Columbia County Master Gardener Association

From Kym Pokorny in the Oregonian 8/4/2020:

“It appears overnight and looks like a horror-show blob that’s slithered its way into your garden.

The gross-looking substance known as slime mold shows up on mulch and lawns, but is harmless to plants. Instead it feeds on decaying matter, fungi or bacteria, according to Neil Bell, a horticulturist for Oregon State University Extension Service.

“It’s called slime mold and is not harming the grass or plants in the mulch,” he said. “It appears really suddenly, seemingly overnight. It occurs after rainfall in summer, which we had in June.”

Slime mold, which is a primitive organism placed in a family by itself, comes in sizes from several inches to 2 feet or more in diameter and shows up in many colors, ranging from bright yellow, orange or white to shiny black. In its fresh state, it’s often called by the descriptive term “dog vomit.” As conditions change, the substance begins to dry, turns brown, then produces spores that float away. Many times, you’ll find it in the woods in other colors, Bell said.

While active, slime mold can “flow” across mulch for several feet, eating dead matter as it goes. It may appear to grow on plants during this stage, but is only devouring organic mulch like bark dust or compost.

In the lawn, Bell said, slime mold looks almost like grayish black beads. One morning they’re apparent, the next they’re gone.

“People are surprised to see it and want to do something,” Bell said. “You can rake it out to speed up drying. It’s okay to put it in the compost pile or just mix it into the mulch. Or spray it off with a blast of water from the host. It’s certainly not something you’d apply a pesticide to because it will disappear of its own accord.”

Read the full article in The Oregonian HERE.

“Fragile, beautiful, and fascinating, butterflies flutter their way into our gardens and seem to just as quickly wing their way out. It isn’t because they necessarily want to leave, said Heather Stoven, an entomologist with the Oregon State University Extension Service. Rather they don’t find what they need to park themselves permanently.”

“As detailed in Extension’s publication The Wildlife Garden: How to Create a Butterfly Garden, butterflies require specific room and board to have their needs met. As with all wildlife, shelter, water and food are a given, but for butterflies, the range of repast is more limited.

When butterflies change from egg to larvae, or caterpillar, they come out ravenous and with chewing mouthparts, two things that set them up to damage plants, a condition gardeners must tolerate or forgo butterflies except in the most ephemeral way.

Fortunately for the gardener—not at all fortunate for the butterfly—only a few plants qualify as nutrition for the caterpillar, sometimes just one. These host plants must be present, Stoven pointed out, or the caterpillars starve to death.” Read more to learn about host plants for our local butterflies: HERE.

The OSU Extension publication on how to create a butterfly garden may be downloaded: HERE.

“Freshly planted and carefully tended, vegetable gardens can quickly become a magnet for trouble. Problems seem to spring up overnight.

Weeds, for instance, can overtake a garden in days. Slugs munch on seedlings. Aphids suck the juices from any number of plants. And that white butterfly you see fluttering around? It’s a cabbage white butterfly that lays eggs that turn into voracious larvae.”

Weston Miller, horticulturist with Oregon State University Extension Service, says that “weeds are the hardest part of vegetable gardening. If you let them get out of control, it’s a big problem. Using a hoe when the weeds are small will save you from having to bend down.”

Read tips about weeding (and thwarting garden pests) HERE.

OSU Extension’s Food Hero to distribute 80,000 seeds as part of Grow This! Oregon Garden Challenge | Oregon State University

Interest in home gardening has skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, the Food Hero team at Oregon State University Extension Service is offering Oregonians a unique opportunity to grow vegetables and fruits at home.

Food Hero, a social marketing campaign that empowers families to make food choices that are healthy, fun and tasty, is spearheading the Grow This! Oregon Garden Challenge.  According to Mandy Hatfield, Extension educator in Douglas County, the challenge invites individuals, schools and community groups to come together to plant seeds and grow Oregon’s health and food supply.

Anyone can join using their own seeds, but the first 3,000 Oregonians who sign up will be mailed a free packet of vegetable and fruit seeds with four varieties like tomatoes, carrots, melons, strawberries and herbs.

Read more in this May 26th story by Kym Pokorny HERE.

“Just about everybody I know is planting a garden this spring.

