Author: Charlie Barth

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Meet the Coordinator—Erica Chernoh 

Associate Professor of Practice based in the Lane County Extension Office 

Since joining Oregon State University Extension in 2019, Erica Chernoh has worked with Master Gardener volunteers in Lane County to support sustainable gardening education and community outreach. Before coming to Extension, her career included teaching at a community college, working with farmers overseas, and supporting agriculture through the organic industry. 

I spoke with Erica Chernoh about her path to horticulture education, what makes the southern Willamette Valley a great place to garden, and the volunteers who make the Master Gardener program possible. 

Quick Facts 

Position: Associate Professor of Practice in Horticulture 

Region: Lane and Linn County 

Years with Extension: Since 2019 

Favorite insect: Syrphid flies (hover flies) 

Beginner plant recommendation: Zucchini, radishes, beans, or peas 

Background 

Erica’s interest in gardening began at home, where she helped care for fruit trees with her dad. 

“I just remember always having fruit trees and… working with my dad, pruning them.” 

She earned a bachelor’s degree in physical geography, but while in college she found herself drawn toward agriculture. Working at her university’s student farm and taking soil science classes inspired her to pursue horticulture. 

After college, Erica joined the Peace Corps and served in Guatemala in an agricultural program, working as an integrated pest management (IPM) volunteer. She later worked in the organic industry before earning a master’s degree in horticulture from the University of California, Davis. 

Throughout her career, education has remained a common thread. Before joining Extension, she taught at a community college and worked with farmers through international development programs. She says the Master Gardener program offered another opportunity to share her enjoyment of gardening and horticulture with others. 

Gardening in the South Willamette Valley 

The southern Willamette Valley offers gardeners a long growing season and some of Oregon’s most fertile soils. According to Erica, the region avoids some of the challenges faced in other parts of the state, such as the harsh winter freezes common in Central Oregon or the persistent coastal rainfall. Those conditions allow gardeners to grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, making the area an excellent place for home gardening. 

Favorite Garden Lesson 

Like every gardener, Erica has had her share of setbacks. 

Living in the South Hills of Eugene, she says deer are one of her biggest gardening challenges. She also remembers unsuccessfully trying to grow passion fruit while living in California. 

“We all have garden fails every year, right?” 

Whether it’s deer, slugs, cabbage moths, or simply trying a plant that isn’t suited to the location, she says gardening always provides opportunities to learn. 

Supporting Volunteers 

Erica says she’s continually impressed by the dedication of Master Gardener volunteers and the time they invest in serving their communities. She especially appreciates their curiosity and willingness to keep learning. 

“They’re lifelong learners.” 

Whether researching a new plant problem at the plant clinic or learning about an unfamiliar species, volunteers bring an enthusiasm that she says is contagious. Erica also values how connected volunteers are within the community. 

“I learn from our volunteers a lot of times.” 

Community Partnerships 

Erica highlighted several long-standing partnerships that help expand gardening education in Lane County. 

One is with GrassRoots Garden and Food for Lane County. GrassRoots Garden, an urban farm that grows food for the local food bank, was started by Master Gardener volunteers about 35 years ago. Volunteers continue to support the site by maintaining compost facilities and herb beds, while Extension also teaches pruning classes there. 

She also recognized the City of Eugene as an important community partner. Together, Extension and the city maintain compost facilities at community gardens and use those spaces to offer composting workshops for the public. 

Quick Questions 

Favorite insect 

Erica’s favorite insects are syrphid flies, also known as hover flies. She appreciates them because they’re pollinators, beneficial insects, and often mistaken for bees. 

“They’re kind of like a Swiss army knife of insects in a way. And they’re just really cute”

Plant recommendation for beginners 

In midsummer, Erica’s first recommendation is zucchini. She also suggests radishes, beans, and peas as good options for beginning gardeners, noting that they’re generally easy to grow, provided slugs don’t get to them first. 

This is part of a series of stories we are featuring about the people of the OSU Extension Master Gardener volunteer program in celebration of our 50th anniversary. With +1,800 amazing volunteers and 30 faculty and staff we hope you are as inspired as we are by their dedication joy and impact that they make across the state. 

If you’d like to share your Master Gardener story, we’d love to hear from you! Submit your volunteer story here: https://beav.es/mgstory 

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Meet the Coordinator—Nicole Sanchez 

Nicole smiling outside in front of a tree, with a yellow flower in her hair.

