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Beet 2022 12 December

Jackson County Master Gardeners Announcements – December 2022

By Beet 2022 12 December

 

Jackson County Master Gardeners Announcements

December 2022

 

Winter Dreams Summer Gardens 2022

For those of you who attended our Winter Dreams Summer Gardens 2022, you have access to the 15 presentation videos until the end of December

 

 

Class of 2023 Master Gardener Volunteers

If you know anyone who would be interested in becoming a Master Gardener Volunteer, registration for 2023 OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Training in Jackson County will be open later this Fall!    Please call the OSU Extension office at 541.776.7371 and leave your name, phone number, and email.  We will contact you when registration is open.

January 25th  —  Class of 2023 OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Training starts.

       

Berries Videos Available

By Beet 2022 12 December

 

We had many wonderful speakers at our Winter Dreams Summer Gardens 2022!

Two of our presenters, Sherry Sheng and Jane Collier, are also presenters at the Clackamas 10-Minute University™ concerning gardening issues. They have many wonderful practical gardening videos.

Jane Collier’s presentation at our Winter Dreams Summer Gardens 2022 was about growing blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, along with other berries. During her talk, she mentioned several videos.  https://clackamascountymastergardeners.org/10-minute-university/

Sherry and Jane have graciously allowed us to post these videos on the JCMGA website.

You can locate them on the JCMGA website. Click on the “In the Community” tab at the top of the screen.  Click on “In the Garden Videos.” Scroll down to the bottom of the page.

https://jacksoncountymga.org/in-the-garden-video/

How to Record My JCMGA Recertification Hours for OSU

By Beet 2022 12 December

Recording your recertification hours is a very important part of being a Master Gardener.  Our organization is based on gardening education and volunteers’ hours.  In addition to providing documentation for your recertification, these hours are needed to provide funding for Oregon Master Gardeners.

This task may seem daunting at the beginning, but the more you do it the easier it becomes.

Currently we are required to have

  • 20 hours of approved volunteer service. Half of these hours must be in the category of direct or indirect education efforts – which are detailed on the OSU Extension website.
  • 10 hours of approved continuing education.
  • These 30 hours (minimum) are to be earned from November 1st to October 31st.

 

The steps are easy to follow as long as you take your time –

  • Login into the JCMGA website
  • Login into the JCMGA Member Portal
  • On the right-hand side you will find a side bar with Member Links – click on Report Your Hours

This takes you to the OSU Master Gardener Volunteer Reporting System (VRS)

  • This page has lots of good information on it. Take time to check out the following –
    • New Categories List – located on the right
    • Videos on “How to Report Hours” – located at the bottom
    • VRS Information Fact Sheet – located at the bottom
    • FYI – JCMGA does use VRS for reporting our hours
  • If this is your first time reporting your recertification hours, you will need to click on the link Enrollment in VRS – located at the top left – and follow the directions.
  • If you have recorded your recertification hours before, you should put in your email address and password. You have the option to have the program remember your password.
    • At the beginning of each reporting period, there is an additional step that needs to be completed before logging in. Below your password box, there will be a document to read concerning the conduct expected of all Master Gardeners. Once you have read the document, check the box and continue to log in.
  • Click on the Report My Hours link – located in the left-hand side bar – about midway down.
  • After entering your data, click on “Insert record” to finalize your submission. You can edit your hours at a later date if you need to do so.

 

People keep track of their hours in a variety of ways before they input them into the OSU Volunteer Reporting System.

  • Many people use a calendar or log to keep track of them.
  • Some people officially report their hours weekly, monthly, etc.
  • You can enter your hours for each individual event, or you can “bundle” them. By bundle, we mean you can take the number of volunteer hours – as long as they are the same coding – for a month or longer.  You would need to explain it in the description box.

 

If at any time you have questions about this process, please feel free to contact Barbara Low, Sandy Hansen or Jane Moyer.

                                                     Have a wonderful year gardening!

