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Editor's Note: The WCMGA does not schedule Chapter or Board Meetings for the months of July and August. Please note, there will not be a Chapter Chat newsletter for August.
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September 2024
Date and details will be published in September 2024 newsletter.
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Weeding is my life. I hope to see you at the Joy of Gardening Conference or when we resume our meetings in September. Until then, enjoy your summer and your garden.
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The Learning Garden was busy most Saturdays in June with In-the-Garden classes plus an Intern workshop. Many projects were completed during the Thursday work parties and it has been a pleasure having some 2024 Interns join the team.
MGs Dan McDonald, Lorill Hirschberger, and Marilyn Berti delivered an interesting class on Vegetable Gardening in the Willamette Valley on June 8th. The participants enjoyed seeing many diverse types of raised beds in the Learning Garden and hearing all the gardening tips.
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Dan McDonald demonstrating an olla during the class.
Photo courtesy of Anna Stubbs.
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An engaged group of 2024 MG Interns participated in a growing vegetables workshop on June 15th and enjoyed getting to talk with each other in addition to hands on learning activities in the garden.
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Marilyn Berti and Dan McDonald leading workshop for 2024 MG Interns.
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Interns performing soil testing during Growing Vegetables workshop.
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Anna Stubbs, Lorill Hirschberger, and Judy Fenker presented an engaging class on growing, using, and preserving Herbs on June 22nd. The herb spiral is looking great, and a new path has been built recently between the small fruits area and the herb spiral to make it easier to navigate the garden.
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Judy Fenker presenting information on herbs.
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Mary Hewitt assisting with setting up the Herbs class in the garden.
Projects accomplished during the month included installation of a new sensory raised bed. This bed encourages adults and children to use all their senses to appreciate the diverse plants.
Learning Garden regular work parties will resume in February on Thursday mornings. For more information contact Steve Kister kansammy@yahoo.com or Robin Burnham robin.e.burnham@aol.com.
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June 1st Open Garden a Huge Success!
The Education Garden Team of volunteers and partner organizations welcomed the public to the Open Garden’s theme, “Invertebrates and Vertebrates.” Over 168 attendees enjoyed educational offerings, children’s activities, and learning about the Education Garden.
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Aron Wagner of Five Oaks Museum explains how oak galls are formed – It’s all about the wasp!
Our partner organizations included Oregon Bee Atlas, Xerces Society, Oregon Ag in the Classroom, Five Oaks Museum, Backyard Habitat Program, Natural Resources Conservation Services and the PCC Rock Creek Farm featuring Tootsie the miniature horse.
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Oregon Bee Atlas volunteers gave kids and their parents a close up look at bees buzzing in the garden.
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All about invertebrates at the Xerces Society table.
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Tootsie, the miniature horse visiting from the PCC Rock Creek Farm.
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Master Gardener Volunteers at Let’s Talk Plants
WCMGA volunteers staffed the Let’s Talk Plants table, and our own Ron Spendal provided his expertise on Mason Bees. Thanks to our master gardener volunteers and the support of our partner organizations for another successful Open Garden!
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Interns Join the Education Garden Work Parties
Cynthia Radner and Vicki Finn are the latest master gardener interns to collect partner hours by volunteering at the Education Garden. In addition to garden maintenance, they have opportunities to learn some of the aesthetic pruning techniques that the Education Garden Team has gleaned from our workshops with aesthetic pruning consultant Mary Ann Lewis.
Other Happenings
- If you would like to be added to our Education Garden email list, please contact Susan Albright or Sue Ryburn. Regular Work Parties are Wednesdays from 8 am – 12 noon. Everyone is welcome to join in and partner with other MG program members sharing knowledge and learning by doing.
- The 3rd Saturday of the Month Work Parties continue. Contact Larina Hoffbeck if you would like more details.
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Washington County Master Gardener Assoc. invites you to Make Composting Work For You.
Composting recycles yard and food waste, reduces greenhouse gases, and produces a free, high quality soil amendment. But do you find composting confusing, frustrating and not worth the bother? Come learn about the different composting options, tools and techniques that will make your composting easier. This course will be presented by Michael Donoghue, OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteer.
For more information:
https://washingtoncountymastergardeners.org/event/make-composting-work-for-you/
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Door prizes, finger food, light refreshments.
Bring books for the Little Free Library at the Learning Garden.
Bring returnable bottle and cans to benefit WCMGA.
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Pat Simmons is recognized as the Master Gardener of Note for July. She has achieved amazing accomplishments since she became a Master Gardener in 2018. She was recognized as the WCMGA Master Gardener of the Year and nominated for the OMGA Master Gardener of the Year in 2022. Her inception of and leadership in the Plant Propagation Team has helped give our Chapter substantial fund-raising results and educational opportunities for our members and the public. The plant sales, since the practice of dig-and-divide ended, include Gardenfest, HPSO Hortlandia, Clackamas County Spring Garden Fair, on-line sales, and the houseplant sale.
