Foundation in commemoration of Arbor Day.

“The true meaning of life is to plant trees; under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” ― Nelson Henderson
“He that plants trees, loves others besides himself.” — Thomas Fuller
“The one who plants trees, knowing that he or she will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life.”— Rabindranath Tagore

Remembering Roberta Heinz

By Beet 2025 04 April

On February 1, 2025, the world, JCMGA, and many of us as individuals lost a valuable friend and co-worker when Roberta Heinz said her final goodbyes. Roberta is survived by her husband John, their son, Chip and his family. She taught school for many years in California, teaching the basics, but also how to garden, play a guitar, and sing songs.  She loved teaching and children loved her. She also worked with many cities up and down the west coast on their computer programs.

Roberta took the Master Gardener class and the Practicum in 2012 and began making things more efficient right away. All the plant labels were made by hand at the time, which was very time consuming.  Roberta developed a system for computerizing the process. This sometimes involved driving to SOREC more than once a week to deliver labels in time for one of the practicum sessions.  Though refined every year, her system is still in use today.  She was always asking, “What if we ……?”  She’d come up with some amazing ideas and we would try them out.  If they flopped, she’d just move on, but she always tried.

Roberta was also involved in the layout and setting up of the Practicum booths at Spring Garden Fair. Then she’d spend two full days working in the Treasurer’s Room, counting money from admissions and plant sales, making sure everything balanced.

As if that wasn’t enough, Roberta worked in, and finally ran the Children’s Garden for thirteen years. She developed enough curriculum and guest speakers so that no child would ever have to repeat a lesson, even if they attended for every year they were eligible.  When age forced her to retire as the Garden Education Mentor for that program, there was no one who felt they could replace her, so the Children’s Garden was repurposed as the Vegetable Garden. Her work has been archived in the JCMGA Dropbox with the hope that someone in the future will want to resurrect the program. In the meantime, it is being shared with the children’s program at Sanctuary One.

We all loved having Roberta in meetings, where her sage advice and humor were greatly appreciated. She graciously and cheerfully handled huge jobs and made it all look very easy. During the pandemic when we could have no contact with the public, and before she herself contracted Covid, Roberta maintained the plants from our Native Plants Nursery and ran an ongoing non-contact sale from her barn.  JCMGA provided masks and instructional signs for purchasing plants and leaving payment. Lynn Kunstman would deliver plants from the nursery and pick up the cash for deposit and Roberta would turn on the water daily to keep the plants alive.

She would often have the Fundraising Working Group over to work in her barn on Christmas decorations, wreaths, and bulb sorting for the Fall Festival. These sessions often involved laughing at so many things that probably no one else would have found funny.

She was an amazing quilter. She often created beautiful designs, usually with a cat on her lap. She enjoyed bird watching, OLLI classes, reading into the night, working puzzles, and her many friends.  She sent birthday cards, Christmas cards, and note cards to many people.  She was dedicated to JCMGA and was always ready to help in any way she could.

Annette Carter remembers the first garage sale we had. She has a picture of Roberta running with a kite trying to fly it.  She also rode many donated bikes. Back in those days she seemed to trot everywhere she went.  I remember the bond she formed with my great granddaughter and the two of them rolling in the fall leaves in Roberta’s front yard.

Roberta was strong, smart as a whip, and dedicated to helping JCMGA in so many ways. There is so much more that can be said about her. She was our friend, our sister, and we are so blessed that we got to spend time with her.  She will be sorely missed. For the last few years of Roberta’s life, Master Gardener Norma Lamerson helped Roberta and John.  She says it for us all: ” There is so much to write down for Roberta. I can’t get it out without a rush of emotion. I became very close to her and John. I truly feel I will never be the same after losing her. I’m gonna miss her so bad!”

 

Fred Meyer Has Rewards Too!

By Beet 2025 04 April

Shopped at the Grange lately? When you checked out, did you remember to say “Please credit this to account 15333?” Thank you, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to those who did! This will help us keep our budget balanced.  Every little bit really adds up!

 

And now, here’s more good news! Fred Meyer has a similar program. When you shop there, please remember to ask them to credit your purchases to the Jackson County Master Gardeners. Be sure to include the words “Jackson County” since there are Master Gardener Associations in many other Oregon counties.

