Monthly News for Gardeners
News and events for gardeners from Penobscot, Piscataquis, and Somerset Counties from University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, and other trusted partners
October 2021

Fellow gardeners of Central Maine,

How you care for your home garden and landscape makes a difference, and the UMaine Cooperative Extension Home Horticulture team is here to support you! Check out this month's Maine Home Garden News for the full articles linked in this newsletter, plus more! Subscribe here to get Maine Home Garden News in your inbox on the first of every month!

Yours,
Donna and Laurie
Regular Feature:
Now Is the Time To...
By Kate Garland, Horticulturist , UMaine Extension Penobscot County
Mushrooms in my Lawn!
By Dr. Seanna Annis, University of Maine Associate Professor of Mycology and Associate Extension Professor
With the rain we have been getting this fall, we are seeing fungi popping up in peoples’ yards, fields, and woods all over the state. These fungi typically have been present for years, growing underground until they have sufficient nutrients and water to produce their fruiting body or mushroom where we can see it. The fruiting body is equivalent to a fruit on a plant and helps the fungus disperse itself through spores to new environments. Most fruiting bodies last less than a week since they release spores that are dispersed by wind for a few days and then rot from other fungi or bacteria eating them.
Most of these fungi are providing valuable services to the plants near them. Many of these fungi are breaking down dead plant material and returning valuable nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, to the soil for plants to use.
Many landowners ask how to get rid of the fruiting bodies on their lawn. Unfortunately there is no way of doing this without removing all of your plant. Spraying fungicides on the lawn will not penetrate down to where these fungi are growing and may damage beneficial fungi and plant roots. The fruiting bodies should only be around for about a week or two and can be safely removed and thrown in the compost or garbage.
Do NOT eat any fungus unless you have confirmed with a mushroom expert that it is edible. If you eat most of the fruiting bodies growing on lawns, they will give you diarrhea and vomiting, that can be severe, but eating the fruiting bodies of some fungi can cause severe poisoning with damage to the major organs, particularly the liver and kidneys, and can result in death.

Tips and Tipping for Long Lasting Holiday Decorations Webinar
Monday, Nov. 2, 2021, 6 - 7:15 PM
Registration deadline: 4 PM on Nov. 1, 2021

Decorating with evergreen and natural materials during the winter season is very traditional. Our experts will show you how to harvest and handle evergreens and design both traditional and creative new options for making the most of the materials that may be right in your own backyard. Register here to attend live or receive the recording to watch later.
Bringing Plants Inside for the Winter
hanging plant
By Emma Fournier, Oxford County Horticulture Community Education Assistant

Decorating our patios with our house plants during the summer is a great way to help them grow vigorously. In Maine, bringing our non-hardy plants back inside in the fall is essential for their survival, and there are steps we need to follow to do it properly. 

Step 1: Outdoors in a bucket of water, gently remove the soil off of the roots of each plant with insecticidal soap. Cleaning plants thoroughly will prevent potential insect outbreaks from happening. Also be sure to soak the pots in one part household bleach to 9 parts water. For more information: Iowa State University Horticulture and Home Pest News: Cleaning and Disinfecting Plant Containers

Step 2: After rinsing the insecticidal soap off of the plants with fresh water, repot the plants in the clean containers with fresh potting soil. Water the plants to make sure the roots can settle into the new soil. You may also have to use new pots if the plants outgrew their old ones. 

Step 3: Place the newly transplanted plants in a tote and cover it securely with a fabric row cover to “quarantine” the plants. You want to keep the plants outside in this tote for two weeks to be sure that any insects or eggs that were remaining have died. 

Step 4: After the two-week quarantine, you may bring your houseplants back inside to enjoy them for the long winter ahead. 

Apple Cultivar Identification
If you missed the Great Apple Day where many people take their apples to be identified, there are references that may help.
UMass Apple Maturity Report includes different cultivars include a photo of each one. That list covers just about everything currently grown in Northeast orchards. The photos are thumbnails but expand to full size when you click on them.
MOFGA also has a good number of images for heirloom varieties: Orchards Archive - Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners (mofga.org)
Requests for Your Help
Ways you can help slow the spread of invasive plants:

  • Help identify and report: Stiltgrass (Microstegium vinimeum) and Perennial Pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium). The plants are only known from a handful of sites in Maine, and the goal is to eliminate them from the state. The public can help by looking for the plants and reporting any suspected locations.

Help Support Piscataquis County’s Extension Activities
Piscataquis Extension office sign
Piscataquis County Extension Association has openings for volunteers to serve on their Executive Committee and direct Extension educational activities. Extension programs are run by University of Maine Cooperative Extension and are designed to bring practical, research-based information from the University of Maine into the county to meet local needs. 
 
In Piscataquis County notable programs initiated by the Piscataquis County Extension Association include the One Tomato Program, SEDOMOCHA School Garden and Keeping Small Ruminants Healthy Programs.  

Anyone interested in serving on the Piscataquis County Extension Association’s Executive Committee, or in finding out more information can go to this link.

You can also contact the UMaine Extension Piscataquis county office at extension.piscataquis@maine.edu, phone 207-564-3301 or in Maine 1-800-287-1491.

