Skip to main content
All Posts By

Jane Moyer

Nov 29

Cultivating Companions

By Beet 2025 12 December

“A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside.”

— Winnie-the-Pooh

Last year, our Jackson County Master Gardener Coordinator, Grace Florjancic read that isolated older adults who have few to no friends or close family members, tend to experience more health problems and depression. Wanting to address this issue, she and Master Gardener Kendyl Berkowitz (class of 2023) joined forces to write a grant application. They were awarded the Rural Older Adult Mini Grant from the Association of Oregon Community Mental Health.

Grace and Kendyl used the grant to create classes for older adults in the Jackson County community. These classes are based around simple indoor gardening projects, and provide participants with opportunities to socialize while completing the day’s project.

The 2024 classes were held in local libraries and were taught by the following JCMGA Master Gardeners:

​Kelli Loux, Louise Parker, David Gremmels, and Gayle Reed in Medford

Chris Veach and Grace Florjancic in Shady Cove

Connie Lyssand, Tina Elliot, and Blake Elliot in Ruch

Barbara Low, Bruce Millbank, Cathy Millbank, and Liv Schneider in Rogue River

Margie Dode and Grace Florjancic in Butte Falls and Eagle Point

 

This year there was enough money left in the grant to also offer the classes in Talent and Gold Hill. Katrina van der Linden, Maggi Laurel, and Eve Thornton were the Talent instructors; Erin Galbraith and Jane Moyer taught in Gold Hill.

 

The classes taught included the following:

Week 1: Introductions

Discussion of class purpose

Aging and loneliness resources available

Repotting houseplants

Care of houseplants​

Participants received a small grow light to take home

Week 2: Introduction (review) 

Discussion on how participants’ houseplants are doing

Plant propagation (stem and leaf cuttings)

Discussion of plant cuttings by the pioneers

Discussion of experiences with plant propagation

Week 3: Introduction (review)

Discussion of art projects done using nature

Plant poetry (Mad Lib and Acrostic poems)

Discussion of floral design

Creating a simple bud vase arrangement to take home

Week 4: Introduction (review)

Discussion of food plants that can be grown indoors

Discussion on gardening adaptations made to accommodate aging

Discussion of micro-greens and their benefits

Planting a container of micro-greens to take home

Planting a container of herbs from seeds to take home

Discussion of how to care for houseplants

Week 5: Introduction (review)

Discussion of how micro-greens are doing

How to press flowers

Making a bookmark and a see-through picture frame with pressed flowers

Week 6: Introduction (review)

Discussion about using pesticides safely (IPM) and the JCMGA Plant Clinic

Discussion of how to identify and treat houseplant pests

Participants received yellow sticky traps and a hand lens to take home

Week 7: Introduction (review)

Discussion of who has herbs sprouting from Week 5 and/or growing outside

Discussion of various methods for drying herbs

Making bundles of herbs to take home to hang and dry

Tea party (The tea was made using herbs and plenty of honey tocelebrate our n     ew friends.)

Participants received a souvenir mug to take home

How to find out about classes offered by Master Gardeners (JCMGA website)

Planning for how to stay in touch

The participants enjoyed themselves, and said they had learned a lot about gardening indoors while making new friends. A side benefit for JCMGA was that Erin Galbraith, who had accompanied her mother to the class in 2024, decided to take the 2025 Master Gardener class and has become very active in the association. In fact, she was elected to the JCMGA Board of Directors as representative from the class of 2025 and reelected as a member at large for 2026.   She has also become quite active in many working groups.

Here’s to another successful season of Cultivating Companions!

Sep 01

$upport JCMGA with Fred Meyer Reward$

By Beet 2025 09 September

At one time or another, most, if not all of us, have shopped at the Fred Meyer store(s).  The cashiers always ask for your Fred Meyer card which gives back a minuscule reward. But what if we all put our rewards together? It could become a sizeable amount.  And what if we all donated our Fred Meyer rewards to JCMGA? It could add significantly to the amount available to support our many programs.

Signing up to donate your rewards is a one-time process. First, you have to have a Fred Meyer Rewards card. If you don’t already have a card, you can get one at the Customer Service desk at any Fred Meyer store.

Once you have the card, the steps for automatically donating your rewards points each time you shop at a Fred Meyer are as follows:

  • Go online to fredmeyer.com.
  • Type “create account” into the search bar.
  • Follow the directions to sign up.
  • Follow the directions to link your card to your account.
  • Go to “My Account.”
  • Click on “Community Rewards.”
  • Find and click on “Jackson Co. Master Gardeners.”

Finally, all you must do is show your card any time you make a purchase, and the reward will automatically go to JCMGA.

THANK YOU for taking the time and effort to do this! Once again, you are supporting JCMGA programs that help the Jackson County community.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sep 01

The Ghost Garden

By Beet 2025 09 September

For years we lived with an awkward space between our house and shop. It is on a hillside and has a dip running down the middle. There are stairs on both sides but there was no way to get across the uneven top to go between the two buildings without going down one set of stairs and up the stairs on the other side.

Finally, a few years ago, we had a sidewalk installed across the top section to solve that problem. Then we spent another two years trying to decide what to do with the rest of it. Landscaper after landscaper came out to tell us their ideas. We finally settled on one who suggested terracing it and making it into our vegetable garden, thus eliminating the need for mowing.

And, so, last winter two workers built three walls dividing the hillside into four sections. Soil was scheduled to be blown into each section. We told the landscaper we’d like to lay hardware cloth before the final load of soil arrived to keep the ground critters out. “Oh, no! You don’t have to do that!” he said. “They’ll never get in there with the stairs and the walls.” Unfortunately, we chose to believe him.