Associate Professor of Practice in Horticulture serving Klamath, Harney, and Lake counties 

For the past 10 years, Nicole has served gardeners across Klamath, Harney, and Lake counties, providing research-based horticulture education for home gardeners, commercial growers, and Master Gardener volunteers. Her career in horticulture spans decades, from floral design and botanical gardens to Extension, where she continues to help gardeners adapt to the unique challenges of south-central Oregon. 

I spoke with Nicole about her journey into horticulture, what makes gardening in her areas unique, and why she enjoys working with Master Gardener volunteers. 

Quick Facts 

Position: Associate Professor of Practice in Horticulture 

Region: Klamath, Harney, and Lake counties 

Years with Extension: 10 

Favorite insect: Big-eyed bug (Geocoris punctipes) 

Beginner plant recommendation: Leafy greens for vegetable gardens; iris for perennial gardens 

Background 

Nicole’s interest in gardening began by following her grandfather through the vegetable garden, asking questions as he worked. 

“I just had a really special affinity for my grandfather… if he was doing it, I wanted to be doing it too.” 

She credits those early experiences with inspiring her career in horticulture and even dedicated her graduate thesis to him. 

Her path into horticulture wasn’t traditional. While in high school, she attended a vocational horticulture program, where she discovered a talent for floral design and began working in the industry at just 16 years old. By age 19, she was managing the floral department of a garden center. 

Rather than attending college immediately, Nicole spent years working in horticulture before earning her bachelor’s degree in horticulture and master’s degree in entomology from the University of Tennessee. 

Looking back, she says waiting to attend college was the right decision for her. 

“It’s different for everybody. We all have our own different paths.” 

Gardening in South-Central Oregon 

Gardening in Klamath, Harney, and Lake counties means learning to work with a challenging climate. 

According to Nicole, gardeners commonly face: 

  • Short growing seasons and late spring or early summer frosts 
  • Cool nighttime temperatures, even during the hottest part of summer 
  • Large swings between daytime and nighttime temperatures 
  • Low humidity and limited summer precipitation 

Many warm-season vegetables struggle under these conditions because cool nights repeatedly slow their growth, even when plants appear healthy. 

Nicole says this is where Master Gardener volunteers make an important difference by helping gardeners understand local growing conditions and sharing practical strategies, such as season extension techniques and watering in the morning. 

“There’s just so many pressures on being successful in some kinds of gardening, and actually, you know, that’s one of the important ways that Master Gardeners can help in my community, is by sharing that information.” explained Nicole. 

Because many new residents have gardened successfully elsewhere, she often helps people adjust their expectations for gardening in south-central Oregon. 

Favorite Garden Lesson 

Even experienced horticulturists learn by trial and error. Shortly after moving to Klamath Falls, Nicole filled her new garden with plants purchased at the local Master Gardener plant sale. While she was away at a meeting in Corvallis, a mid-June freeze killed the tender plants. Earwigs finished off many of the survivors. 

“$200 worth of my very first plants that I planted here.” 

The experience quickly showed her why gardening in the region has a reputation for being challenging. 

Supporting Volunteers 

For Nicole, one of the most rewarding parts of the Master Gardener program is seeing the different strengths each volunteer brings. She enjoys learning from volunteers’ diverse backgrounds and perspectives and says the educational experience goes both directions. 

“It’s not a one-way street with the trainings in the Master Gardener program. We all learn from each other.” 

She also values the long-term relationships that develop through volunteer service and says people who are passionate about gardening and willing to volunteer their time have become some of her favorite people to work with. 

Community Partnerships 

Nicole works with several community partners to expand gardening education throughout the region. This year the program began offering plant clinics at independently owned local garden centers, meeting gardeners where they’re already shopping for plants. 

She also highlighted long-standing partnerships with the local museum, which shares space for classes and research projects, and the local Native Plant Society. According to Nicole, collaboration with the Native Plant Society has strengthened both organizations.

Quick Questions 

Favorite insect 

Nicole’s favorite insect is the big-eyed bug (Geocoris punctipes), a generalist predator that was the focus of her graduate research. She studied whether the insects could be reared successfully on an artificial diet and compared their ability to control aphids with insects collected from the wild. 