 

               

Unsung Hero of the Master Gardener Program — Linda Holder

By Beet 2022 12 December

Linda Holder has been a Master Gardener since 1998. As you can imagine, Linda has seen the ebb  and flow of the Master Gardeners over the years with some good times and not so good times, but I would bet she saw more good years than bad. Recently, she recounted one of the good memories from when the Master Gardeners hosted Fall Festivals. Linda said the festival was held on campus. All of the different SOREC programs had booths and there was not only a 4H petting zoo, but there were hayrides around the campus. Of course, Linda was more likely than not very much involved with that.

Over the years she has held many positions, including being President of the 2005 board. Linda was also one of the Spring Garden Fair Co-Chairs from 2017 to 2019, where she served as the Vendor Coordinator. Linda and her crew wrangled more than 100 vendors, a mix of plant growers, artisans, bakers and candy makers. She laid out the site map across the Expo, with each vendor’s particular preferences in mind. Linda and her other Co-Chairs (Kate Hassen, Jane Moyer and Sandy Hammond) had several years of successful Spring Garden Fairs.

Because of Linda’s knowledge of the Master Gardeners, she is one of the archivists along with Pam Hillers. Linda’s penchant for organization serves her well in this task. Throughout the years, she gathered information about all of the Master Gardener Events and documented them for prosperity.

Linda keeps Board members on task by regulating Dropbox files where we have all of our Board reports. She is very sweet when she makes you promise to follow the guidelines. It is necessary for the reports to be consistent and orderly so anyone who reads them can completely understand what is going on.

Besides being so heavily involved behind the scenes, Linda is one of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. She never has harsh words about anyone. Linda is a trusted member of the Master Gardener program. Linda is extremely smart as well.

You Know You Want to Gnome all About Our Holiday Bazaar!

By Beet 2022 12 December

The Master Gardener Holiday Gala of 2019 was almost a one-time wonder. But through the vision and efforts of our Fund-Raising Committee and a few enthusiastic and stalwart Master Gardener volunteers, it was resurrected and reemerged as the JCMGA Holiday Bazaar and held in concert with the Native Plant Sale on November 12, 2022.

 

A Holiday Bazaar turns out to be a lot of work but rewards the gardeners with bonding over shared work and laughter. It also benefited JCMGA by about $788.00. Sandy Hammond and Annette Carter handled all the details of finding volunteers, arranging work areas, making schedules, and reserving the auditorium for the event. We had a number of small work parties to sort through any saleable items left over from the 2019 sale, to make about 30 gorgeous holiday wreaths, sew some festive Christmas socks, wine bags, table runners, and gnomes. We priced items, painted signs, decked the halls, and when it was all over, we packed everything up and left the auditorium spic and span.

Our gratitude goes to the JCMGA elves:  Sandy Hammond, Annette Cater, Jane Moyer, Sandy Hansen, Marcie Katz, Lyn Boening, Linda Holder, Lucy Pulkki, Margaret Sayduh, and Janine Salvatti.

        

Holiday Native Plant Sale

By Beet 2022 12 December

On November 12th, the Jackson County Master Gardener™ Association held a Holiday Gala and Native Plant Sale at SOREC. Our Native Plant Nursery was open for plant shopping, and the auditorium had holiday crafts and gifts for sale.

Even in November, our nursery made $1,117. Not bad for it being so late in the year, although fall is the best time to plant shrubs, trees and most perennials. Setting up a plant sale on campus is easy. Since the weather was cold, we put the pay station in Greenhouse 2 and added some space heaters to keep our volunteers warm. Not having to transport plants from our site is a huge plus. We merely need to put out the sale and information signs and let folks wander the nursery space to select their plants.

Of course, there is always pre-planning for any sale. A volunteer roster must be made, and volunteers scheduled and contacted with reminders. Our Square card reader must be set up, with someone working who knows how to use that. I keep a plant sale checklist to be sure I have money for change, all the signs and prices in place, cashboxes on hand, etc. Chairs and tables need to be in place for the volunteers – although in November we already had tables in the Greenhouse, so we just needed stools and chairs for workers.

