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Jackson County Master Gardeners

Apr 30

Come to the After Sale!

By Beet 2023 05 May

Did you miss the Spring Garden Fair on May 6th at Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center?

Were you out of town?

Did you go to the Expo by mistake, and get distracted by the Home Show?

Or did you attend SGF and just not get ALL the plants you needed?

 

If so, you are in great luck!  Jackson County Master Gardeners are having an

 

AFTER SALE 

May 13th from 9 am to 3 pm

Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center

 

All vegetables, herbs, and annual flowers left over from SPRING GARDEN FAIR will be on sale for HALF PRICE.  Many native plants will be discounted as well.  Come on down and shop ’til you drop!

Apr 30

JCMGA Working Groups Summaries

By Beet 2023 05 May

 

Community Outreach Working Group

JCMGA will have a booth at the Medford Open Streets Event on May 20th.  We have been busy preparing for it and are still looking for volunteers to help.

JCMGA awards Community Gardens Grants.  This year the grant selection committee, chaired by Mary Foster, awarded three $500 grants.  Recipients were Eagle Point Garden Club, Blue Heron Park in Phoenix, and Options for Housing Assistance and Resources in Ashland.

We have been working on updating the Speakers Bureau and updating the vetting process for potential speakers.

Talks are continuing concerning the concept of “Friends of JCMGA”.

Since the Member Services WG is discussing the same subject, we will have a joint meeting to discuss the idea of “Friends of JCMGA”.

 

FUNDRAISING WORKING GROUP

chair is Sandy Hammond

The FUNrasing working group meets on the 3rd Friday of each month in the conference room. We do have fun tossing around ideas and seeing which ones will work. Part of the FRWG is grant writing, Garden Guides sales and bottle and can return.  We have been busy brainstorming other possible Fundraising projects.

 

Garden Working Group

Chair is Janine Salvatti

We have been very busy getting the Demonstration Gardens ready for our upcoming Garden Tours.  We have also been busy getting new signage for the gardens.

 

Marketing and Technology Working Group

chair is Marcia Harris

Three Class of 2023 Student Master Gardeners have joined Lisa Brill to be JCMGA editors.

We have been reviewing our current technology and looking to see what we may need in the future.

 

Member Services Working Group

chair is Barbara Low

We completed the JCMGA 2023 Chapter Directory and members should have received their copy through the mail.  We are currently researching possible field trips for interested people to attend.

Talks are continuing concerning the concept of “Friends of JCMGA”.

Since the Member Services WG is discussing the same subject, we will have a joint meeting to discuss the idea of “Friends of JCMGA”.

 

Program Support Working Group

chair is Grace Florjancic

Students are finally applying the knowledge they have learned in class to solve problems in the Plant Clinic. Mentors have been impressed with the student’s eagerness to learn and their excitement to experience the unknown mysteries brought to the clinic. We are ramping up to a very busy spring, which is great for keeping the students on their toes!

 

SPRING GARDEN FAIR WORKING GROUP 

chair is Sandy Hammond

Spring Garden Fair is the main source of funds for JCMGA. It is held on the 1st Saturday in May. This year’s event will be held on May 6th on the Extension grounds. We have been very busy organizing this event.  We look forward to being able to provide this event to the public.

 

Winter Dreams Summer Gardens Working Group

chairs are Colet Allen, Susan Koenig, and Barbara Low

We have been busy organizing the Winter Dreams Summer Gardens 2023 Symposium.  This virtual event will be October 27, 28, November 3, and 4.

 

Mar 31

April in the Garden

By Beet 2023 04 April

Spring is here! Daffodils, grape hyacinth, and tulips are popping up.

I am continuing this series of articles and hope that you find them helpful and inspiring. In April, there is quite a bit to do in the garden depending on what you want to grow.  Our gardens still need to be cared for so that they will do well in the spring and summer. By caring for our gardens, we are also caring for ourselves – physically, mentally, and emotionally.

The Jackson County Master Gardener Association has a great resource for gardeners to use. It is the Garden Guide for the Rogue Valley – Year-Round & Month by Month.  This great reference book for gardeners is mainly about growing vegetables, berries, and melons.

