Upcoming Events – July/August 2025 – Curry County Master Gardeners

July Events

Plant Clinics All Around Curry County!

By Paul Maree

Plant clinics at Curry County libraries are up and running, and starting in July we are adding a Greenhouse Plant Clinic in Gold Beach! This will be offered monthly, from 1:00pm – 3:00pm, on the first Tuesday, until October 7th.

In addition to the library plant clinics, this is a great way to serve our communities, bring more visibility to our Plant Clinics, and also show off the new greenhouse!

Volunteers are asked to bring a laptop or iPad for logging questions into ECCO. The new greenhouse has Wi-Fi. Be sure to check out the Plant Clinic Resources page of our new website! Handout and booth materials will be brought in for the first Plant Clinics.

The in-person Plant Clinics at our local libraries began in April. These monthly clinics take place from 10 AM to 1 PM at the following locations:

· Chetco Community Public Library in Brookings (541) 469-7738 – 3rd Monday of each month

· Curry Public Library in Gold Beach (541) 247-7246 – 3rd Wednesday of each month

· Port Orford Public Library in Port Orford (541) 332-5622 – 3rd Thursday of each month

Volunteers can sign up to staff a Plant Clinics event through our TEAMUP calendar.

Greenhouse Volunteers Needed!

We have a wonderful new greenhouse, but now we are looking for several volunteers to help us there on a regular basis. Currently we are down to only three, dedicated volunteers who come most Tuesdays (1:00 to 3:00). We could really use 5-6 members there regularly! This would make it possible to easily divvy up jobs and complete tasks as needed. Amazingly, growing plants for next years plant sale starts now (see the task calendar). And, the work we do all year in plant sale preparation results in funding for most of our MG projects, so it is very much a critical piece of our mission!

Come join us and see if helping in the greenhouse is something you would like to do on a regular basis. We learn a lot, have fun together, and your time and energy will be greatly appreciated!

If you not are available on Tuesdays, watering during the week is also needed. We know people have weeks when they can’t be there (we do too!), so there is plenty of flexibility.

4th Annual Community Garden Festival at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Brookings

July 19th

We’ve been invited to take part in the 4th Annual Community Garden Festival at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Brookings on Saturday, July 19th, from 12:00 to 2:00 PM.

Julia Bott will be representing the Curry County Master Gardeners at our booth, and she would love help from a few fellow volunteers, either to assist at the table or simply be present to support the event.

The festival will feature booths from local organizations (including the Monarch group), food, a kid’s activity, and live music by Tony Fogelman.

If you’re able to participate, please sign up here: Event Link TEAMUP Once you’ve signed up, kindly let Julia know you’ll be attending so she can plan accordingly.

Thank you for supporting this great community event!

Help Request for Driftwood Elementary School in Port Orford

Donna Johannesmeyer, the School Garden Coordinator at Driftwood Elementary School in Port Orford, is requesting help with the garden at Driftwood Elementary over the summer.

Now that our school year has wrapped up, volunteers are needed to help keep our garden alive and thriving over the summer!

The garden beds are set up on an automatic timer, thanks to our wonderful volunteers who installed that a couple of summers ago, and the beds are bursting at the seams with fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers! We have had a team of Master Gardeners over the last year – Martin, Angi, Robin, and Ann, who have helped greatly in getting our garden to where it is now. Thank you!

Our Driftwood students love exploring the garden and using it as an outdoor classroom. Our cafeteria is continuing to serve lettuce from our garden on the salad bar this summer, and Donna is planning to host a few family drop-in days to harvest and enjoy the garden.

If you can sign up for a day, a week, or whatever works with your summer schedule, it would be greatly appreciated! We need volunteers to check on the garden, water as needed, and harvest while you’re there! It’s a great place to spend time! Sign up at TEAMUP or DW Garden Summer Sign- up. There is a link at the top of the document that gives instructions for volunteers.

OMGA 2025 Joy of Gardening Conference

July 11th and 12th

The OMGA 2025 Joy of Gardening Conference registration is open!

Treat yourself this summer to a 2-day educational event at this year’s Oregon Master Gardener Association Joy of Gardening Conference, at the OSU Alumni Center in Corvallis.

The Joy of Gardening Conference has something for everyone. Over 30 instructors are scheduled to speak on a variety of topics from Drought Tolerant Landscaping and Houseplants to Home Orchards and Lilies.

NEW this year OMGA is offering sessions to help Master Gardener Associations welcome new members, obtain grants and sponsors, improve websites and social media outreach, employ best practices for Demonstration Gardens, promote Seed to Supper Programs, and improve leadership skills.

Master Gardeners can earn recertification credits for all classes.

For more information and to register visit the event website at: https://omga.org/joy-of-gardening-2025/

The Party in the Park at Buffington Park Gold Beach

July 12th, 11:00am – 4:00pm

Help staff the booth on July 12th for all or some of the time – noon to 3:00 is the busy time. We are collaborating with Curry Watersheds Partnership on this booth. The Party in the Park is an annual event hosted by the Rotary Club of Gold Beach. Youth visit various booths and engage in an activity and get their passport stamped. They then become eligible for prizes.

This year’s theme is Enchanted Forest. Our basic activity will be a scavenger hunt in our booth. Kids will get a card and need to find the item in our forest. For more details, contact Julia Bott.

Seeds to Sprouts a Kids Sunflower Planting Activity

July 21th, 11:00am – 12:15pm

The Brookings-Harbor Garden Club has invited us to collaborate on a children’s gardening event at the Chetco Library, and they are seeking a few Master Gardener volunteers to help with the educational portion of the program.

The program (in the Chetco Library, Brookings) will introduce children to gardening through a fun, hands-on sunflower planting activity. Each child will be provided garden tools, gloves, a pail, and planting supplies, thanks to a grant obtained by the Garden Club. Attendance will be limited to 30 children, and the library will provide refreshments.

They are requesting 2 to 3 Master Gardeners to help explain the seed-to-sprout process and guide the children through the planting activity. They are also open to any creative ideas you may want to contribute.

If you’re interested in volunteering for the children’s event, please let Paul Maree know as soon as you can. It is also available to sign up in the TEAMUPs Calendar.

Thank you for helping share your gardening knowledge with the next generation!

Curry County Fair Day

July 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th

The County Fair will be at the Curry County Fairgrounds, Gold Beach again! As in past years, Master Gardeners will provide an informational booth where fair patrons can learn more about the Master Gardener program and ask gardening questions. We will also have fun activities for kids and adults.

Each day will have two 3-hour shifts. Check out what shifts need to be filled in the TEAMUPs Calendar and let Paul Maree (paul.maree@oregonstate.edu) know which shift you would like to be part of. It would be great if we could get at least 2 people to cover each shift.