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Janine Salvatti

Sep 30

Mural Mania

By Beet 2024 10 October

Photos: Marcie Katz and Janine Salvatti

 

Mural mania took hold of the GEC (Garden Enhancement Committee) at the end of 2023. The ugly storage pods bookending the Gathering Place were like a persistent fly annoying us every time we worked or met in that area. We wanted members and guests to have a pleasant and peaceful place to meet and mingle on the grounds away from Hanley Road.

 

This led us to develop a loose plan. We bought supplies, found free paint samples at Drakes Paint, and finally set to work in July of this year. Those pods are 8×20 feet! They loomed blank and scary for the uninitiated!

The photos attached don’t do justice to the colors or details. The surface texture of the pods make good photos impossible. You really need to come and appreciate them in person!

Artists and fabulous artist assistants:

Table Rock Pod (aka: Rogue Valley Postcard): Marcie Katz, Primary artist. Assistant artists: Chris Veach, Carrie Redfern, Alice Ingraham and Jane Moyer’s granddaughter, Addy.

Whimsy Pod:  Janine Salvatti, Primary artist. Assistant artists: Pam Cashwell, Alice Ingraham, Kari Gies, Carrie Redfern and Chris Veach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We send a heartfelt thanks to a few of our many volunteers!

 

Chris Veach, Carrie Redfern, Kari Gies, Janine Salvatti, Pam Cashwell and Marcie Katz.

 

 

 

 

 

Pam Cashwell and Kari Gies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grace Florjancic                                                                    Alice Ingraham

Sep 30

Illinois Valley/Cave Junction Garden Club Demo Garden Tour, September 2024

By Beet 2024 10 October

Photos by Marcie Katz and Janine Salvatti

You know how in life some things are more fun than others? Well, about 15 friends from the Illinois Valley-Cave Junction Garden Club made the hour-long jaunt to visit our demo gardens for a tour. What a super group!

Marcie and I showed them around the gardens. They were enthusiastic and inquisitive. They had varied levels of gardening experience and were keen on native plants and the environment. In fact, individuals in the group spent $120 in the Native Plant Nursery! These purchases sparked quite a good-natured debate since most folks carpooled and car space was limited. “Load person or plant…person or plant?” We were lucky it did not devolve into rock-paper-scissors!

We started the tour in the Gathering Place and ended there with cold drinks and time for sharing. The weather was lovely under our big old oak and was perfect for making new friends. Their group went on to lunch and some headed into Jacksonville for the community-wide garage sale.  Kind of a perfect day in my book.

As a personal aside, I’d like to share an “aha moment”. The Illinois Valley-Cave Junction Garden Club could not accept our initial tour invite for late May, as explained by their president, Ron Morse, because “that’s a very busy time for our gardeners”. They requested late August or early September. We agreed on September 6th. I fretted about the timing; I didn’t want to disappoint them since our gardens are at their best in May and early June. To my relief, I discovered our gardens presented very nicely, even in September. Our guests were not disappointed.

Are there other JCMGA activities that might be suitable for an expanded timeline to decompress our spring calendar?

A special thank you to Alice Ingraham MG 2024 for her creation of the impressive panel (one of two) she loaned us for the tour. She created these out of cardboard!

Aug 31

Thanks for the Memories, Creepy Old House….

By Beet 2024 09 September

 

So many of us fondly remember learning and working in the Creepy Old House, squeezing into the cramped propagation house, fumbling for tools in the dark and dank tool shed, and being reluctant to enter the cobwebby isolation greenhouse.

Well…

Although the timing is a bit ethereal yet, Jackson County plans to demolish the COH and propagation building and drag off the old tool shed. The isolation greenhouse may be saved, if it can be moved elsewhere on site. In addition, the driveway into SOREC Demonstration Gardens is going to be widened to 3 lanes to permit safer Hanley Road ingress and egress. The boundaries of the new driveway are not yet known.

Our Board of Directors appointed Jane Moyer to form an ad hoc Design Committee to work on a plan to replace these essential structures with new ADA compliant buildings designed to meet our classroom, storage, and tool shed needs now and in the future. The buildings will be placed on the original COH site and include an open plan lathe house in the space between the classroom and the toolshed.

The Design Committee brainstormed a long list of necessities based on long familiarity with the old buildings, their deficiencies, and potential future demands. Three bids were requested, one was favored due to the contractor’s thorough understanding of our needs and financial limitations. It was not the lowest or highest bid.

We expect to have an initial contractor drawing to share with you in the next month or two.

Next, paying for this project is a top priority. The JCMGA Board has agreed to use some of its savings and research what other funding sources may be available. (Bake sales are at the bottom of our list.)

Any questions or ideas can be directed to Jane Moyer, whose foresight was the inspiration for this project.

Look for periodic updates in The Beet as new information becomes available.

This upgrade is such a positive step for JCMGA. Exciting and uplifting!

Jul 01

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

By Beet 2024 07 July

A future gardener and intrepid young soul braving the rain and cold of the 2024 Spring Garden Fair.

