President’s Message
🍎 Last Saturday, I represented BCMGA at the annual Corvallis Fire Department Open House. Someone had to hang out with all of those handsome young firefighters. The focus at my table was fire-resistant plants and my neighbor was from the Oregon State Fire Marshall talking about fire preparedness and home hardening. But, the focus of the day was on kids and families. It was great fun watching the firefighters interact with the children as the kids ran through the “firefighter obstacle course” scaled down for kids. Sparky greeted the kids and families, and, I came away with my very own photo of Sparky and me. All of the exhibitors had little give-aways at their tables. I got some great swag from the Oregon State Fire Marshall. My swag was a large bowl of freshly picked apples from the Lauer’s orchard. Thanks Debbie and Don. Suprisingly, it was the kids who zoomed in on the apples. There will be another firehouse open house next Saturday (Oct. 28) at the Lewisberg Fire Station, 544 NW Lewisberg Rd. Stop in if you have a chance. The Open House is 11 to 2 p.m.
HOURS, HOURS, HOURS: It’s crunch time for MGs to enter their hours into the VRS system before Oct. 31. https://mgvrs.extension.oregonstate.edu/
The annual OSU paperwork should have reached all Benton MGs by now. It is coming from Laurie Gibson in the Linn Extension Office. If you have not received the email from Laurie, please let her know. laurie.gibson@oregonstate.edu
Awards & Graduation Celebration
🍎 Save the Date! Our awards and graduation will be on Saturday, Nov. 18 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Central Electrician Training Center in Tangent. We invite all continuing Master Gardeners and trainees to come for a pot-luck brunch before the awards and graduation. The training center is at 33309 OR-99E (just south of Hwy. 20-34). So, bring something “brunchy” and enjoy the company of your fellow MGs from Benton and Linn Counties. Coffee and tea will be provided.
Membership Renewal
🍎 BCMGA membership renewal is underway. As a courtesy to both our treasurer and membership secretary, we like to have membership renewal completed by Thanksgiving so that these ladies can enjoy the holiday season.
Continuing members are trained Master Gardeners and trainees who are extending their graduation to a second year. Continuing members do not have to be certified. Dues are $15. Dues can be paid with check, cash, or credit card. Checks should be made payable to BCMGA. If using a credit card, there is a swipe fee charge. The charge for continuing Master Gardeners is $15.75. Here is the credit card link for continuing Master Gardeners only. https://square.link/u/v5DWCvAO
Associate member dues are $10 ($10.60 if paid by credit card). Membership Secretary Marge Alig will contact Associate members directly about membership renewal and will include a credit card link in that email.
Trainee News & Opportunities
🍎 The Master Gardener year ends Oct. 31. Please log your hours in the Volunteer Reporting System (VRS) https://mgvrs.extension.oregonstate.edu/ . If you have questions about entering your hours, contact your mentor or Paula Lupcho at pres.bcmga.board@gmail.com .
BCMGA News
🍎 Year-End Committee Reports: A reminder to all committee chairs that annual committee reports are due by the end of the year, but it would be wonderful if we can get this done by the end of November. There is a revised annual report form that chairs can use as a template. Some of the information on that form is very important to our annual financial report to OMGA. Please look at this new, streamlined template. It is in the Members section of the BCMGA website (bentonmg.org). The password is bcmga2023.
🍎 Desk Winter Hours: Plant Clinic in the Office will be Tuesdays and Thursdays. Morning and afternoon shifts are available.
Alan Taylor, Mentor Coordinator, would like to let people know that certified MGs could come in at other times to work on voicemail or email submissions or to get a refresher training on working at the desk. In the latter case, contact Alan Taylor (alantaylor@alyrica.net ) to arrange for a trainer. Without an advertised “open desk” it should give some opportunities for quiet time to get these things done.
Volunteer Opportunities
🍎 Plant Sale: Final BYOP (Bring Your Own Plant) Event Have plants in your garden that need dividing? A potted plant that no longer appeals to you? A new purchase you’d like to get in the ground but need to remove something first to make room? The BYOP is your chance to donate those extra plants to support our BCMGA Plant Sale.
First, email Lisa Borgerson borgersonl@comcast.net with your list of plants so she can add it to our inventory and create a label. Use BYOP23 in the subject line please.
Drop off your donation anytime between 10:00am -2:00pm on Saturday 10/28, at Nellie Oehler’s farm, 5570 SW West Hills Dr. Wrap your plants in a black trash bag or box perhaps to keep the roots moist. There will be a crew of MGs waiting there to divide and pot up your plants.
Lisa is hoping to hear from you soon! Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Contact Leslie Hauser lesliehauser107@gmail.com 702-340-6513.
🍎 Insights into Gardening: The committee will be meeting Thursday, Oct. 26, in the Conference Room at the Extension Office. The meeting starts at 2:00.
🍎 Master Gardener Desk (Office Plant Clinic): Winter hours are now in effect. The desk will operate on a Tuesday & Thursday schedule.
Find more opportunities on the Benton Volunteer Opportunities Page.
Continuing Education Opportunities
Each program year current Master Gardener volunteers are asked to recertify by completing 10 hours of approved continuing education and 20 hours of volunteering. This ensures that your horticultural knowledge stays current. All the opportunities in this section count towards that goal. Try to get one hour of CE on a diversity, equity, or inclusion related topic. And please make sure to record these hours in VRS!
🍎 Winter Dreams-Summer Gardens: This virtual educational event is put on by Jackson County Master Gardener Association. Presentations will be presented on Friday, Oct. 27, Saturday, Oct. 28, Friday, Nov. 3, and Saturday, Nov. 4. Registration is $30. They are presenting an excellent schedule of classes. The schedule of presentations and registration is available at -https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=jackson+county+master+gardener+association&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
🍎 Webinars. Opportunities from across the state are listed on the OSU Master Gardener Program’s event page. Record each as one hour of continuing education.
🍎 New OSU Publication. Gardens are for Everyone. Read and write a summary paragraph of how you will apply this as a Master Gardener volunteer for one hour of continuing education.
🍎 New OSU Publication. Grow Your Own Peppers. Read and write a summary paragraph of how you will apply this as a Master Gardener volunteer for one hour of continuing education.
🍎 Anytime. Recordings of Zoom Master Gardener training from Curry County with guest lecturers from OSU and beyond, are available for any volunteer to take as continuing education. Trainees are also welcome to watch and supplement their classes. More links are being added weekly, see the current list log on to the attached website.
Extension News
Need help finding information from Extension? Here are some important links to access information.
Have a gardening question? Get help at:.
Interested in gardening classes and events?
Want to join Master Gardeners? Contact Benton County Extension Office, 541-713-5000
Want to partner with Master Gardeners? Please contact Brooke Edmunds to get connected: brooke.edmunds@oregonstate.edu
Current volunteers:
Need information about training, volunteering, or logging hours? First check the Volunteer Sourcebook and website.
Need a sign-up, promotions, or printing for an upcoming event?
First, use the Event Checklist to collect all needed information
In Benton County send to Nicole Mason Martin: nicole.mason@oregonstate.edu
In Linn County send to Laurie Gibson: laurie.gibson@oregonstate.edu
Need to update your contact information? Need a badge?
Contact Laurie Gibson: laurie.gibson@oregonstate.edu
All other questions:
Please contact Brooke Edmunds: brooke.edmunds@oregonstate.edu
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