April is the time to:

  • Plant grapes
  • Plants which you plant as seeds to transplant later
o   Basil Cantaloupe
o   Cabbage o   Celery
o   Cucumbers o   Eggplant
o   Peppers o   Squash
o   Watermelon o   Tomatoes
  • Plants which you can plant as seed outside
o   Beets o   Carrots
o   Chervil o   Chives
o   Collards o   Cilantro
o   Corn, sweet o   Dill
o   Florence Fennel o   Kohlrabi
o   Kale o   Leeks
o   Lettuce o   Parsnips
o   Parsley o   Peas
o   Radishes o   Potatoes
o   Salsify o   Scallions
o   Swiss Chard       Tomatillos
  • Plants to transplant this month
o   Broccoli o   Cabbage
o   Cauliflower o   Chinese Cabbage
o   Endive, Escarole o   Jerusalem artichokes
o   Leeks

o   Onion

o   Pak Choi

o   Rhubarb

 o   Lettuce

o   Oriental Greens

o   Parsley

o   Tomatoes
  • Time to fertilize
    • Established artichokes
    • Established blackberries

 

Garden Guide for the Rogue Valley – Year-Round & Month by Month. This book contains a wealth of gardening information. You can purchase it at our local Grange Co-op or at the OSU Extension office for $21.00. It can also be purchased on-line at https://jacksoncountymga.org/shop/. Note that a shipping fee will be applied.

 

 

Happy Gardening and Stay Warm

Garden For Life

 

Mar 31

JCMGA Spring Garden Fair – May 6

By Beet 2023 04 April

 

The 2023 Spring Garden Fair is going to be held at the extension on May 6th from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Set up for the fair will be on Friday the 5th all day. We have approximately 20 paying vendors and 6 nonpaying vendors. Some examples of nonpaying vendors are SORAC, the Plant Clinic, and the Fire Department. Vendors will be in the auditorium, in the outer limits of the parking lot and in the arboretum. Our vendors are primarily plant vendors. Others are garden art, garden equipment, and garden furniture. There will also be live demonstrations in the small classroom. There will be an 11:00 am demonstration of worm composting and a 1:00 pm class on how to transplant your plants. Students from 4-H will hold on to plant purchases while shoppers enjoy the fair. Students will then assist in taking them to your vehicle, if needed. Donations are welcome.

Because of limited parking, all Master Gardeners, overflow parking and some vendors will be parking at Hanley Farm. There will be shuttle drivers to take people back and forth. The drop off and pick-up area is in front of the Experiment building. The Practicum classes, Native Plant Nursery, and the Propagation Garden will sell their plants with much pride.

The fair is free to the public. This is a test run for the Master Gardener Association. We have great enthusiasm and confidence that we can make this event a success.

 

 

Feb 28

What’s going on?

By Beet 2023 03 March

If any of these working groups interest you, please contact the chair of that group.  Their contact information is in the JCMGA Chapter Directory and on the JCMGA website.

 

Community Outreach Working Group –

Our meetings are held on the third Friday of each month.

In February we discussed:

  • Medford Open Streets Project
  • Speakers’ Bureau
  • Friends of the Master Gardener program
  • Articles for The Garden Beet

Fundraising Working Group and the Spring Garden Fair Working Group–

In February we discussed:

  • Sale of the JCMGA Garden Guides
  • Spring Garden Fair on May 6th from 9-3 p.m.
  • Fall Festival on October 14th
  • Will start working on creating a priority list of items for possible grants

 

Garden Working Group –

Our meetings are held on the 4th Monday of each month.

At the February meeting we discussed:

  • Status of the Native Plant Nursery
  • Irrigation for the gardens
  • Practicum update
  • Water Catchment update
  • Garden Enhancement Committee update
  • Janine Salvatti is now the Chair of this Working Group.