 

Remember, at both stores, the average rewards are only worth a few dollars per month.  By putting our rewards together though, we can accumulate significant amounts to help fund our many programs that directly feed back into our community.

Tree Planting and FREE Lunch

By Beet 2025 03 March

We’ve all heard the saying, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”  Well, mark your calendars for April 22nd (Arbor Day,) because there is going to be a FREE LUNCH!

The Fundraising Working Group and the Ad Hoc Practicum Design Committee have started working with Andrew Norwood from the OSU Foundation to raise funds for building a new tool shed, a Practicum classroom, and a lathe house to replace the buildings that were demolished with the Creepy Old House.  Because of its old age, wood rot, termites, and the need for constant repairs, Greenhouse #1 is also scheduled to be replaced in a subsequent building phase.

In an effort to become better acquainted with JCMGA, Andrew has invited all its members to an Arbor Day celebration.  He will be donating a tree to be planted on the SOREC grounds, followed by a lunch also provided by him.  A speaker will give a short presentation on the purposes of the OSU Foundation.  (Side note: JCMGA uses the foundation for our endowment fund and the scholarship we give annually to help a student majoring in a horticulture-related field.)

Watch next month’s Garden Beet and your email in April for a Mail Chimp with more details about the Arbor Day event.  Reservations will be required for lunch.  I hope to see you there.

REMEMBER 15333

By Beet 2025 03 March

We’re starting to head into the gardening season. My Garden Guide for the Rogue Valley, Year ‘Round & Month by Month, Vegetables Berries Melons tells me this is the time to direct sow onions, peas, spinach, radishes, carrots, chives, cilantro, kale, Swiss chard, parsley, and turnips.  It’s also time to transplant asparagus roots, perennial herbs, horseradish, head lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, and strawberries

So where do you buy your gardening supplies and equipment?  If you shop at the Grange Co-Op, when you check out they always ask, “Are you a Grange member?”  If you say, “No,” consider adding, “…but would you please credit this to the Jackson County Master Gardeners?  The account number is 15333.” Grange members can also choose to do this because their rewards usually don’t amount to a lot. It’s when we put our rewards together that they become significant.

They’ll probably ask for your name.  Remind the cashier that anyone can credit an account.  They only need a name that matches one of the three on the account if you are trying to buy something with the credits.

This enables the rewards for your purchase to go to JCMGA instead of being wasted.  Last year, JCMGA bought over $500 worth of gardening supplies for the Practicum, the Demonstration Gardens, and irrigation needs with the rewards accumulated by JCMGA members and friends. More than you realize, remembering “15333” helps us support our efforts to give back to the community.

Editor’s Note:  Not remembering 15333, the last time I checked out at the Grange I just asked to have JCMGA credited and they obliged. -sch

 

Beat the Winter Blues

By Beet 2025 02 February

When it’s cold, grey, rainy, foggy, and just plain yucky outside for days on end, many of us get the “winter blues,” otherwise called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).  A recent article in “Healthwise,” the newsletter from the PERS Health Insurance Program, reminded me that, while we can’t change the weather or the shorter days, there are things we can do to make winter more bearable.

One action they recommended is volunteering.  Quoting a Mayo Clinic article, “Research shows that volunteering leads to lower rates of depression and anxiety, especially for people age 65 and older by

  • improving mental and physical health

  • giving a sense of purpose

  • teaching valuable skills

  • nurturing new and existing skills”

For some reason still under investigation (thought to probably be the release of dopamine), this is especially true in, although not exclusive to women.  In one program, 85 percent of volunteers felt their lives had improved because of their volunteer involvement.

Although there are numerous volunteer opportunities available in the Rogue Valley, what could be better than Master Gardeners?  The opportunities are limitless, the volunteers are very friendly, and the rewards are many.  It’s a great way to give back to the community and make new friends at the same time.  There are activities at all physical levels and time commitments.  Boundless information keeps your mind active and growing.  And everyone speaks “gardening.”

The Plant Clinic is a wonderful place to expand your gardening knowledge.  Helping in the Practicum or the Wednesday class refreshes your knowledge.  Helping in the gardens provides physical activity.  The eight working groups are each made up of related committees that provide continuing social contact while planning the many valuable JCMGA activities.  Short on time to contribute?  Volunteer to help with Spring Garden Fair or one of the many one-day booths to acquaint the public with Master Gardeners.  Write an article for The Garden Beet.