As the Fundraising Director she developed an ambitious program of sales for books, tools and Gifts for Gardeners, organized that inventory through Square, and secured training for members in the use of Square for our sales. She has obtained additional financial resources for our Chapter including grant sources, a donation of computers from Intel, and enrollment in Renee’s Seeds and Amazon Smile.
In addition to Fundraising Director Pat has held the Board positions of Communications Director, and OMGA Alternative Representative. She has edited and published Chapter Chat. She contributed to the rewriting of bylaws and strategic planning for the Chapter in 2018 and 2022. She helped with the development of a new WCMGA logo and volunteered at the phone clinic and farmers market booths.
Pat’s contributions to our Chapter and community span a broad spectrum and she consistently inspires Chapter members grow beyond their comfort levels in volunteer activities. Thank you, Pat, for your dedication to WCMGA and support of its mission.
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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Vocabulary
July 2024: Allyship
The lifelong process of building relationships with marginalized communities to which one does not belong. This is a practice of showing up, working in solidarity with, and centering the needs and voices of marginalized groups. This work should be done as directed by those communities. These efforts can be named as allyship only by the marginalized group. To be acting in allyship means that you are actively working to dismantle structures of oppression.
- https://gscc.msu.edu/education/glossary.html
The members of the WCMGA DEI committee recognize that the terms and phrases used when discussing topics related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion may be unfamiliar or confusing to many people. Definitions may also change over time. Since gardening is for everyone, we’d like to help foster understanding of DEI vocabulary with our members and other readers of Chapter Chat and the WCMGA website.
Starting in January, we’ll feature a different phrase or term each month throughout 2024 on our webpage here: https://washingtoncountymastergardeners.org/wcmga-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-committee/
We hope you’ll check back each month for new words and phrases as well as examples of how Master Gardeners can incorporate these concepts into our work with the public and with our own members.
Happy New Year and here’s to more equitable gardening in 2024!
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Washington County Master Gardener Association has been the recipient of five grants from the Juan Young Trust since 2019 totaling $35,000, providing support for a broad range of our outreach to the community in many venues. This has included resources for both our gardens, Outreach Activity Kits, Grow 1 Give 1, Home Plate, publications, signage, tables, canopies, carts, Pollinator Kiosk, storage shed and resources that we use across the Portland Metro region and much, much more.
The Juan Young Trust has roots that truly represents the generosity of families giving back to the community and the value of friendships.
A bit of background---many of you may have shopped at Kienow’s Food Stores. The Founder of Kienow’s Food Stores, Dan Henry Kienow, lived on his Troutdale farm in retirement. Juan Young worked with Kienow’s Food Stores all his adult life and lived across the street from Laurelhurst Park. Juan and his wife, Lee, had no children. Dan Henry Kienow and his wife Margaret Hazlett had one son, Dan Hazlett Kienow. Dan Hazlett Kienow and his wife Connie O’Connor Kienow raised 4 children — all attended public and private schools in the Portland area and worked at KFS on and off until KFS was closed in the year 2000.
KFS began operating grocery stores in year 1908.
Juan Young Trust was established as a “spend down charitable trust” and began providing grants in the State of Oregon in year 2000.
We are indebted to the Juan Young Trust and have greatly valued the opportunity to work with Antoinette Kienow Arenz, Juan Young Trust Trustee for the Western Region.
The Juan Young Trust is winding down, as has been planned, and we want to take this opportunity to extend our sincere thanks to the Juan Young Trust for the years of support allowing us to expand our reach in the community.
Thank you!
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One of the reasons, important to me, that I have a garden is so that I can bring fresh flowers into my home. Cutting, arranging, and enjoying them never fails to make my mood sparkle. In her book Lisa Mason Ziegler, Cool Flowers, shares methods that fit her subtitle, How to Grow and Enjoy Long-Blooming Hardy Annual Flowers Using Cool Weather Techniques. Her information and ideas can help me and others with a love of fresh flowers to enjoy more blooms for longer periods of the year.
She is “flower farmer” in Virginia. Because her garden and flower business are in Virginia, I thought her ideas wouldn’t be suitable in our USDA Hardiness Zone. But when I looked at her appendix chart which includes botanical and common names, winter hardiness zones, seed starting indoors and outdoors, there were plants in Zones 3-8. Her text explains how her techniques of fall planting and over wintering gives a jump start on the bloom period for hardy annuals. She harvests her flowers from May-October and produces over 10,000 stems of flowers per week.
Because she is using the fall and early spring for planting, there are less pests and diseases, there is less watering, and pollinators have sources for food, a place to live and to start the next generation. Birds benefit too. Plants put in the garden in the fall develop the most important part of themselves, the root system, and new green shoots are produced earlier than typical late spring and early summer plantings. Lisa includes a section with a list of specifics facts about suitable hardy annuals, tips for success, winter strategies, repeat blooming and favorite varieties. She also provides planting techniques for containers, cutting gardens, self-sowing plants, and including hardy annuals in the landscape. Lisa suggests we have come conflate all annuals as being planted in the spring to bloom in the summer. She advocates for different techniques for hardy annuals.
Wouldn’t it be great to have blooms to cut when the seed catalogs are arriving!
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