It makes sense. Whether you’re concerned about long-term food security, want to have access to fresh produce in between trips to New Seasons, or just want to stave off boredom-induced psychosis while in quarantine, there are lots of good reasons to start a pandemic garden.

Unfortunately, lots of novice gardeners tend to tumble into the hobby headlong with little planning or research—I was no different. Then, when something goes wrong, there’s a powerful temptation to say, “I guess I just can’t keep plants alive,” and quit.

It doesn’t have to be that way. After consulting with a couple of experts—and mining my own years of experience in the “field,” so to speak— here’s what you need to know about starting your garden, and keeping it growing.”

~ Read more in “A Practical Guide to Starting a Pandemic Garden” – Willamette Week By Christen McCurdy

“The COVID-19 pandemic has inspired millions of people to grow vegetables, but many don’t have room for traditional gardening.

Don’t let lack of yard space keep you from gardening this spring and summer. Many vegetables grow well in containers on a patio, porch, balcony or windowsill.

Small spaces make it hard to grow some of the larger vegetables, according to Brooke Edmunds, Oregon State University Extension Service horticulturist. For instance, growing corn on a balcony may not be practical. But a wide variety of crops can be planted, including lettuce, herbs, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, carrots, beans, squash, radishes, strawberries, kale, chard and spinach.”

Read more in this ARTICLE from Kym Porkony.

“Prior to industrialization, most Americans were farmers and would have considered it odd to grow food as a leisure activity. But as they moved into cities and suburbs to take factory and office jobs, coming home to putter around in one’s potato beds took on a kind of novelty. Gardening also appealed to nostalgia for the passing of traditional farm life.”

And now, it seems, the corona-virus pandemic has set off a global gardening boom.

“In the early days of lockdown, seed suppliers were depleted of inventory and reported “unprecedented” demand. Within the U.S., the trend has been compared to World War II victory gardening, when Americans grew food at home to support the war effort and feed their families.”

Read more about the deep roots that gardening has in this article HERE.

As you start to see posts about the ‘murder hornets’, please note that they’re a huge threat to our nation’s **honey bees**. They’re less a threat to people.

They’re in Washington state, so Oregonians should be on the lookout.

Most important – learn to ID them and distinguish them from native insects. Don’t indiscriminately spray and kill. If you think you see one, take a photo if you can do so safely, and report it to your Extension office or to Oregon’s Invasive Species hotline: 1-866-INVADER. ~ OSU Master Gardeners

‘Murder Hornets’ in the U.S.: The Rush to Stop the Asian Giant Hornet- NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/02/us/asian-giant-hornet-washington.html

Event hosted by the Columbia-Pacific Food Bank:

Would you like to grow tomatoes for your community and your family? Well we have the perfect opportunity for you! Due to the cancellation of many plants sales here in the county, we will be receiving approximately 100 tomato plants for free. Yes, these are all donated to Columbia Pacific Food Bank. The idea here is to grow these plants, feed your family and donate a portion back to us to share with our clients.

If you would like to receive some of these plants please e-mail Meagan Fawcett at meagan@cpfoodbank.org to reserve yours. You must be available for pick up between the hours of ‪3pm‬ and ‪8pm on Thursday April 30th.‬ Meagan will schedule a pick up time for you at the food bank, located on Milton Way. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Post your photos of tomato plants that you are growing and use the hashtag #growatomatocc

Additionally, if Master Gardeners and other backyard gardeners have surplus plant starts to donate to this great cause, please reach out to Meagan at the food bank to discuss drop-off procedures. MGs – please track your donations and we will give you volunteer credit hours for your efforts and generosity!

This week, Master Gardeners participated in a live webinar on Gardening with Natives and the Oregon Flora Project. If you missed it, here is a recording to watch: (and receive 1 hour of continuing education!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C47VkJt8IrI&feature=youtu.be

Here is an upcoming webinar that may interest you about Dueling with Diggers, at 10am on April 28th: https://connect.extension.org/…/dueling-with-diggers-gopher…

As always, you can watch past webinars and register for upcoming ones here: http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/…/2020-osu-extension-master-g…/

Many thanks to Brooke Edmunds and her team for putting these together! 🌺