Now, six months later, we have a great vegetable garden full of gopher tunnels. The rosemary is dying off little by little because the roots are being eaten. The sweet potatoes and tomatillos were eaten down to the ground but are recovering.

Castor oil powder covers the tunnels to encourage gophers to move on. Smoke bombs are put into their tunnels a couple times a week. A squirrel trap sits where the peppers used to be. Screen tents cover the plants that seem to be the favorites for being eaten from the top.

The tomatoes were our main concern. My daughter devised an ingenious solution that has kept the deer at bay so far. We’ve had no trouble with them so far (knock on wood!) because she bought 50′ pieces of sun cloth and covers the whole garden every night. A bit labor intensive, but we’ve had midnight visitors in other places, so feel the effort is worth it.

Our project for this fall is hardware cloth under another load of soil but the ghost garden will probably live on!

 

Jul 30

How to Tell the Difference Between a Thanksgiving Cactus, a Christmas Cactus and an Easter Cactus

By Beet 2025 08 August

Thanksgiving Cactus – Schlumbergera truncata – flowers in October and November. Flowers grow more upward and outward. Leaves have downward scallops with sharp edges. It grows best in light shade. Full sunlight is beneficial in midwinter, but bright sun during the summer months can make plants look pale and yellow. Ideal growth occurs at temperatures between 70° and 80° F during its growing season from April to September. Do not let temperatures rise above 90° F once the flower buds are set in the fall. Continuous warm temperatures can cause flower buds to drop. Water the growing medium when it is dry to the touch. The holiday cactus is tolerant of dry, slightly under-watered conditions. Do not let the soil become waterlogged, especially during the dark days of winter. It is important to not let the soil dry out either. Reduce watering from fall through spring. The Thanksgiving cactus flowers best when kept somewhat pot-bound.   Repotting is necessary only about every three years.

 

 

Christmas Cactus – Schlumbergera x buckleyi – flowers in November and December. Flowers grow draping downwards. Leaves have softer, rounded edged scallops facing downwards. In order for indoor plants to flower well during the Christmas season, it is best to provide the following as of mid-September: (a) bright daytime light, (b) night temperatures between 55 and 65 degrees F., and (c) long nights consisting of 13 hours of total darkness (i.e., cover plant with a black cloth or place plant in a totally dark room from 6 pm to 7 am each day for 6-8 weeks). If indoor temperatures at night can be kept at 45-55 degrees F. (which admittedly can be difficult to do in a home), buds will usually form in autumn without employing the strict 13-hour darkness regimen. Soils should receive consistent but moderate moisture. Plants will tolerate dry, slightly under-watered conditions, but soils should not be allowed to dry out or become overly moist. Reduce watering from late winter to spring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Cactus –Hatiora gaertnerii  (Formerly Rhipsalidopsis sp.) – flowers in March through May. Flowers are star-shaped blooms that open at sunrise, close at sunset and last for several weeks. The leaves are scalloped like the Christmas Cactus but do not face downward and are evenly spaced outwards along the leaf. They do best in bright natural light with no direct sunlight. This is a long-lasting houseplant so older ones (10+ years) can reach 2′ x 2′. Give yours a good drink of water & let it all thoroughly drain out of the pot. Make sure the plant goes dry before you water it again. You don’t want to keep the roots constantly moist or they’ll eventually rot out. Let the soil dry out in between waterings. You don’t want it to go completely dry when in bloom however, so water more often during this time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jul 30

Time to Think About Holiday Cacti

By Beet 2025 08 August

Now, at the hottest time of the year, it’s time to think about those holiday cacti that hold the promise of blooming on schedule this winter! They will only show their flowers if we do our part now.

Thanksgiving cactus, Christmas cactus, Easter cactus. They are beautiful additions for the holidays, but are even better appreciated when the other decorations are packed away and everything seems a bit dark and gloomy. That is when a gorgeous blooming cactus can bring a little life back into life!

Because these members of the Zygo-cactus family are long-lived and rather easy to grow, they are a popular houseplant, often passed down from generation to generation. Native to the same tropical areas of Central and South America where orchids originate, they are not related to desert cacti. In their natural environment, they are most often found growing in the forks of tree limbs where decayed leaves and other natural debris accumulate.

The cacti calendar can easily be adjusted to have blooms on your own timetable.  Master Gardener and cacti expert Chuck Timberman had a simple formula for getting a Thanksgiving cactus to bloom at the appropriate time: 8-8-8. Starting in August (the 8th month), restrict the cactus to 8 hours of bright but indirect daylight per day for 8 weeks, keeping it in a dark place for the other 16 hours (absolutely no artificial or natural light). Want it to bloom for Hanukah, Valentine’s Day, or your birthday? Adjust the formula to start the dark period approximately 10-12 weeks ahead of the targeted bloom date.

Really, the key to getting a holiday cactus to bloom includes correct temperature and limited watering, in addition to the proper light exposure. Optimum temperature during this time is 50º-60º even though for Thanksgiving cactus, we’re talking about fall in the Rogue Valley. Keeping the plant in a cool room of the house seems to work adequately. Big no-no’s are placing it near a door that opens to the outside or near heating ducts, fireplaces, or in drafty areas. Normally, holiday cacti should be watered thoroughly when the top inch of soil is dry, but less frequently during the time leading up to blooming.

Happy Holidays!

 

 

 

 

Apr 29

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

Mar 30

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

Mar 30

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!”

 

Mar 30

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.

Feb 27

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.