 

Marketing and Technology Working Group —

Our meetings are held on the second Monday of each month unless it works out to be a national holiday.  In February, we discussed many topics such as:

  • The focus of the Garden Beet
  • Working on QRL codes for gardens
  • Exploring Google Workspace for Nonprofits
  • The Marketing Brochure
  • Updating the website

If you are interested in joining our group for a discussion or to lend a hand or if you want more information, please contact Sandy Hansen, Chair at sandyhansen08@gmail.com or 707-332-4934.  All are welcome.

 

Member Services Working Group –

We are continuing to work on updating the Chapter Directory for 2023.  Our goal is to have the directory ready for you by the end of March.   We are starting to work on a possible Field Trip later this year – details to follow.  In trying to meet the needs of our members, we are creating a survey to email later in March.  Please take the time to complete it for us.  We are also going to be surveying our past members to find out how we can serve them.   If you are interested in being a part of our group, contact Barbara Low at barbaralow@msn.com .

 

Program Support Working Group –

The Program Support Working Group has been focused on restarting engagement and learning

activities. We have held the first Practicum sessions since the shut down and are building a

Community Education Class schedule! The Plant Clinic has been busy with updates and

preparing mentors to train all our new Master Gardener Students. We will soon have a current

list of reportable pests. The Plant Clinic loves puzzles so much that we have been holding a

scavenger hunt through the Oregon Department of Agriculture and Oregon Department of

Forestry websites to update our reportable pest list.

 

 

Winter Dreams Summer Gardens Working Group –

Our group has started meeting on a regular basis to plan for the WDSG 2023!  We have brainstormed possible presentation topics and speakers.

If you are interested is being a part of this group, please contact Colet Allen coletallen1@gmail.com , Susan Koenig srkoenig@aol.com or Barbara Low barbaralow@msn.com .

 

Feb 28

How to Record My JCMGA Recertification Hours for OSU

By Beet 2023 03 March

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 website https://vrs.osumg.org/sec_Login/
  • 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 –

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

  • In the left-hand side of this page you will find lots of good information. Take time to check out the following –
    • Report Hours button – where you choose if you want to record Volunteer Service Hours or Continuing Education Hours.
    • Documentation Button – there is information here explaining.
      • what is required for re-certification
      • what the new categories are what can be included in each category
    • How To Videos – shows you step by step what to do
  • If this is your first time reporting your recertification hours, you will need to click on the link Enrollment in VRS and follow the directions.
  • If you have recorded your recertification hours before, you should put in your email address and password. Since this is a new website and to strengthen security, OSU has changed their requirements for a password.  You may have to update your password.

 

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 Grace Florjancic, Barbara Low, Sandy Hansen or Jane Moyer.

Have a wonderful year gardening!

 

Dec 31

January in the Garden

By Beet 2023 01 January

The air is brisk and temperatures are just plain cold. Plants are dormant – sleeping for the winter and awaiting the warmer temperatures that spring will bring. Hopefully, we will get lots of precipitation during the coming months for our plants to thrive and survive the summer.

With that said, our gardens still need to be cared for so that they will do well in the spring and summer.

The Jackson County Master Gardener Association has a great resource for gardeners to use. It is the Garden Guide for the Rogue Valley – Year-Round & Month by Month book.  This great reference book for gardeners is mainly about the growing of vegetables, berries, and melons.

In this article, I will briefly refer to what we should be working on during the month of January based on the information in this book and articles on the OSU website.

January is the time to

  • Plan what you want to plant in spring – if you haven’t done it already. What seeds do you want to order? Do you want to try some new or different vegetables and/or berries?
  • Take the time to browse seed catalogues or websites – but don’t take too long or you might not be able to receive the seeds you want to try. Find plants that are good for growing in our area during both cool and warm weather. Garden Guide for the Rogue Valley – Year Round & Month by Month (Revised 2017).  Pages 52-58 (Crops to Grow in Cool Seasons) (Crops to Grow in Warm Seasons) (Berries); pages 58-69 (Planting Tips for Specific Crops); and page 87 (Month of January).
  • Plants which you plant as seeds to transplant later are
    • Cabbage
    • Lettuce
    • Parsley
  • Plants which you can plant as seed outside
    • Peas (if there are the right soil conditions)
  • Time to prune your grapes

 

 

 

 

The Garden Guide for the Rogue Valley – Year-Round & Month by Month book contains a wealth of gardening information. You can purchase it at our local Grange Co-op or at the OSU Extension office for $21.00.

