Chapter Chat - August 2023

Note from the editor:
This is a short newsletter as summer break for the board and chapter meetings continue. In September, chapter and board meetings will resume. Enjoy!

Education Garden Update

Learning Garden Update

Upcoming Events

MGs of Note

Hours Reminder

WCMGA Education Garden at PCC Rock Creek

Open Garden Vertebrates and Invertebrates: July 15, 2023
Thanks to the many Master Gardeners, Community Volunteer and Community Partners who made our 2023 Education Garden Open Garden such a success. We had 187 attendees from the public, an increase of 41% over last year, with most of the increase from children.

The theme of Vertebrates and Invertebrates gave us a nice platform to share information and have several fun activities. Our thanks to the Community Partners who participated in activities and educational outreach including:

Backyard Habitat Certification Program of Portland Audubon and Columbia Land Trust
Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom
PCC Rock Creek Farm—and Tootsie the Miniature Horse and Gypsy the Sheep
Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
Master Gardeners who staffed the Let’s Talk Plants booth, Vertebrate or Invertebrate Matching Game, Mason Bee Information, Greeting Stations, Garden Tours and Photography.

Thank you everyone who helped with set up and take down, particularly given the warm summer day. Thanks to James Galbreath for creating the misting station, which proved to be very popular. We could not have done this without the help of the many volunteers!

Other happenings in the garden:

Mark your calendar for monthly Garden Team meetings via Zoom on the 3^rd Wednesday of the month at 6 PM. The next meeting is August 16^th at 6 PM. A link will be sent to the entire Ed Garden email list before the meeting.

We are starting a process of assessing changes for later this fall for plants that can be moved, thinned, pruned, removed when it is cooler and we can rely on rain to help with transplants.

Weekly Work Parties are Wednesday mornings. If you would like more information to volunteer contact Susan Albright albright.becker@gmail.com or Sue Ryburn sueryburn@comcast.net .

WCMGA Learning Garden at Jenkins Estate

Learning Garden at THPRD Jenkins Estate, August 2023 Update

The In-the-Garden Series Herbs class on Saturday, July 22^nd was well attended (30+) with great information and some lively feedback. Thanks to Anna Stubbs, Judy Fenker, Sarah Gramm Wolf, Candy Wells, Susan Metcalfe, and Annette Bell for all the preparation, great information about growing and harvesting herbs, and mouthwatering culinary tips! It was a beautiful day with many visitors touring the Learning Garden.

The pictures below show a small portion of the class, which started at the Gazebo then included tours and discussions of the Herb Spiral Garden and the Pioneer Herb Garden. Another thanks goes to Robin Burnham and James Galbreath who shuttled chairs behind the scenes from the Gazebo area to the Pioneer Herb Garden so attendees could sit in shady comfort while learning from Sara and Candy.

Join us for the annual Learning Garden Fair, Saturday, August 12^th, 10 am – 1 pm. Many hands-on activities for children and great information for adults. Tour the Learning Garden and explore ideas for your home gardens. If you would like to volunteer for this event, contact Kari Woyak at Kari_Woyak@hotmail.com.

Regular work parties are on Thursday mornings. Come volunteer at a time that is convenient for you between 9 am and 1 pm. For more information contact Steve Kister kansammy@yahoo.com or Robin Burnham robin.e.burnham@aol.com.

Upcoming Events

For more information, please go to:
https://washingtoncountymastergardeners.org/event/learning-garden-fair/

Connect with your fellow Master Gardeners, enjoy sharing your summer activities and a lovely fall afternoon.

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." Albert Camus

For more information about getting around the PCC Rock Creek Campus
PCC Campus Accessibility Map

Master Gardeners of Note

Thank you so very much to so many of you for all the congratulatory notes and words on my recent chapter and state award. I really appreciate the thoughtfulness but even more than that, the opportunity to volunteer and learn with such a great group of dear people.

You are the best!

Sincerely,
Marilyn Berti

Hours and More Required to Maintain Master Gardener Status

OSU Extension Master Gardeners are volunteer educators, neighbors, and on-the-ground researchers who serve their community with solid training in science-based, sustainable gardening and a love of lifelong learning. To maintain active Master Gardener status, there are minimum requirements for volunteer hours and education hours to be completed each year and some paperwork in terms of forms to read and sign.

Hopefully, this is not new news to any of you and you have been keeping track of your hours. However, if you're not sure of what you need to do to meet requirements, please read on.

Everyone will receive an email with a link to report your hours for 2023 in late September. Reports are due by October 1, 2023.

Note, there are two types of volunteer hours:

OSU MG Program Activities
Partner Activities

The minimum amount of required volunteer hours can be met with only OSU Program Activities hours or a combination of OSU Program Activities hours and Partner Activities. The minimum amount of volunteer hours cannot be met with only Partner Activities.

The 2023 annual requirements are different for Perennials and Cohorts. 2020/2022 Cohorts (interns who attended class in either of those years) had the option to complete their training volunteer requirements by Oct 2022 or by Oct of 2023. Those who completed their requirements by Oct 2022 are now Perennials. For those who didn't, the 2023 annual requirements are different.

The OSU Extension service provides many opportunities for volunteer and education hours.

For details and links to courses go to: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/mg/metro/how-maintain-active-osu-master-gardener-status

This same link offers criteria for 2020 and 2022 cohort members continuing to complete their volunteer requirements.