The weather cooperated. Though it was cold, we had no rain and folks were able to shop leisurely. We had some concerns about foot and auto traffic but had no problems with either of those. Sales happened mostly between 9 am and noon, which is good information for us for future pop-up sales planning.

Finally, none of this could have been possible without the hard work of all our nursery volunteers. Hugs and many thanks to all who worked in the weeks and days leading up to, and on, our successful day.                                                                                                 

SOREC One Hundred Eleventh Celebration

By Beet 2022 12 December

Who’s ever heard of a 111th celebration? Usually, celebrations are held on dates that are more celebratory, like the 100th or 110th. However, COVID-19 has created some interesting titles for celebrations!

 

SOREC (Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center) was scheduled to have a 110th Celebration in 2021 but it was postponed due to COVID-19. Therefore, this year we had the 111th Celebration of OSU Extension in Jackson County, held on October 17, 2022, in the OSU Extension Auditorium.

 

The many past and future facets of OSU in Jackson County were celebrated. Two hundred fifty people were invited from the many SOREC programs, along with local political figures, OSU agricultural administrators, and the general public.

 

The Food Preservers Association of Jackson County prepared a delicious dinner highlighting the Paragon pears that are only grown on the SOREC campus and at one other Rogue Valley location. The fruit was also used as part of the table decor.

 

Every SOREC program was told to invite eight to twelve members. The room was filled. Members who represented the Jackson County Master Gardener Association included the Board of Directors officers and Working Group chairs associated with the gardens.

 

Rachel Werling, Coordinator of the Land Stewards Program, presented a slide show highlighting the growth of the Land Steward Program from Jackson County to a nationally recognized program.  OSU Viticulturist, Alec Levin, presented a PowerPoint on the SOREC program that is teaching local vineyard owners how to grow wine grapes.

 

The highlight of the evening was a presentation by SOREC Director, Rich Roseberg, on the vision for SOREC grounds improvement. An upgraded entrance, housing for OSU students studying horticulture, and a three-season teaching pergola are all included in the plan Rich will pass to his successor when he leaves at the end of this year.

 

At the conclusion of the evening, every attendee was invited to pick up a gift bag on their way out the door. It contained a bottle of wine made with grapes grown on the SOREC property and a wine “sippy cup” with the OSU/SOREC logos. It was indeed a magical evening.

 

Winter Dreams Summer Gardens 2022

By Beet 2022 12 December

By Colet Allen, Susan Koenig, and Barbara Low

 

Our Winter Dreams Summer Gardens 2022 was a great success! We wanted to make sure to thank everyone involved to make this event an actuality. It genuinely took a village to accomplish all that was involved.

The Winter Dreams Summer Garden 2022 team gives a big thank you to the Winter Dreams Summer Gardens 2021 team for leaving such a good road map for us to follow. The records that were left gave us a great starting point and allowed us to get right to work. After reviewing what was in Dropbox, we had a good idea of what was going to be needed by us to make the Winter Dreams Summer Gardens 2022 event happen, maybe not seamlessly but close to it.

The three of us were able to look at the compilation of information and determine what the path for development was going to be. We created a timeline for accomplishing each major step from start to finish. Once this was done, we each used our strengths to fit ourselves into the slots that would best meet our personal wants and at the same time, figure out what the project would need, equally balance the workload, and end up with a quality product.

Division of labor between the three team members was one of the joys of this project. We worked well together, kept each other informed on all matters and enjoyed the process. We started early in the year so that there was plenty of time to plan and determine if there was some new energy and ideas that we could bring to this year’s symposium.

One of the new things we wanted to address was to make sure we documented our process as we went along. We each agreed that it was important that we documented our process along with the forms we created to accomplish our tasks. Our plan was that once the Symposium was complete and after a little time to decompress, we would review the process and determine what remains to be documented. Our goal is to review, develop what is missing, and download a completed process to Dropbox by mid-January.

