Master Gardener Enews 2014 JUNE
Download JCMGF Enews 2014-June-5
A Glorious June to all Master Gardeners,
What a beautiful last few weeks of weather we’ve had! And with the bonus of having 17 hours of daylight now, it sure is hard to stop working in the garden.
Please take time out of your gardening pleasures this month to attend some educational programs and to volunteer. Everyone in the MG program offers a special touch to our volunteer activities and we can’t do it without your generous and valuable assistance.
THE MASTER GARDENER PLANT SALE SUCCESS!
If you didn’t make it to the MG Plant Sale this year, here’s a blog review to check it out – https://jcmgf.org/mg2/plant-sale/
NOT ENOUGH WEEDS IN YOUR OWN GARDEN? Date and time: any day, all day
If you’re worried about the scary, but real thought of noxious weeds taking over our county, please email me and tell me you’re ready to be a Weed Buster super hero! We’re working on wild chervil right now –http://www.co.jefferson.wa.us/WeedBoard/pdfs/FactSheets/WildChervil.pdf , and will be moving on to other noxious weeds soon. You pick a day and time and I’ll tell you where to meet me!
Please see http://www.co.jefferson.wa.us/WeedBoard/ for more information about noxious weeds.
MG Hours: yes, hours count!
2013 STATE MASTER GARDENER REPORT
The 2013 state MG report is attached. It’s pretty impressive that, as a state, we contributed 256,000 MG hours!
DEMONSTRATION GARDEN WORK PARTY Saturday, June 7; 2pm
Shannon Glass is organizing a work party at the Jefferson County demonstration garden near QFC, this Saturday, June 7, at 2 pm. Shannon is trying to recruit volunteers to help mow and weed the planting beds.
Gardeners will need to bring their own tools. She has one push mower and string trimmer, though people are welcome to bring more. Refreshments will be provided as well.
Location: Port Townsend QFC (across the parking lot at the demo garden)
MG Hours: hours count as demonstration garden
JCMG FOUNDATION JUNE MEETING Thursday,June 12; 3-5pm
The JCMG Foundation meetings are open to the public, so please bring your friends to our next lecture. It’s a great way to introduce people to Master Gardeners and our program.
The June Foundation meeting presentation topic is “Native Pollinators”. Bees, butterflies, and other pollinators are vital to earth’s ecosystems. Without pollinators, many plants are unable to reproduce. Because of habitat loss and degradation, the survival of many native pollinators is threatened. Master Gardener, Ali Dyche, will discuss the different pollinators in our area, their importance to our ecology, and what we can do to help save them. Questions and sharing experiences are encouraged throughout the lecture.
Please remember to bring raffle items to add to the table.
Susan C and Janell have volunteered to bring treats. Can someone else chip in to make it a third?
Location: Tri-Area Community Center, Chimacum
MG Hours: 1/education and 1/program support
OUR FIRST MG FIELD TRIP OF THE YEAR
Visit the JCMGF blog to read about our first field trip – https://jcmgf.org/mg2/garden-tour-first-of-the-season/ . Look out for information about our next adventure and email any ideas you have for another trip.
PLANT CLINIC AT WSU Every Monday, March 3 through September 29; 1-4pm
We need one more MG to volunteer for the June 30th and/or July 7th clinic dates.Please email me directly if you’re willing and available for either date or any Monday from now through the end of September. We’re starting to get quite a bit of traffic on Mondays, so please sign up to assist our community with gardening questions. Plant clinic is one of our most important Master Gardener functions as well as a great learning experience for all of us.
Location: WSU Extension Office (380 Jefferson St., Port Townsend; Madrone Room)
MG Hours: 3/plant clinic (3 hours for each week you participate)
PLANT CLINIC AT CHIMACUM FARMERS MARKET 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month, through the season, 10-2
Mike M. is also starting up a plant clinic table at the Chimacum Farmers Market on June 8, from 10-2. He’ll be there the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month. Ali D., Lys B., and Karen S. will be joining him at some of the clinics, but if anyone else wants to join in a few Sundays, let me know and I’ll plug you in the schedule.