“I call it the insect that put me through grad school.” 

Plant recommendation for beginners 

For beginning vegetable gardeners, Nicole recommends starting with leafy greens because they are generally more reliable than fruiting crops, which often drop their fruit when stressed. 

For ornamental gardens, she recommends iris, which she says performs consistently well despite the region’s unpredictable weather. 

When it comes to trees, her advice is less about species and more about care. Gardeners should plan to water newly planted trees thoroughly for their first three years, she says, because the region receives too little growing-season precipitation for trees to become established without consistent irrigation. 

Nicole has created some helpful resources which are available to gardeners for free online, including the YouTube series Pruning With The Pros. This video series walks the viewer through a variety of challenges common in mature landscapes and offers suggestions on how they might be remedied.

With it being the hottest part of the summer in Oregon right now, the OSU Extension catalog publication Heat wave in the garden: How to identify and prevent heat stress in plants is another notable resource from Nicole.

This is part of a series of stories we are featuring about the people of the OSU Extension Master Gardener volunteer program in celebration of our 50th anniversary. With +1,800 amazing volunteers and 30 faculty and staff we hope you are as inspired as we are by their dedication joy and impact that they make across the state. 

If you’d like to share your Master Gardener story, we’d love to hear from you! Submit your volunteer story here: https://beav.es/mgstory 

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Meet Amy Howes, Master Gardener volunteer 

One of the reasons Amy Howes joined the Oregon State University Extension Master Gardener Program was to become more connected to the Central Oregon community while learning more about horticulture. What Amy didn’t expect was how quickly those connections would grow. In just a few months, the program has opened doors to new friendships, mentors and opportunities to serve, reinforcing that being a Master Gardener volunteer is about much more than plants. It’s about building stronger communities through shared knowledge, relationships and a love of gardening. 

Finding community through gardening 

“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be part of the 2026 Deschutes County Master Gardener trainee cohort,” Amy said. “One of the reasons I joined the program was to become more connected to my community while deepening my horticultural knowledge, and I never imagined how quickly those connections would begin to grow.” 

In just a few short months, Amy has met educators, horticulturists, volunteers, nursery professionals and community leaders who all share a common goal of helping Central Oregon become a healthier, more resilient and more connected place. 

“What has been especially rewarding is seeing how willing people are to share their knowledge, experience and enthusiasm with others,” Amy said. 

That spirit of collaboration has already led to opportunities Amy never expected, including becoming involved with the High Desert Horticultural Center and learning more about its vision for expanding horticultural education and creating a future native botanic garden in Central Oregon. 

“The experience has reinforced something I suspected when I applied: that the Master Gardener Program is about much more than plants,” Amy said. “It’s about people, relationships and finding meaningful ways to contribute to the community.” 

Creating opportunities to connect 

Amy says the program has expanded the sense of what’s possible. 

“I joined hoping to learn more about gardening, but I have also found mentorship, inspiration and new opportunities to serve,” Amy said. “The connections I’ve made through the Master Gardener Program are already opening doors I never expected, and I’m excited to see where those relationships lead.” 

Why Master Gardener volunteers matter 

Amy believes the need for Master Gardener volunteers continues to grow because people are looking for meaningful ways to connect—with nature, their communities and one another. 

“We live in a world where so much of our time is spent indoors and online, yet some of the most meaningful learning still happens when people get outside, get their hands in the soil and share knowledge with others,” Amy said. 

Whether answering questions at a plant clinic, supporting a demonstration garden, teaching a class or simply talking with a neighbor, Master Gardener volunteers help make research-based horticultural knowledge more accessible while encouraging stewardship of the places people call home. 

“Small actions, multiplied across a community, can have a remarkable impact.” 

Share your story 

We’d also love to hear from you. 

Whether you are currently volunteering or were part of the Master Gardener Program in the past, your story matters. What has this program meant to you? What are you proud of? How has gardening, volunteering or being part of this community shaped your life? 

Share your Master Gardener story with us. beav.es/mgstory 

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Meet the coordinator—Amy Jo Detweiler

Horticulture Professor and Extension Horticulturist serving Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson counties 

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the OSU Extension Master Gardener volunteer program, we’re featuring stories about coordinators and volunteers. Let’s get to know Amy Jo Detweiler and hear about her path to Extension, what makes gardening east of the Cascades unique and the volunteers who continue to inspire her. 