 

Happy Gardening and Stay Warm

Garden For Life

Dec 31

Fundraising Working Group

By Beet 2023 01 January

Jackson County Master Gardener program is a non-profit group. This, however, does not mean we do not want to raise money and have a small profit to keep the bills paid and our JCMGA programs funded.

There are several sections of the Fundraising Working Group. One section is Grant Writing. The other sections include the Go Fund Me drive, the Grange Co-Op rewards program, the Garden Guide for the Rogue Valley: Year ‘Round & Month by Month sales, the 50/50 money drive at special events and the Bottle and Can return. (Pick up bags for the bottles and cans in the entry of the Extension.)

We have done several yard sales on campus in the past. These proved to be somewhat successful but are extremely labor-intensive to justify going forward. In November, we had a Holiday Bazaar and Native Plant Sale. Many items, including wreaths, swags, gnomes, Christmas stockings and tree ornaments were made over several months by enthusiastic members.

Going forward, the plan is to have a Fall Festival fair on campus selling Christmas items and native and Practicum plants.

Ours is a FUN group, which is the first three letters of FUNdraising. We are a group where laughter and brainstorming are abundant.

We meet at 1:00 pm on the 3rd Friday of each month at the OSU Extension. We are always looking for volunteers and ideas. Please contact chairperson Sandy Hammond at 541-826-5296 or email sandyhammond@q.com.

Dec 31

Easy Fundraising for JCMGA

By Beet 2023 01 January

This is the third in a series of articles on how JCMGA can be financially supported with little or no personal expense. This month, we are going to concentrate on returning redeemable bottles and cans through

Bottle Drop.

Bottle Drop Give is the bottle and can drive that never ends for Oregon nonprofits like JCMGA. Supporters (that’s YOU!) fill blue plastic bags with their empty deposit containers and drop them off at 1179 Stowe Ave, Medford, OR 97501, just off N. Ross Lane.  Bottle Drop is open 8am – 6pm daily if you want to take them inside the building. Much more convenient, though, is the small door on the side of the building. The label on the bag can be waved in front of the scanner next to the door to make it open. Drop your full bag inside and JCMGA will receive 10¢ for each container returned. To date, JCMGA has been earning about $200/month with this fundraiser.

The required blue bags are available on the table in the lobby of the OSU Extension. The printed label on the

front of each bag identifies it as creditable to JCMGA. Please fill the bags as full as possible because JCMGA

has to pay for each bag whether it is full or not.

Water bottles. Soda cans. Beer bottles. Sports drink bottles. Fruit juice bottles. These are just a few of the containers accepted by Bottle Drop. Most beverages have an Oregon refund value. There are too many

beverages on the market to list them all individually.

Rule of Thumb: Generally, if you can pour it and drink it, it’s covered unless it’s one of the specifically excluded beverages (distilled spirits, wine, dairy milk, plant‐based milk, infant formula, and liquid meal replacements) or if it’s in a carton, foil pouch, drink box, or metal container that requires a tool to be opened.

Included, but only if they are glass, metal, or plastic bottles or cans in the following sizes:

Beverages in sizes 3 liters or less:

  • Soda (carbonated/sparkling beverages) * Beer and other malt beverages
  • Water * Kombucha

Beverages in sizes from 4 ounces up to and including 1.5 liters:

  • Hard Seltzer
  • Coffee/tea (even if they contain milk)
  • Energy and sports drinks
  • Fruit and vegetable juice (does not have to be 100%)
  • Smoothies and shakes
  • Aloe vera juice
  • Coconut water
  • Non‐alcohol wine
  • Drinking vinegar
  • Hard cider if 8.5% ABV or less
  • Marijuana beverages
  • Muscle Milk
  • Protein shakes (unless marketed as a liquid meal replacement)
  • Ready‐to‐drink cocktail mixers, like margarita mix or bloody Mary mix
  • Thank you for your contribution!