President’s Corner

It has been a very busy month for the Jackson County Master Gardener Association! Our organization is built on providing gardening education to our community members. As part of this goal, we offer a variety of volunteer opportunities. Below, I will talk about a few of these opportunities.

The month of May started off with our 2025 Spring Garden Fair which was held again at the Jackson County Expo in the Mace Building. Our Practicum mentors and students worked hard to plant, grow, and transplant the many, many vegetable plants, annual ornamentals, and native plants for this event.  Countless hours were spent on organizing, moving, setting up for the event, selling plants, and then taking down after the event to return items back to the SOREC Extension. With over 100 special volunteers, who worked hard with a smile, we were able to host this event.

The 2025 Spring Garden Fair was a tremendous success! A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who helped with the 2025 Spring Garden Fair, with special thanks to Marcie Katz and Lucy Pylkki for organizing this event. They have already started planning for the 2026 Spring Garden Fair.

Our JCMGA Demonstration Gardens are another of our projects of which we are very proud, as they provide an educational opportunity for our students and other community members. Each Demonstration Garden has a mentor who leads the volunteers for that garden. The main work in these gardens has started and will continue through October. Janine Salvatti is the chair of the Gardens Working Group and Marcie Katz oversees the Demonstration Gardens. Our gardens are listed on our JCMGA website https://jacksoncountymga.org/demonstration-gardens/. If you are interested in working in one of our Demonstration Gardens, please contact them.

June is going to be another busy month for JCMGA

• Our Annual Membership Meeting will be held on Friday, June 13, from 9-9:30 a.m. in the auditorium at the SOREC Extension at 569 Hanley Road, Central Point. The JCMGA will give an overview of what JCMGA has accomplished for the past year. Board members will be there to answer any of your questions. This is a time for you to share your viewpoints concerning JCMGA. We hope that you will consider attending. Following this meeting, the JCMGA Board will hold its June Board meeting. You are welcome to stay for that meeting as well.
• Our Annual Picnic will be held Saturday, June 28, from 5-8 p.m. in the auditorium at the SOREC Extension at 569 Hanley Road, Central Point. This will be a wonderful educational and social event as well as a time to recognize some of our members for all their hard work.

As you can see, JCMGA has numerous volunteer and/or educational opportunities available. Other opportunities include the Friends of the Gardens program, Plant Clinic, Plant A Row project, Demonstration Work Parties, and much more.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at barbaralow@msn.com.