“APHIDS TO ZUCCHINI” BROWN BAG LUNCH LECTURES Third Monday of each month, March 17 through November 17; 12-1pm (next one is June 16)
Our June WSU Master Gardener educational lecture series subject this month is “Using Mulch and Water Effectively in the Garden”. This free brown bag garden lecture takes place June 16, 12-1, at the WSU Extension office in Point Hudson. This lecture will be presented by Jefferson County Master Gardener, Sarah Fairbank. Questions and sharing personal mulching and watering techniques are encouraged throughout the lecture. Bring your lunch and have fun learning tricks and tips on how to keep plants happy and healthy during our hot, dry months.
*Our last lecture (Home Composting) was a hit! 15 people attended, and Susan C. said “the lecture inspired me to go out and turn my compost and put in shredded newspaper”.
Location – WSU Extension Office, 380 Jefferson St., Port Townsend
MG Hours – 1/education
LAWN ALTERNATIVE CONTEST AT KUL KAH HAN NATIVE PLANT DEMONSTRATION GARDEN Entries are due June 16
Kul Kah Han Native Plant Demonstration Garden is running a “lawn alternative contest”. Get creative and join in the contest! It would be great to have some entries from our MG group. Please see the two attachments for contest details and the entry form.
PORT TOWNSEND FARMERS MARKET OUTREACH TABLE (on hold right now; waiting for other dates to open up for us)
HOME CANNING ADVICE Third Monday of each month, March 17 through November 17; 1-4pm (during plant clinic)
Get answers to all your food preservation questions from Jefferson County Food Safety/Preservation specialist and Master Gardener, Dianna Wiklund. Whether you are just getting started or would like to update your knowledge of home food preservation, Dianna is available for walk-in clients to get their questions answered. Pressure gauge testing is also available for $5.
Location – WSU Extension Office, 380 Jefferson St., Port Townsend
QUILCENE VEGGIE GARDENING CLASSES Every Monday at noon, year round
MGs, Juanita Thomas and Anita McCue invite everyone to join in on their vegetable gardening classes. These classes take place every Monday at noon. Head on over to learn some new vegetable gardening tips!
Location: Corner of 101 and Old Church Road, Quilcene (meet at the church)
MG Hours: 1/education; demonstration garden hours can be accrued if you help them prepare the gardens and/or organize lectures
4H/MASTER GARDENER/BEACH WATCHER AFTER-SCHOOL EXTENSION PROGRAM Every Tuesday through the end of July; 3:30-5:30pm
Sharon Garrels and Nita Wester are in their 6thth month of running the Master Gardener segment of this after-school Extension program. 4H, Beach Watchers, and MGs will continue to present exciting, interactive programs, through July. Nita and Sharon are introducing the kids to the interesting concept of square foot gardening. They are using a very cool wooden grid system that Nita and her husband created. The kids set up their areas, finished weeding, and planted seeds already! Pictures to follow later this month.
Location: WSU Extension Office, 380 Jefferson St., Port Townsend
MG Hours: all preparation and teaching hours/youth outreach
COME TO LEARN, STAY AND PLAY AT THE SOUND GARDENING CONFERENCE (WSU MG ADVANCED EDUCATION CONFERENCE) September 18-20
Registration is now open for the 2014 WSU MG Advanced Education Conference in Tacoma (September 18th – 20th).
The Master Gardeners of Pierce County have planned a very full three days of activities for you this year. Attend all sessions, including the Friday lunch and dinner, and you will get twelve hours of Continuing Education credits. Take a tour, and pick up 2-4 more CE hours on Thursday morning and Saturday afternoon. See the complete listing at www.pc-wa-mg-conf.org
Did you see the article in the February edition of the MG e-magazine, Seeds for Thought? Here’s a link: http://mastergardener.wsu.edu/mgfws/files/2012/12/February-2014-Seeds.pdf?78857a (See page 3 for a review of all the high points of the upcoming event.)
Early Bird Special: For the first 50 people who register for the conference and spend two nights in the conference hotel, the Forbes four-star Murano, get a $20 rebate when you check out.