Here are the people to contact to get more information about the committees involved and eliminate those winter doldrums–

Program Support–Grace Florjancic (541-776-7371)

Marketing and Technology—Lucy Pylkki (541-601-2519) or Keltie Nelson (541-941-8584)

Community Outreach–Michael Hornbeck (713-254-3771)

Fundraising–Jane Moyer (541-890-8561)

Gardens–Janine Salvatti (541-772-0464)

Member Services–Barbara Low (541-840-1615) or Linda Millus (541-772-9787)

Spring Garden Fair–Marcie Katz (541-301-8464) or Lucy Pyllki (541-601-2519)

Winter Dreams Summer Gardens–Colet Allen (425-941-7637), Susan Koenig (510-239-9270) or Barbara Low (541-840-1615)

References

Healthwise, PERS Health Insurance Program newsletter, Winter 2024 https://www.pershealth.com/userfiles/0174-PHIP-Booklet-Healthwise-Winter-2024_Final_Web-1.pdf

MayoClinicHealthSystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/3-health-benefits-of-volunteering

Cosmic Connections

By Beet 2025 02 February

Cosmic Connections is an Ashland company that manufactures and supplies coconut coir, peat, chips, husks, briquettes, coco bales and worm castings. The company was started by Dr. Ajet and Neeta Nehra who are originally from India and import many of their products from there.  For the past few years, they have supplied the Jackson County Master Gardener Practicum with coir and worm castings at a steep discount for the planting mixes made by students.

Sadly, Ajet passed away at age 49 in January of 2023. Neeta decided to commemorate her husband’s life by annually donating a number of coconut coir bricks equal to the age Ajet would have been. She has asked JCMGA to distribute the donations to gardeners who are less fortunate which we did in 2024.

Ajet would have turned 51 this year, so Neeta will donate 51 coconut bricks to JCMGA to distribute.  The board of directors has agreed to give them to participants in the Seed to Supper program, the Jackson County community gardens that receive gardening grants from JCMGA, and the Jackson County schools that receive grants from JCMGA.

The Master Gardener Practicum will receive, store, and distribute the coir along with planting mix recipes developed in the program.  For your use, here are the recipes that will be included:

Seed Starting Mix

Mix together well:

75% coco coir

10% organic compost

15% small pumice (less than 3/8″)

Add enough water to moisten. (When a handful is squeezed, water should not drip out.)

Seedling Transplant Mix

This totals 15 gallons, which fills one wheelbarrow.

Mix together well:

5 gallons pumice

5 gallons coir

5 gallons aged sawdust

Mix together well and add to the mixture above:

1/4 cup bloodmeal

1/4 cup alfalfa meal

1 cup bone meal

1/2 cup kelp

Add enough water to moisten. (When a handful is squeezed, water should not drip out.)

Succulent Planting Mix

Mix together well:

1 part coir

1 part compost

1-2 parts pumice (depending on how much compost compacts)

Add enough water to moisten. (When a handful is squeezed, water should not drip out.)

Transplant Mix for Storing and Dividing Plants

Mix together well:

1 part compost

1 part coir

1 part pumice

Add enough water to moisten.  (When a handful is squeezed, water should not drip out.)

We are grateful to Neeta Nehra of Cosmic Connections for this very generous annual donation, and are happy we can contribute to honoring the life of Dr. Ajet Nehra.

WHAT AN AWESOME GROUP!

By Beet 2024 08 August

Sometimes things can happen so fast, it’s enough to make your head spin!

On July 12, the Jackson County Master Gardener Board was informed the Josephine County commissioners had voted to end all funding to the OSU Extension in their county.  According to regulations for Oregon non-profits and bylaws of the Oregon Master Gardener Association, when this happens the affected association must liquidate all their equipment, supplies and materials by first offering them to other Oregon Master Gardener associations, and then selling and/or disposing of what is left.

JCMGA President Barbara Low was leaving on vacation, so she wisely asked outgoing Practicum co-chair Jane Moyer to find out what could be used by JCMGA. So on Thursday July 18, Rob MacWhorter and Kathy Rogers accompanied Jane to Josephine County.

The deadline for completing the process had been set for Friday, July 26.  Working backwards from that date, the schedule looked like this:

July 26: Return the property to the county.

July 25: Have paid help take anything left to the landfill.

July 24: Make anything left available for sale to the public.