This young man and his gardening family passed our Rock Painting booth in the pouring rain. Mom and Dad were happily training him in the “garden work ethos” to prepare him for all-weather gardening. He could hardly wait to get home and plant his treasures!

Jul 01

Saturday Public GARDEN STROLL Is a Success

By Beet 2024 07 July
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Grace Florjancic and neighbor

 

 The Garden Stroll was an experiment gone right!

 

Marcie Katz and I hosted the first Saturday Public Open Garden Stroll with no expectations. The day started off chilly and we stared at one another for the first 30 minutes harboring doubts anyone would come.  Then, blue skies started to peek through the overcast skies and guests began to arrive. First a few, then more cars arrived. In total we hosted about 15 artists who came to sketch and paint and several small groups of curious locals who had been passing us on Hanley and wondered what this site was about. It was wonderful showing off our gardens and seeing our visitors wander around the grounds.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

The artists found interesting scenes to sketch, and the other folks had questions about our Master Gardener program, plants in the various gardens, and one gentleman was interested in becoming a Friend of the Garden.

 
 

We may try opening the gardens once a month on a Saturday to introduce more of our community to the gardens for education and respite, indulge the inner artist, or simply commune with a bit of nature close up.

 

 
Jul 01

Lavender Garden Dress-Up Party

By Beet 2024 07 July

 

A few of the volunteers from left to right: Pam Cashwell, Kata Springer, Gretchen King, and Chris Veach. Photo by Janine Salvatti.

Our Dress-Up party (also known as a garden clean-up party) brought out a happy gang of volunteers for 3 weekly sessions to complete some serious weeding in the Lavender Garden. This was in preparation for the Lavender Trail event, which started June 21, 2024 and continues for several weeks.  Our weeding efforts really complemented the upgraded concrete pathways!

When Master Gardeners respond to a MailChimp, email, or Facebook announcing a “general-call workday” by showing up, we can improve the gardens and hopefully increase community awareness of our presence and mission.

Lavender Garden Work Party Volunteers include: Chris Veach, Pam Cashwell, Kata Springer, Gretchen King, Mary Schroeder, Marcie Katz, Janine Salvatti (apologies if I missed anyone!)

Apr 30

When I Am Among the Trees  by Mary Oliver

By Beet 2024 05 May

When I am among the trees,

especially the willow and the honey locust,

equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,

they give off such hints of gladness.

I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

 

I am so distant from the hope of myself,

in which I have goodness, and discernment,

and never hurry through the world

but walk slowly, and bow often.

 

Around me the trees stir in their leaves

And call out, “Stay awhile.”

The light flows from their branches.

 

And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,

“and you too have come

into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled

with light, and to shine.”

 

 

Submitted by Janine Salvatti 1/21/24

Nov 29

See the New Interpretive Sign in the Native Plant Garden!  

By Beet 2023 12 December

Next time you wander around the Demonstration Garden grounds, the Gardens Enhancement Committee (GEC) hopes you notice the beautiful new interpretive sign recently installed to replace the old Rain Garden sign. The Rain Garden met its demise as our climate changed over time, leaving the existing plants struggling to survive. We used native plants as their replacements to reimagine the garden and support our educational mission. Come check it out!

 

Oct 30

The Fig Grove

By Beet 2023 11 November

You are invited to visit our little fig grove, tucked waaaay back in the northwest corner of the Demonstration Gardens. A sorry-looking bramble had been concealing seven varieties of delicious figs. From their sad state the sweet figs called to the Garden Enhancement Committee (GEC) to adopt them. The wild growth was pruned away, the 5-foot weeds were replaced with cardboard and wood chips, and slowly the grove appears to be coming back to life in time for its winter sleep.

Our grove still needs work. The trees are crowded and much too tall for the fruit to be enjoyed by anyone but the lucky birds. But spring will see the GEC embark on the next phase of maintenance. The trees are beautiful – almost tropical looking – and fortunately for us, hardy and forgiving!

If you are interested in helping maintain the fig grove, please email or text either

Many hands make light work!

 

Sep 29

The Glass Garden Art Class Was a Bloomin’ Success!

By Beet 2023 10 October

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fifteen or so gardeners piled in to Greenhouse 2 on Friday, Sept 15th, armed with bits of vintage glass plates, bowls, glass blobs of all descriptions, old jewelry, tiny tiles and rocks, beads, stained glass, and a whole lot of creative spirit.

As morning proceeded, the glass garden art took shape. Gluing glass to glass is easy and satisfying. Everyone’s projects were so different. So much creativity! So many pretty pieces!

This event blossomed because visitors and Master Gardeners admired the pieces of glass garden art that were created by members of the Garden Enhancement Committee (GEC) and which now decorate some of the Demonstration Gardens.

The GEC took on this activity as an opportunity for fun and comradery and with the goal of creating a number of pieces to be sold at the Fall Festival on October 14th to help with fund-raising.

By the end of the morning, gardeners were already expressing their desire to have another session. Let’s see what the future holds!

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