MG Hours: All hours count as continuing education
SAVE THE DATE FOR THE MG ADVANCED DIAGNOSTICS WORKSHOP October 10, 8:30-4:30
David Deardorff is coming to Skagit County for a Master Gardener Advanced Diagnostics workshop, Friday, October 10, 2014, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, at WSU-NWREC, Sakuma Auditorium, 16650 Washington 536, Mt Vernon WA 98273. For more information, a place to ask questions about the event, and to order tickets, visit www.brownpapertickets.com, and look for “What’s Wrong with My Plant”.
David Deardorff, botanist and expert plant pathologist, loves to write and lecture about how to grow healthier plants. As a research biologist David has lived and gardened in many environments, from the desert southwest to the maritime northwest to the tropics. Currently, he and co-author Kathryn Wadsworth can be found presenting workshops around the U.S. on a wide variety of topics, from ecology to gardening.
David earned his Ph.D. in botany from the University of Washington. He coordinated plant pathology research at the University of Hawaii and served as faculty advisor to the Master Gardener Program at Washington State University. He also co-founded Plants of the Southwest in Santa Fe, one of the first native plant nurseries in the country. He has served as Research Director at Island Biotropix, an orchid nursery and tissue culture laboratory which he co-owned with partner and co-author Kathryn Wadsworth. Authors Web site – www.DDandKW.com.
SAVE TIME NEXT YEAR (2015) TO ATTEND THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS FAIR
The Mother Earth News Fair offers more than 200 hands-on workshops covering organic gardening, preparing and preserving food, homesteading, renewable energy, natural health and related topics. This fair is usually at the end of May each year, in Puyallup. It’s well worth the trip. I went to the event last week and really enjoyed all the lectures and browsing the aisles looking at interesting gardening ideas/products. I’ll give you another reminder closer to the date.
MG FOUNDATION BOARD MEETINGS First Thursday of each month, 3-5pm
The Jefferson County MG Foundation welcomes attendance at the monthly Foundation Board meetings. The minutes for the May 2014 Board meeting are attached.
Location: WSU Extension Office, 380 Jefferson St., Port Townsend
MG Hours: Program support hours for Board members, intern member, and state rep
GROW SMART, GROW SAFE FREE APP
Grow Smart, Grow Safe now has an application that allows access from smart phones and other handheld devices. We are reminded to let our plant clinic clients and others know that these products have not been tested for efficacy, so along with any recommendations from Grow Smart, Grow Safe the client will also need to be educated on intensive IPM practices.
CLINIC QUESTIONS REGARDING HOMEMADE WEED KILLER AND COMPOST TEA (From Linda Chalker-Scott, Extension Urban Horticulturist, Puyallup
Research and Extension Center, WSU)
Regarding the rising popularity of a home-made mixture of vinegar, Epsom salt and dish soap touted to kill weeds:
It’s a home remedy, so MGs can’t recommend it (it’s not science based). Especially for pesticidal use.
Second, dish soap kills everything – good and bad. Only special horticultural and pesticidal soaps should be used in the garden and landscape.
Third, vinegar is useless as a weed killer. Only 20% acetic acid has any effect, and again it will kill everything it touches.
Fourth, Epsom salts are completely useless for anything except addressing magnesium deficiencies. They certainly don’t have any effect on weeds.
