Beet 2025 05 May

• Articles for the June Garden Beet due by May 15^th. Send articles to jcmgabeet569@gmail.com
• Volunteers needed to help plant and transplant seedling contact Barbara Low barbaralow@msn.com

May

• Spring Garden Fair – May 3 and 4 at the Mace Building at the Expo.
  • Save the Date – Mark your calendars!
• May JCMGA Board Meeting – May 9^th at 9:00 a.m. at SOREC
• Spring JCMGA Board Retreat – May 23^rd at 9:00 a.m. at SOREC
• Medford Open Streets Event – May 31^st
  • JCMGA will have an information table at this event. If you are interested in working at the table that afternoon, contact Barbara Low barbaralow@msn.com

June

• JCMGA Annual Membership Meeting – June 13^th at 9:00 a.m. at SOREC
• JCMGA June Board Meeting – June 13^th at 10:00 a.m. at SOREC
• JCMGA Annual Membership Picnic – June 28^th from 5-8 p.m. at SOREC

After many years of meaningful leadership for the Jackson County Master Gardeners Association Practicum, Jane Moyer and Virginia Brown passed the baton to Nicole Smith and myself. Nicole and I have been truly thankful for all of their support and advice during this transition.

I have been asked to write about our JCMGA Practicum, which is an interactive learning space for JCMGA students. This article is to update everyone about what the groundwork of Practicum involves, and why we provide this program.

The JCMGA Practicum is an educational, hands-on lab environment, focused on research-based knowledge and practices for home gardening.  Currently we have seven practicum sessions which each meet weekly for three hours.  The practicums are led by 2-3 mentors who are Master Gardeners.  The mentors meet every Wednesday for 2 ½ hours for training and feedback.

Each practicum can have as many as eight students. This year we experienced a lower number of students so we’ve had about 4-5 students per practicum.

In addition to teaching one of our practicum sessions, the mentors also serve on one our practicum teams – Seed Team, Curriculum Team, Greenhouse Maintenance Team, and the Native Plants Team. Each team meets monthly for approximately one hour.

• The Seed Team decides on what seeds we will be planting and when to plant them.
• The Curriculum Team takes feedback from the Practicum students and mentors to update and revise the weekly lessons for the next year. They make sure that the homework, videos, and articles are current. They also lay out the lessons schedule for the year and try to coordinate with Grace Florjancic’s curriculum for the Master Gardener Class. Lessons cover such topics as Tool Care, Analysis of Fertilizers, Analysis of Potting Soils, and Raised Bed Gardening.
• The Greenhouse Maintenance Team makes sure that both of our greenhouses are well maintained and functioning correctly.
• The Native Plants Team propagates, maintains, and sells the native plants growing in our Native Plant Nursery.

While the JCMGA Practicum is designed to be an optional learning experience for the current Master Gardener Class students, there is usually room for Master Gardeners who would like to attend also.  If you are interested in joining, please contact Nicole Smith at ncarbone88@gmail.com or myself at barbaralow@msn.com by mid-January.

Practicum starts in February and ends mid-May each year.

If you are interested in being one of our practicum mentors for next year, please let us know by mid-August. New mentors are always paired with an experienced mentor.

We have a great time learning from each other and growing many, many plants for the Spring Garden Fair. Come join the fun!

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

Jackson County Master Gardeners (JCMGA)  participated in the annual Blue Heron Park Earth Day Event on Saturday, April 19^th.

It was a beautiful day and we had several JCMGA volunteers attend to work our information booth. People from the community came to our booth with general gardening questions and to find out what JCMGA is and what we do.

The attendance was down from last year – likely because it was held the day before Easter. Nonetheless, we had a great time, and enjoyed the opportunity to engage with the community.

A BIG THANK YOU to our volunteers – Lindsey McNab, Kathy Apple, Michael Hornbeek, Lynn Kunstman, Nicole Morgan, Mark Potts and myself (along with my husband, Vic).

We couldn’t have done this without their willingness to put in their time and efforts.

Gretchen King has volunteered to work with another person(s) to fulfil this position.

We are looking for a volunteer or a team of volunteers to organize Wednesday refreshments this year!  This position is titled Apprentice Coordinator, and is greatly appreciated throughout the summer.

From mid-May through October, there are many MG volunteers who work together in the Demonstration Gardens at the SOREC Extension on Wednesday mornings.  As a way of saying thank you to them, JCMGA provides snacks and drinks.  When that bell sounds at 10:30, people and a cheese-loving dog congregate.  This is a wonderful social hour, as well as a time to enjoy great refreshments.

You would arrange to have the snacks and drinks available from 10:30-11:30 a.m.  Drinks typically are water and lemonade.  Marcie Katz provides the large drink containers for you to fill.  Money for the drinks and food comes from the JCMGA budget.

We hope that you will consider filling this position, or organizing a team to do the job.

Please let me know if you are interested in working with Gretchen King as the Apprentice Coordinator, contact Barbara Low barbaralow@msn.com