For more than 27 years, Amy Jo has helped gardeners across Central Oregon navigate some of Oregon’s more challenging growing environments. As the Extension horticulturist serving Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson counties, she works with Master Gardener volunteers to answer gardening questions, maintain demonstration gardens and provide research-based education throughout the region. 

Quick facts 

Position: Horticulture Professor and Extension Horticulturist 

Region: Central Oregon—Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson counties 

Years with Extension: 27.5 years 

Favorite insect: Western swallowtail butterfly 

Beginner plant recommendation: Lettuce or carrots for vegetables penstemons for perennials and crabapples for ornamental trees.

Background 

Amy Jo didn’t originally plan on a career in horticulture. She earned her undergraduate degree in biology with a human health emphasis and initially considered a career in healthcare. That changed after spending a summer working as an outdoor adventure guide. 

“After being outside for a couple of months… I realized I really wanted to be working more in an outdoor environment with something related to nature and biology.” 

She returned to school to study landscape horticulture at Colorado State University, where she also worked in a nursery and gained firsthand experience helping home gardeners. When an Extension position opened in Central Oregon, the similarities between Colorado’s high desert climate and Central Oregon made it an ideal fit. 

Although she hadn’t previously managed volunteers, she was excited to combine horticulture education with community engagement. 

Gardening in Central Oregon 

Gardening in Central Oregon comes with unique challenges. The region sits in the rain shadow of the Cascade Range, receiving a very small amount of rainfall especially during the growing season. 

According to Amy Jo, gardeners contend with: 

  • Short growing seasons (as little as 90 days in some areas) 
  • Sandy, volcanic soils that drain quickly 
  • Irrigation needs throughout the summer 
  • Frost that can occur nearly any time of year 

“We can get frost any day of the year. There’s been snow on the Fourth of July.” 

These conditions make plant selection and water management especially important for local gardeners. 

Favorite garden lesson 

Even experienced horticulturists have garden failures. One of Amy Jo’s favorite trees, the Vanderwolf pine, refused to thrive after being planted in one of the demonstration gardens. Despite multiple attempts, the tree never established successfully. 

After the original tree failed to establish, another Vanderwolf pine was planted in a different location. This time, it thrived.“It’s all learning.” 

The experience reinforced one of gardening’s most important lessons: sometimes success depends as much on the site as it does the plant. 

Supporting volunteers 

After nearly three decades with Extension, Amy Jo says one of the most rewarding parts of her job is watching volunteers dedicate their time to helping others learn. Some Master Gardener volunteers in Central Oregon have served alongside her for more than 25 years. That is much longer than the average volunteer commitment. 

Just as meaningful are the friendships that develop through the program. 

“I didn’t anticipate the relationships that come out of the Master Gardener Volunteer Program.” 

Over the years, she’s watched volunteers become lifelong friends, creating connections that extend well beyond the garden. 

Community partnerships 

Amy Jo highlighted two long-standing partners with City of Bend Water Conservation Program and the Bend Park & Recreation District. According to Amy Jo, the partnerships have helped support the Water-Wise Gardening in Central Oregon  publication and provided land and infrastructure for demonstration and community gardens, including fencing and irrigation. 

Quick questions 

Favorite insect 

“The western swallowtail butterfly just really does bring me joy to see that in the garden fluttering around”

Amy Jo also enjoys observing the wide variety of native pollinators that visit demonstration gardens, from tiny native bees to flies and other beneficial insects. 

Plant recommendation for beginners 

For beginning vegetable gardeners, Amy Jo recommends starting with lettuce or carrots because they’re easy to grow from seed and give gardeners a good chance of harvesting something successfully. 

For gardeners interested in perennials, she recommends penstemons, noting that many native species perform well in Central Oregon and help attract native pollinators. 

For those looking to plant an ornamental tree, Amy Jo suggests crabapples, which she says establish well and perform reliably in the region. 

This is part of a series of stories we are featuring about the people of the OSU Extension Master Gardener volunteer program in celebration of our 50th anniversary. With +1,800 amazing volunteers and 30 faculty and staff we hope you are as inspired as we are by their dedication joy and impact that they make across the state. 

If you’d like to share your Master Gardener story, we’d love to hear from you! Submit your volunteer story here: https://beav.es/mgstory