At the suggestion of one of our Master Gardeners who is also a Licensed Landscaper (Thank you, Sherri Morgan), we sought accreditation and to determine if JCMGA could get our presentations certified by the Oregon State Landscaper Contractors Board (LCB) for their required continuing education hours. We worked with the State Board and were able to get all sixteen of our offerings certified. We only had four landscapers who took advantage of that opportunity this year. Next year, we will do a statewide outreach now that we know what the state is looking for and are confident that JCMGA can offer this service at a very reasonable rate. Working with this group of people in Salem was a real pleasure. They were responsive to phone calls/emails and worked with us to make sure we understood exactly what was needed to ensure we gave them the correct information to expedite the process. They were a joy to work with.

In addition to the traditional methods for getting the word out, we wanted to explore a few new ones. Besides appealing to the Licensed Landscapers, we worked with Medford Parks and Recreation. We put a quarter-page advertisement in their Fall booklet that went out in early September to 44,000 homes.

As a non-profit organization, we were able to use the QuestionPro Survey program this year. By sending out a survey we are trying to determine what is working and what is not. Please fill it out so that we can improve. It will probably take a couple of years to gather enough information to help make needed changes, but we appreciate and welcome your feedback.

Thanks to our Communications Working Group for following our schedule for PSAs, Facebook postings, Mailchimps, and other forms of advertising. We also had some help from OMGA, Josephine County Master Gardeners, OSU Extension and the OSU Task Force. A big thank you to all.

We were very happy with our wonderful presenters and pleased with the turnout for this year’s Winter Dreams Summer Gardens Symposium. We were able to provide a wide variety of relevant gardening topics with very qualified presenters. We tried to cover topics that we felt were important, including climate change, fire-resistant gardening, native plants, etc.

We learned a few lessons along the way. Our plan is to build on that knowledge and continue to develop a high-quality educational event for our gardening community.

What are we recommending for next year? We have a list of several speakers we want to ask back for other areas of their expertise and some new ones that we did not have room for this year.

We would also like to hear from you, the reader, and find out who you would recommend and what other subjects you would like to learn about.

Please give us information concerning what you liked and what we could improve on. Critical review is valuable, and we appreciate the feedback.  Feel free to contact us at jcmgawdsg20@gmail.com.

JCMGA HOLIDAY FUNDRAISER

By Beet 2022 12 December

Jackson County Master Gardeners™ is fundraising through December 15th through the BottleDrop® Holiday Give program.

You can pick up one or two blue bags in the lobby of the Extension office, fill them and drop them off at bottle drop.  Bottle drop is matching up to 20% of donations, so get your cans and bottles in by December 15th!

As always, JCMGA uses our funds to educate the community and for new Master Gardeners to learn, practice and teach the art and science of gardening in the Rogue Valley.

To read more about the BottleDrop Holiday Give program, visit https://www.bottledropcenters.com/holidaygive/.

Please like and share this post, which can be reached on Facebook via either of these tags:

#HolidayGive2022, #BottleDropGive

The Gardener’s Gifts

By Beet 2022 12 December

 

 

 

What’s grander than giving what you’ve gleaned from the past year’s growing season?

With all of today’s commercialization, mass mechanizing, technologizing, and other such super-sized companies monopolizing the market, handmade and homegrown have become “has been.” Or have they?

Despite all this competition, gardeners still have the “gift-edge” on giving what their recipient will likely love. And what’s more, you’ll love gifting it to them.

There’s still nothing like sharing what one has reaped by propagating it from your own hands and garden.

As we delve into December, and you might be wondering what to give to those you care about, peruse your pantry, freezer, greenhouse, and overwintering garden. You might be surprised just what golden gifts you have to offer.

Whether naughty or nice, a relative, special friend, neighbor, co-worker, fellow gardener, or someone you’d like to see smile, there’s something for them all.

With such gifting, the first thing is to determine what’s best depending on the distance from the recipient. Give fresh produce, fragile baked goods, and other perishables locally. Dried, canned, and some cured items (garlic, onions, potatoes), dried herbs, beans, nuts, and seeds, are better shipped.

