Tag Archives: BCMGA

Benton Master Gardener eNews

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Bookmark our page: Find newsletter archives, volunteer handbook and more volunteer opportunities at https://blogs.oregonstate.edu/activebentonlinnmg/

Share an item for eNews by contacting your program staff by the second or last Wednesday of each month. Please use this event checklist to ensure all needed information is included in your request.

Master Gardener trainee H. Chris Smith wrote a blog post of top tips for stewarding pumpkin seeds for a new crop,
and enjoying them as tasty snacks.
Congratulations Chris on completing your service hours, and thanks for an informative post!
  • Shout outs
    • New volunteer opportunities – Community science. Contribute data to research on gardens, plants, and wildlife. Explore and sign up. Many projects are remote and on your own schedule. Report the time as “citizen science: indirect”. 
    • Volunteer service hours and continuing education are due 10/31. Congratulations to the growing group of trainees who have completed learning and service goals to earn their first Master Gardener Volunteer Certifications! Save the date for graduation and celebration on Saturday, November 19 from 2-4 in Tangent. 
    • Are you a trainee who needs help completing your service? Schedule a visit about volunteering or contact Elizabeth Records.
  • BCMGA News
    • 9/23 – BCMGA Membership Gathering/Picnic—Friday, September 23, 5:00-7:00 PM. RSVP to Janet Magedanz: jkmagedanz (at) gmail.com
    • 10/10 – BCMGA board meeting 3:00-5:00. Via board President: “We are looking at holding an in-person meeting but will keep the Zoom option. Below is the link to join via Zoom. I’ll include the location in my next Bi-Weekly Update.”
    • 10/24 Membership meeting. The October membership meeting will be on Monday, October 24 rather than October 17.
      • Vote for 2023 BCMGA board members
      • Learn how to identify and report emerald ash borer with Jennifer Killian, City of Corvallis Urban Forester.
  • Volunteers needed
    • 9/20 & 9/27 – Plant Sale Propagation teams will be meeting every Tuesday in September from 9:00 -11:00am near the greenhouses on the west side of Philomath High School, 2054 Applegate St. Bring gloves, pruners, your badge, and perhaps a bottle of water. No experience is necessary. We’ll get you started potting up baby plants in no time! Please RSVP to Leslie at lesliehauser107@gmail.com (or show up anyway if you forget). This year, with your help, the Plant Sale Team will be growing 60% of the propagated plants for our May Plant Sale at Philomath Highschool. The other 40% will be from a scaled-down Dig and Divide season beginning mid-September. Stay tuned for more info on how you can join us at Nellie’s house this fall!
      • September 20
      • September 27
    • 9/24 Fall 2022 Master Gardener BioBlitz. Grab your camera and join us on iNaturalist to capture the insects, birds, wild plants, and other wild organisms in your garden or a nearby community or public garden space. Your efforts will help to document garden biodiversity in Oregon! Online – all day. Learn more and join. Report the time as “citizen science: indirect”. 
    • Anytime – Become a Forest Pest Detector and report observations of potentially invasive species. Report hours as “citizen science: indirect”. Master Gardener volunteers in Master Gardener Programs of Linn and Benton Counties may report time spent with training as continuing education, and times spent and spotting and reporting possible pests as “citizen science: indirect”.
    • Weekdays – Office Plant Clinic sign-ups open: The office is open to the public, and volunteers can sign up for plant clinic shifts as desired, to answer client questions or practice skills. Pairs of volunteers can currently sign up in the front office again! Sign up HERE. 
  • Community news (Please note that anything in this section is not eligible for MGV volunteer service nor endorsed by Extension, but is mentioned as a courtesy to our community.)
    • Your extra pots are needed by the Plant Sale team. You can drop them off behind the shed at the Demonstration Garden at the fairgrounds.  