July 23: Make anything left available for sale to JoCoMGA members.

July 22: Deadline for other Master Gardener Associations to take equipment, supplies, and materials.  Their three greenhouses and anything attached to them were considered part of the property and could not be taken.

On the drive back to Jackson County, it was quickly decided that Saturday, July 20 would be the best moving day, but YIKES!, that was only two days away!  Kathy Rogers immediately got on her phone and arranged for a 26′ rental truck.  An emergency Mail Chimp was composed and sent out first thing Friday morning, less than 24 hours before moving time.  Would enough Master Gardeners volunteer to make it work?

The answer is YES!  Bright and early (7:30) Saturday morning, the 26′ moving truck, pickup trucks and a car with trailer pulled into the Josephine County Extension parking lot along with 20 volunteers.  Less than three hours later, we pulled out again, loaded with everything from large tables to reference books; shelves to black pots of all sizes; easels and sandwich boards to watering wands and shovels; heating mats to canopies, LOTS of plants to sell and more.  Some of these items will be used now in the Practicum including the Native Plants Nursery, some will be saved to be used in the still-to-be-built Practicum and tool shed building.

Unbelievably, it only took about an hour to unload and store everything back at SOREC, so it was slightly before noon when the moving crew headed home.  WHAT AN AWESOME GROUP!

Although it is a sad day when a county MGA must close, we are thankful to the Josephine County Master Gardening Association. Due to its generosity, we will be able to use some of their equipment and supplies to expand resources and enhance gardening skills among Jackson Co. Master Gardeners. All Josephine Master Gardeners have been invited to join JCMGA.

A huge thanks to those who helped: Bob Reynolds, Barbara and Vic Low, Rob MacWhorter, Kathy and Michael Rogers, Marcie Katz, Lynn Kunstman, Lindsay Trumball, Mary Schrouder, Keltie and Keith Nelson, Deidre Krupp and her mom who feels no acknowledgement is needed, Erin Amato, Tami Cisneros, Susan Hoehn, Virginia Clark and Kaleen Reilly.  Let me say it again— WHAT AN AWESOME GROUP!

 

[Editor’s Note:  Jane Moyer did an AWESOME job; responding quickly to the call, selecting which items to accept, creating an inventory list, and expertly directing the whole process.  And then she wrote this article of thanks!]

 

 

The Practicum Story 2011-2024

By Beet 2024 07 July

 

As the leadership changes, a written record of Practicum history was deemed important. Here goes, although bear in mind, much is from memory which at times can be faulty.

 

In 2005 and prior years, Master Gardener students were required to participate in one of three activities: Greenhouse, Grandma’s Garden, or designing, constructing, and manning an educational booth at Spring Garden Fair (SGF).  Greenhouse consisted of growing plants from seeds for selling at SGF.  Grandma’s Garden propagated plants using other methods, also for selling at SGF.  The educational booth was discontinued after 2005.

 

Two mentors, Janet Rantz from Grandma’s Garden and me (Jane Moyer) from Greenhouse, noticed that every year many students expressed the desire to be able to participate in both.  So, we put our heads together to figure out how to accomplish this “merger”.

 

In 2011 a pilot program was run by combining the Thursday morning groups from Grandma’s Garden and Greenhouse, teaching the lessons from both programs.  The rational was that, even though the lessons would take about twice the time, there would be double the number of students to start and grow the plants. Therefore, the end results would be the same.  As in any new program, there were bumps along the way; but when asked, the pilot students unanimously expressed their appreciation for having been in the new pilot program versus one program alone. That summer, the mentors from both Grandma’s Garden and Greenhouse met together to consider combining their programs. Not all mentors were in favor, but the majority came to agreement that doing what provided the best education for students was the goal.

 

Those who decided to continue with the effort to design a combined program spent September through December 2011 writing lesson plans, painting the inside of the garage of the Creepy Old House a bright yellow, and combining supplies and equipment.  Rick Evans, a commercial painter and husband of Master Gardener Carol Evans, painted murals on the walls, cupboard, and filing cabinet.  Michael Riding, 2012 President, named the new program “The Jackson County Master Gardener Practicum.”

 

The first problem to surface was scheduling the Practicum sessions.  Historically, all sessions were held in the morning. With a class of 75, that would require many morning Practicum sessions with a high student-to-mentor ratio held in a small space. The solution was to switch to the current practice of having six morning sessions and three afternoon sessions every week.