Or you can go to this link to tell us about yourself
Events of Interest
University of Maine Cooperative Extension County offices are open, at least part-time, and most projects allow in-person volunteering. The health and safety of the community are still important to us as we re-adjust to unrestricted activities. We have developed a number of online resources for those who have reliable internet connections. Here are a few ways we’re available:

New Garden Resources to Meet New Needs
  • Garden Chats: Growing Resilience From the Ground Up- You may have missed the live Zoom presentations, but we've rounded up fact sheets for each week's discussion for your reference
  • Victory Garden for ME series: videos for first time vegetable gardeners
  • Growing Maine Gardeners: An initiative led by UMaine Extension’s Home Horticulture team to address the increased demand for gardening education throughout the state of Maine and to provide additional support for beginner gardeners.
  • Garden Mentorship Program: direct technical assistance and encouragement via phone or email throughout the season from trained Master Gardener Volunteers
  • Maine Farm Products and Pick-Up Directory: The directory provides information on available local farm products and alternative pick-up options developed by farmers statewide to accommodate the recommended social distancing in light of COVID-19.
  • Learn at Home: Educational Resources to Use During School Closures: With novel coronavirus closing schools across Maine for several weeks, UMaine Extension has assembled a collection of helpful educational resources for parents and caregivers. From science to financial literacy, whether for toddlers or teenagers, we encourage you to take advantage of these activity books, guides, and other resources to help children remain engaged in educational experiences throughout their school closure.
  • Learn at Home with 4-H Friday Fun! Each Friday, watch for a new hands-on activity that you can try out with simple materials you have at home. Watch a short video clip to see how it’s done or download our 4-H Learn from Home activity sheets. Each activity outlines materials needed, easy-to-follow instructions, reflection questions for discussion and activity extensions.
  • Social Media: Many of our staff are stepping up efforts to communicate to audiences via social media. For example, see Rogers Farm Demonstration Garden’s short educational Facebook videos (also on Instagram).

New resources are being developed daily. Please check, UMaine Extension: Connecting with Maine Communities During COVID-19 for new updates on our outreach efforts. Your feedback and questions are welcome anytime.

Traditional Services Being Offered in New Ways
  • Identifying insect pests: Charley Armstrong, will identify pest samples via images. See instructions for submitting an insect specimen.
  • Identifying plant diseases: Dr. Alicyn Smart will identify plant disease samples via images. See instructions for submitting a sample.
  • Tick testing: Ticks are being tested on a limited basis. See instructions for submitting a tick sample.
  • Publication orders: We are still processing orders from our publication catalog, including pesticide application training materials.
  • Soil testing: The Analytical Lab and Maine Soil Testing Service remains open and is taking samples with a priority on commercial samples. If you need to drop off a sample, you can place it in the box outside of Deering Hall; do NOT enter the building.
  • General gardening questions: Contact your county office. Emails are preferred. If it’s necessary to leave a voicemail, please leave your email address (if available) or a mailing address in addition to your phone number.
Other Garden Resources
Extension Programs in other states:
Many states across the US have programs of interest to folks in Maine. Try exploring Extension websites in states with similar climates to ours: Michigan State University, Cornell Cooperative Extension, UVM Extension, UNH Extension, University of Minnesota Extension, UMass Extension

Enter "Cooperative Extension" in your search engine, and see what pops up! Gardening, food, youth activities, and more!

If you find a great program when you're poking around online, let me know so I can share with your fellow gardeners: donna.coffin@maine.edu
Rogers Farm Master Gardener Demonstration Garden sign
Master Gardener Volunteers

Guidelines for Master Gardener Volunteers (Updated 6/8/21):

Reminder for MGV
to report their time and activities in the on the Master Gardener Volunteer Reporting Volunteer Hours website.
Did you forget the password? Contact donna.coffin@maine.edu
Mission
The University of Maine Cooperative Extension is the major educational outreach program of the University of Maine with offices statewide. UMaine Extension provides Maine people with research-based educational programs to help them live fuller, more productive lives.

Mention or display of a trademark, proprietary product, or firm in text or figures does not constitute an endorsement and does not imply approval to the exclusion of other suitable products or firms.

The goal of the Central Maine Gardening Newsletter is to connect gardeners with resources and events that encourage and inform.

Quick Links

Local Weather Anytime
 
Most outdoor activities are driven by the weather. Our local National Weather Service in Caribou has meteorologists on staff 24 hours a day. They are willing to talk with you about predictions for your town. Give them a call at 492-0180. Or check out their online detailed maps at http://www.weather.gov/car/.

Need Pesticide Credits?

Need Pesticide credits?  Check out the Maine Board of Pesticide credit calendar.  Many approved pesticide applicator re-certification programs are listed. 


Interested in Volunteering with UMaine Extension?

Nearly 8,000 volunteers devoted more than 150,000 hours to their communities last year through the University of Maine Cooperative Extension! Look around our

Photos: Edwin Remsberg, Donna Coffin, or Laurie Bowen unless other listed.
Contributors 

Donna Coffin, Extension Professor

Kate Garland, Extension Horticulturist

Laurie Bowen, Food Systems Program Assistant

The goal of the Central Maine Gardening Newsletter is to connect gardeners with resources and events that encourage and inform.


The University of Maine does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, including transgender status and gender expression, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Director, Office of Equal Opportunity, 101 North Stevens Hall, 207.581.1226.
Penobscot County Office
Piscataquis County Office
Somerset County Office
Penobscot County Office - website 
Open Monday - Friday 8 am to 4:30 pm
307 Maine Ave Bangor, ME 04401 207.942.7396 or 800.287.1485

Piscataquis County Office - website 
Open Monday, Thursday, Friday 8 am to 4:30 pm
165 East Main St Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426 207.564.3301 or 800.287.1491 

Somerset County Office- website
7 County Drive Skowhegan, Maine 04976-4209
Tel: 207.474.9622 or 1.800.287.1495 (in Maine)