Benton MGV eNews

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Teresa Matteson, Resource Conservationist, demonstrates a worm bin to Master Gardener trainees at a 2022 garden lab. Thanks to MGV committee members who are teaching some of these garden labs, including the Community Gardening Education Team, Plant Problem Scenarios, Plant Sale Committee, and (from Linn County) Pollinator Project Team. Trainees love the combination of on-their-own schedule coursework and hands-on weekend garden labs.
  • Correction: Debbie Lauer’s email address had an error in eNews. The correcte email for Debbie is DSL2017@peak.org
  • Trainees & continuing volunteers – Fun roles & activities in the upcoming S2S in the Garden workshops 🌿April 23, 10-12, May 21, 10-12, July 23, 10-12, Sept 10, Potluck. Please click the following link to get to the “S2S in the Garden 2022 Signups” worksheet in eNews.
    • Farmer’s Market Clinic Table! It’s nearly time for the outdoor farmer’s market in downtown Corvallis. The first clinic table will be Saturday, April 16. Beginning in May the Master Gardener clinic tables at the Farmer’s Market will be the 2nd Saturday and 4th Wednesday of each month. Certified Master Gardeners are required to give advice but trainees may volunteer as well. If enough people volunteer, we can have two shifts. Please contact Debbie Lauer at 541-929-7544 or DSL2017@peak.org to sign up.
  • Shoutouts
    • Office Plant Clinic sign ups open: The office is open to the public, and volunteers can sign up for plant clinic shifts as desired, to answer client questions or practice skills. Pairs of volunteers can currently sign up in the front office again! Sign up HERE. If you’re a trainee, please wait to connect with a mentor, before enrolling.
    • Next Board Meeting is Monday, April 11, 3:00 – 5:00. See invitation from the board president to join.
    • April 18th BCMGA membership meeting – at 7 PM, we will be meeting in the Sunset room where we used to meet before Coronavirus changed everything. The speaker will be Kathy Clark and her presentation is entitled Making Smart Plant Choices for Less Work. Many of us have come to the uncomfortable – literally – realization that plant decisions we made in the past resulted in more work than we want to continue to do or can no longer do. Kathy will give us great ideas about how to make changes or, if you’re still a “youngster” , how to do it right the first time. If you won’t be attending in person, a zoom link will be provided in the email version of this newsletter.
    • Returning volunteers – need a replacement badge? Order them HERE.
  • LOTS of new volunteer opportunities, see below!
    • Free Seed Packets. We are fortunate to have several generous local garden supply companies who have donated commercial seed packets to the Master Gardener Program that we’ve primarily used for Seed To Supper. Although the packets expired last year, many still have useful viability. We have a large variety of vegetable as well as perennial and annual flower seeds for MG use! If you have a project that could benefit (community gardens, beautification areas, etc.) please contact Shikha Ghosh Gottfried at shikhagg@gmail.com.
  • Volunteers needed
    • The 2022 Plant Sale is on! Click HERE to volunteer for the BCMGA Plant Sale on May 7 at the Benton County Fairgrounds. Volunteers are needed for both May 6 (Set up) and May 7 (Sale day).  If you have any questions or prefer to not use Sign-Up Genius, please email Leslie Hauser, this year’s Volunteer Coordinator, at lesliehauser107@gmail.com. 
    • The Grow Team is looking for volunteers to help start seeds at the Philomath High School greenhouses to have plants ready for the annual plant sale on May 7. Please follow the link to Sign Up Genius to volunteer to help with seed starting. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C45AAAE2AA57-bcmg1
    • Mentors needed! We have a full class of people about to start training to become Master Gardeners. Mentors are key to helping these folks become effective problem solvers, as well as part of the Master Gardener community. At this time, mentors and trainees are unable to work together at the help desk in the Extension office but can do so in the conference room. They can also meet virtually from anywhere. Training for mentors is being updated to make these meetings easier, using new resources as well as refinements of the virtual help desk. There is a place for continuing Master Gardeners to serve at all levels, from working at the traditional desk to those totally online, so please volunteer to mentor the next generation and keep Master Gardeners thriving. Contact Alan Taylor, Mentor Committee chair, at tayloala@peak.org or 541-929-4141.
  • Continuing education opportunities:  
  • Community news (Please note that anything in this section is not eligible for MGV volunteer service nor endorsed by Extension, but is mentioned as a courtesy to our community.)
    • Job: The Oregon State University Division of Extension and Engagement invites applications for a full-time Office Specialist 1 for the OSU Extension Service Benton County Office. This position is located in Corvallis, Oregon.This Office Specialist 1 is a member of the OSU Extension Benton County Office support team and contributes to a welcoming and respectful workplace culture. This position provides routine office support tasks for the OSU Extension Benton County Office. The Office Specialist provides educational resources and general assistance to Extension clients and/or refers clients to the appropriate faculty or staff member. The ability to travel is required to perform office-related errands such as picking up or delivering materials to the OSU main campus, supply stores, printing and mailing. https://jobs.oregonstate.edu/postings/116390
    • Got Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs? Donate them for research! Jana Lee, a research entomologist at OSU, has a postdoc student needing brown marmorated stink bugs for his research, Ryan Paul. We would be willing to stop by local homes to collect any BMSB where people see them, or pick up any container with them.  If any BMSB are put into a container, they need air since they will ‘stink’ themselves to death in a closed container.  There should also be a wet towel, and some food like carrot stick, bean, apple slice or grape. If you have stink bugs, contact:
      • Jana Lee, Research Entomologist  jana.lee@usda.gov
      • Paul Ryan ryanp@oregonstate.edu

