Oregon Master Gardener Association
First Quarter Chapter Reports
2015
Benton County submitted by Jana Tindall
SUCCESSES
ü Plant Problem Scenarios was select for the International Master Gardener Search for Excellence Award in the Innovative Project category. This was a joint entry by Linn and Benton Counties. It was designed to help new Master Gardeners become comfortable and adept in interviewing clients with plant problems, enhance their ability to develop a correct diagnosis and provide helpful recommendations, significantly reduce the time necessary for new Master Gardeners to become proficient at plant problem diagnosis, and enhance the knowledge of Master Gardener veterans serving as instructors for the training. Kudos to Pat Wray and his team for all of the dedication and hard work that they have devoted to this extremely worthwhile endeavor. This continues to be a very successful and popular program. We have received inquiries from other counties on how to institute the program.
ü Gearing up for Gardening, the weekly brown-bag gardening series in January and February, continues to be very popular. We video-tape each weekly presentation so that it is available to those unable to attend. This series qualifies for training hours for Master Gardeners.
ü Insights Into Gardening, held on February 7, was a great success based on feed-back from attendees. The program was expanded this year from 9 to 12 classes and a key-note speaker, Lucy Hardiman, started the day with a presentation on using the color wheel in the garden.
CHALLENGES
v In an effort to improve recruitment of new Master Gardeners we are looking at expanding our membership to include people who are interested in being involved in the gardening community and learn more gardening skills. Our hope is that they become Master Gardeners in the future. There are often people who express an interest but because of work or family commitments cannot complete the MG course that this time. We currently have an Associate Member category that is defined as those actively taking the MG training or are in the process of completing their volunteer hours. We also are looking at a Student Member for student volunteers, high school and college age, to assist with projects. This would allow them to become involved at an early age and in addition to gaining practical knowledge it would provide an opportunity for community service. These individuals would not be giving gardening advice or recommendations to the public but would work jointly with BCMGA members. Has anyone done this in their counties? Was it successful? What issues needed to be resolved?
v In order to provide better customer service, Brooke Edmonds, our Benton County Community Horticulture Agent has established minimum office hours for the Master Gardener desk at the Extension office. These are dependent on the season. One day per week during the non-growing season and Monday-Thursday the rest of the year.
v Currently, there is no statewide standard for recertification hours. Each agent may establish the standards that they feel are best suited to the MG group with whom they work. Gail Langelotto, as one of her goals for 2015, plans to work with agents to establish guidelines for recertification hours. An Ad-hoc committee was formed to look at defining Recertification Hours for Benton County Master Gardeners. The conclusion of the committee is that this should be a decision of the Community Horticulture Agent and Program Assistant and is not a duty of the Association. Their recommendation is that OMGA work with Gail to insure that the state association’s input is considered during the process to standardize recertification hours. BCMGA should work with Brooke to define and give specific examples of what BCMGA activities meet the criteria of each category.
v Our Plant A Row committee has been inactive for some time. In order to keep this important community activity viable we have folded the responsibilities into the Community Garden Action committee.
v In order to improve communication between committees and the BCMGA Board, each board member has been assigned as a liaison between a committee and the board. The role of the liaison is to communicate budget information to the committee chair, support special allocation requests, support the annual reporting process, assist with problem solving and ensure the well-being of the committee, and communicate achievements and needs to the board.
OTHER
· Brooke Edmonds distributed and organization chart for the Benton County Master Gardener Program showing how it relates to Oregon State University, OSU Extension, etc. She also distributed a chart of the roles and responsibilities of the OSU Extension Master Gardener Program, the Oregon Master Gardener Association, and OMGA chapters. The board found both these documents to be enlightening.
Central Gorge Chapter submitted by Eric Bosler
The first quarter of 2015 is, as with all Master Gardener chapters, proving to be a very busy time. Training classes are in mid-session, planning is underway for the year’s up-coming activities, and some functions, such as plant clinic, are seeing early action.
Our geographic areas’ early hard freeze (November 12th, 2014) resulted in some unusual plant damage that has, up to this point, generated more questions than clear answers. We anticipate a high plant clinic volume to only increase as we move into spring. Physical damage will continue to be a major topic. A mild winter and, what appears to be an early spring, has resulted in unseasonal insect activity and we’re sure to feel this as we conduct Plant Clinics both at the Extension Office and the various community venues which begin soon.
The CGMGA is excited to embark, this spring, on a new community outreach project. In partnership with the Hood River FISH Food Bank, Master Gardeners will begin offering the Seed To Supper garden training curriculum to area residents. Classes will be the inaugural function in a community meeting facility being constructed as part of FISH Food Banks’ new $1 million dollar food bank, warehouse and nutrition center. Our goal is to expand this project to the other Central Gorge communities served by FISH Food Bank with an added emphasis on our Spanish speaking neighbors.
There are always unexpected challenges as well. In mid-February an automobile missed a turn and rolled into the Parkdale Community Memorial Garden causing an estimated $9,000.00 in damage. This project of the CGMGA, in conjunction with several community partners has, over the past two years, been undergoing a transformation. From an overgrown, forgotten, triangular patch of blight back into a beautiful testament to creativity and local history. The project is an example of what a lot of care, love and hard work on the part of dedicated Master Gardeners can accomplish. The reclamation which was scheduled to be completed this spring may have been setback but the project leaders and participants vow to overcome this additional hurdle and have the garden in shape to be a focal point of our upcoming summer garden tour.
