Where but in a garden do summer hours pass so quickly? – Anonymous
Summer greetings! We hope your gardens are flourishing in these high summer months. July and August are good months to sit back, enjoy your garden, and of course spend some time wearing your volunteer hat as an OSU Master Gardener!
Phones are ringing! Questions are flying into the Master Gardener phone clinics via email, phone calls, and visitors to our offices. This is a great time to expand your knowledge, collaborating with other MGs as you research and advise gardeners regarding their gardening conundrums. Sign-up on CERVIS or contact a phone coordinator.
Clackamas County Phones, Jean Bremer, 503-655-8631 jean.bremer@oregonstate.edu
Multnomah County Phones, Susan Marcus, 503-703-4937 susanmultphones@gmail.com
Washington County Phones, David Butt, 503-645-5769 dandubutt@gmail.com
Farmer’s Markets are busy and vibrant with a bounty of summer vegetables and fruits, plus lots of inquiring minds seeking answers to their garden questions. Each market has its own special qualities. Discover those unique traits by volunteering at a few farmers markets new to you. Grab an open slot on CERVIS Don’t despair if market schedules appear full. Check back often as schedules change and openings arise throughout the summer. Let a clinic coordinator know you if you are willing to serve as a substitute for last minute cancellations at your favorite market.
Summer Farmer’s Markets: Beaverton – Gresham – Hillsdale – King – Lake Oswego – Lents – Milwaukie – Oregon City – Sherwood – Tigard
Oregon and County Fair FUN!
If you want a big dose of summer fun, sign-up for an MG Clinic table at one of the county fairs or the Oregon State Fair. Give sage (OSU proven), garden advice to fair visitors and take a bit of time, before and after your shift, to grab some shaved ice and check out the fair competitions whether it is honey products, the biggest homegrown fruits and veggies, or the best home brew or chocolate layer cake! Sign-up on CERVIS to grab a shift now! Admission passes and instructions provided to all fair volunteers.
Clackamas County Fair, August 15 – 19 (Tuesday – Saturday). MGs are in a prime location at the Clackamas County Fair with our clinic table right by the entertainment stage, lovely display garden and plant sale. Join-in! Sign-up on CERVIS or contact coordinator Jane Collier: carushill@web-ster.com, 503-266-1191.
Washington County Fair, July 27 – 30 (Thursday – Sunday). Nestled right next to the demonstration gardens is the perfect location for the MG clinic. This area of the fairgrounds owes its planning and attractive appearance to the Washington County Master Gardeners and is a popular stop for fairgoers. Yes, MGs have bragging rights for this beautiful feature of the fair grounds. Come see it! Sign up on CERVIS or contact Margery Brunello: mbrunello11@hotmail.com or 973-699-2304
Oregon State Fair, September 1-2. For the ultimate fair experience, take a quick jaunt to Salem for the Oregon State Fair. Master Gardeners from around the state host the OSU Extension Master Gardener Clinic. Our Metro MG program does the honors on Friday and Saturday, September 1st and 2nd. Don’t miss this festive state celebration! Sign-up on CERVIS or email Jordis Yost, jordis.yost@oregonstate.edu and ask for a morning, afternoon, or evening shift on Friday, or Saturday.
Get Volunteering! CERVIS will get you there!
All of the OSU metro MG Program volunteer activities are available for sign-up on CERVIS, our online volunteer registration system (for Partner activities contact coordinators). Go to the “Volunteer Portal” link found on the right side of our main website page. Then find the “CERVIS volunteer event registration” link.
When logging into CERVIS for the first time, enter your email and click on “Don’t Know password/ Reset password” to get a temporary password.
Please only sign up for events that you know that you can attend. If you need to cancel an event, please contact the clinic coordinator for a list of other volunteers interested in serving as substitutes. It is your responsibility to find a backup.
Moving Forward…
Master Gardeners Advise Program
An engaged and thoughtful group of 40 Master Gardeners convened on Tuesday, June 6th for a Metro Master Gardener Advisory meeting. Using the 2014-2019 Metro Master Gardener Strategic Plan as a prompt, participants broke into three groups for a brainstorming session, offering suggestions and recommendations for the program moving toward the future. Lively discussion ensued, with the compilation of many thoughtful and insightful suggestions. Program staff greatly value the input and creative ideas. These suggestions will be further explored via upcoming Master Gardener Liaison Meetings.
Master Gardener Liaison Meetings are open to all Metro Master Gardener volunteers. Upcoming meetings:
- Tuesday, August 8 10am to 12noon, Washington Co. (location TBA)
- Tuesday, October 10 10am to 12noon, Clackamas Co. (location TBA)
- Tuesday, December 12 10am to 12noon, Multnomah Co. (location TBA)
There will also be a special meeting to explore the use of technology in the Master Gardener Program following the August 8th Liaison Meeting. The technology meeting will be from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. Look for an email invitation to the Liaison Meetings in the next couple of weeks (RSVPs required for all meetings), with details on specific locations which will rotate among the three counties.
Hands-on in Demonstration Gardens
Summer is a glorious time for hands-on learning in any of our ‘Partner’ demonstration gardens. Each garden offers unique active, relevant, learning opportunities. Contact a coordinator and dig in!
Hopkins Demonstration Forest
Frank Wille 503-342-6699 franklyna@comcast.net‘
Grow-An-Extra-Row and Learning Garden’ at Clackamas Community College
Nancy Muir 503-789-697 ccmgextrarow@gmail.com
End of the Oregon Trail Pioneer Garden
Kathy Turner 503-630-5794 turnerkathy@yahoo.com
Community Demonstration Garden – SE Portland
Heidi Nichols at heidinichols@comcast.net
Nancy Fine at mcmgdemogarden@gmail.com
Washington County Fairplex Garden
Bob Campbell 503-691-6708 rac223@hotmail.com
Learning Garden at Jenkins Estate
Sandy Japely 503-531-8482 sjapely@gmail.com
Beautiful, historic gardens.
Consider spending time this summer in a beautiful, garden – dispensing reliable gardening information.
It is a very special year at Washington Park International Rose Test Garden. Sign-up for a shift as the garden celebrates its Centennial year!
The Pittock Mansion is another lovely and historic setting in which to share your garden knowledge.
Sign-up for a shift via CERVIS or contact the clinic coordinators.
Log Your Hours
Thank you for your passion, energy and volunteer service educating the gardening public. We want to be sure to have a record of all your efforts. Here is the link you need for the forms to log your volunteer hours. Choose from a PDF or Excel form. All hours due by October 1, 2017. http://extension.oregonstate.edu/mg/metro/forms
MG Nuts and Bolts
Need a refresher on how to maintain your Master Gardener certification? All the nuts and bolts can be found here!
Save the Date! Saturday, October 28th FALL RECERTIFICATION!
Our annual Master Gardener Fall Recertification Training is scheduled for Saturday, October 28th, 8:00am to 3:30pm, at Clackamas Community College. This annual event is a daylong continuing education opportunity. Earn 6 hours of continuing education/recertification credit by attending.
A great line-up of speakers is forming. This year’s presenters all bring their wealth of experience from their work with OSU Extension Service. They will offer a wide range of topics to enrich the knowledge base of Master Gardeners. They are Joy Jones, Sam Chan, Brooke Edwards and our very own Weston Miller.
The Fall Recertification day also gives us the opportunity to congratulate the new class of trainees as they step up to Veteran status after completing their volunteer requirements. We will present trainees with their OSU Extension Service Master Gardener badges and a big shout out for successfully completing the program.
Thank you for sharing!