 

Each year, changes have been made based on evaluations from both students and mentors.  Mentors now have an annual training before Practicum begins, take turns each week conducting a review of the lessons for the upcoming week, and sign up to be responsible for both one-time jobs and recurring jobs.  Students are no longer required to take Practicum (although most still do), they are asked to read articles and/or view videos online in preparation for the topics for the upcoming week, and they attend for 14-15 weeks.

 

In 2017-18, a Prop House and Lathe House were torn down and Greenhouse #2 was built. A valuable lesson was learned along the way: next time we build anything, we should hire a contractor rather than try to do it ourselves!

 

2018 brought a mandate from the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture and OSU that sent us all into a tizzy for a while!  Up until that time, we had asked Master Gardeners who were dividing plants in their yards to bring any extras divisions to us.  We would divide them, if needed, pot them up, and care of them until they could be sold at the SGF.  Because this practice had caused the spread of some harmful insects, viruses, and weeds up north, MG programs were told they could no longer accept plants grown in garden soil.  We couldn’t even accept divisions from our own demonstration gardens.  That was about a fourth of the plants for Spring Garden Fair!

 

Lynn Kunstman introduced the idea of growing native plants from seeds and cuttings instead.

In 2017 Lynn, a Jackson County Master Gardener and Practicum mentor, had been giving butterfly garden presentations. Influenced by the books “Bringing Nature Home” and “Nature’s Best Hope” by Doug Tallamy, Lynn began propagating native plants from cuttings taken on the SOREC campus and seeds purchased from Klamath Siskiyou Native Seeds.  Growing natives, which requires less water and maintenance, also aligns well with recent directives from OSU regarding sustainable gardening practices.  The Native Plant Nursery has expanded and is now an ongoing source of revenue for JCMGA.

 

In March 2020 everything came to a halt.  With all we had heard about the dangers of COVID, the JCMGA board had an emergency meeting and canceled the Spring Garden Fair.  Classes were canceled.  The campus was shut down.  All Practicum seedlings were given to members to take home and raise.  No-contact honor sales were held from members’ driveways.  We learned to hold lessons and classes via Zoom.  Practicum mentors put together kits for each student to use during online classes.  The 2020 graduation was held over Zoom.

 

And so it went for the remainder of 2020, 2021, and 2022.  There was no MG class in 2021.  The 2022 class took place entirely over Zoom.  Eight students graduated. Plans for Practicum were made and canceled.  The gardens were open for summer work with strict limits on how many MGs could be in them, then closed again.

 

Finally in 2023, things began returning to “normal” with a difference.  Classes were offered in a hybrid format, meeting in-person only a half day each week, while the rest of the classes met online.  The Creepy Old House had been condemned due to asbestos, so a Practicum teaching area was set up in Greenhouse #1 which cut down on space for plants. Some of the Practicum mentors decided not to teach anymore so each session had only two mentors instead of three. There were frequent absences due to COVID.  The Spring Garden Fair was held at the Extension instead of the fairgrounds due to the expense and lack of volunteers. But the Practicum mentors pulled together and made it work.

 

During the summer and fall of 2023, a small team of mentors went through the lesson plans to update them.  All teaching charts were professionally remade, laminated, and mounted.  Four mentor teams were organized (Curriculum, Greenhouse Maintenance, Native Plant Nursery, and Seeds).  Mentor positions were all filled.  It looked like it was going to be a great year for the Practicum.

 

Then two of the leadership mentors had health and/or family situations that kept them out for most of the season.  Virginia Brown assumed the chairmanship and with the help of a great mentor group was able to guide the Practicum through.  Spring Garden Fair was a financial success even though the first day set records for rainfall and low temperature (and probably mud).

 

And so, Practicum continues to grow, expand, and improve.  The first and major goal of Practicum is education with a second minor goal of fundraising.  Practicum is one of the main pillars that supports the efforts of JCMGA to learn, practice, and teach the art and science of gardening in the Rogue Valley.

 

Future changes: Barbara Low and Nicole Smith are assuming the leadership of Practicum.  The Creepy Old House, the tool shed, the Propagation Greenhouse, and the Practicum Plant Infirmary are all going to be removed by the county. An ad hoc committee is exploring the possibility of replacing them along with Greenhouse #1.