Central Oregon Chapter submitted by Diana Hardin
The Central Oregon Chapter has hit the new quarter running. Our awards and recognition night welcomed 25 new Master Gardeners. December we celebrated the season with a holiday luncheon. Our traditional giving back to the community was observed with donations to both the local animal shelter and our food bank.
January saw our new Board of Directors take office with great enthusiasm and an event filled year in the planning.
Education was on the agenda with many offerings of Advanced Training for our members as well as our community gardening talks. Of note is two of our Beginning Gardening Classes will be offered in Spanish this year. One will be at the Catholic Church in Redmond and the other in Bend. Our lesson learned in these classes was using a site that was familiar and comfortable for our Spanish speaking clients.
Training of new Master Gardeners is well under way with 24 trainees and 1 transfer taking part. We are looking forward to a new class topic this year, “ Backyard Fruit Trees” taught by OSU Extension Agent Steve Renquist.
For those who would like an excuse to visit beautiful Central Oregon and also get some great Advanced Training our annual Spring Seminar will be coming up in on Saturday, April 18th. There will be 16 topics to choose from in 4, 1 ½ hour sessions. The event will be held at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds. Check out our “gocomga.com “ web site for class titles and registrations details.
We held our 1st quarterly meeting on February 14th and the speaker was Master Falconer, Dan Cecchini Jr. He has spoken internationally and spoke to our chapter on the improper use of pesticides and how they were detrimental to the Peregrine falcon, the use of bird abatement in vineyards and blueberries, and how the backyard gardener with the use of nest boxes can help to increase the population of some declining raptors and that the birds can also be an effective way to control small backyard pests.
Plans for the Annual Plant Sale are underway. Tomatoes will be our featured plants and we will be growing all that is offered in our greenhouse. Careful attention to plant materials that will produce fruit in our short growing season is always observed. This helps to give our community success in growing their own food. We are changing the location this year from Bend to the Extension Office and Greenhouse in Redmond.
Clatsop County submitted by Pam Holen
Quarterly Highlights: The Fresh Starts Project, a collaborative CCMGA and Astoria H.S. program that teaches gardening to special needs students, desperately needed a humidistat to conquer problematic humidity in their greenhouse. A humidistat was located, but the price of installation was prohibitive. Thanks to a donation by Marlene House, the humidistat was successfully installed. This generous donation was made in her deceased daughter’s name; Erin was an OSU horticulture and agriculture alum.
Another highlight of mention is the addition of Cannon Beach students to the 2015 Master Gardener certification program. In November of 2014, Cannon Beach voted to join the OSU Extension Service District (official annexation should occur March 25th, 2015). To commemorate their annexation, our February general membership was held in Cannon Beach and included a public offering “Journaling in the Garden” with Carla Albright; Tillamook Master Gardener, author, and columnist of “Gardening Matters’, a twice monthly article in the Tillamook Headlight Herald.
Upcoming and Ongoing: As a retention initiative, our Program Coordinator is organizing continuing education for veteran Master Gardeners to include three social-media/technology relevant courses and a variety of advanced gardening classes.
Supporting Clatsop County’s entry into the “The Way to Wellville” challenge (http://www.hiccup.co), the theme of this year’s CCMGA Spring into Gardening Seminar (April 11th, Clatsop County Fairgrounds) is “Food! Glorious Food!. Our event has partnered with the North Coast Food Web to include Meet Your Farmer and will feature discussions of soil fertility and selecting the best produce varieties for coastal growing, as well as harvest preservation and meal preparation demonstrations/tastings.
Fundraising: Primarily from our demonstration garden, we already have roughly 370 plants prepped for sale at the Spring Gardening Seminar, our primary source of revenue.
Questions for OMGA: CCMGA has budgeted $250/yr. for potential OSU and/or OMGA fundraising; but given limited revenue and to enhance informed decision-making, the CCMGA board requests more detailed project information and improved follow-up/methods of keeping chapters abreast of OSU/OMGA projects.
Columbia County submitted by Chuck Petersen
Columbia County Master Gardeners support four Community Gardens and are already getting plant starts and plans for the coming gardening season. The four gardens are located Scappoose, St Helens, Vernonia and Clatskanie. Last year the competition between St Helens and Scappoose was rather fierce and St Helens narrowly beat Scappoose with the highest total pounds of produce donated to the local food bank.
We are starting a program to provide vegetable starts to our local food bank to encourage those who may want to grow some of their food. We will be supplying the plant, directions and in the case of potted vegetables a pot to grow them in.
The Columbia County Bug Crew is a sub group of Master Gardeners that have an interest in insects and their impact on the garden and the world in general. We have expanded and updated our insect displays, coordinated displays at the Demo Garden and spoken to various groups on the importance of insect diversity. There is even a group of “Bug Performers” that put on a skit to tell the story of various insects and how they live and die and why.
The Columbia County Spring Fair is coming up on April 25, 2015 featuring 34 varieties of tomatoes and numerous vendors supplying various garden related wares. The “Bug Crew” will also be on hand demonstrating methods to control aphids this year with various predators and the ways to attract them and how to confuse the aphids to make them easier targets for the predators. We have a large raffle with a number of donated prizes as well so if you are up north that weekend please stop by and take a look.
Our Demonstration Garden is in its final planning stages for what it is to be this year. We normally physically start work in the Garden the first of April but all our balmy weather has brought out weeds to a very big start so plans may changes. We have many plans and hope we can pull it all together for our County Fair in July.