Benton MGV eNews

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MGV Project show and tell! Are you looking for a way to get better acquainted with fellow Master Gardeners while working on projects together, often safely outdoors? A way to serve your local community? Or have you wondered about all the committees that the Benton County Master Gardener Association has and what they do? Join us Monday evening, October 18, at 7:00 PM to hear a panel representing many of those committees, ask questions, and learn how you can join in their work. Following this discussion, we will elect new officers to serve the Association next year. Find a link to this event in your email!

  • Shout outs
    • Elect BCMGA board members for the next service year on October 18 at 7PM. Also attend for an overview of Master Gardener projects looking for volunteers, detailed above.

MOST CURRENT SLATE:

  • Past President–Deb Kern
  • President–Jana Tindall 
  • President Elect–Mary Mellard
  • Secretary (sharing position)–Cynthia Roler & Wendi Gale
  • Treasurer (sharing positions) Lynne Trimpe & Paula Lupcho
  • VP Programs—Janet Magedanz
  • At Large–Alan Taylor, Fred Prahal & Frank Garcia
  • It is just about three weeks until the close of the service year, on 10/31! Everyone who would like to participate in any volunteer activities in 2022, needs to re-enroll by reviewing Guide to Volunteering 2022 and completing annual program agreements. Everyone on this list should have received a DocuSign via email, or if requested, will soon receive a hard copy. Not sure about re-enrolling? Check out some common questions and answers. If you have questions not answered here please contact Elizabeth Records.
  • Volunteers needed – Visit the Benton County Volunteer opportunities page to sign up for recurring events.
    • This week: – Plant propagation – donations and divisions. Many dates and times – drop in and sign up when you arrive. See full schedule.
    • Garden writing opportunity!  The BCMGA is looking for someone to prepare a monthly posting for the Neighborhood Plant Kiosk.  The posting generally relates to tasks to be completed in the garden for the following month (which can be found online) and generally takes approximately two hours to prepare.  Time preparing the post qualifies for volunteer service for certification purposes.  If interested, please contact Denise Saunders at vdenisesaunders@comcast.net or 541 760-0523.
    • Mountain View Elementary School Garden: The current emphasis is to get all students and teachers involved in the garden. A grade appropriate lesson in plant propagation is followed with the students planting in the garden. If possible, the lessons are scheduled so that the students can harvest before school is out in June. Fall crops can be harvested shortly after the September start of school, if that grade is still enrolled at the school. Please contact Glen Canning if you are interested.
    • Community Garden Action Team & Seed to Supper: Teaching hands-on gardening to underserved community members. Contact Judith Kenner if interested.
  • Continuing education (free to MGVs unless noted with $)
    • Happening now: Mason bee cocoon care workshops for the Willamette Valley are back this fall! Watch a fun instructional movie on your own schedule to learn how you can have three times as many bees through basic cocoon care. Then join a cocoon care Q&A to troubleshoot the pests and parasites that attack mason bees, along with emeritus entomologist Rich Little and the Linn MGV Pollinator Project members. Sign up for October Q&As.
    • New ($): “Gardening for Resilience”, the annual UVM Extension Master Gardener conference, will be held virtually on November 5-6, 2021, from 12-3:30 pm each day with recordings available to all registered participants. The conference is for everyone who loves to garden in Vermont and beyond. This year, an amazing lineup of speakers will teach about  indigenous agricultural practices and their application in today’s gardens, how mycorrhizal fungi enhance plant health, heirloom plant cultivation, food resiliency, and how to develop community connections through gardens. For a complete description of the education sessions and speaker backgrounds, and to register, click on this LINK.
    • Nov 9 @3:00 pm – 4:00 pm PST Online: Health Soils for Healthy People | Growing Oregon Gardeners: Level Up Series
  • BCMGA updates are now found in the President’s mailings.
  • Extension updates.
    • Can Oregon Master Gardeners Answer Hemp or Cannabis Questions? This question comes up, repeatedly, throughout the year. If someone calls the Master Gardener help desk, or submits a question through the Ask an Expert Service, can Master Gardener volunteers provide advice or support for growing hemp or cannabis? The short answer is ‘no’. Read the post.
  • Community news (Please note that anything in this section is not eligible for MGV volunteer service nor endorsed by Extension, but is mentioned as a courtesy to our community.)
    • None this week.