One of the very best reasons to grow your own food is it gives you the opportunity to grow vegetable, herb and small fruit varieties that aren’t found in grocery stores. Join our April Speaker Series as garden writer, Willi Galloway presents, highlighting 30+ specific variety recommendations, including… (Read more…)

Gardens—even in urban areas—can be hotspots of biodiversity, and native plants play a key role in fostering that diversity. Join our March Speaker Series as Portland garden writer and photographer Amy Campion presents an exploration of some of the best natives to plant in your wildlife-friendly Northwest garden… (Read more…)

Over the past four years, Ferris Jabr and his partner Ryan transformed a derelict grass lawn on their property in Portland, OR into a thriving wildlife garden. At the same time, Ferris was writing a book about how microbes, plants, fungi, and animals have transformed the continents, atmosphere, and oceans, turning what was once just a lump of orbiting rock into our cosmic oasis: a vast interconnected living system that pulses, breathes, and regulates its climate. He ultimately came to see our planet as a garden that sowed itself, watered itself, and has kept itself alive in the vacuum of space for more than four billion years.

Join our February Speaker Series as Ferris will explain how his personal experiences with gardening became an important part of his book and take us on a journey through the hidden wonders that bring our planet to life. Read more…

Long known sources of lead contamination in older neighborhoods can be from lead in paint, lead solder in plumbing, and remaining from the historical use of leaded gas in cars. Yet a recent a Oregon State University study led by principle investigator, Dr. Shiel, has identified another potential source of lead contamination in some Portland neighborhoods: lead sheathing on telephone cables. Read more…

For gardeners, Botanical Latin is the language we all use, but few understand, and yet it's the key to unlocking a myriad of useful information about the plants we grow. Join Heronswood Director Dr. Ross Bayton as he takes you on a journey through the history and origins of Botanical Latin, an essential primer for all gardeners at all levels of experience. Read more…

How much pruning a garden needs often starts while plant shopping or when a new garden is designed. As gardens and gardeners mature, the amount of needed pruning may no longer match one’s time or energy for the task. Join our December Speaker Series to learn how plant choices, placement, and cultivation practices, along with those famous last words, “I can always prune it to keep it smaller” contribute to creating a prune-a-lot garden. Read more…

Portland is home to some of the great gardens of the world, and it now has an opportunity for a new public botanical garden along the Willamette River. Join our November Speaker Series for a presentation and discussion with the Portland Botanical Gardens. Read more...

Autumn is many people’s favorite time of year, and for good reason. The kaleidoscope of colors Nature paints our parks, yards, and streetscapes with transforms the mundane into the magical. Join our Speaker Series as we explore the phenomenon that is fall, including interesting alternatives for western Oregon to the usual fall color staples - maples. Read more…

In this season of harvest join MCMGA and guest presenter Luna, as she shares the importance of regional Antojitos (snacks) in Mexican cuisine how they’ve inspired the continued foraging mentality set by the indigenous natives of Mexico placing a focus on the Tlayuda, a large circular thin and crispy corn tortilla from the state of Oaxaca. Read more…

Since 2008, Master Gardeners have vigilantly planned, sowed, planted, tended, and harvested at the Multnomah County Master Gardener Demonstration Garden. They have followed research-based gardening techniques and have learned real-time lessons in the garden through triumphs and challenges.

Join us in the garden, as OSU Master Gardener volunteers Sally Campbell and Carole Hardy share valuable lessons from the garden.  Sally and Carole will discuss the importance of soil health and the interdependence of plants and animals in successfully growing food crops in an urban environment. They will showcase specific techniques used to help build resilience to climate change while producing food; along with other insights gleaned in the garden.

As we continue to consistently experience drought in the Pacific NW, how can we conserve water as gardeners?  Join the Multnomah Master Gardener Association Speaker Series as AmyJo Detweiler, OSU Extension Service, shares how gardeners can serve as good earth stewards while growing a thriving garden. AmyJo will cover the seven main components of a waterwise garden including planning and design, soil, irrigation, plant selection, turf and turf alternatives, mulch, and general maintenance. She will also show photos of waterwise design elements.

We all know that diet matters and have heard the old adage you are what you eat.  But dig a little deeper and the importance of what your food ate comes into focus. Join our May Speaker Series as David R. Montgomery, author, MacArthur Fellow and professor of geomorphology at the University of Washington discusses how improving soil health through adoption of regenerative farming practices offers a way to rebuild the fertility of the soil and thereby reduce dependence on fossil fuels and agrochemicals. 