Regarding Compost Tea:
There is still no science supporting the use of compost tea for any reason and in fact the most recent publications out there demonstrate its lack of efficacy either in disease control or as a nutrient source. So Master Gardeners should not recommend it, as it is not a science-based application. Read more about this issue:
http://www.whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/composttea.htm
http://www.whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/biocycle/index.htm
http://blogs.extension.org/gardenprofessors/2011/12/08/more-compost-tea-stuff/
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Strawberry Cultivars for Western Oregon and Washington (OSU) NEW
https://pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=EC1618 Online Only
Raspberry Cultivars for the Pacific Northwest (OSU) NEW
https://pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=PNW655 Online Only
Blueberry Cultivars for the Pacific Northwest (OSU) NEW
https://pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=PNW656 Online Only
| Organic Fungicides for the Home Gardener (Home Gardening Series) NEWhttps://pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=FS128E Online Only |
| Beneficial Insects, Spiders and Mites in your Garden (H.G. Series) NEWhttps://pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=EM067E Online Only |
| Growing Day-neutral Strawberries in Western Washington NEWhttps://pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=FS132E Online Only |
| Home LawnsMaster Gardener Enews 2014-June-5https://pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=eb0482 Online Only |
| Spelt for Human Health and Nutrition Revisedhttps://pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=EB1977E Online Only |
| Cover Crops for Home Gardens West of the Cascades (HGS) NEWhttps://pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=FS111E Online Only |
| Methods for Successful Cover Crop Management in your Home Garden NEWhttps://pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=FS119E Online Only |
| Lawn and Turfgrass Problem Diagnosis Revisedhttps://pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=c1048 Online Only |
| Pest Watch: Lily Leaf Beetle NEWhttps://pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=FS084E Online Only |
| Pruning Equipment for Home Gardeners (HGS) NEWhttps://pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=FS131E Online Only |
| Growing Winegrapes in Maritime Western Washington (Replaces EB2001)NEWhttps://pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=EM068E Online OnlyWhy Backyard Fruit Trees are not for Everyone NEW https://pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=FS124E Online OnlyGrowing Dry Beans in Home Gardens (Home Garden Series) NEWhttps://pubs.wsu.edu/ListItems.aspx?Keyword=FS135E Online Only |
And, don’t forget to use this fantastic new WSU gardening web site – gardening.wsu.edu
KUDOS TO:
Roger McPherson and the whole plant sale crew! See blog for more information – https://jcmgf.org/mg2/blog/plant-sale
Kris Burns – for being such a gracious host and leading us through our first field trip. See https://jcmgf.org/mg2/garden-tour-first-of-the-season/ for more information
Linda Pfafman – for her “worm” lecture in Kitsap County. Sixty people showed up! Linda felt that 15 of them were going to start a worm bin right away. One inspiring comment that was received after the lecture: “I was at your lecture last Thursday evening with the Peninsula Fruit Club. I really enjoyed your talk and have already started my own worm bin.”
Sharon Garrels and Nita Wester – for continued help organizing the after-school WSU Extension 4H/MG/BW program. Pictures coming soon showing their “grid” gardening project!
Judi Stewart – for her interesting May Foundation presentation, “Women in Agriculture”. Judi is a great story teller! She shared many personal stories about her home garden experiences and it was a real treat to listen to her.
Lys Burden – for all her work at the PT High School Food Garden. She’s the super woman of growing groceries for the Food Bank!
Paula Schmidt – for posting all of our new MG Foundation Blog pieces – https://jcmgf.org/mg2/blog/
Mike McFadden – for volunteering at the outreach table at the Quilcene/Brinnon Plant Sale
Sarah Fairbank – for her presentation at the Tri-Area Garden Club
Ken Clatterbaugh, Frances Loubere and Warren Smith – for tabling at the 2nd PT Farmers Market event
Lys Burden, Sarah Fairbank, Mary Anne Desfosses and Dianna Wiklund for their expertise at plant clinic
Dianna Wiklund – for being available to the public the 3rd Monday of each month for food preservation questions and gauge testing at WSU
Anita McCue and Juanita Thomas – for their continued veggie garden classes at the Quilcene LID Demonstration Site (21 classes and counting!!)
Christina Lacie – for her latest entertaining and educational articles in the PT Leader
A big thank you to everyone!
Ps – As of today, 1733 hours were recorded in our Master Gardener Volunteer Database for 2014. If you haven’t recorded hours for 2014 (or any months in 2013), please do so in order to get the credit. The link to enter hours is http://ext.wsu.edu/volunteers/logon.aspx If you need help, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
—
Jill Bacchieri
Master Gardener Coordinator
WSU Jefferson County Extension
380 Jefferson St.
Port Townsend, WA 98368
360 379-5610 ext 210
mastergardenerjefferson@gmail.com
http://jefferson.wsu.edu/gardening
WSU Extension employment and programs are available to all without discrimination.