The fun has just begun! Once you’ve taken stock, it’s time to get creative.

Start with containers. For hand deliveries, there are baskets, heavy gift bags, (brown paper is great for stamping on your own graphics), gift boxes, or small reusable canvas totes.

For shipping, choose sturdy cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, crumpled paper and tissue, foam insulation (rigid or flexible sheets) or real popcorn insulation (popped and bagged that can become yet another gift).

Now for the gifts! For those close by, give baskets filled with late-season produce such as onions; root vegetables (carrots, beets, potatoes); garlic braids tied with colored natural jute; fresh-cut cooking herbs tied with raffia and herb scissors; potted culinary plants for kitchen windowsills (basil, chives, parsley, rosemary); fruits such as apples, pears, quince or grapes; pesto; frozen jam; herb cookies and yeast breads; or fresh squeezed juices in pretty bottles.

For those further away, choices include:  Dried fruits, vegetables, roasted nuts, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, or herbs put in labeled plastic zip bags or plastic storage containers along with suggested uses or recipes; garlic braids; unshelled walnuts in plastic egg cartons (you could spray the carton’s exterior gold, then put a walnut in each compartment and tie with ribbon and nutcracker); lavender made into wands; lavender put into fabric sachet bags; flavored vinegars; pickles; jams/jellies; canned spiced fruits or herbed vegetables; sweet quick breads such as spiced pumpkin, apple, or pear baked in metal or foil pans and sealed with seasonal plastic wrap and tied with ribbon or raffia; your own popped corn, or un-popped corn in zip bags with cooking instructions; soaps; candles; honey; and whatever else you’ve grown to share.

All you need now are colorful ribbons, raffia, jute, hemp, and sprigs of herbs to tie things up, handmade covers for jars and bottle caps as well as your own gift tags. And lastly, don’t forget some treats for those well deserving pets!

Whether near or far,

In a box or jar

A gardener’s gift

Will the spirit lift.

 

Sources:

You should find all you need in your own garden, pantry, fridge, or freezer.

 

Recipes:

Perfect Seasoned Popcorn

2 tablespoons cooking olive oil

½ cup fresh popcorn kernels and 3 extra kernels

 

Put oil in large heavy-lidded pot and heat over medium high heat. Drop in extra kernels and put on lid.  If they pop, the oil is ready.  Remove kernels and pour in remaining kernels then replace lid slightly ajar. Shake pan about every 30 seconds to circulate kernels. When popping ceases, remove pan from heat and pour corn into large bowl. Season with salt to taste or try one of the following.

Sprinkle on popped corn to taste:

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon mixed with ¼ cup of coconut sugar. Store in jar.

Sprinkle on Grated Italian parmesan cheese mix (the shelf stable kind in a green can).

Trader Joe’s Chile Lime Sprinkle

 

Don’t Forget the Dog!                      

Pupzels                                                                     

2 cups oat flour

¾ cup regular rolled oats

1 cup unsweetened organic applesauce (your own, of course)

1 extra large egg, beaten with a fork

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Mix together the flour and oats. Add applesauce and all but 1 tablespoon of egg.  Stir with wooden spoon until stiff dough forms. Roll in a rope and cut into 16 pieces. Roll each piece about 10” long, then form into a pretzel, pinching ends together. Brush remaining egg over each. Bake for 25-35 minutes. Cool and store airtight for up to 2 weeks or freeze. 1 pretzel=1 treat.

 

 

 

For the Feline

Catnip mice

Cut bullet-shaped tough fabric (heavy woven wool, denim, canvas) about 3”x 5”.

15” heavy string for each mouse tail

Hook and loop fastener (Velcro)

Dried catnip

Poly stuffing

Sew hook and loop fastener on both sides of flat end of mouse. With right sides together, stitch twice over the mouse catching in tail string near straight opening. Turn pocket and put in a bit of non-plastic stuffing to plump the body, then fill with dried catnip. Zip end closed. Include extra nip in a zip bag to replenish.