Growing a bounty of peppers in the Northwest may have its challenges but Ezequiel Lopez-Reyes has learned the keys to achieving a prolific harvest of peppers in the Willamette Valley. Read more…

Farmer Michelle of x̌ast sq̓it / Good Rain Farm will share with us how we can all incorporate Native Food Sovereignty, ancestral food tending and seed kinship into our land-stewarding practices. Learn how this local farm is expanding biodiversity and food justice! Read more…

More than 4,700 different plant species grow in Oregon, and OregonFlora provides information about all of them. Join the Multnomah County Master Gardener Association's Speaker Series and discover the why and where of plant diversity in our state. Read more…

Even at forty degrees on a January day in the garden, there can be inviting spots of color to discover and enjoy. Join our January Speaker Series as Fred Nilsen, retired director of the Hoyt Arboretum, inspires as he shares examples of fall and winter plants that provide seasonal interest with colorful blooms, foliage, and bark. Read more…

Join the Multnomah County Master Gardener Association’s December Speaker Series as Weina Dinata, botanical artist, native plant advocate, and owner of Poppy and Finch presents: Kokedama: The Art of Bonsai without a Container. Learn how to create and care for a striking and unique Japanese kokedama. Kokedama translates in Japanese to “moss ball” and is a centuries old botanical art form of growing a plant without a container from a soil ball, wrapped in moss. Read more…

Pruning trees and shrubs in the winter, when the plants are dormant is ideal, but where does a gardener start? Join our November Speaker Series as Nicole Sanchez, Assistant Professor, OSU Extension Service provides tips to prune like a pro – covering tools and techniques for making appropriate pruning cuts to support the health of your plants. Read more…

Join our October Speaker Series for a virtual 'weed walk' and learn how to identify and gather some of the most common edible weeds and wild foods available in your garden and in other disturbed areas as author, Melany Vorass Herrera presents. Read more…

Join our September Speaker Series as restaurateur, chef and channeler of the ‘Soul of Italian Cuisine’, Cathy Whims presents a “nose-to-tail” approach to vegetables; great seasonal vegetable groupings, cooking what is in season or what is in your garden. Read more…

For beginner and experienced gardeners -would you like to know that what you do in your yard is truly beneficial, not just pretty? Join our June Speaker Series as Antonya (Anya) Pickard shares how to make your yard an oasis for many creatures, what some of the stumbling blocks are, and some specific tips that address issues in our region. Read more…

What are you gonna do when you don’t have any or very little gardening space of your own, or even a community garden plot? Fear not, for as long as you have a couple of square feet of space, you can still get dirt under your green thumbnail. Join our May Speaker Series as Glen Andresen, urban gardening expert and educator, offers tips, methods, and best practices for edible gardening in containers. Plus, ways to get more food production per square foot by growing up. Read more…

Dry farming is the production of crops during a dry growing season without irrigation. Join our April Speaker Series as Matt Walker, OSU, discusses methods of dry farming, key strategies for conserving soil moisture and producing a crop without water, what sorts of crops and varieties perform well in our region, the research that OSU is conducting, and how Master Gardeners can participate. Read more…

You’ve probably seen them before – those white threads too long and slender to be roots, yet intimately associated with the root system of trees and shrubs. The threads are fungal hyphae, and their association with many plant species are collectively called mycorrhizae. Read more…

Groundcovers are low-growing plants that serve many different purposes in the landscape from limiting weed growth to stabilizing slopes to adding texture to your garden. Join our February Speaker Series as Kathy Jentz, author of the book, Groundcover Revolution, will highlight several of these beautiful, hard-working plants and their best uses. Read more…

Color is at the heart of what we do as gardeners, whether in beautiful blooms, blushing berries or fab fall foliage. But how do plants produce such an array of colors and why do we gardeners see them the way we do? Read more…

As the days shorten and we hunker indoors on chilly days, bring a bit of natural beauty into your home. A beautiful DIY nature-inspired arrangement is within your reach. Join us as fellow Master Gardener, Evie Hausman, coaches us on how to gather windfall greens, cones, branches, seedpods and/or clippings from your garden and artfully create a lovely winter arrangement to enjoy in your home or to give to a friend. Read more…

Join our November Speaker Series as Malcolm Hoover, co-director of Black Futures Farm, shares the story and experiences of this clean energy community farm in Portland’s Brentwood-Darlington neighborhood, on the same campus as our Demonstration Garden. Black Futures Farm belongs to the Black Food Sovereignty Coalition.
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It’s not a secret that we gardeners have a habit of killing plants. In this presentation, Mary-Kate Mackey examines why we do that and how we can garden for more successful outcomes. With years of experience in the Pacific Northwest, she focuses on the tough, hardy, and resilient plants that survived. Grow some of these, and your gardening life just got more care-free—and fun. Read more…

Do you need a little inspiration for bringing local seasonal vegetables to the table in a tasty and nutritious way? Look no further, as guest chef, Jacobsen Valentine, Founder and Executive Director, of Feed The Mass, joins our September Speaker Series to provide that inspiration. Chef Valentine will demonstrate how easy it can be to cook up a hearty, delicious meal with seasonal veggies. In addition, Chef Valentine will share the mission and important work of Feed the Mass. Read more…